Original subtitles

[sirens blaring]

[police radio talking]

- Uncle Agron, you gotta get down here immediately.

- Thanks, what do we got here?

- Black male, age 40, somewhere from the Bronx.

- Any witnesses?

- Crickets as usual in this neighborhood.

- Yeah.

[dramatic music]

- That's Bombie G.

Oh fuck, this is Bombie G, man.

- I'm sorry, I don't listen to rap.

I'm more of a Sade guy, 24/7.

- Nigger, what?

You need to go ahead and give that black skin

to somebody who deserves that shit.

This is one of the most iconic underground

rappers of the '90s, man.

♪ Let's do it, let's do it

♪ Let's do it for the Bronx, huh ♪

- Sorry, I don't follow.

- Damn, man.

Why they gotta do this to you, boss?

Disgrace, dammit.

Get me a ballistics report ASAP.

- Will do.

[cellphone vibrating]

- What the fuck?

[dramatic music]

- What the fuck are you doing?

Get outta here.

- I want your forgiveness.

[dramatic music]

- That's the guy, that's the fucking guy.

- Are you sure, Armando?

You're telling me that that black motherfucker

right here killed my son.

- That's his fucking partner too.

- What are you doing here, man?

Leave, get the fuck outta here.

What do you want?

- I want your forgiveness,.

- No, leave, man, go.

- He's a fucking cop.

What's his name?

- I don't know.

- You find out, and you'll need a Brink's truck

to carry the fucking money I'll pay you.

- You did well, nephew.

Spread the word.

I wanna know everything.

Who they love.

Who they know.

I want them all in the ground.

Let's go.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic theme music]

[dramatic music]

- Know what pisses me off?

We finally get Darius to roll on Jimmy,

and we get nothing from the wire.

And now he pulls this vanishing act.

- I have good news.

- Yeah? Give me good news.

- We caught a break.

Armando's in here.

He's on the books as a janitor at the warehouse.

And we know he has very close ties.

Very close.

And he clocked in at seven a.m., and never clocked out.

- He was there, huh?

- He saw it.

- All right, quietly,

do not let Jimmy or Darius get wind of this.

Find him, and bring him in.

- We'll split him.

[dramatic music]

- Ahh.

- [Waitress] How you doing?

- I'm good, how are you?

- [Waitress] I'm all right.

- Coffee please.

- [Waitress] Okay.

- Thank you.

That's good.

- Where have you been?

- Nowhere.

- Did you make sure you didn't have a tail?

- All clear.

- I have a lead, a witness.

- No way, it was clean.

- You 100% sure?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Look, this has the potential of going sideways real bad.

And I didn't tell you to kill--

I didn't tell you to kill anybody.

- I just gave him the fucking message.

He had a RB, the kid was just nuts.

What do you want me to do?

- I want you to take this face, and I want you to study it.

- Who is it?

- It's the nephew.

He hangs out along Webster Avenue with the rest of them.

- Shit.

- Get your shit together.

You fucked this up, now fix it.

- Sorry.

Hate to see you get your hands dirty.

- Don't threaten me.

- Keep IA away from me.

[dramatic music]

- Aw, man, that's such a shame.

- Whoever it was got very very close to him.

I mean, the range was to the chest.

- Yeah, it's consistent with forensics.

- Okay, so, checking with friends and family?

- See what they have to say.

[dramatic music]

- Blue!

Blue, where you at, Blue?

[heavy breathing]

Put it down.

Put the gun down now.

[screaming]

- [Darius] Tonight, we're not cops, Jimmy.

- [Jimmy] We're always cops.

- Just trust me.

- Can't believe this shit.

- It's gonna be okay.

Tonight, we're not cops, Jimmy.

- [Jimmy] We're always cops.

[dramatic music]

- [Darius] Tonight we're not cops.

- [Jimmy] We're always cops, we're always cops.

[heavy breathing]

- Armando?

- [Armando] Yeah.

- Have a little chat, huh?

- Yeah.

You wanna?

- Shit, go.

Stop, stop, stop.

- What, I didn't do nothing, man.

I want my lawyer.

- You didn't do nothing?

- No.

- Why do you want a lawyer?

- Well.

- Go grab coffee, huh?

I got it, I got it.

Let's take a little walk.

- [Armando] You're making a mistake, man.

[rap music]

♪ Here the talk, like they wanna bring the drama ♪

♪ About a foolish shot in a room at the plaza ♪

♪ Mama wanna chop like keep telling the Nana ♪

♪ Big set of lips, long neck like a llama ♪

♪ Money motivated

- This guy right here, back in the day,

he was like the biggest rapper out.

I mean, I played this tape.

Girl, oh God, this brings back such memories.

Look at this, it was out there, this crossed colors.

- [Rodriguez] Oh my God, I mean it's a shame he's dead.

- No, he can't go down like this.

We gotta protect his legacy.

This man, he's like a cultural icon.

- Legacy, I mean, look at the videos.

I would be in one of those videos,

to like, feel like eye candy.

You know, it's never too late.

- Did you just call me old?

- No, no.

- No, definitely not.

- No.

- [Rodriguez] No.

- Come on, man, where the hell is this?

This ain't no police station.

You want me to go in here?

Come on, man, this is bullshit.

Come on, you gotta walk.

- Don't move.

- What are you gonna do?

I'm telling you, man, you got the wrong guy.

- Sit down.

Sit

down.

- Okay.

What are you gonna do?

This is bullshit, I'm telling you.

You got the wrong guy, man.

- I know you were there the day of the robbery.

You clocked in, seven a.m., you never clocked out.

- What day was this?

- Don't be a fucking smartass.

Like a double homicide happens every day

in front of your face.

- This is the Bronx, man.

- Don't be a smartass.

I got a dead cop, undercover, in your organization.

Now you got a lotta bad shit,

that's about to head your way.

- My cousin was killed too.

Don't forget that.

- Tell me exactly what happened.

Did you fucking see this guy?

- Never seen him.

- Why are you protecting him?

- I told you, I never seen him.

- Okay, Armando, what do you want?

- I wanna be granted immunity

for everything I've done over the last five years.

And I want the same for my Uncle Agrin.

- Your uncle.

- Hey.

I'm sure you want all the juicy details,

and let me tell you.

They are juicy.

[laughing]

- And you're willing to testify in open court?

- I'd jump up and down on one goddam leg

in a circle on command if you asked me to.

[dramatic music]

- All right.

- Deal?

- Yeah, it's a deal.

You're free to go, find your own fucking way out.

- I wanna make sure I hear from you.

- Yeah, you do that.

[rap music]

- Yeah, yeah, attitude.

Work, all right.

There you go, use it, use it, there we go.

Dripping with it, use the wall.

All right.

That's right, okay.

[singing]

[bell ringing]

- Cut, cut, cut.

Jaylee, man, I thought we had a budget, brick walls?

You put me in front of one more plain brick wall.

We out the hood, man.

Come on, where my crown?

No, I need my crown, for real.

Ridiculous.

- This is nice.

- Jaylee?

- Who wants to know?

- NYPD, you used to manage Bombie?

- Yes, I did.

- How long?

- Well, I started like four years ago,

and there's a former manager, managed him since like

14 years old, back in the projects,

and I took over when they started having issues.

- What kinda issues?

- What do you mean, what kinda issues?

Paper, money.

He found out he was skimming off the top,

and it started to show.

- I didn't realize people were still spending money

on grandpas from the '90s.

- Of course, they are.

It's nostalgic.

I mean, who do you think has all the jobs now?

I mean, they're spending money on tour jackets,

T-shirts, the works.

It's big business.

- Woulda never known.

- Yeah, can I get some Diet Coke around here please?

Hey, look.

Bombie was from the streets, all right.

He's used to doing things a certain way.

I mean, you talking like 100 stacks here, all right.

Now I convinced him to go the more legal route

and the civil trial started six months aga.

- Tell me more about this case.

- Still pending.

I mean, it's pretty open and shut.

He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I mean, he was literally writing fake invoices,

and to be honest with you, I shoulda let Bombie

lay the hammer down when he got a chance, feel me?

- No.

Because we woulda laid the hammer down on him.

Let us handle it.

- As a black man, the law usually works

against you, not for you.

- Well it worked for me.

- Bet it has.

- So tell me a little bit more about this old manager.

- Hey, look, his name is Michael Brown.

He has a office over on 45th Street.

You tell him I sent you, okay?

I don't give a shit.

Can I go?

- All right, we'll talk.

- [Jaylee] Yeah, yeah, I look forward to it.

[dramatic music]

[door knocking]

- Come in.

- We spoke on the phone.

I'm Detective Rodriguez.

Thank you for agreeing to see me.

- Thank you, I was just washing dishes

and getting ready to make some banana bread.

It was his favorite.

- Banana bread sounds great.

Most of the time I'm eating cold pizza this time of day.

- Do you want some coffee?

- I'd love some, thank you.

Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

- Sure, no problem.

- Who'd wanna harm your husband?

I was a fan, he was a rap legend.

- Yeah, he,

he was great, people loved him, everywhere he went.

It was like he was the mayor of the city.

He honestly never really had any problems with anyone.

- No fights, no disputes, nothing recent?

- Only Michael Brown.

They had that whole civil suit thing going on.

It got pretty ugly.

Actually, I remember one night Bombie told me

that he thought that Michael was capable

of doing something pretty terrible.

- Something terrible, what did he mean by that?

- I don't know, he never really elaborated.

- What's with all the questions?

Hasn't she been through enough?

- Hi, I'm Detective Rodriguez, and who are you?

- I'm her big brother.

I know exactly who you are,

just a cop, trying to get headlines.

- Actually, I'm trying to get justice.

And hopefully some closure.

- See yourself out.

What she needs right now is time to grieve.

- Thank you so much for the coffee.

I hope your banana bread comes out.

- If you need anything.

- Have a blessed day, Detective.

[dramatic music]

- You too.

- Detective, as I said before, yes, he was suing me.

Yes, it was a slap in the face,

but I didn't wanna hurt Bombie.

We started together from block parties in Castle Hill

to performing at the Garden.

- So was there something you were afraid of losing

if he won the case?

I mean, are you trying to tell me something?

- Look, it's a dirty business.

The winners have to pay for the losers.

I may have cheated Bombie a little.

I can admit that, but I do my cheatings upfront.

He didn't read his contract, that's not my fault.

- So why not just pay the man what he's due?

- You risk your life every day.

Do you get paid what's fair.

Uh-uh, that's not how the world works, my friend.

You don't get what you deserve.

You get what you negotiate.

- Mr. Brown, where were you two nights ago, at eight p.m.

- I was home with my wife, watching the Knicks.

- Who won?

- Guess who didn't win, 102 to 88.

- Mmm, mmm, mmm, can she verify that?

- Yup.

- Thank you.

- So, um, thank you for dropping me off at work.

- Thank you for getting me a few things.

- Of course.

I'm always happy to see you.

- Do you really mean that?

- You know I do, always.

- You know, I could live with Robert.

- I know.

- You know, um,

since I moved here, I never left the city.

But lately, I've been thinking about getting away.

- Where would you go?

- I want us to start over.

Somewhere else.

A fresh beginning, I don't know, I just.

- Marian.

I don't know what to say.

I mean, my life is here.

- Jimmy, I tell you what.

When I went to your place, I wanted to talk to you.

[cellphone vibrating]

Pick the phone please.

- I have to go inside, I have to go upstairs.

Please, look at me, I'll call you.

All right, we need to talk, okay?

Please, I'll call you later.

[dramatic music]

I'm sorry, I'll call you.

[car starting]

[dramatic music]

- So Kev is the bouncer here, let us all in.

They love this guy so much, they never stand up.

- Shit, can you blame them?

All the police abuse and racial profiling

in this neighborhood?

Cops are shooting first, because they're afraid of all

the gangs and drugs, and they think every fucking kid

on every corner has a gun.

All right, these badges make us a target.

- So does that make us a enemy?

- That's what you got from what I said?

You gotta think bigger than that.

You gotta think outside the box, around the corners,

all right, you gotta fix the problem.

- So that means fix it by any means necessary?

- We ain't fighting a fair fight, man.

This isn't a black-and-white thing.

I mean, it's not a simple thing, there's no simple answers.

- So we just cross the line whenever?

- Fuck the line, do what's right.

- You said nothing was simple.

- No, I said there's no simple answers,

there's a difference.

Come on.

[dramatic music]

- [Darius] Guess who's feeling better?

- [Daughter] Hi, Uncle Jimmy.

[laughing]

- [Darius] Look at her, man, she's back.

- [Daughter] I'm back.

[startling]

- Look, Daddy's right here, baby, okay.

Just a dream.

She's back, my baby's back, man.

[dramatic music]

[traffic moving]

[dramatic music]

- Hey, Sam, how you been?

- Good.

- Give me some of the good stuff.

None of that watered-down shit

that they do upstairs, all right.

How you doing?

How you been.

- [Sam] Good.

- Ahh.

When I get back, you gotta do one for me.

[dramatic music]

[gun firing]

[dramatic music]

- Jimmy, I looked into that manager, Michael Brown.

His alibi cleared.

Wife said that he was at home with her,

and the cellphone pinged near a tower nearby the home.

- [Jimmy] Okay, so he's telling the truth after all.

- Yes, but, we were also tipped from Crimestoppers.

- [Jimmy] What's that?

- Well, turns out Bombie was leading a double life.

Bombie was bisexual, and his wife didn't know it.

- [Jimmy] Are you serious?

- Yeah, he had another lover,

by the name of Chocolate,

a stylist on 147th and Broadway.

- [Jimmy] I'm on my way.

- All right, I'll see you soon.

- Jimmy.

Jimmy, your life's in danger.

- Yeah, from who?

- An informant of mine, ended up dead.

Now we think there's a contract on your life.

- B.S.

This has to do with your investigation, doesn't it?

- Look.

Law saws I have to warn you, so consider yourself warned.

- Well, thank you for your kindness.

- You don't appreciate a damn thing

you have in your life, you know that?

- Careful, man, your edges are showing.

[dramatic music]

- I'm not here to judge anybody.

I'm just here to get down the facts of what happened.

Your lifestyle is your lifestyle.

- You sound like when white people say, I'm not a racist.

I have black friends.

I'm not buying it.

- Listen, I'm just here to find out

what happened to Bombie.

Who killed him.

- He was the sweetest guy.

He had such a loving, genuine heart.

He would come and see me and surprise me at work

all the time, and just bring me gifts.

It's just the image of a gay rapper

is really tough, you know?

- But he had a family.

I mean, he had a wife.

- Yes, but I was his life.

You see, he loved her, but he didn't love here like that.

What does it mean when you can't be who you want

in this world?

What does it mean when you can't be who you really are?

- I guess I can relate to that.

- He was a troubled soul.

You know, I didn't judge him.

Because I understood.

I was just happy for the time we had together.

- Yeah, but who would wanna hurt him?

- Listen, I know you think this Mary Ann

is Miss Goody Two Shoes and all,

but she was pretty upset when she found out about us.

- Well how did she find out?

- She went found out the lock on his phone.

Pictures, messages, she saw everything.

- She saw everything, and what did she do?

- What do you mean, what she did?

She went berserk.

She tried to kill him and me.

- Well, did you hear her say she wanted to kill him?

- She said it over the phone.

She went ballistic.

And I'm not mad at her, I understand.

He was an amazing man.

Who wouldn't wanna hold onto him?

Who wouldn't wanna keep him?

- Well, thank you for your time.

Listen,

please stick around town in case

I need to ask you more questions.

- Anything for Bombie.

Anything for his memory, just let me know.

- All right, have a nice day.

[dramatic music]

[traffic moving]

[train passing]

[splashing]

[dramatic music]

- Will you tell us the truth, the entire truth, and quickly?

- Look, I've told you everything.

- Up until the point where you threatened

to kill your husband.

- I agreed to talk to you without a lawyer, okay.

It's because I'm innocent.

I gave you my alibi, it checks out.

What else do you want?

- Did you kill him?

- I told you, I didn't kill him.

- Well then who did?

- I don't know.

- You know, I don't believe a word you're saying.

And as of right now,

I will make sure you get everything that you deserve.

So now either you could be one of those people

that pay the price, or you could be one

of the people that help out the good guys.

But right now, your time is running out.

- I didn't do anything.

- Well then who did?

- I can't.

I can't.

- Let me take you to Rikers myself.

- No, no, no no no no, please no.

Just, just.

It's too much, it's too much, please.

- Well then tell us what happened.

- Okay.

Okay.

[dramatic music]

[sighing]

[dramatic music]

- Where you been, Darius?

- [Darius] What do you want?

- You don't look too good.

How's your kid?

- Hey, leave her outta this.

- You know, I feel like you're bullshitting me.

- Listen, I was not in the warehouse when this happened.

I was outside, looking out.

I didn't see anything.

Listen, I can't help you.

- I think that's a little bit different

from your original statement.

What happened to the wire?

- It was a piece of shit, the wire wasn't working.

You know.

- You know what I think?

I think right at the last second,

you had a change of heart.

I can't blame you.

But you know what?

I'm not gonna help you anymore.

- Listen, listen, listen,

I don't know what he did in there.

I don't know why people got killed.

I don't know why they're still shooting.

I was outside, looking in.

I did my job.

- So you're telling me Jimmy goes on

a one-man killing spree, takes 600K

and you had nothing to do with it?

- Oh no no, no no no no no.

Listen, Jimmy is a good cop.

- Darius. - Yeah.

- Darius.

It's a little late to switch things up.

Now either you come in from outta the cold, or no deal.

No bargain.

- Okay, what do you want me to do?

You want me to say I saw him do it, huh?

- I want you to tell me the truth.

- I wanna be able to raise my daughter.

Can you help me?

- I don't know.

But I think the Get out of Jail Free card's passed you by.

Keep your head down.

- Listen, I'm telling you the truth.

[door knocking]

- Can I come in?

- I don't think that's a good idea.

- He told you?

- You know, in all the years we've been working together,

he has never brought me flowers at home.

- Jasmine. - Don't.

- I'm sorry.

- You know, as your therapist,

I actually wanna believe you.

- [Rodriguez] Then do.

- But as a woman,

you stay the fuck away from my husband.

[dramatic music]

- [Rodriguez] Fuck.

[dramatic music]

- Joseph, you are under arrest for the murder of Bombie G.

You have the right to remain silent.

- He was a liar, he hurt my sister, he had to pay.

He was a liar.

[dramatic music]

- That's why I push you away.

I'm sorry.

Now you know everything.

I'm so lost.

So lost.

- You coulda just told me the truth

instead of pushing me away.

- I'm sorry.

- I never thought I'd see you again.

- I'm so sorry.

[dramatic music]

- I'm still here.

When you didn't come, I'm still here.

[dramatic music]

[traffic moving]

[dramatic music]

- Jimmy, I need to see you.

[dramatic music]

What did you do, Jimmy, huh?

What did you do?

Some very bad people are coming for you.

For anybody you care about or know.

Get your affairs in order.

- Why are you telling me this?

- Helping you is helping myself.

You need help.

And,

I need a favor.

[dramatic music]

[door creaking]

[soft music]

- Hey, Dad.

How you doing?

[dramatic music]

How was your day?

- I feel like shit.

- I'm sorry, what happened?

- It tastes like shit up in here.

- Yeah.

- If my daughter was here, she'd get me up outta this shit.

Who are you?

- I'm your daughter, Wanda.

- If Johnny was here, we'd have a good time with you.

My man Johnny, we,

we'd party with somebody like you.

You've got the thing.

- Dad, Johnny's dead.

I'm gonna go talk to the nurses about your food, okay?

Don't do that.

You don't do that any more, Dad.

- Wanda.

- Hey.

- It's good to see you.

- I'm gonna go to the restroom, Dad, I'll be right back.

- Sometimes the only way out is through.

Sometimes good things happen to bad people.

Sometimes something so simple suddenly isn't.

You find yourself in a place where it doesn't matter

if you did the right thing or not.

Doesn't matter if it was good or bad.

All that matters is the now.

How you're standing in the moment you're living in matters.

No matter how the fuck you fight, no matter what you do,

that bill is coming due.

[soft music]

[sobbing]

[soft music]

- Hey, Dad.

Dad, can you take this for me?

Dad?

- What the fuck is it?

What, what?

- I just need you to take this, okay?

Can you open your mouth for me?

- Okay.

- Thank you.

[soft music]

- Sooner or later, there's gonna be a reckoning.

Well I'm with you.

- [Darius] So I want you to tell me what you're gonna be

when you grow up.

- [Daughter] An engineer.

- An engineer, and what school are you gonna go to?

- USC.

- USC, and tell me, okay, so when I get old,

are you gonna take care of Daddy?

- [Daughter] Yeah.

[screaming]

- [Darius] I love you too, I love you too.

I love you so much, okay?

[groaning]

- [Darius] I want you to tell me what you're gonna be

when you grow up.

- [Daughter] An engineer.

- [Darius] Engineer, and which school are you gonna go to?

USC, and tell me, okay, so when I get old,

are you gonna take care of Daddy?

- [Daughter] Yeah.

- [Darius] Are you sure, you promise?

So I want you to tell me what you wanna be when you grow up.

- [Daughter] An engineer.

- [Darius] An engineer, and which school

are you gonna go to?

- [Daughter] USC.

- [Darius] USC, and tell me, okay, so when I get old,

are you gonna take care of Daddy?

- [Daughter] Yeah.

- [Darius] Are you sure, you promise?

- [Daughter] I love you, Daddy.

- I love you too, I love you too.

I love you so much, okay?

- [Daughter] I love you too.