Original subtitles

Well, we're moving on up. Moving on up. To the east side. Moving on up. To the

east.

I can't believe that was one sale worth going out in the cold for.

Yeah. I didn't even mind all those people stepping on my toes.

Florence, you should have gone with it. Uh -uh. If I want somebody stepping on

my toes, I'll go dancing with Clarence.

Florence, wait till you see what I got for Lionel.

He'll never wear it.

It's for me.

Child,

if Lionel comes home from a business trip and sees you wearing that, you

be wearing it long.

Well, ladies, if you don't need me anymore, I should get back to that cold

pavement.

Why don't you stay a minute and warm up? Florence can get you some coffee.

Good idea.

I'll help you, Florence.

Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Jefferson, but my job is far too important for me

take a coffee break.

Well, okay, Ralph. However, some brandy might be nice.

Help yourself.

Yes, ma 'am. Thank you.

Well, when is Lionel coming home?

Oh, not for two more days.

Oh, I really miss him. I know what you mean.

When George first went into business, there were many, many nights I'd sit

twiddling my thumbs with nothing to do.

Oh, that must have been awful.

Yeah. Now I do it when he's home.

Well, I've been keeping busy trying to find a topic for my sociology thesis.

I spent the last three nights sitting in the library.

Have you come up with anything?

Just the... Oh, we're in.

Oh, hi, Mr. Bentley. How are you?

Oh, I'm fine.

Is there anything you wanted, Mr. Bentley?

Well, what is it?

Oh, I'm looking for Ralph.

Right here, Mr. Bentley, sir.

Oh, uh, Ralph, you're needed at your post immediately.

I'm on my break.

Whoever it is can wait.

Oh, I don't think Mr. Whittendale likes me, Captain. Whittendale?

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.

Hi, Jenny.

Oh, hi, Mr. Bentley.

Florence, am I okay?

No, I think you got a cavity back there.

Oh, by the way, Jenny, if you're looking for a topic for your thesis, the life

of a New York doorman might be good.

No one realizes the contributions he makes to mankind.

Thank you, Mrs. Jefferson.

Or the contributions mankind makes to him.

Touche, Mrs. Willis.

Touche.

You're doing a thesis, Jenny? Oh, yeah, if I can find a topic.

Oh, yes, I know that problem. When I was at Oxford once, I spent six weeks in

the library trying to find the perfect subject.

Did you find one? Yes, the librarian.

I spent the next six weeks studying her. Well,

I'd better get going. Good luck with your thesis, Jenny. Thank you, Mr.

Hey, wait a minute. Yes?

What did you finally do for your thesis?

Oh, I explored a fascinating subject.

The memory capacity of the human mind.

Oh, that does sound interesting.

Did you get a grade?

I don't remember.

Hi, Marcus.

Mr. Jefferson, is Mr. Jefferson here?

Goodbye, Marcus.

Oh, sorry, Mr. Biddley.

He's at a meeting downtown.

Oh, man.

Well, is there something I can do for you?

No.

Yeah.

No.

Marcus, what is it?

Well, I was wondering if you'd give me a little advance on my pay.

Oh, sure. How much do you need?

$200.

$200?

Marcus, are you in some kind of trouble?

He is if he thinks Mr. Jefferson's going to give him $200.

The money's not for me.

in the old gang I used to run with.

You see, he got in a little accident and wound up in the hospital.

What happened to him? Well, he was walking down the street when these two

from another gang beat his head in with a potty.

That doesn't sound like an accident to me.

It was an accident. They didn't kill him.

I thought you broke away from that gang. I did, but they steal my friends and

they need my help.

Now, Elsie is going to meet me at the store in ten minutes to pick up the

Who is L .C.? Well, he's another dude in the Black Widows.

My old gang.

Well, if you really need it, Marcus, I'll lend you the money.

Well, all right.

Uh, Marcus, do you think you could introduce me to L .C.? Uh, what for?

Well, I think I just found the perfect topic for my thesis.

Inside a Harlem street gang.

Uh -uh, forget it, Jenny. That's too dangerous. Oh, Mama, you just... You

to write about something inside, write about inside a butterfly collection.

You're right, Jenny. I mean... You have no idea what goes on in that gang.

That's why I want to talk to L .C.

But that ain't going to do you no good.

And the only thing you're going to get out of him is, I didn't do it, I wasn't

there, and I don't know nothing about nothing.

Here, Marcus.

Thanks, Miss Jefferson. I really appreciate it.

See you all later.

Uh, Marcus.

Marcus, wait a minute.

Damn. Don't worry, Jenny. You'll find another topic.

Uh... If I'm going to find a topic, I better do some research.

You're going to the library?

Uh, yeah.

The library.

Well, don't forget, we're having dinner here tonight. Oh, don't worry. I'll be

here. Bye.

160, 180, 200.

Thanks, man.

I owe you one. Wrong. You owe me 200.

I knew you'd come through, man. It's for a good cause. Yeah.

You know, this is the first time I ever thought of Lamar's head as a good cause.

Hey, how are the rest of the dudes? They waiting.

Waiting? For what?

To hit the pallbearers for what they did to Lamar.

Man, ain't you tired of that, man?

Man, it's the only thing I know.

But you ain't no dummy. You got it up here.

And you're wasting it out there.

Hey, Marquez.

Oh, Lord.

You must be Elsie. I must be dreaming.

Who are you?

Jenny's a friend, man. She's cool. She's more than cool.

She's just about the finest fox I've ever seen.

She's also married.

So what?

To my boss's son.

Uh -oh.

I'm Jenny Jefferson, and I'm doing a thesis.

What's a thesis?

It's a paper for school, like a book. A book?

Yeah, and I'd like to write about street gangs and how they operate.

May I help you? Cool.

Marcus, could you get this for me, please? Oh, sure.

Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, you know, about your gang,

do? I'll tell you what they do. They mug old people.

That ain't true, Grandma.

We mug young people, too.

Boo!

Hey, I gotta run.

Maura's waiting for this money.

Can't we go and have some coffee and talk?

Oh, mama.

You got the dime. I got the time.

How many notes?

Barnes, where's the shrimp?

Where is it?

Sounds like he's in the bedroom.

I wonder what's keeping Jenny.

Maybe she got hung up at the library.

Macy, where'd you get this thing?

At Macy's, they had a giant sale.

Oh, yeah? Well, that's where this thing belongs, on a giant.

I'll get it.

This sweater looks terrible.

Maybe you're not wearing it right.

Say what?

to look at you.

That was Jenny on the phone.

Is she running late?

Before the night's over, she may be running for her life.

What do you mean?

Well, she said she can't make it for dinner. She's up in Harlem with the

Widows. What?

Who are the Black Widows? A senior citizens group?

It's the street gang.

Our daughter has joined a street gang?

No, she said to tell you that she's doing some research on her thesis.

She also said to tell you not to worry.

But if I was you, I'd be worried to death.

Oh, Tom.

Oh, don't worry, Helen. I'll call her back.

Florence, where was Jenny calling from? Probably some phone booth.

Oh, where did the Black Widows hang out?

Anywhere they want to.

That's Marcus's old gang. He should know.

Good idea. I'll call him. Forget it, Weezy. Marcus ain't got no phone.

Well, I'll just go up to Harlem and get Jenny.

Willis, are you crazy?

You don't even know where she is. Where there's a will, there's a way. And where

there's a Willis, there's a dumb idea.

I'll go with you, Tom. Me too.

Hold it, Weezy. Look, you ain't going nowhere.

Now, if you want to go through with this dumb idea, you go right ahead, but you

should take somebody with you who knows the streets. Oh, thank you, George.

Not me, Mark.

Uh -uh.

The only thing I know about them streets is to stay off of them.

Okay, well, I'll go with you. Oh, thank you, George.

Look, I'm just doing this for the line.

Call us in a half hour and let us know where you are.

I don't think they can do that, Miss Jefferson.

Why not?

Because you can't make phone calls from the morgue.

Come on.

got all the protection we need. We do?

Yeah, me.

Are you sure this is the right place?

Look, the winos said this is where the black widows hang out.

But he was drunk.

That's right. He was too drunk to make up a lie.

Wait a minute.

George, come over here and see if you can look through this keyhole.

Why can't you look at it?

Because you're closer to the ground.

on this.

Can you see anything?

No.

You can't see anything or there's nothing in there? Look, if something's

there, I can't see it. If nothing's in there, I can't see it. Now, how the hell

am I supposed to know if I ain't seeing something or I ain't seeing nothing?

Jenny ain't here, so let's go.

Well, shouldn't we try someplace else? Yeah, my dining room. She's probably

having dinner, including my share, so come on.

I'm telling you, Rilo, that chick you was with last night was ugly.

Ugly? Ugly?

What you know about ugly?

Plenty. I've been hanging out with you for years.

Yeah, it looked like we were.

Yeah, ain't nobody showed up yet.

have to.

Hey!

I was just kidding. How you doing? Better than you, blood.

What you two dudes doing here, man? What?

We're from the gas company. We came to check your meter.

Yeah.

We ain't got no meter.

Oh, well, in that case, ain't nothing to check.

Let's stay, huh?

Now, now, now, take it easy.

I'll tell you the truth.

We're here because we're looking for my daughter. Your daughter? This ain't no

daycare center for no hawkies.

But you don't understand. She said that she was with the Black Widow, so we

thought that you... You know, I get the feeling these turkeys are cops, man.

Cops? Do I look like a cop?

You're right, Slick. They don't allow no midgets on the police force.

Listen to your turkey.

orders from nobody. Oh, you don't? Oh, I do. I do.

Look, Shorty.

Now, you're talking to a black widow, dear.

Now, when we say jump, man, people don't ask why.

They ask how high.

You're just lucky you carry that gun. You're just lucky I ain't used it yet.

Yeah, now put your hands over your head.

So helpful. Oh, what's going on here?

Elsie, that's my father. Hey, leave him alone, Slick. He's cool.

Okay, shorty, you free.

I ain't her father here.

Oh? But I'm her father -in -law.

You're her father?

I know. I look too young, don't I?

What are you two doing here?

That's what I keep asking myself.

Darling, we were worried about you.

Oh, well, there's nothing to worry about.

I've been with L .C.

He's been showing me around the Black Widow's territory.

Territory. Elsie, when did you become a tour guide, man?

It's cool, Slick. She's writing a book on street gangs. No, she isn't. Come on,

Jenny. Oh, Danny, relax.

There is nothing to be afraid of. That's what I keep telling them. Now, let's

get the hell out of here.

No, no, no, not yet.

I want to find out more about the gang.

You're writing a book on gangs, huh?

Well, it's not really a book. It's a paper for school.

Yeah, is anybody going to get to read it?

Yeah.

That's with two L's. Yeah, and, uh, I'm slick. That's one L.

Who cares?

That's no L's.

Hey, everybody, let's shake. Hey.

Who's this?

This is Huey. He's in the game.

Oh, yeah? Who changed his diapers?

You don't shut up, I'm gonna change your face.

pretty.

Oh, thank you, Huey. You want a piece of gum?

Uh -oh. Oh, I love them.

Hey,

cooler. She's too old for me. Oh?

How old are you, Huey?

Twelve and a half.

You're just a boy.

We have to grow up fast around here. Besides, we need Huey.

He can rip something off and disappear before anybody misses it, huh?

That's right, because next to me, he's the fastest runner we got.

You're jogging, Robbo. I can beat you running backwards. No way, Huey. Yeah?

Yeah. You run backwards, and I bet I can beat you.

What does your family think about your...

Belonging to a gang.

A gang is my family.

Shoot, Domino is like a father to me.

Um, who is Domino?

He's our leader, lady.

Uh, but why is Domino the leader?

Uh, well, for one thing, he's got the most medals.

Medals? Yeah.

Battle scars.

See, I got this one in a knife fight.

Oh, that ain't nothing. I got this one compliments of a pallbearer's bullet.

Oh, you got shot.

Oh, no. They threw the bullet at me.

I ain't got no medals yet.

But Domino says I'll get some sooner or later.

I don't believe this. You're getting stabbed and shot and you don't seem to

care. Oh, we care.

That's why we fight back.

What good does it do?

It does a lot of good.

It teaches people they can't push us around.

That's right. Because ain't nobody... Hey!

Domino! Hey, what's up?

Well, tell you what's down.

One ugly pallbearer. All right.

You shot her?

Right on.

This one is for Lamar.

Right on for Lamar.

Here, Huey. Put this away for her.

Sure, Domino.

You actually shot someone?

Who's she?

Hey, she's cool. She's a friend of mine. Well, she ain't a friend of mine.

What's she doing here?

She wants to write a book on our gang. What?

Are you crazy, Elsie?

Get her out of here.

Who are these turkeys?

I'm Tom Willis. Nice to meet you.

And Mrs. Marcus' boss, he put up the bread for Lamar.

Bread for Lamar? Uh, Mrs. Jefferson gave Marcus $200 for Lamar's doctor bill.

$200?

Surprise.

Oh, uh, yeah. I'm just surprised she didn't give him $300 like I told her to.

That's Weezy's trouble. She's too stingy.

Thanks for helping out.

Now, why don't you help yourself and your friends out of here? Oh, no, I

finished talking to your gang.

Yes, you have.

Come on, Jenny.

Hold it. Jess, hold it.

No, wait a minute. Those are my notes.

I don't want you talking to anyone in my gang anymore. You dig?

She digs. I mean, right on.

I mean, she hears you.

Come on, Willis. Quit while you're alive.

Bye.

That's your third piece of pie.

No, it ain't. It's my fourth piece.

Fighting makes me hungry.

George, you didn't do any fighting.

Oh, yes, I did, too. I was fighting to keep from going upside one of them black

widows' heads.

If you had done that, there'd be one more black widow.

Me.

Anybody want anything else?

Yeah. Topic for my thesis.

I've got an idea, Jenny. Why don't you do your thesis on mixed marriages?

Then you can call it everything you ever wanted to know about zebras.

I wish I had been able to spend more time with those gang members.

Find out what really makes them tick.

The only thing you can learn from them is the quickest way to go to jail.

Yeah, you're right.

But there ought to be something that somebody could do to help.

You know, it's really sad to think of a 12 -year -old like Huey getting involved

in that stuff.

He knows how to take care of himself.

Doorbell, Mr. Jefferson.

Why don't you

write about what it's like to work as a maid?

And if you find out, tell Florence.

What do you want?

I'm looking for Jenny. Is she here?

Oh, hey.

Come on.

Hey, you brought my purse.

Come on in.

Mama, Mrs. Jefferson, Florence, this is Elsie. Hi. Hello.

Okay, now that you said hello, you can say goodbye.

Look, if you still want to find out about our gang, I'm going to tell you

you want to know. But Domino said he didn't want me. I know what Domino said.

Now, you want to find out about the gang or not?

Well, yeah.

What changed your mind?

Huey. Huey? That little punk?

Yeah.

Paul Barrett hit us just after you left.

Huey finally got the medals he wanted. Oh, no.

Was he hurt bad?

He's dead.

Weezy, are you coming to bed?

Oh, I can't sleep, George.

No wonder you can't sleep. You're sitting there drinking coffee.

Put the coffee down and come to bed.

I was just thinking about those kids and their gangs.

Look, Weezy, there's nothing you can do about it. I mean, they had gangs when I

was a kid. They got gangs now.

Sure, because people are like you.

They don't want to speak out. They don't want to get involved because they're

afraid of what the gangs might do to them. Afraid? Who, me?

I ain't afraid of no gang.

Shoot.

What are you doing? What I should have done a couple hours ago.

Hello, operator. Give me the police.

Police?

What are you going to say to them? Just listen.

Hello? Yeah.

Look, I got some important information on a couple of gangs that have been

giving you trouble up in Harlem.

Sure, I'll hold on.

You were right, Weezy. People are too afraid to get involved.

But not George Jefferson.

What? Oh, my name?

Yeah. John Smith.

The Jeffersons was videotaped in front of a studio audience.

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