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

THE THIRD PART OF

THE WIRE

SEASONS 1, 2, & 3

DETECTIVE MCNULTY, of Major Crimes Unit.
MAJOR COLVIN, commander of Western District.
DETECTIVE GREGGS, of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE FREAMON, of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI, of Major Crimes Unit.
SERGEANT CARVER, of the Narcotics Division of Western District.                
OFFICER HERC, of the Narcotics Division of Western District.                
DETECTIVE BUNK, of Homicide Division.
CORPORAL RAWLS, of Homicide Division.

AVON BARKSDALE, kingpin.
STRINGER BELL, Avon Barksdale's partner and bank.
SHAMROCK, a lieutenant for Avon Barksdale.
SLIM CHARLES, an enforcer for Avon Barksdale.

OMAR, an infamous stick-up artist.
BROTHER, an infamous New York enforcer.

HOME CONTRACTOR, several COMMANDING OFFICERS, several HOPPERS, several OFFICERS, a REPORTER, several PARAMEDICS, and several SOLDIERS.

SCENE---BALTIMORE

Act 1. Scene 1.
Baltimore City Street.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN. Enter CORPORAL RAWLS who meets him.
CORPORAL RAWLS.
A little late, used to be when a nine-year-old kid hit the pavement, the District Commander would be there within minutes. I guess we're living in a brave new world.
MAJOR COLVIN.
I was in Washington with Commissioner Burrell when I heard.
CORPORAL RAWLS.
DC...? What for...?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Well, took a couple of District Commanders down to D.O.J. with him. Pimping ourselves for a little grant money.
So, what have we got?
CORPORAL RAWLS.
Nine-year-old in his bedroom catches a stray round through the window.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Dead...?
CORPORAL RAWLS.
Pronounced at the University.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Witnesses...?
CORPORAL RAWLS.
No one's offered up a name but the general theme is two crews arguing over the real estate, we got casings from atleast three different calibers on the ground.
We're gonna canvas hard but your people in Tactical should hit the area drug corners and collect bodies.
MAJOR COLVIN.
It's fucking pointless.
CORPORAL RAWLS.
Hey, we jack up enough shitbirds, this case can fall.
MAJOR COLVIN.
I aint talking about that, I know the drill, I'm talking about this whole mess.
Been chasing this shit from one corner to another like it's a plan....
CORPORAL RAWLS.
Hit the corners, Howard. Take scalps, you'll feel better when you do.
[Exit MAJOR COLVIN. Exit CORPORAL RAWLS.

Scene 2.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter DETECTIVE FREAMON and DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI who busy themselves. Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS opposite.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
To what do we owe the honor?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Just checking in, why, you got something going on?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Oh, nothing too sexy, just pushing the case uphill, inch by inch, on Kintel Williamson, our stated target.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
We're working too, Lester.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Yeah, on your own thing. You even listen to me, McNulty?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I have a real case to bring in, fella by the name of Stringer Bell, you might have heard of him, I don't know.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You got a mouth on you, boy.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
He's still out there, Lester.
He's got his corners, his money, fuck it, by now, for all you know he's got all that downtown real estate. Motherfucker, probably owns half of Baltimore without you even knowing it.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
That aint the point.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Do you even know what happened to all that real estate, Lester? All that downtown property Bell has title on? Fuck no....
He's probably laughing his balls off right now at you, me, Daniels, all of us.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You even pretending to speak for anyone other than yourself McNulty?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I'm speaking for the job.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You want to talk about police work? I was doing the job when you was just dreaming on it, Daniels was out there too, now you're gonna fuck him when he pulled you off a goddamn boat?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
He's a boss, fuck the bosses.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Maybe, Daniels plays a few games to get by but he's cost himself plenty for the sake of the job, he's earned some loyalty.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Fuck loyalty and fuck you, Lester. I never thought I'd hear that chain of command horseshit come out of your mouth.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Motherfucker, I spent a lot of time in a lot of weak units, more than you. Now, this here may not be perfect but it's a chance to be police.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Well, then be one....
[Here DETECTIVE FREAMON squares off with DETECTIVE MCNULTY. DETECTIVE GREGGS jumps in and holds DETECTIVE MCNULTY back and they both back up.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You're not even worth the skin off my knuckles, boy. You put fire to everything you touch McNulty then you walk away while it burns. I got nothing more to say to you, nothing.--
[To DETECTIVE GREGGS.] And you, I'm surprised at you girl, Daniels raised you from a pup.
[Exit DETECTIVE FREAMON.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
We gotta hit up, Bubbs.
[Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS opposite.
Enter DETECTIVE FREAMON.
DETECTIVE FREAMON [to DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.]
Check on those fucking properties.
[Exit DETECTIVE FREAMON and DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.

Scene 3.
Parish House Kitchen.
Enter BUBBLES and JOHNNY.
BUBBLES.
Food lines will take your mind off it.
JOHNNY.
Rather my mind on it, Bubbs.
BUBBLES.
Swear, I'm sick of all this man. Wondering when I got so old.
Enter DETECTIVE GREGGS and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Hey Bubbs....
BUBBLES.
Kima....
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Hey Bubb....
BUBBLES.
McNutty, man, my mainest man.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Ready to put some work in?
BUBBLES.
Born ready.
JOHNNY [to BUBBLES.]
Snitching? Fuck that Bubbs.
BUBBLES.
Hey, no, no man, better than lifting five-hundred pound radiators. Yo, I'm up for these two Johnny. That's easy money man.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Come on, let's grab a burger.
[Here DETECTIVE GREGGS and DETECTIVE MCNULTY walk aside and pause for BUBBLES and JOHNNY. Exit JOHNNY. BUBBLES going aside meets with them.
BUBBLES.
What'd you need from me, I mean, exactly?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Lay of the land, who has what corners now that the towers are down.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
We want to know what happened to the Barksdale people, especially.
BUBBLES.
And, this pays how much...?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Let's treat it like a real job, say five an hour, thirty on a day max.
BUBBLES.
That's less than minimum wage.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
But there's no withholding Bubbs, it's tax-free.
BUBBLES.
Alright, it feels good to be out here, y'know? I mean, gainfully employed.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I thought your boy was coming too.
BUBBLES.
Johnny...? He don't think much of this here with y'all. Besides, he happens to be one of the laziest boys to sit between two shoes, me, I've been working since I was a kid.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Yeah...? What's your resume read like Bubbs? Just curious.
BUBBLES.
Well, I aint claiming no payroll jobs Kima. But, it's been awhile since I punched the clock.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
When was that?
BUBBLES.
Long time ago, before I had a sheet, shit, I was still clean. Got one of those stock boy jobs, one of those cheapest-guys-in-town stores. Unloading appliances, taking air conditioners and shit out to the customers cars like, "hey man, how many do you want?" Like that.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
So, what happened?
BUBBLES.
I put a clock-radio in a trashcan one day, trying to be cute, got caught. I didn't even need a clock-radio. See, that's me: Born fuck-up.
All right, you know what? Five dollars an hour, thirty on the day, that'll work. Huh?
[Here DETECTIVE GREGGS and DETECTIVE MCNULTY both nod. Exit BUBBLES. Exit DETECTIVE GREGGS and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.

Scene 4.
Western District Headquarters.
Enter commanding officers. Enter MAJOR COLVIN. Here MAJOR COLVIN stands before a podeium and addresses an audience of commanding officers.
MAJOR COLVIN.
In regards to Officer Dozerman, his condition has been upgraded to guarded. I'm told he can receive visits and he's been moved to recovery unit.
As of this tour, all hand-to-hand undercover buys are suspended in the Western District.--
[MAJOR COLVIN displays a brown paper bag containing a bottle within.]
Somewhere back in the dawn of time, this district had itself a civic dilemma of epic proportion, the city council had just passed a law that forbid alcoholic consumption in public places. On the streets and on the corners. But, the corner is, and it was, and it always will be the poor man's lounge, it's cheaper than a bar, catch a nice breeze, you watch the girls go by. But, the law is the law, western cops rolling by, what were they gonna do? They arrested every dude out there for tipping back a High-Life, there would be no other time for any other kind of police work. And, if they looked the other way, they'd open themselves up to all kinds of flaunting, all kinds of disrespect. Now this was before my time, there was a small moment of goddamn genius by some nameless smokehound who comes out the Cut Rate one day and on his way to the corner he slips that just bought pint of elderberry into a paper bag.--
[MAJOR COLVIN removes the bottle within and places it on the podium.]
A great moment of civic compromise. That small wrinkled-ass paper bag allowed the corner boys to have their drink in peace and it gave us permission to go and do police work, the kind of police work that's actually worth the effort, that's worth actually taking a bullet for. Officer Dozerman, he got shot last night trying to buy three vials.--
[MAJOR COLVIN displays three dope vials.]
Three...!--
[MAJOR COLVIN pauses.]
There's never been a paper bag for drugs.--
[MAJOR COLVIN places the three dope vials into the brown paper bag.]
Until now.
The new strategic plan for the district is to move all street level trafficking to three designated areas. We want to push it, they don't go easy then they go hard but we let these knuckleheads know that if they move to these areas, away from the residential streets, away from commercial areas, away from schools, if they take that shit down the road, they can go about their business without any interference from us.
[MAJOR COLVIN pauses again.]
Once... Once, they're all comfortable, once they're all rounded-up, once they've been down there a bit and they're used to putting their feet up and playing with the remote then we move in, then we go back and we do police work. Look at it this way: Would you rather shoot a fish in the ocean or would you rather gather them up in a few small barrels and start emptying your clips in?
[Here MAJOR COLVIN pauses again. Exit MAJOR COLVIN.

Scene 5.
Outside a Baltimore Rowhouse.
Enter a HOME CONTRACTOR who sets up his ladder, climbs up it, and busies himself. Enter BUBBLES and JOHNNY who stand aside.
JOHNNY.
No Bubbs, I mean, there's gotta be rules or else things get fucked up.
BUBBLES.
Aint no rules for dope fiends.
JOHNNY.
When the police got you shackled up, you make a move, right? You help yourself out but to just start snitching for no reason, that doesn't make no....
BUBBLES.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, let.... Let me track this, you out hyperbolizing that you can tattletale when you locked up but you can't do it straight up for the money? I mean, no offense son but that's some weak ass thinking.
JOHNNY.
So, a snitch is a snitch, right?
BUBBLES.
There you go.
JOHNNY.
So, why be one, man? I mean, we're getting by with our capers.
BUBBLES.
Yeah, we're getting by, out here every damn day, ripping and running. And, aint got shit to show for it...?
JOHNNY.
It's part of being a soldier. I mean, that's you, right? I mean, that's what you say.
BUBBLES.
Yeah, that's why I put all these miles on these feet. You wait, you wait until you aint a pup no more, see if you aint looking for something a little more steady for your own self.--
[JOHNNY begins to suffer from heroin withdrawal. BUBBLES pauses.]
What the fuck, you're ill, already? It's not even past morning.
JOHNNY.
I'm cool. Man, I'm fine, I'm fine.
BUBBLES.
Look, we hook up with my girl Kima, we get paid, you're gonna be better.
JOHNNY.
Fuck that Bubbs, alright? I'm not a fucking snitch.
BUBBLES.
You know, I could argue the other side, say, if you drop dime to duck a charge then you're a snitch, you do it as a living, you're a professional.
JOHNNY.
Whoa, whoa whoa, hold up.
You see that ladder, right there? Just like old times, man. I'll be the bad guy, you be the lone ranger.
BUBBLES.
Leave that man be, we get paid more hooking up to my girl.
JOHNNY.
But, that's cash money, right there.
BUBBLES.
No, with the white man I best be the bad guy, that way he aint confused.
JOHNNY.
All right, meet me in the alley.
BUBBLES.
Fuck....
[Exit JOHNNY. BUBBLES walks over and meets the HOME CONTRACTOR. BUBBLES grabs the bottom of the ladder.]
Yo mister, throw down your wallet or I'm gonna jerk this ladder right out.
HOME CONTRACTOR.
What...? No....
BUBBLES.
Come on, I'm a poor man who aint playing, throw down your goddamn money.
CONTRACTOR.
No... No.... Please, help...!
Enter JOHNNY.
JOHNNY.
Hey, hey, leave that man alone!
[Here BUBBLES flees. The HOME CONTRACTOR climbs down his ladder.
Enter JOHNNY from aside.
HOME CONTRACTOR.
Thank you.
[Here the HOME CONTRACTOR offers out some money to JOHNNY.
JOHNNY.
I can't, I can't, I can't....
HOME CONTRACTOR.
No, you saved my ass.
JOHNNY.
It's appreciated....
[JOHNNY takes the HOME CONTRACTORS money. Exit BUBBLES. Exit the HOME CONTRACTOR. JOHNNY going aside looks around for BUBBLES.]
Yo Bubbs, you won't fucking believe this.
Bubbs...?
[Exit JOHNNY.

Act 2. Scene 1.
A Designated Drug Zone.
Enter SERGEANT CARVER, MAJOR COLVIN, and several COMMANDING OFFICERS.
SERGEANT CARVER.
It aint pretty.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Doesn't have to be. Just needs to pull in from the places still worth salvageing. All right, told the other shifts, now I'm telling you, I ride my district at the end of this week, I want to see empty corners. They bring it here or the other two free zones or you bang them senseless, anything you need to do you do. Up to a body that can't walk itself up out of the emergency room, I'll back up you and your men. You understand me?
Now, I've tied up our I.I.D. representative for the entire week so all citizen complaints will be handled by one of our commanding officers.--
[They all pause.]
Whatever it takes.
[Exit MAJOR COLVIN, SERGEANT CARVER and COMMANDING OFFICERS.

Scene 2.
Funeral Home Office.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE, SLIM CHARLES, and STRINGER BELL.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Man, we aint got Fayette and Poppleton neither, what the fuck?
STRINGER BELL.
I'm working on it man and the avenue corners too.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What you mean, you working on it man? Why we aint at least got a shop set up down the block?
SLIM CHARLES.
We did.
STRINGER BELL.
There was a setback.
SLIM CHARLES.
Ran our boys off.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Who...?
STRINGER BELL.
Just some player, man.
AVON BARKSDALE [to STRINGER BELL].
Listen, let Slim tell me, man. We hired him for muscle.
SLIM CHARLES.
Boy Marlo....
AVON BARKSDALE.
Marlo, who the fuck is Marlo? He tied to one of the mobs?
SLIM CHARLES.
Young boy, running it on his own too, got maybe fifteen spots along here and the avenue.
AVON BARKSDALE.
An independent with no fucking support, got all the prime real estate and we're doing what, exactly? Young boy ran us off the corner?! I'm losing my motherfucking mind, man. What the fuck?
[Here STRINGER BELL points SLIM CHARLES to the door. Exit SLIM CHARLES.
STRINGER BELL.
Take a deep breath, man. I mean, take a long deep breath, know that if you call the shot, we at war. We at war, I'm there like I've always been.
The thing about turf, man, it aint like it was. You aint gotta pay no price of buying no corners.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Since when do we buy corners? We take corners.
STRINGER BELL.
Man, you gonna buy it one way or another, whether it's with the bodies we already lost or you're gonna lose, time in the joint that's behind us or ahead of us. I mean, you gonna get some shit in this game but aint shit for free. I mean, how many corners do we need? How much money can we make?
AVON BARKSDALE.
More than we can spend.
STRINGER BELL.
We aint gonna be around to spend what we done made already.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Shit, I didn't think I was gonna be around this long.
STRINGER BELL.
Yeah, well, we're here now. The fact is we got every mob in town, Eastside, Westside, ready to pull together, share territory on that good shit that Prop Joe putting out there. We take that shit downtown and we get in the money game and that, and nobody's going to jail. I mean, we passed that run-and-gun shit man, like we find us a package and we aint got to see nothing but bank, nothing but cash, no corners, no territory, nothing.
We make so much goddamn straight money, man, government come after us, man, aint shit they can say.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Business men, huh?
STRINGER BELL.
Let the young ones worry about how to retail, where to wholesale, I mean, who gives a fuck who's standing on what corner if we're taking that shit off the top, putting that shit to good use, making that shit work for us. We can run more than corners, b, period. We could do like Little Willy man, back in the day, with all that number money and run this goddamn city.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Like businessmen....
STRINGER BELL.
Man, just let me talk to the boy Marlo, see if I can't smooth this shit out. I mean, it aint gonna be overnight cause the man only knows what he knows but I think I could talk some sense in his head.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yea, I aint no suit-wearing businessman like you. You know, I'm just a gangster, I suppose. And, I want my corners....
[Exit AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL.

Scene 3.
Western Baltimore City Street.
Enter DETECTIVE GREGGS and enter BUBBLES opposite who's wheeling in with him a shopping cart of merchandise.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
So, you're working your plan, Bubbs?
BUBBLES.
Dollar here, dollar there, Kima.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
So, what's up, why, you call?
BUBBLES.
Was just checking in, you're still interested in that boy Marlo, right? No...?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
You want to keep getting paid, you need to get your ass up to Park Heights, school yourself on that Jamaican named Kintel who got them corners.
BUBBLES.
Kintel, huh...?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
My bosses don't give a fuck about Marlo, Stringer's people neither.
BUBBLES.
That's too bad.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Yeah....
BUBBLES.
Cause, now we got a whole lot of drama.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
What happened?
BUBBLES.
That young buck Marlo, aint getting run off.
He just dropped two of Barksdale's soldiers on the corner of Mount and Fayette, two hours past.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
What...?
BUBBLES.
Man, corners is all jumping bad.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
I thought Marlo had them corners with Stringer. We saw them meet.
BUBBLES.
I don't know what you saw, all I know is Marlo is flying his own colors. Westside's about to be all Baghdad and shit.
But y'all looking for Jake, what's his name, Kintel?--
[DETECTIVE GREGGS going.]
Y'all are too fickle for me, man. I swear.
[Exit DETECTIVE GREGGS. Exit BUBBLES opposite.

Scene 4.
A Designated Drug Zone.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN and SERGEANT CARVER together.
MAJOR COLVIN.
They do have a point though, right? I mean, we tell them to come down here without the guns and then we fall down on providing protection.
SERGEANT CARVER.
It's like the stick-up crews have these hoppers feeling like they live in a lion pen. They see one more gun, Gandhi world falls apart, this I guarantee.
MAJOR COLVIN.
So, what are you doing about it?
SERGEANT CARVER.
I sent a few of the victims over to the district with Herc, let them play with an identikit but you know how that goes. Can I be honest? It's not just the wolves circling the corral. We got fifty, sixty, ex-runners, ex-lookouts, on the inside, kids that have been fight or flight since they were born and now they're just thumb-up-their-ass hanging. That shit worries me just as much as any carnivores out there.
MAJOR COLVIN.
If you want to neutralize a threat, give it a job.
SERGEANT CARVER.
As...?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Auxiliary cops? Keep an eye out for the predators. Kill two birds and all that.
SERGEANT CARVER.
Right, throw them some bikes, maybe police radios.
MAJOR COLVIN.
You know, we could do that.
SERGEANT CARVER.
I was being... You're serious?
Here MAJOR COLVIN smiles and nods to SERGEANT CARVER. Exit SERGEANT CARVER and MAJOR COLVIN together.


Scene 5.
A Designated Drug Zone.
Enter BUBBLES with a shopping cart of merchandise in tow. Enter JOHNNY from within he stays close to the door.
JOHNNY.
What's up, Bubbs?
BUBBLES.
Shit, Johnny, man....
JOHNNY.
Just been chasing the pipe, you know?
BUBBLES.
All right, come on, man. You need a break, all right?
JOHNNY.
I'm a viking Bubbs, are you a viking?
Enter several hoppers fighting and several officers attempting to restrain them.
[Here BUBBLES watches the ensuing fight. Exit JOHNNY within. The hoppers are restrained and exit with the officers. BUBBLES pauses shortly. Exit BUBBLES.

Act 3. Scene 1.
A Barksdale Safehouse.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL.
STRINGER BELL.
War...? Man, we past this bullshit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Ah, yea... I forgot... You know, I knew I forgot something.
STRINGER BELL.
Man, you don't give this shit up, you're gonna turn everything we built to shit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You know what the difference is between me and you? I bleed red, you bleed green. What you been building for us, huh? You know, I look at you these days, you know what I see? I see a man without a country. Not hard enough for this right here. And, maybe, just maybe, not smart enough for them out there.
STRINGER BELL.
Not hard enough...?
AVON BARKSDALE.
No offense but I don't think you ever really were. Yea, you got skills, yea no doubt. But....
STRINGER BELL.
What? Cause I don't shoot up a block indiscriminate, I aint hard enough? Because I think before I snatch a life, I aint into this bullshit?
AVON BARKSDALE.
Snatch a life? What life you snatch, huh?
STRINGER BELL.
You know, Briana went downtown, saw that detective stroking her head about, D'Angelo's death was no suicide.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yeah, so...?
STRINGER BELL.
The man aint wrong about that.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What...?
STRINGER BELL.
Yea. I knew you couldn't do it. Briana wouldn't do that shit. You're always talking that blood is thicker than water bullshit but there go a life that had to be snatched, Avon.
[Here AVON BARKSDALE stares at STRINGER BELL until shortly they begin to fight. STRINGER BELL pins AVON BARKSDALE.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Let me up.
[Here STRINGER BELL releases AVON BARKSDALE. AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL pause shortly before exiting together.
Scene 2.
A Designated Drug Zone.
All goes dark here then pauses. All returns to light now where the body of a murdered hopper appears laid out. Enter an officer, SERGEANT CARVER, and DETECTIVE HERC.
SERGEANT CARVER [to the officer].
What's he look like?
OFFICER.
We got some casings near the victim.
SERGEANT CARVER [to the officer].
Hold the call.
DETECTIVE HERC.
So much for the no violence in the free zones theory.
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to the DETECTIVE HERC].
Help me move the the body.
DETECTIVE HERC [aside to SERGEANT CARVER].
What...?
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to the DETECTIVE HERC].
Just up the block, just out of the free zone.
DETECTIVE HERC [aside to SERGEANT CARVER].
Carv, you lost your fucking mind?
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to the DETECTIVE HERC].
Before the ambulance gets here to pronounce him, we can do it.
DETECTIVE HERC [aside to SERGEANT CARVER].
Why...?
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to DETECTIVE HERC].
Because, if homicide gets here, if they do any kind of canvasing, they're gonna get wind of the  free zone on the sixth floor, downtown.
DETECTIVE HERC [aside to SERGEANT CARVER].
Good....
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to DETECTIVE HERC].
Herc, come on.
DETECTIVE HERC [aside to SERGEANT CARVER].
No way, man... No way....
[Exit DETECTIVE HERC.
SERGEANT CARVER [aside to the officer].
Help me move this guy out of the free zone.
[Here SERGEANT CARVER and the officer exit opposite carrying the slain hopper.

Scene 3.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter DETECTIVE FREAMON and DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI who busy themselves with cameras. Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
On a Sunday? What the fuck Lester?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Could say the same of you.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Elaine, is taking the kids to her mother's so what the fuck else am I gonna do? No life, no marriage, no kids, no problem. What's with the video?
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.
Gonna put it up in one of the windows across from Stringer's print shop, catch him coming and going.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You need help?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You're a known face. I figure me and Prez do it on a Sunday, shop is closed. You know, looking like working men.
[Here they all shortly laugh.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You know, Lester? I do believe there aren't five swinging dicks, in this entire department, can do what we do. I'm not saying that all chest out and shit, it's just....
I mean, you think about it, there's maybe more than three-thousand sworn, right? Hundred or so are bosses so there's not a fucking clue there. Few more hundred are sergeants and lieutenants and most of them want to be bosses so they're just as fucked. Six-hundred or seven-hundred house cats. And, the patrol division, there's probably a little bit of talent there but the way the city is right now that's fifteen-hundred guys chasing calls and clearing corners.
I mean, nobody's knowing his post, nobody's building nothing, right? I mean, who is there, out there, that can do what we do with a case, huh? How many are there, really? There's not many. We're good at this, in this town we're as good as it gets.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Natural police....
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Fuck yes, natural police....
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Tell me something, Jimmy. How exactly do you think it all ends?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
What do you mean?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
A parade, a golden watch, a shining Jimmy McNulty Day moment when you bring in a case so sweet everybody gets together and says, Oh shit, he was right all along. We should've listened to the man. The job will not save you Jimmy. It won't make you whole, it won't fill your ass up.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I don't know, a good case....
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Ends, they all end. The handcuffs go click and it's over. And, the next morning, it's just you in your room with your self.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Until, the next case.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Boy, you need something outside of this here.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Like what...?
[Here DETECTIVE MCNULTY is going when DETECTIVE FREAMON answers him.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
A life. A life Jimmy, you know what that is? It's that shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come.
[Exit all together.
Scene 4.
Western District Headquarters.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN. Enter SERGEANT CARVER who meets him.
MAJOR COLVIN.
I want to thank you for the loyalty you showed. Moving that body... It wasn't the most sensible thing but, uh, I appreciate it, none the less. You're a good man, Sergeant. You got good instincts and as far as I can tell you're a decent supervisor. But, from where I sit, you aint shit when it comes to policing.
Don't take it personal. Aint just you, it's all our young police, a whole generation of y'all. No, you think about it, you've been here over a year now Carver, you got nobody looking out for you, nobody willing to talk to you. That about sum it up?
Now, that's a problem. And, I didn't think there was any way that I was ever gonna get my head around it but then.... That's when the idea of the free zones came to me, because this drug thing... This aint police work. I mean, I can send any fool with a badge and a gun up on them corners and jack a crew and grab vials. But, policing...?
I mean, you call something a war and pretty soon everybody gonna be running around acting like warriors. They gonna be running around on a damn crusade, storming corners, wracking up body counts. And, when you're at war, you need a fucking enemy. And, pretty soon, damn near everybody on every corner is your fucking enemy. And soon, the neighborhood that you're supposed to be policing... That's just occupied territory. You follow this?
SERGEANT CARVER.
I think so.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Okay, the point I'm trying to make Carver is this: Soldering and policing... They aint the same thing. And, before we went and took the wrong turn and started up these war games, the cop walked a beat and he learned that post. And, if there were things that happened up on that post, whether it be a rape, a robbery, a shooting, he had people out there helping him, feeding him information. But, every time, I come to you for information, to find out what's going on out there in them streets, all that came back was some bullshit? You had your stats, you had your arrests, you had your seizures but don't none of that amount to shit when you're talk about protecting a neighborhood, does it?
[They pause shortly.]
You know, the worst thing about this so-called drug war, to my mind, it just... It ruined this job.
Enter a commanding officer.
LIEUTENANT.
A Sun Paper reporter, been to the free zones. All three of them.
[Exit MAJOR COLVIN. Exit all.

Scene 5.
A Designated Drug Zone.
Enter a journalist and DETECTIVE HERC.
JOURNALIST.
You're just supposed to let it go on like this?
DETECTIVE HERC.
Colvin, told us to push the street dealing inside these areas. And, then, we would start locking people up.... But, so far, not been a single arrest.
JOURNALIST.
Do they know about this downtown?
DETECTIVE HERC.
I don't think they have a fucking clue. But, I'd love to be there when you pop the question.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Mind if we walk?
[Here MAJOR COLVIN takes the journalist aside.
JOURNALIST.
You got dealers selling with impunity, addicts shooting up on the street, people down here doing outreach, giving out needles. I mean, who knows about this down at headquarters?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Look, command is well aware of the situation. I mean, while there was some initial concern... But, they feel that the cases we're gonna bring in.
JOURNALIST.
Cases...?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Yeah, prosecutions, sure.
JOURNALIST.
Your detective said that no one's being locked up in the free zones.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Look, my troops are only involved in pushing the trafficking to designated areas, I mean, they're completely ignorant of the investigative aspect.
The bottom line is, you start throwing calls around right now, they're gonna come up on the case early and we won't get all we can out of this good work we did down here.
JOURNALIST.
You're telling me, all this is an enforcement strategy?
MAJOR COLVIN.
What the hell else could it be?
[Exit MAJOR COLVIN and JOURNALIST together. Exit all.

Act 4. Scene 1.
A Barksdale Safehouse.
Enter SLIM CHARLES and STRINGER BELL.
STRINGER BELL.
Where's Avon at?
SLIM CHARLES.
He'll be along shortly.
STRINGER BELL.
That's good, cause I came to see you.
[Enter AVON BARKSDALE aside, who spies on them.
SLIM CHARLES.
What you need...?
STRINGER BELL.
I need you to hit somebody.
SLIM CHARLES.
Who needs hitting?
STRINGER BELL.
Clay Davis.
SLIM CHARLES.
The Clay Davis? Downtown Clay Davis?
STRINGER BELL.
Is that supposed to mean something to me, man?
SLIM CHARLES.
Shit, String, murder aint no thing. But, this here, some assassination shit.
STRINGER BELL.
If I tell you, you getting somebody, you're getting them. I aint asking.
SLIM CHARLES.
Damn, String, I don't know.
STRINGER BELL.
Do I gotta remind you who the fuck you work for?
Enter AVON BARKSDALE the room apparent.
AVON BARKSDALE.
I think, Slim's gonna have to sit this one out, boss.
So, you're fixing to hit a state senator now, huh? Yo, you kill a downtown motherfucker like that, the whole world's gonna stand up and take notice. I'm talking about the State Police, Federals, all of that.
You need a Day-of-the-Jackal-type of motherfucker, basically, to do some shit like that. Not a rough-and-tumble motherfucker like Slim.
STRINGER BELL.
That motherfucker, took our money.
AVON BARKSDALE.
I seen it coming.
STRINGER BELL.
Well, he's got to go.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Nah, you're a fucking businessman, you wanna handle it like that.
[STRINGER BELL begins leaving.]
You got a beef with him? That shit is on you.
[Exit STRINGER BELL. Exit AVON BARKDALE and SLIM CHARLES together.

Scene 2.
A Cemetery.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN. Enter STRINGER BELL opposite.
STRINGER BELL.
Check out what I sent you?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Yea, your information's good.
STRINGER BELL.
So, we gonna talk on the real side now, huh?
MAJOR COLVIN.
Speak your mind, Russel.
STRINGER BELL.
So, it aint what it might seem to you. Avon's my brother. But, if it keeps on going like it's been, then....
Avon's still on parole. Now, I could put him at a spot that's got heavy artillery. I aint talking about pistols, I'm talking about machine guns, shotguns, even grenades.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Well, then that's a parole fall.
STRINGER BELL.
So, I was hoping you could keep that to a couple of years.
[MAJOR CARVER pauses.]
Look, you hit that joint, those people are going to try and take the rap for it. They're going to say, all that fire power is theirs. So, all you gotta do is just hit him with the parole violation.
MAJOR COLVIN.
I can't make you a promise. It's gonna be a nickle at least.
STRINGER BELL.
Come on, man. Him and me....
MAJOR COLVIN.
I'm gonna do my best, alright?
Now, he's always at this place?
STRINGER BELL.
Nah, he come and go. But, it's the spot since the war started.
[STRINGER BELL hands MAJOR CARVER a slip of paper.]
It's because you were behind the free zones, that I came to you with this. Looks like you and me are both trying to make sense of this game.
MAJOR COLVIN.
He must have done something to you.
STRINGER BELL.
Nah, it's just business.
[Exit STRINGER BELL. Exit MAJOR COLVIN.

Scene 3.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter DETECTIVE FREAMON who stands-by a laptop. The laptop chirps abruptly.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Hey, we're up!
[Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY, LIEUTENANT DANIELS, and DETECTIVE GREGGS.]
Here it is.
[DETECTIVE FREAMON plays a recording from the laptop.]
STRINGER BELL [recording].
You heard from Fat Man?
SHAMROCK [recording].
Yeah.
STRINGER BELL [recording].
We're low, right?
SHAMROCK [recording].
Yeah, it's light.
STRINGER BELL [recording].
Well, tell the man that I'm doing what needs to be done.
SHAMROCK [recording].
All right, I'll tell him.
Oh, and that other thing, the hitter you asked after, they're good with it.
STRINGER BELL [recording].
All right, not on the phone.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That's it....
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
We got him.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE FREAMON celebrate with raucous laughter and all soon join in. DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE FREAMON shake hands. Exit all.


Scene 4.
Avon Barksdale's Downtown Loft.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Damn, man, I miss this crib already.
STRINGER BELL.
Yeah, well, you're spending a lot of time at the other spot.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yeah....
STRINGER BELL.
Man, it's a shame we gotta deal with this war bullshit, man.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Don't let that shit lay on you, man.
Tonight, I mean, I'm gonna kick back and just enjoy this view.
Can you fucking believe this? I got a crib that's overlooking the harbor. I'm looking at the same place we used to run through, we had every security guard in there following us.
STRINGER BELL.
As they should have.
AVON BARKSDALE.
True, true....
And, then, there was that one time....
STRINGER BELL.
Toy store...?
AVON BARKSDALE.
Hell yeah, I told your ass not to steal a badminton set. You like, "yo, that white boy aint gonna jump over that counter and come chase after me."
STRINGER BELL.
He sure did, though.
AVON BARKSDALE.
That shit was crazy, man.
STRINGER BELL.
Right here, too, man, damn.
Can you imagine, man, if I had the money that I have now. Man, I could've bought half this waterfront property. God dammit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Forget about that for awhile, man. You know, just dream with me.
STRINGER BELL.
We aint gotta dream no more, man. We got real shit.
I can't get too fucked up tonight, man. I got some shit I gotta do on the site tomorrow
AVON BARKSDALE.
All right....
Us, motherfucker....
STRINGER BELL.
Us, man....
[AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL embrace. Exit STRINGER BELL. Exit AVON BARKSDALE opposite.]

Scene 5.
An Under Construction Downtown High Rise.
Enter STRINGER BELL fleeing from his assailants. Enter OMAR brandishing a shotgun behind him. Enter BROTHER brandishing a pistol opposite.
STRINGER BELL.
Look, man, I'm not involved. I aint involved in that gangster bullshit.
[All pause.]
Well, it seems like I can't say nothing to change your minds.
[All pause again.]
Well, get on with it, motherfuckers!
[OMAR and BROTHER shoot STRINGER BELL several times each. STRINGER BELL dies. Exit OMAR and BROTHER.

Act 5. Scene 1.
A Downtown High Rise, Under Construction.
Enter DETECTIVE BUNK, DETECTIVE GREGGS, and DETECTIVE MCNULTY. STRINGER BELL lies dead where he was murdered.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I caught him, Bunk. On the wire, I caught him.
[Enter several paramedics who leave with STRINGER BELL.]
I caught him and he doesn't fucking know it.
 [Exit paramedics with STRINGER BELL. Exit DETECTIVE BUNK and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.

Scene 2.
Barber Shop.
Enter BARBER and AVON BARKSDALE opposite. They greet each other then AVON BARKSDALE sits. Exit BARBER and enter BROTHER.
BROTHER.
Your man, Stringer Bell, set up a meeting at Butchie's Bar. Your man, told Omar Little that I was responsible for the torture and murder of Mister Little's lover. Your man, sought to have me hit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
If there's a way... I mean, if my man, if he made a mistake here then I'm willing to pay the cost. Can you do that?
[Here BROTHER answers with silence. AVON BARKSDALE lowers his head in shame.
BROTHER.
What got you here is your word and your reputation. With that alone you've still got an open line to New York. Without it, you and your man would've payed the cost together.
[AVON BARKSDALE pauses. Exit BROTHER. Exit AVON BARKSDALE.

Scene 3.
Western District Headquarters.
Enter MAJOR COLVIN. Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You called, I didn't know if I'd find you here so late.
[MAJOR COLVIN gives DETECTIVE MCNULTY a slip of paper.
MAJOR COLVIN.
That there is a war-time lay up for Avon Barksdale. Our sources are telling me, Avon's there most of the time with a lot of firepower.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That's a hell of tip.
MAJOR COLVIN.
Shit, that right there will be the last bit of police work in a long historic career.
All right, I've taken too much of your time.
[Exit MAJOR COLVIN. Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY.

Scene 4.
A Barksdale Safehouse.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE and several soldiers carrying several firearms. A loud knocking comes from the door within.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Police, open up!
[Several soldiers brandish their firearms at the door.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Not the police.
[The soldiers lower their firearms.]
Hey, y'all ask me, y'all ugly ass niggas shouldn't be here fucking around with all these guns and shit. You know what I'm talking about?
[AVON BARKSDALE hands his gun to a soldier nearby.]
Open it.
[The soldiers all drop their weapons then open the door within.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY, DETECTIVE FREAMON, DETECTIVE GREGGS, and several officers.
[The soldiers and AVON BARKSDALE are placed under arrest and handcuffed. Exit all together. End.

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

THE SECOND PART OF

THE WIRE

SEASONS 1, 2, & 3

OFFICER MCNULTY, of Marine Unit, afterwards
Detective McNulty of Major Crimes Unit.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS, returning shift supervisor
of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE GREGGS, of Narcotics Division,
afterwards of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE HERC, of Narcotics Division.
DETECTIVE FREAMON, of Homicide Division
afterwards of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI, afterward of Major
Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE BUNK, of Homicide Division.
OFFICER RUSSELL, of Port Authority.

THE GREEK.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS, consigliori for The Greek.
SERGEI MALATOV, enforcer for The Greek.
FRANK SOBOTKA, secretary treasurer of  union
local stevedores,  Fifteen-Fourteen.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA, nephew of Frank Sobotka
and local Forty-Seven stevedore.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA, oldest son of Frank Sobotka and
union checker.
GEORGE GLEKAS, fence.
ETON BEN-ELEAZER, drugdealer.

AVON BARKSDALE, de facto kingpin.
STRINGER BELL, underboss to Avon Barksdale.
WEE BEY.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE, Avon's nephew.

BUTCHY, an Eastside dealer and bank.
OMAR, an infamous stick-up artist.
BROTHER, an infamous New York enforcer.
SAM, a shepard.

An ENFORCER, OFFICERS, CORRECTIONS OFFICERS, an ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL, PRISONERS, SOLDIERS, a YOUNG STORE CLERK, two ATTORNEYS, and an old HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.

Act 1. Scene 1.
Little Johnny's Restaurant.
Enter THE GREEK, SPIROS VONDOPOULOS, SERGEI MALATOV and GEORGE GLEKAS. The greek sits quietly aside. NICHOLAS SOBOTKA and ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Nicky from the Docks...!
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Spiros....
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
How are you?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Good.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Good...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Who's your friend?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Oh, he's Zigg, my uncle's kid.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Your uncle?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Frankie, yea, Zigg is his oldest. My car broke down, you know? He drove.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Aw....
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
So, uh, you must be The Greek.
[ZIGGY SOBOTKA shakes the hand of SPIROS VONDOPOULOS. They pause.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Well, I'm Greek anyway.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA [to SERGEI MALATOV.]
Hey, Boris, Boris Badanoff, I know from around the way, right?
SERGEI MALATOV.
Why am I Boris? I don't understand this, everywhere I am Boris.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Shit, you're Russian, right?
SERGEI MALATOV.
No, Ukraine; Kyivish, Ukraine.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yea, it's the same difference though.
SERGEI MALATOV.
No, you're wrong.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
What's the matter, you don't like being called Boris?
SERGEI MALATOV.
Sergei.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Aw, no way man, Boris is way better, you know, it's like the guy from the cartoon, Boris and Natasha? Bullwinkle man, Rocky and Bullwinkle...?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS [to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.]
You want some coffee, pie?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Nah, I'm good.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Actually, what kind of pie you got?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Hey Zig, shut the fuck up, huh?
[They pause. ZIGGY SOBOTKA steps aside.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Malaka....
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Nah, it's cool, he's cool.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS [aside to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.]
That's Frank's kid, huh?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea. He's in the Union, you know? But, he's like an L-Series so he aint getting any hours.
[SPIROS VONDOPOULOS gives a piece of paper to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Same deal, same rate.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
All right, who's driving?
[SPIROS VONDOPOULOS signs to SERGEI MALATOV.
Again...? You ought to mix it up a little more, make it so Customs doesn't put no names to faces.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
You trust a man, you stay with him.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Okay....
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
All right...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Boris it is.
SERGEI MALATOV.
Sergei....
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea, whatever....
[Aside to ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Come on fuck-nuts, let's go.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Hey, how's the open-face turkey?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
It's shit, let's go.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
See you guys later.
[Exit ZIGGY SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
SERGEI MALATOV.
Bullwinkle...?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Polacks.

Scene 2.
D.O.C., Avon Barksdale's Cell.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE and a corrections officer with bags of take-out food. The officer sets the food on the table for Avon. Enter WEE BEY.
WEE BEY.
Yo big cheif!
AVON BARKSDALE.
Mm....
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
I got to get him back to Maximum Security by six, all right?
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yeah.
[Exit CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
Come on in man, here, sit down.
[WEE BEY sits.
Fix yourself something to eat man.
WEE BEY.
Naw man, I aint hungry, I ate.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What...?
WEE BEY.
Naw.
 AVON BARKSDALE.
You crazy? This good shit man, better get in this.
WEE BEY.
Naw....
AVON BARKSDALE.
Look man, if he tearing your room down man, we keep bringing more stuff in. It's gonna get so he can't tear down fast enough, you feel me?
WEE BEY.
He fuck with my fish though. Hey man, I don't... He aint have to go there man.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What's up with this motherfucker?
WEE BEY.
You remember Ladontay, burner from over the Poe homes, finally caught him  at Carver parking lot after school?
AVON BARKSDALE.
We did that?
WEE BEY.
Aight, Tilghman was Ladontay's cousin or some such. He find out I ate the charge, he busting my chops.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Ladontay, I can't even remember that one. You need a scorecard to keep up with your lethal ass.
WEE BEY.
Yo Avon, he fixing to stay in my shit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Listen, I'm'a talk to him, aight? I'm'a set it straight, aight?
What's his name again?
WEE BEY.
Tilghman, he work the day shift on J-Tier.
AVON BARKSDALE.
I seen him around.
WEE BEY.
Yo man, all these C.O.s is fronting and shit, you got the guards bringing your meals in, this punk motherfucker Tilghman running around acting righteous but he bringing shit in here, steady slinging on the side.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Don't fret, all right? It's nothing, I'm'a take care of it.
Come on...
[Exit WEE BEY and AVON BARKSDALE.

Scene 3.
Port Warehouse.
Enter officers and OFFICER RUSSELL.
FIRST OFFICER.
So, what else we got?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Cosmetics, clothes, bedrolls, that's it.
SECOND OFFICER.
There's a letter though.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
A letter, what language?
SECOND OFFICER.
Who knows, same backwards-ass writing though.
FIRST OFFICER.
It's like Russian or something, I'm telling you.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Can't figure the name or the address. The stamp says Magyar on it.
Enter OFFICER MCNULTY.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Hey, which one of your detectives caught all the dead girls?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Detectives...? They're at the bar already.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
These yours?
FIRST OFFICER.
They chalked it up as an accidental and dumped the paperwork on her, she found them, she writes on it.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
I'm McNulty, City Marine Unit.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Beatrice Russell....
OFFICER MCNULTY.
You got any I.D.'s yet?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
No visas or passports, a few scraps of paper but nothing to make sense of, Russian alphabet on most of it, you just curious?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Yeah.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Why...?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Day before yesterday, I fished out a Jane Doe from near the bridge, there's no missing person report on file.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
We... We got fourteen bedrolls and thirteen bodies.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Mine was a murder.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Murder, kidding me... We got some photos if you want to take a look.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Yea, I called down the morgue this morning, only thing they could say is the dental work isn't local, overseas they think.
[OFFICER RUSSELL hands OFFICER MCNULTY photo.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
That your girl?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Think so... Looks better here....
OFFICER RUSSELL.
You got her in the water, day before yesterday, out by the bridge?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Yea, O-nine-hundred hours out by the Fort Armistead dock.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Why would you have a murdered girl in the water and the rest of them are suffocating in a can at Patapsco?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Well, what went wrong?
SECOND OFFICER.
Air pipe up top got crushed.
FIRST OFFICER.
Happened when cargo shifted around most likely.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
They had cargo up front of the container with a false back after about twenty-five feet, you had cartons stacked in front but a tight passage to a small door in the false wall, opens from the outside only.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
They're in there the whole trip?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Probably not, once they're at sea there's usually someone in the crew who's in on it, you know, a shepard. He let's them out to eat, move around, use the bathroom, whatever.
They were clawing at the wall for air, that's what the medical examiner said anyway.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
You get a lot of stowaways?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Well, some, usually it's Customs or I.N.S. that finds them.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
What about the air pipe?
[Here OFFICER RUSSELL hands OFFICER MCNULTY another photo.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
There you go. Usually, if the shepard is doing his job, he tries to put a can like this on the bottom of the stack so they can pop it and the girls just walk out on the floor of the hold.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Huh....
[OFFICER RUSSELL pauses.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
What...?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
That look right to you?
[OFFICER MCNULTY points to the second photo.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
What do you mean?
[OFFICER MCNULTY pauses then begins.
OFFICER MCNULTY.
If it's crushed by another container, it should've been one single movement, maybe two if something shifts and then shifts back again. This looks like somethings been pounding on it in a bunch of spots.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
You said you were with the Marine Unit?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Yeah.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
What does the Marine Unit have to do with a bunch of dead girls in a can?
OFFICER MCNULTY.
Not a thing.
[Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY. Exit OFFICER RUSSELL following. Exit rest.

Scene 4.
Little Johnny's Restaurant.
Enter SPIROS VONDOPOULOS and SERGEI MALATOV. Enter FRANK SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA. They pause.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
You think we wanted this?
FRANK SOBOTKA.
I don't know what the fuck you people want and don't want. All I know is, I got a can full of young girls suffocating to death on my docks.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
This was a mistake.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
A mistake...? They fucking died in that can while this stupid son of a bitch sat there with his dick in his hands.
SERGEI MALATOV.
You know nothing.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
We understand you're upset Frank. We are upset too, okay? Sergei was supposed to wait for a friend to come off the boat, all right? Our friend was supposed to tell us that there was no problem, you know? No Customs.
SERGEI MALATOV.
He did not come off the boat.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Why the fuck not?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
This is what we're trying to find out, we don't know.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
So, cause you don't get the right message, these girls are dying on my docks, this is how it goes. On my docks this happened!
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
I understand how you feel but we're upset too, everybody, we're all upset. Nobody here wanted this.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Uncle Frank, they're saying it wasn't on purpose.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
You could have told me there were girls in that fucking can. You could have told me so I didn't just shove them back in the stacks like I did, right? Why the fuck didn't you tell me what was in that motherfucking can?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Now you want to know what's in the cans? Before, you wanted to know nothing. Now, you ask. Guns, okay...? Drugs, whores, vodka, B.M.W.s, Beluga caviar, or bombs maybe... Hm...? Bad terrorists with big nuclear bombs.
SERGEI MALATOV.
Boom....
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
I'm kidding you Frank, it's a joke, but you don't ask because you don't want to know.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Tell The Greek that the next time he's got something breathing in one of them cans, I need to know it.
[Exit FRANK SOBOTKA.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Oh, give him a couple days, you know?
[Exit NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Enter THE GREEK.
[Here THE GREEK and SPIROS VONDOPOULOS have a short discourse in Greek. Exit THE GREEK, SPIROS VONDOPOULOS, and SERGEI MALATOV.

Act 2. Scene 1.
D.O.C. Library.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What's up man? How you liking the library...?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
It'll do.
AVON BARKSDALE.
It's easy on you, you know a lot of people put in for the gig but the gig go to you. Funny how that go, huh?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What, you want me to say thanks?
AVON BARKSDALE.
You aint got to say shit. But, you need to take heed of what can be done for you if you keep your head straight...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Oh, you're just full of favors aint you.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You shut your mouth and you open your mind, you aint gonna be doing but a small piece of this twenty, just like I'm only gonna do a year or two on this seven, you feel me?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Look I got priors, best I can do is half, that's ten, I can count to ten yo.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yo, some shit is coming down D, okay? You need to think, you need to trust, and you need to get your head right.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Man, my head is where I want it.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You look dusty lately.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
So, what...? So, what...? What, you my mom up in here now?
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yo man, that's... That's the weak man's road you taking. I aint never seen you as weak.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Look, I'm just, you know, every now and again, that's it. Look... It's all I got to get my head out of this shithole.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Aint no more than that? I mean, cause that's all it is, you should be able to give it a rest for a few days cause it aint no thing, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yea, aint no thing.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Then, you gonna do that?
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE pauses.
I'm asking you man, outta love, it's always love D.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE
Aight, yeah, a few days, sure, a few days.
AVON BARKSDALE
Right....
[They embrace. Exit AVON BARKSDALE. Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE seperately.

Scene 2.
Vacant Building.
Enter an enforcer leading SAM. Here the enforcer strips SAM down and sits him in a chair. Enter SERGEI MALATOV.
SERGEI MALATOV.
Don't try to play tough guy.--
[SERGEI MALATOV strikes SAM.
Talk to me! Tell me what I need to know.--
[SERGEI MALATOV strikes SAM again.
Get him up.
[The enforcer picks the SHEPARD up and sits him back down.
SAM.
No, no, no...!
SERGEI MALATOV.
Talk about girls.
SAM.
No girls. Nothing... No English.
SERGEI MALATOV.
You don't speak English but you know how to run, huh? Why you run from ship, huh...!?
[Here SAM speaks turkish to SERGEI MALATOV.
SERGEI MALATOV.
What the fuck that supposed to mean...?
[Here SAM speaks turkish to SERGEI MALATOV again.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS [from within.]
They got him in Philadelphia, he jumped when he found out the Coast Guard was gonna hold the ship.
THE GREEK [from within.]
What is he?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS [from within.]
Sergei said he looked like an Arab.
Enter THE GREEK and SPIROS VONDOPOULOS from within.
SERGEI MALATOV.
He don't know nothing.
THE GREEK.
But you kept hitting him anyway... Get his clothes.--
[SERGEI MALATOV hands THE GREEK his overcoat. THE GREEK offers a cigarette to SAM in greek.]
If you don't mind, I'm gonna have then. Mm....--
[THE GREEK lights the cigarette. They pause then THE GREEK asks SAM if he speaks greek in greek.]
Farsi...? Come on, let's talk.
SAM.
No English.
THE GREEK.
Tell me what happened to the girls.
SAM.
No English... No speak....
THE GREEK.
What then...? What do you speak? Come on, talk to me friend.--
[SAM speaks to him in Turkish.]
Oh...--
[THE GREEK places the overcoat on SAM'S shoulders.]
Turkish, huh? Got that little hook on your nose. Don't worry patriotis, I got nothing against the Turks, that's the old world, this the new.
[Here THE GREEK asks SAM for his name in turkish.
SAM.
Sam.
THE GREEK.
Sam....
SAM.
I don't know nothing about....
THE GREEK.
You know and you're going to tell me about it too. After that, you're done, I give you my word.
SAM.
We popped the can to let them take a bath, get some fresh air. You gotta understand, my crew they'd been pulling on their poutsos for weeks, these girls, they looked pretty good.
THE GREEK.
Yes...?
SAM.
The men had cash to spend. I admit it, I saw a chance for business but that was all.
THE GREEK.
What happened?
SAM.
One of the puttanas decided she didn't want to be a puttana no more. This one guy got rough with her, the whore died. The other ones saw, I didn't know what to do.
THE GREEK.
You killed one, then you kill them all?
SAM.
No, that was another man.
THE GREEK.
Another man...? What man...?
SAM.
The one girl, they saw, they knew.
[Here THE GREEK stares him down. SAM begs for leniency in turkish.
THE GREEK.
Relax, I gave you my word.
[Here SPIROS VONDOPOULOS slits SAM'S throat from behind. SAM dies.
SERGEI MALATOV [to THE GREEK].
Watch your shoes.
THE GREEK.
Goddamn Turko, bleeds like a lamb.
In a year, each whore would bring a quarter million, what is that?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Four-million dollars.
THE GREEK.
Gone....
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Malaka....
THE GREEK.
Anyway, there'll be other girls.
This one, no fingerprints, no face.
SERGEI MALATOV.
It's not a problem.
[Exit THE GREEK and SPIROS VONDOPOULOS. Exit SERGEI MALATOV and the enforcer who carry SAM with.

Scene 3.
Butchy's.
Enter BUTCHY who meets shortly with STRINGER BELL. Enter STRINGER BELL and SHAMROCK. SHAMROCK sits quietly aside. STRINGER BELL and BUTCHY pause.
BUTCHY.
...He's been good business for me though.
STRINGER BELL.
Yeah...?
BUTCHY.
Two, three quarters a week. Mister Tillman's money always right, always on time.
STRINGER BELL.
Well, that's why we coming to you for the set-up... You the man here.
BUTCHY.
I'm just saying.
STRINGER BELL.
I know the money and you know we gonna find a way to make that right but like I said, I'm not asking for myself, now, I'm asking for my man...
BUTCHY.
Avon's call, huh?
STRINGER BELL.
Wouldn't be here otherwise.
BUTCHY.
Hm... Avon is Avon.
STRINGER BELL.
Always...
[BUTCHY pauses.
BUTCHY.
He probably gonna roll past later on.
STRINGER BELL.
That'll work.
[Exit STRINGER BELL.
BUTCHY.
Your man Avon aint got no flex.
SHAMROCK.
Afraid not....
[Enter a CORRECTIONS OFFICER. Here the CORRECTIONS OFFICER hands BUTCHY an envelope containing a bundle of money. BUTCHY quickly counts the money by hand.
BUTCHY.
Boy'll meet you outside when you're ready to roll.
BUTCHY.
I'm ready now.
[Exit CORRECTIONS OFFICER. Exit SHAMROCK. Exit BUTCHY separately.

Scene 4.
Glekas' Warehouse Space.
Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA and ZIGGY SOBOTKA who meet shortly with GEORGE GLEKAS. Enter GEORGE GLEKAS.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
All right, what have you got?
[Here NICHOLAS SOBOTKA hands GEORGE GLEKAS a camera.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
All digital cameras that're brand new on the market.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
That's the Cadillac of Cameras right there.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
How many...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Four-hundred.
[Here NICHOLAS SOBOTKA snatches the camera from GEORGE GLEKAS' hand.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
You're talking a big number.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yea, that's showtime baby. This aint the WNBA.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
I'm thinking with these cameras and this brand, I can get maybe three-fifty each at retail.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
All right, cool.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Nope, not cool. Five-hundred.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Eh...?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yea, see, I've been calling some of the local chain stores, this model goes five-fifty, five-hundred when they're on sale.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Okay, five-hundred.
Times four-hundred units...
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
That's two-hundred-thousand.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
What're you looking for?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Twenty-percent.--
[GEORGE GLEKAS laughs at him.]
There's three of us.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
I want a woman with thin ankles but I'm going to go home tonight and there is going to be my wife. Eight-percent, sixteen-thousand, that's over five-thousand a piece for you and you friends.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Twenty-thousand, up-front.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Because I like you....
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Aw, look at that, it's a Kodak moment in the house.
[Here ZIGGY SOBOTKA takes a picture of GEORGE GLEKAS and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA. GEORGE GLEKAS snatches the camera and throws it to the floor.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Malaka....
I gotta run this by my people. They okay it, I'm going to give you a call.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
All right, cool.
[Exit GEORGE GLEKAS. Going ZIGGY SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA veinly attempt to hide their nervous laughter. Exit ZIGGY SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.

Scene 5.
D.O.C.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE. Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and a prison guard.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Could've been me the other night.
AVON BARKSDALE.
True....
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Except for, all of the sudden, you up and tell me to stop doing that, Avon to the rescue.
How'd you know?
AVON BARKSDALE.
I figured you were gonna be bringing your ass in here to thank me for pulling you off of that shit.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Five dead, more in the infirmary... How'd you know?
AVON BARKSDALE.
You know, I did as your uncle should because I'm concerned about you fucking yourself up.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You knew.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Look man, I aint have nothing to do with it. I mean, I might, could, know who did though.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You're practically running this place. Who else could it be?
AVON BARKSDALE.
It aint about what happened, you understand? It's about using what happened to our advantage. Play or you gonna get played.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I need to know Avon that you didn't do that shit, all right? That's what I need to know.
AVON BARKSDALE.
I already said it. You aint gonna believe it, fuck it.
You can tell yourself that I spiked it but be grateful that you're still standing. And then, once you done with all that, we can start talking about how to shave some of these years off and not just for me, for you too.
Now, they looking for the motherfucker that brought the shit in here, right? They need him to fall and you know what? I can give you a name, I can give you the right name, we can take that name on down to the assistant warden and we can get some of our lives back, you dig?
So, stay close, this play on the inside, this play on the outside, we got...--
[AVON BARKSDALE pauses.]
We got it all covered.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I don't want no part of what you do no more. You hear me? So, you can just leave me the fuck out of that, whatever it is.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and a prison guard. Exit AVON BARKSDALE.

Scene 6.
Fort Armistead.
Enter FRANK SOBOTKA who sits and pauses. Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
What's up?
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Great view,--
[FRANK SOBOTKA pauses.]
Harbor, I mean.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
It's fucking what it is. Every morning I ask myself, "Is today the day, I drive down to Fort Armistead to stare out at the harbor?" Naw, I figure, eventually, if I mind my own business, Uncle Frank will call, wake my ass up at seven in the goddamn morning, tell me to get my ass down there for some mysterious fucking reason. So, hey...
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Good anchorage, good cranes, good railroads, close to I-Ninety-Five, lot of people ready to work, right? That's my fucking town. Except, the thing is we're another hundred-ten miles from any ship coming up Hampton Roads, an extra day, so why come, right? Why come unless you know your cargo's gonna move fast and clean through the port? Why off-load in Baltimore except that a Baltimore gang will turn your ship around faster than any other port and a Baltimore gang will make sure your cargo, all your cargo, gets where it needs to go faster than anywhere else.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Like you guys never stole nothing back in the day.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
We aint back in the day Nicky. When's the last time you saw trucks backed up for three miles outside Patapsco terminal. If it wasn't for the car ships we'd be starving. The cameras come back. I'm serious, they come back today, we tell the shipper we lost the can in the stacks.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
They're gone. We turned them over already.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
To who?--
[NICHOLAS SOBOTKA pauses.]
You know the Tasco line's a cunt hair away from taking their business down to Norfolk. I don't need this shit right now.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
I do Uncle Frank, I need the money.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Damnit, you aint hearing me!
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
What...? You think this shit is easy, huh? You think it's fucking easy? You try living on five or six days a month see, see how fast it puts you on your ass. I am on my ass, Uncle Frank.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
You need money, you come to me.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Oh yea, Frankie Sobotka, Father Fucking Christmas on the docks lately, no doubt his pockets are full, huh?
FRANK SOBOTKA.
You think it's for me?! Is that what you think, huh?! It aint about me Nick!
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea, I know, I'm sorry.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Now you got Ziggy mixed in this? Jesus, Nick, the fuck are you thinking?
Me and Zig are gonna talk on this long and hard.--
[FRANK SOBOTKA pauses.]
Come on, let's go to work.
[FRANK SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA start going.]
How much?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Twenty-thousand, three-way-split.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Yea...? Who's the inside man?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
What, you don't know? Fuck you then, I aint no snitch.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Nobody should flash too much money. You know that much, right?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yeah.
[Exit FRANK SOBOTKA and NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.

Act 3. Scene 1.
Enter a CORRECTIONS OFFICER and an ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL. Enter AVON BARKSDALE, MAURIVE LEARY, and a prison guard. They sit.
MAURICE LEVY.
My client will provide accurate information as to the source of the tainted narcotics. He can identify the method by which contraband is smuggled into this institution as well as the people responsible.
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
Cellblock talk is cheap.
MAURICE LEVY.
He'll give you what you need to make a case if making a case is what your interested in.
ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL.
Your terms?
MAURICE LEVY.
Mister Barksdale is due for his first parole hearing at twenty-eight months, we'd like to trim that to a year and have your assurances of institutional support for work release and early parole.
ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL.
One year on a seven-year-bit?
MAURICE LEVY.
We're offering extraordinary cooperation in this matter. Mister Barksdale's placing himself at risk by offering information implicating other prisoners and staff at M.C.I. And, I would only add, that Mister Barksdale's extant conviction is his first, he has no priors whatsoever.
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
It's my recollection that a city police got shot behind Mister Barksdale's business.
AVON BARKSDALE.
No sir.
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
Oh, you don't remember that?
AVON BARKSDALE.
I remember the officer got shot and I remember being upset about that, not only because the officer got shot but because I knew that it was gonna be more police on me. And, I remember thinking, anytime any fool would do something like shoot a police, it's bad on everyone. And, I know that you know, that my name aint nowhere on what happened to your friend.
MAURICE LEVY.
I think what we're asking is reasonable under the circumstances. After all, until someone identifies the source of the tainted heroin, you could have another five over doses tomorrow, or the day after.
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
You can't make a case on some cons say-so, we need the dope on the table.
MAURICE LEVY.
Of course, you do. If before the end of business today you affect a search of Correctional Officer Tilghman's vehicle, locker, and person, we are confident sufficient evidence will be recovered
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
"We are confident," huh?
ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL.
As far as D.O.C. is concerned, this is a fair deal if it takes the overdoses off our plate:--
[MAURICE LEVY and AVON BARKSDALE rise from their seats and are going to exit.]
But if we come up empty on this...
AVON BARKSDALE.
You won't.
[Exit AVON BARKSDALE and MAURICE LEVY.]
CORRECTIONS OFFICER.
Five will get you ten that's the motherfucker that spiked the packages.
ASSISTANT ATTOURNEY GENERAL.
You have proof of this?--
[Remaining rise from their seats.]
Then we make the case that's there for us to make.
[Exit remaining.

Scene 2.
Little Johnny's Restaurant.
Enter SPIROS VONDOPOULOS and ETON BEN-ELEAZER. Enter NICHOLOS SOBOTKA who meets them.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Niko...! Eton is my friend. It's good to have friends meet, no?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
Eton, huh? That's from the Greek meaning what?
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
No Greek, Israeli.
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
Oh, yeah...? Cause you look Greek. I mean no offense, either way I mean.
[SPIROS VONDOPOULOS laughs lightheartedly.
ETON BEN-ELEAZER.
You have the chemicals?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
I can get them, as much as you want.
ETON BEN-ELEAZER.
When...?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
I was gonna do something this week but there's been a problem though.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
What problem?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
My cousin Ziggy, he got into a beef with these East Baltimore guys, drug-dealer by the name of Cheese took his car, burned it, now he's saying he's gonna dust Zigg if he doesn't pay.
[Here ETON BEN-ELEAZER and SPIROS VONDOPOULOS have a discourse in greek where they curse Ziggy Sobotka as "Malaka".
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
Yeah, Malaka, right. Zigg fucked up the package.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
So, you bring us the chemicals, we pay, then you pay your debt.
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
It was twenty-seven hundred, right? Now, this asshole's saying it's double, fifty-four, you believe that? First, he takes the car and now he's jacking us around on the money.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
You want we kill him?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
No, that aint it either, no.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Why not...?
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
Because, first of all, Zigg fucked it up, he owes twenty-seven and, second, you kill Cheese and we're gonna have a fight with his people, right? A year down the road, some nigger sees my cousin coming out the burger shop, putting gas in his car, no questions, puts a cap in his ass.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
He's smart, huh? Niko, he's smart.
NICHOLOS SOBOTKA.
Look, we don't have the muscle to go talk to this guy, make things right. I was hoping maybe you do.
[Exit ETON BEN-ELEAZER. SPIROS VONDOPOULOS lays his hand on NICHOLOS SOBOTKA'S shoulder and nods. Exit SPIROS VONDOPOULOS and NICHOLOS SOBOTKA severally.

Scene 3.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI. Enter DETECTIVE GREGGS, LIEUTENANT DANIELS, and DETECTIVE HERC who meet him.
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.
What kept you?
DETECTIVE HERC.
That's the beautiful thing about this department, every fucking brain-dead somehow manages to land on his feet. How's it hanging brother?
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.
How you doing?
DETECTIVE HERC.
All right.
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.
Where's Lester, we got him too, right?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
He's on the street today with homicide, Colonel Rawls promised to give him the bad new tomorrow.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Not McNulty though.
DETECTIVE HERC.
McNulty they really hate, not that I blame them.
DETECTIVE PREZBYLEWSKI.
It'd be great to have him on this, right?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
On what, we don't even know what the hell we're supposed to be chasing here, I mean, no offense to your father-in-law but it's real thin.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
We're here because Major Valchek and because he believes Frank Sobotka and his down-at-the-heels union local has too much money. So, to start with, Prezbylewski and Freamon are gonna put some DNRs on the union hall phones. Also, run what you can on the union finances and on Sobotka personally, we put that together quick, send a copy to the Major and buy ourselves some time. Meanwhile, you two do what you do best, find out what port folks like to cop on a Friday night and set up some hand-to-hands, maybe a reverse or two.
Whatever else happens, we'll run with the program for a few weeks, maybe make a drug case or two down by the port. Beats the hell outta ECU anyway.
[Exit all.

Scene 4.
Baltimore City Street.
Enter STRINGER BELL. Enter a HITMAN who meets him.
STRINGER BELL.
So, how that DC game man?
HITMAN.
Same as it ever was.
[STRINGER BELL hands the HITMAN an envelope. The HITMAN opens the envelope and counts the contained bundles of money.
STRINGER BELL.
Chocolate City, I haven't been there in a while man.
HITMAN.
Call it Drama City nowadays. Otherwise, same old Go-Go same old bamas, same soup just reheated, know what I'm saying?
STRINGER BELL.
If you need anything to make this happen, you gotta get it yourself, I can't go to my people.
HITMAN.
If Stringer Bell, reaching all the way passed Baltimore with this kinda work then we got a real mystery going on, don't we?--
[They pause.]
Don't worry, no mistakes, nothing that might come back on you.
STRINGER BELL.
You sure of your people?
HITMAN.
My cousin up in there, he on it.
STRINGER BELL.
All right. Can't stand that Go-Go shit anyhow.
HITMAN.
Aint heard it live then, I know a club in Oxen Hill that will wreck yall.
STRINGER BELL.
All right,--
[Exit the HITMAN.]
If I'm round the way.
[Exit STRINGER BELL.

Scene 5.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter OFFICER RUSSELL, DETECTIVE BUNK, and DETECTIVE FREAMON with a laptop they put down, open up, and power up on a table. Enter LIEUTENANT DANIELS who meets them.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
So, this is it?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Uh, yea. Just picked it up from the Port Administrator.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
So, what am I looking at?
OFFICER RUSSELL [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
The Atlantic Light on the day the can with the women was off-loaded; the boxes are containers, this ones being off-loaded and set on a chassis. Here's the time, ten, thirty-one hours.
[They watch a change in the display of the computer.]
See: It was moved to Lane L, Stack 6, Row 3 by an RTG at ten, thirty-seven hours.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
RTG...?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Rubber-tire-gantry. So, from ship to stack took... Uh, six-minutes... That's the way it's supposed to work but....
[DETECTIVE FREAMON picks up a folder from the table and opens it. OFFICER RUSSELL looks to DETECTIVE FREAMON for a confirmation. DETECTIVE FREAMON reads from pages contained in the folder.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
A,--
[OFFICER RUSSELL types the information as DETECTIVE FREAMON makes it available then strokes the Enter key.]
Q, Q, Z as in Zebra, 3, 9, 6, 5, 9, 4, Check-Digit, 7.
DETECTIVE BUNK [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
That's the container number of the can with the women in it.
OFFICER RUSSELL [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
See that it's never entered by the checker so as far as the computer's concerned it no longer exists.
DETECTIVE BUNK [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
And, Sobotka says, that can happen when the radio waves get knocked down or when a checker inputs a bad serial number.
OFFICER RUSSELL[to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
It came off the Atlantic Light at eleven, twenty-six hours and doesn't show up on the computer again until fifteen, twelve hours. I find it two-hours after that.
DETECTIVE FREAMON [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
So for nearly four hours it's out on the docks, unaccounted for.
DETECTIVE BUNK [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
And, Sobotka says, cans get lost all the time, when they get found they get put back into the computer.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
You believe him?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Nope, not this can.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
So what's the plan?
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Database on this computer has records for every ship that birthed at Patapsco over the last two years, we gotta go back through and find what other cans might have disappeared like that.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
See if there's a pattern.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Well how many ships we talking about?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Hundreds.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Aint like I got a prayer bringing in this case otherwise.
[Exit DETECTIVE BUNK. Exit remaining severally.

Scene 6.
D.O.C. Library.
PRISONER 1.
But it's fucked because the man got to where he needed to be and she wasn't even worth it. Daisy wasn't nothing passed any other bitch anyways, y'know? And, he did all that for her and, in the end, it didn't amount to shit.
PRISONER 2.
Fitzgerald said that there were no second acts in American lives, can you believe that?
PRISONER 3.
Man, shit, we locked up, we best not believe that, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
He's saying that the past is always with us. Y'know, where we come from, what we go through, how we go through it. All that shit matters.
Like at the end of the book, y'know? Boats and tides and all. It's like, you can change up, you can say your somebody new, you can give yourself a whole new story but what came first is who you really are and what happened before is what really happened. And, it don't matter that some fool say he different because the only thing that make you different is what you really do or what you really go through. Like, y'know like, all them books in his library. Now, he fronting with all them books but if we pull one down off the shelf, and aint none of the pages ever been open. He got all them books and he aint read near one of them.
Gatsby, he was who he was and he did what he did and cause he wasn't ready to get real with the story that shit caught up to him.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE walks aside and busys himself. Exit PRISONERS. Enter another PRISONER.
PRISONER 4.
D, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah, yea, you can't be in here now man.
PRISONER 4.
Yo, yall didn't get any final calls in this week yo?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah, we got some.
PRISONER 4.
Well, I didn't see any out there.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
All right man,  give me a minute, let me finish up right here real quick and I'll go and get one for you.
[The fourth PRISONER strangles D'ANGELO BARKSDALE from behind with a belt. D'ANGELO BARKSDALE dies. The prisoner exits, dragging D'ANGELO BARKSDALE with him.

Act 4. Scene 1.
Outside Dolores' Bar.
Enter ZIGGY SOBOTKA from within. Enter FRANK SOBOTKA from within who meets him.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
What the hell happened to you?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
I fell down.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
How many times?
[They pause.]
Let's walk.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Pop, I'm....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Walk with me Zigg.
[They walk aside.]
Votes break for us, that pier comes back online by next Spring. More ships, more work.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yeah, great....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
What the fuck are you about?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
What...?
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Is that my son in there lighting hundred-dollar bills on fire like an asshole in a bar full of working-stiffs? What the fuck is that?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Just a smile.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
A smile?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yea, a smile.
You want to hit me again Pop? Go ahead, take a shot.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Where you come by that kinda cash? You know you aint had the days.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
No, definitely not. It's cause my father's in the union, fuck that.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Seniority prevails Zigg. It's the only way to keep it halfway honest.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
I know, I aint complaining.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
I wish I could give you more. You don't think I want to throw you more?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Oh, you throw plenty.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
It's just... Christ, Zigg, maybe if I'd listened to your mother cause she's the one always talking about you should do the community college like your brother.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Pop, it's cool. Pop, don't.... You wanna know what I remember? Do you...?
[They pause.]
I remember you and Uncle Jerry and Uncle Walt, Peepop all sitting around the kitchen table talking shit about this gang and that gang. Who's better with the break-bulk, who could turn it around faster, who's lazy... Always a fucking argument, right?
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Four Polacks, six opinions.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
I remember when you all went down to picket them scabs at Covington Piers, how Jackie Taylor got run over by the police car in the middle of that whole goddamn mess. I remember how the Paceco fell during that windstorm. You remember, right? Killed Fat Rick dead.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Yeah, what else you remember?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Everything... Everything....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
So, tell me Mister Back-in-the-Day, what the fuck are we doing down here with the wharf rats in the middle of the goddamn night?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Beats the fuck outta me.
[ZIGGY SOBOTKA and FRANK SOBOTKA exit together.

Scene 2.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter LIEUTENANT DANIELS. Enter OFFICER RUSSELL, DETECTIVE FREAMON, and DETECTIVE BUNK who meet him and hand him a folder. LIEUTENANT DANIELS opens the folder and looks over the pages contained.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
Every one of those Post-Its is a can that disappears when it's being off-loaded, the yellow slips, they show up again with legitimate cargo intact and are re-entered so you figure those are honest mistakes.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
But the pink and the green, those cans, never come back. They stay out of the computer for good.
OFFICER RUSSELL.
And, the pink ones, like the can full of dead girls, they're all from the same shipping line, Talco. And, on all of them, the same checker, this guy Thomas Pakusa, he goes by horseface, he's the one working.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
You went at him already, right?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
We Grand Jury'ied his ass but that motherfucker didn't blink.
[DETECTIVE BUNK wretches and restrains himself from vomiting. LIEUTENANT DANIELS places a wastebasket in front of DETECTIVE BUNK.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
You wanna hit the head? Get yourself right, Detective?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Nah, I'm good.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
The point is, we have a pattern here. What they're doing eliminates almost all of the paper trail.--
[DETECTIVE BUNK tries and succeeds again in restraining himself from vomiting.]
As long as they can get a truck past the outbound lanes, and there's a dozen ways to do that, the only thing they leave behind is a little tell-tale in the computer. A box comes off the ship, flashes for a few moments, and then, blip, it's gone.--
[DETECTIVE BUNK barely wins over another impulse to vomit.]
Our target is supposed to be Sobotka, right? I mean, on paper anyway.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Then what you're telling me is it's better than a fair bet he actually is a target in Bunk's murders.
[DETECTIVE BUNK pauses over the waste basket while holding his hand up to signal for the others to pause a moment. They pause.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
 Look, maybe we can fold our investigation into yours Lieutenant.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
And, put my ass in the air with fourteen open homicides, I might never clear?--
[They pause.]
So, what's the next move on this?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
We clone the computer and start watching what's happening on the docks in real time.
[DETECTIVE BUNK still wretches yet again. Exit all but DETECTIVE BUNK who remains wretching over the waste basket.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Oh, shit....
[Exit DETECTIVE BUNK.

Scene 3.
Glekas' Warehouse Space.
Enter ZIGGY SOBOTKA and GEORGE GLEKAS.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
All right, I got S-Class and SL-Class Benzs, roadsters, sedans, cabriolets, I got them brand new with the keys in the ignition, nothing stripped.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Off the docks?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
No shit, off the docks. What the fuck do I look like, a fucking car dealer?
Twenty on the dollar. But, if we're gonna do this, I'm gonna need you to order a minimum of three or else it aint worth it for me. Now, base price starts at seventy-three, you round it I get fifteen for each car that you want.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Malaka, a stolen car is a stolen car. Without title who is going to pay even ten for it?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Sure, in Baltimore maybe, but where you're from I'll bet you got family that don't give two fucks whether or not an American car got title on it. Man, it would be a sad state of affairs if a international entrepreneur, such as yourself, didn't know what to do with a couple extra Mercedes.
[They pause.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Can you get the S-Class Mercedes in Pacific Blue? That would be best.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Aint a problem, they all just gotta have sunroofs.
[They pause.]
It's a long story.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Next Tuesday would be good for me, a ship comes Wednesday early, so....
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Listen, uh, think I can get an advance on this? I got some expenses right now and I'm a little tapped.
[They pause again.]
I'm just asking.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Payment on delivery.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Hey, don't worry about it chief. I would never even dream of cheating a smart business man like yourself.
[They shake hands quickly and then exit together.

Scene 5.
Glekas' Warehouse Space.
Enter STRINGER BELL and accompanying soldiers. Enter OMAR and accompanying soldiers who meet them. One of STRINGER BELL'S soldiers goes to search OMAR.
OMAR.
Uh-uh, big man. That aint going to work for Omar.
STRINGER BELL [to soldier.]
It's all right.
[The soldier stands aside.
OMAR.
Been, what, a year? Boy, you don't know, I've been dreaming of running into you again.
STRINGER BELL.
You got a focus, I'll give you that.
OMAR.
Man be like that when he got work to do, know what I mean?
STRINGER BELL.
Oh, I think you done enough. Bird gone, Wee-Bey coped out to all them murders, he in jail now forever and a day, Stinkum, I mean, you closed the book on that nigger your damn self, Avon, he outta pocket for the time being....
OMAR.
Leaving you.
STRINGER BELL.
Oh, you looking for closure, huh?
OMAR.
Hey, look here man, aint no closure. Not unless Brandon is going to walk up out his grave and come up in this room right now. See, all I know is whoever did him that way, they gets got.
STRINGER BELL.
Whoever did him that way? They still out there right now.
OMAR.
Oh, so, now yall gonna play like you didn't have nothing to do with it?
STRINGER BELL.
Nah, I mean, I can't lie, I put the motherfucking paper out on yall but yall was fucking with my stash, anything after that, part of the game.
OMAR.
Maybe, but see, yall went passed that with Brandon.
STRINGER BELL.
That wasn't me, that wasn't Avon either. Bird and them, were there to see it but another man did all the extras. All that cigarette shit, all that bullshit with the eyes. See, this man, he building a rep for himself and he wants you bad. The brutal shit, that's, y'know, that's his calling card. Little bow-tie wearing motherfucker from out of N.Y.C.
OMAR.
What he go by?
STRINGER BELL.
Brother Mouzone. I know you heard of him, right? So, if yall got the mind to go after him, I might be able to point you in that direction.
OMAR.
Why...?
STRINGER BELL.
What happened to your boy was business but how that shit happened, I mean, you got the right to take that to heart, I figure that'll make us even. Now, you want to know where this nigger is?--
[They pause then OMAR nods.]
North Avenue Motel, room two-two-one.
[Exit OMAR and accompanying soldiers. Exit  STRINGER BELL and accompanying soldiers opposite.

Scene 5.
Glekas' Warehouse Space.
Enter GEORGE GLEKAS and a YOUNG STORE CLERK who busy themselves. Enter ZIGGY SOBOTKA who meets them.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Doing the old inventory are we? I hope there aint been no thieving going on.--
[GEORGE GLEKAS signs to the YOUNG STORE CLERK to exit.]
Not like the problem we got down at the docks.
[Exit the YOUNG STORE CLERK.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
You get the cars off?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Sailed two hours ago on the Caspia, listed as scrap aluminum. I got the bill of lading right here.
[Here ZIGGY SOBOTKA gives several papers to GEORGE GLEKAS. ZIGGY SOBOTKA pauses as GEORGE GLEKAS quickly reads them over.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Forgive me but how am I to know you did not ship them empty?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Oh, I just don't know, y'know? Lemme see.... Maybe, if I had a camera I could have taken some quality photos of them Benzs in them cans but, oops, I forgot my camera got busted. Or, you know what I could do? I could get old Boris to skulk around them docks, y'know? Keep the old commie red-eye on them containers, make sure the dock boys are playing me straight.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
They are what I order?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Yes.
I got you the S-Series in the colors that you wanted, I even got one parked outside. You wanna see?
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Outside, now?
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
I'm just taking her out for a spin chief, I'm gonna put her back tonight.--
[GEORGE GLEKAS produces an envelope and hands it to ZIGGY SOBOTKA. GEORGE GLEKAS pauses as ZIGGY SOBOTKA counts the bundles of money contained within.]
Wait, one. Y'know, them cars list out at better than sixty-thousand each.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Twenty-percent was last week. Today the quote is ten. Still, it's good money for a few hours work.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
No...! Oh, no...! No fucking way! We had a deal motherfucker, a deal! You listen to me! It was my fucking ass out there on the line, mine! And this, this piddling shit, is the best that you come up with? You don't play me like that, you don't!--
[ZIGGY SOBOTKA reaches out the envelope to GEORGE GLEKAS but  it's refused. They pause.]
Fuck you, you thieving Greek cunt.
GEORGE GLEKAS.
Malaka...!--
[GEORGE GLEKAS grabs ZIGGY SOBOTKA and strikes him. ZIGGY SOBOTKA falls down. A YOUNG STORE CLERK enters. GEORGE GLEKAS curses ZIGGY SOBOTKA at great lengths and in greek.]
You don't know that one, "Eh, chief?" But, you know "malaka" yes? Now you know Malaka with dress.--
[GEORGE GLEKAS picks up ZIGGY SOBOTKA and then ensures that the envelope is secure with him then shoves him off, going toward the exit. Exit ZIGGY SOBOTKA. The YOUNG STORE CLERK and GEORGE GLEKAS pause. Enter ZIGGY SOBOTKA with a pistol in his hand. ZIGGY SOBOTKA shoots the YOUNG STORE CLERK and he falls down. ZIGGY SOBOTKA shoots GEORGE GLEKAS several time before he falls down. ZIGGY SOBOTKA shoots GEORGE GLEKAS again while he lays down.]
No,--
[GEORGE GLEKAS begs for his life in greek.]
No, no, please....
[Here ZIGGY SOBOTKA shoots GEORGE GLEKAS a final time. GEORGE GLEKAS dies.
ZIGGY SOBOTKA.
Malaka....
[Exit ZIGGY SOBOTKA. All goes dark.

Act 5. Scene 1.
Union Hall Office.
Enter FRANK SOBOTKA. Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA who meets him.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Uncle Frank....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Hey, Nicky boy, just in time.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Uncle Frank....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
What, what happened?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Ziggy....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
The fuck is it this time?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
He shot... They're saying he shot two of the Greeks, last night, they're saying.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Shot...? He shot...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
He's locked up, he's fucking charged with murder.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
The Greeks...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Double G and one of the kids that works down the store on the avenue with him. They're saying he walked in there... He went in....
[Here FRANK SOBOTKA grabs NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Why was he there? Where were you, where the fuck were you?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Uncle Frank, I didn't know.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Didn't know what, what didn't you know, what the fuck is Ziggy doing anywhere near the fucking Greeks?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
I don't know, I don't.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
You don't know? You're supposed to, you're his fucking cousin!
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
You're his father.
[Exit FRANK SOBOTKA. Exit NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.

Scene 2.
Motel Room.
Enter BROTHER. A suspicious knock sounds from within.
BROTHER.
What is it, Lamar?
[BROTHER opens up the door that leads within. Enter OMAR with a pistol in hand. Quickly OMAR shoots BROTHER. BROTHER falls down.]
No need to prolong this.
OMAR.
Nah, we got time.
BROTHER.
You kill my man?
OMAR.
Naw, he's resting.--
[They pause.]
I'm saying, aint you want to know?
BROTHER.
Not particularly.
OMAR.
About a year ago, a boy named Brandon got got, here in Baltimore. Stuck and burned before he passed.
BROTHER.
The game is the game.
OMAR.
Indeed but, see, that boy was beautiful, wasn't no need for yall to do him the way yall did, you feel me?
BROTHER.
A year, you say?
OMAR.
About that....
BROTHER.
You've got some wrong information.
OMAR.
Man, you lying to live.
BROTHER.
I'm at peace with my God, do what you will.--
[They pause. OMAR holsters his pistol.]
So, you know...? What happened to your boy, it's not my style.
OMAR.
The way your bleeding out your back looks like that bullet bore clean through.
BROTHER.
Nine at close range will do that.
[Exit OMAR. All goes dark.

Scene 3.
Fort Armistead.
Enter FRANK SOBOTKA. Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA who meets him. NICHOLAS SOBOTKA hands FRANK SOBOTKA a folded up slip of paper that he reads from.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Under the bridge, huh?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
It's out in the open, I guess the cops can't bug it or nothing. These guys, they got a big operation to protect, they're global-like.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Yeah, they're really something, huh?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
You got no idea.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Oh, I think I got a pretty clear picture of what they're about. We aint talking about a bunch of thieves rolling drums of olive oil off the docks, are we? Heroin...? How the fuck did that happen Nick?--
[They pause.]
Look at me! You aint much more than a kid, me... I should've known better. I put you up with them, for what? I flushed my fucking family, for what?--
[They pause again.]
I aint going down there. What I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna talk with the police. I'm gonna do to those cocksuckers what they did to me.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
You can't do that.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Why not...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
They want to meet with us on Ziggy. They can lean on that witness, that kid that he shot, the one that was there in the store. Kid's gonna say that Double G had the gun, that it was like self-defense or some shit. Ziggy could walk Uncle Frank, he could.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
And, for that, they want what?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Loyalty.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
Motherfuckers...!--
[They pause again.]
I'll hear them out.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
All right, I'll drive.
FRANK SOBOTKA.
No, it's just me, you aint dealing with those guys no more.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Uncle Frank, me and Spiros....
FRANK SOBOTKA.
I don't fucking want you with me Nick, go home!
 [Exit FRANK SOBOTKA. Exit NICHOLAS SOBOTKA opposite.

Scene 4.
Major Crimes Division.
Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA, LIEUTENANT DANIELS, DETECTIVE BUNK, DETECTIVE FREAMON, and two ATTORNEYS. They all sit around a table.
 NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
You guys are on all of it, huh?
ATTORNEY.
You have a public defender sitting next to you Mister Sobotka. If there's anything about this deal, you don't understand....
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
They killed my uncle, I don't need to talk to no one but you people.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
How do you know they did it?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
I... I told.... Spiros calls me after everybody's getting arrested, right? Tells me, he wants us to keep our mouths shut but Uncle Frank... He says, he aint gonna, says, he's gonna go talk to the police. Spiros says that if we keep quiet they can help my cousin Zigg, you know? And now, Spiros is saying that, I don't know, the, uh... The kid, the one that didn't die, the one that got shot, he's gonna say that the gun, it wasn't Zigg's, that Glekas pulled the gun and it wasn't really Zigg's fault.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
So, your uncle went to meet them and talk about that?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Under the Key Bridge, yea. I seen his car, was still there this morning. I seen that, I fucking knew.
ATTORNEY.
If they killed your uncle to shut him up, they probably....
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Want to kill me too? Shit, I was gonna go down with him to the bridge. I was gonna go down there with him, he wouldn't....
ATTORNEY.
You were involved in the smuggling?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
We didn't know about the girls. Them girls that got found, we didn't know there were girls in there.
ATTORNEY.
You thought it was drugs?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Drugs, stolen shit, whatever.We got paid, by the can, to creep shit off the docks, that's all.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
That and selling the drugs you got from The Greek too, right?
[Here DETECTIVE BUNK retrieves papers from a folder and sets them on the table in front of NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
That's your cousins signed statement.
He put himself in, talked about buying the gun; the bill of sale from the pawn shop is in there too.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
You see, it wouldn't have mattered if the second victim had back up on his story. Your cousin was locked in.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Your uncle was sitting yesterday right where you're sitting now. Ready to give us everything if we made the drug charges go away for you. And, maybe, got your cousin to a better lock-up than Eager Street.
ATTORNEY.
As you can see we're willing to honor that deal even if it didn't happen for your uncle.
[Here they all pause. NICHOLAS SOBOTKA nods.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Spiros was the main guy, he told me and Frank which cans to disappear and then when it came to me and the drugs he was the one who hooked that up too.
The Isreali, he was their drug guy, I went through him for all my re-ups until they passed me off to "White Mike" McArdle. You know Mike?--
[DETECTIVE BUNK points out a photograph of "White Mike" McArdle to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.]
Guess you do.
Double G was in charge of stolen shit. Anything we could lift from the docks went straight to his store but he's dead so why am I wasting your time, right?--
[DETECTIVE BUNK points out a photograph of Ilona Petrovna to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.]
Her, I don't know.
My uncle, you know about him. I don't know why you got Horse's picture here. Horse don't know shit, I'll testify to that.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
What about the Russian?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
He drove for them, anything that had to come off the docks, he was their guy but I also got the feeling that if somebody had to get hurt, he was probably going to be around for that part of it too.
ATTORNEY.
Why did you think that?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Sergei, he just carried it like that. And also, after them girls died in the can, they told me that whoever fucked that up, they had already got to in Philly, they said that whoever did that to them girls was dead.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
And, how did they say it...?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
They just said, uh, I don't know, that, uh... That the guy that you all was looking for, he was a dead end.
ATTORNEY.
A dead end?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea, "in Philly," they said.
[Here DETECTIVE FREAMON points out a photograph to NICHOLAS SOBOTKA of SPIROS VONDOPOULOS, A MAN IN A SUIT, and aside THE GREEK.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Who's the suit?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
You sure? We know that someone is above your man Spiros. Someone, he was in communication with.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yeah, The Greek. Sure, I know who you mean, I mean, I don't have a name or nothing.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
The man in the suit, the man with Vondopoulos in the photograph. That's not The Greek?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
No, that's The Greek right there.
[Here NICHOLAS SOBOTKA points out the THE GREEK to all.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
That the guy?
[NICHOLOS SOBOTKA nods. All goes dark.

Scene 4.
Hotel Suite.
Enter THE GREEK and SPIROS VONDOPOLOUS.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
The body came up.
THE GREEK.
I saw on the television.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
We weighted him down pretty goddamn good but the water just coughed him back up.
THE GREEK.
Bad luck, that's all.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Sergei would've done better I admit.
Niko, the nephew, by now he knows.
THE GREEK.
Our people wait for him but so do the police. I'm thinking there's nothing to be done at this point, what he says he says.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Well, he knows my name but my name is not my name. And, you...? To them you're only, The Greek.
THE GREEK.
And, of course, I'm not even Greek.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
So, we go but there's a little business to do first. We have a shipment on the docks this week, one-hundred and fifty kilograms.
THE GREEK.
And, no one to pick it up....
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
Not just Sergei, I miss Frank too. We can't disappear the can but maybe we send someone, bring it off the docks, legitimate.
THE GREEK.
Everywhere we go these day we seem to be walking into police, this is telling us something.
SPIROS VONDOPOULOS.
You're going to leave fifteen-million dollars to rot on the pier.
[Here SPIROS VONDOPOULOS curses aloud in greek.
THE GREEK.
Lambs go to slaughter, a man he learns to walk away. No, we go. Call the others in, let them know there is no longer any point.
[Exit SPIROS VONDOPOULOS. Exit THE GREEK.

Scene 5.
City Park.
Enter NICHOLAS SOBOTKA with a bottle of liqour that he drinks from. Enter an old HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND who he meets.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Hey, Prissy.
[NICHOLOS SOBOTKA hands his HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND the bottle of liqour. She drinks from it before handing it back.
HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.
I thought you'd be here.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Fucking Ziggy....
HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.
When didn't he do dumb shit?
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Remember when he forged that 'age of majority' card? We all pooled our money, you drove us over Brooklyn Park to the Cut Rate.
HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.
My mom's puke-yellow chevy.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
We told him specifically, two bottle of Pikesville Rye and....
HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.
Southern Comfort for me.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
What did fuck-nuts get? Fucking Boone's Farm. He said, that's what the college kids drank.
HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND.
But, we did up right here.
NICHOLAS SOBOTKA.
Yea, he stood up there, a bottle in each hand, screaming loud enough to wake the nuns. What the fuck did he say?--
[They pause. NICHOLAS SOBOTKA raises his arms as high as he can.]
"College kids aint shit!"--
[NICHOLAS SOBOTKA throws down his bottle of liqour and falls down to his knees.]
Goddamn Zigg....
[End.