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American Me (1992)
Ain't nobody talking
when I'm talkin', fellas, so shut the fuck up! The following items you place in the envelope as I call them off. An empty wallet. Legal paperwork. First three out of the tank. Line up single file along the bench. Let's go. Open your mouth. Stick out your tongue. All right. Do your ears. One at a time. Bend your heads over, shake 'em out with your fingers. Put your hands above your head. Hands out in front of you. Over. Move those fingers. Reach down and lift up your nut sack. Drop your nut sacks, and skin back your dick. Turn around. One foot at a time, pick it up and wiggle the toes. Other foot. Bend over, grab your ass, spread your cheeks and give me two good coughs. Stand right there. You're like two people. - Inmate Montoya Santana? - One is like a kid. Doesn't know how to dance. - Step this way. - Doesn't know how to make love. That's the one I cared about. Step inside. But the other one, the other one I hate. The one who knows, the one who has his rap down, who knows how to run drugs. Who kills people! Until now, I would've thought it a sign of weakness... to even listen to what you said to me that night. But I see that you were right. I am two people. One was born when I met you. The other one began in a downtown L.A. Tattoo parlour. My father, Pedro, was showing his love for my mother, Esperanza. "Por Vida. " For life. My mother was a beautiful woman. They were pachucos, zoot-suiters, and proud of it. In June of 1943, America was at war. Not only overseas, but with itself. The racial tension was running high against anyone that was different. Excuse me! Esperanza! Hey! What a fine looking woman! - Is it new? - For me, esa, put together with a lot of love! - Whoo! - Yeah, esa. Vmonos. Congressmen and senators, we don't need a third front. Read all about it! Get your paper. Let's bring our boys home to fight those zoot-suited dandies... that are making it unsafe to walk our streets today. Last night in Detroit six people were killed and many injured... when army, navy and marines clashed with zoot-suited thugs. - Nice hair. - Let's just go. Riots have been reported throughout our country. Come on, guys, you don't want to start any trouble. Get your late Times. Hey, it's time to be moving, ladies. Let's get Pedro and get over to the dance and off of these streets. De volada. What'cha lookin' at? On the night of the Zoot Suit Riots, Pedro and Esperanza had a date. Hey, cousin, almost ready? Hey, my woman! Hey, let's see the finished product, hombre. You're gonna like it, esa. Now you'll always be a part of me. Chingao! - Este vato's a fine artist, ese. - It's beautiful! Orale. And so is the price. We better be hattin', ese. The streets are hot, hombre. And so... If you got a problem being on the streets wearing your colours, get rid of your suit. Understand? Between the Hearst newspapers and Walter Winchell on the radio, you'd think the pinche war was right here in L.A., hombre. It's getting hot all over America, carnal. I'm groovin' with my woman down the boulevard. She's so fine. My ruca's all mine. No telling what time I may get home 'cause I'm here. Here comes the main man, Mr Number One. Doesn't even need a weapon... he's so bad. Say that fast three times, ese. Hey, it's real hot tonight... real hot! Forget about it. Watch out! Leave him alone! Leave him alone! No! - Leave him alone! - Esperanza! - No! No! - Don't let go! Goddam no! Stop! - Esperanza, Esperanza! - No! Pedro! Pedro! Esperanza! Come on over here. No! - Get out of here! - Let's give him a haircut. Esperanza! Don't touch me! Break it up! No! Esperanza! Esperanza! Esperanza! Esperanza! Zoot suit, new suit. It sounded all the same. I had no clue what they'd been through. It was a mystery. But to be 16 in '59, stayin'away from home even if I didn't have a dime, 'cause the old man was just waiting... to give me his piece of time, drove me to the street just to save my mind. What's happening? Don't forget the spark plug, homes. I'll see you guys later. - What's up? Hey, chico? - Santana. I'm not gonna make it. I'm gonna go eat. - Later. - All right, man, later. - Hi. - Smile. Abuelito, qu hubo? - Huh? - La puerta, la puerta! You got it. Puerta, la puerta. You're always nagging. - There. You happy? You get your coffee? - Yes. Good, good. Hey, Mom. You're home, huh? You should respect your grandfather, huh? I didn't say anything mean. - Yt, qu? How you doin'? - Okay. - How was your day? - Good. - Just go sit down. - I'm hungry. Paulito, how're you doin'? Woof, woof! Turn that thing off. You know what "off" means? It was easy to blame my father for everything I did. Isn't that the life of every kid? Shit. Took me a long time to understand that rhyme. J. D! C'mon,J.D. How's it hangin'? What's new? What are we gonna do about Mundo? He's young, he's weak. But I think we oughta let him in; show him the way, you know? Orale. Keep an eye out, man. Come here. Give me your hand. You know what, ese? White Fence, Maravilla, Lomita... have been around a lot longer than us, you know? It's cool. We've got our own gang, strong gang. We're finally getting into our own. Gaining respect. Our gang, our neighbourhood... our families, that's all we got, ese. Yeah. When we were kids, belonging felt good. But having respect, that feels even better. You know, La Primera lives through us, ese. It gives to us. It is us. We make it, carnal. We don't fake you, we just take you. - 'Cause La Primera's ese. - Always has been, always will be. Orale. Welcome to the clica, carnal. For life, man, for life. Coming to terms with the lessons one learns... through the choices one makes is not easy. Mundo, me and J.D. Boy, were we crazy! Oye. I gotta be makin' it back to my pad or my mother's gonna whip my ass. Forget it, man. Wait up, okay? We'll be hattin' with you. Let's take the short cut. Hey... no need to, man. We don't need to nothin'. We do what we do, ese. Entiendes, Mendes? Hey, fuck it, ese. Get on down the road, ese. - Orale. - Orale! - Shit! - Orale. Where you vatos from? La Primera, so what, man? Hazard rules all! Bullshit. Fuckin' little punk! - Fuck you! - Primera lives! Orale, ese. There they are! Oh shit! C'mon, let's go! Putos! - Shit! - Fuck! - Orale! Andele! - Get those guys! Shit! We're surrounded! C'mon, down the alley. To the left, homes. We'll meet at the boulevard. Hurry up,J.D. Hurry up, ese. You all right? C'mon,J.D. Go! C'mon, Mundo, let's go! Hurry up. Go, go, go! Open that door, homes. Come on, carnal. Here they come! Got it. C'mon! - C'mon, c'mon. - They're comin'! Close the door. Here they come. - Orale! - Orale. Oye! Where're you vatos going? Shit! Santana, please man. What are you laughing at? We gotta get out of here, man! - Goddam it, turn that fuck... - Orale. Oh shit! Don't move! No, Mundo, don't, man! Don't! This is the last time you will steal and destroy my property! You hear? I said, don't move! J.D., stop, man, stop! My leg! I can't feel my leg! J.D., c'mon! Go call an ambulance, man. Go call a fucking ambulance! I told him not to move. Hurry up! Thought I knew it all. Ended up in juvie hall. And the shit got even deeper. To the right. Open up your mouth. Okay, pick your clothes up. Take it on down to the property room... to exchange your clothing. Don't fuckin' move, you fuck! Don't make a fuckin'sound. Hear me? Does it feel good? Fuck yeah. You say one word about this, there'll be shit on my knife, not on my dick! Fucker. Damn you, you fuckin' asshole! Kill him! Kill him. Killing that first night got me... the worst that juvie had to offer: An extended sentence with a guaranteed bus ride... to the big time as soon as I turned 18. But the respect I earned, made me think I'd found the answer. When J.D. Showed up a year later, I knew we'd get even stronger. Hey, man, what's your name? Hey! Where you from? La Primera. East Los. You talk like a fuckin' chicon, man. I'll check you out later. Orale, I see they finally let your white ass out of the hospital, carnal. - Santana! - How you doin', man? - Cool, ese. - Mundo! You guys, check it out, man. This right here's J.D., my best crime partner. This is Chewie, Casper, Chuco, Raymond and Big Happy. - Orale. - Can I talk to you, ese? Yeah, come here. What's wrong, brother? You thinking of letting him in, ese? I told you he was my best crime partner. He ain't Mexican, ese. You know what, he's like my brother. Understand? Orale. So, homes, how's that leg? Check it out, hard as a rock, ese. Shit, homes, throw some shellac on it! Shit! I'll still run your ass to the ground, ese. - Check him out! - Punk. I seen that dude before. Ese vato sitting on the bench. - I think he's with 18th Street. - Chale, ain't no barrios in here, man. No La Primera, 18th, Hazard. Nada. Over here you see what we got is the blacks. They stick together playin' ball. See those white boys on the steps? They thought you belonged to them, ese. Over here, we gotta stick together, homes. One big clica. Frog, you owe me three packs! See you at the canteen. - Orale, homes. - Let's go. Choices we made to survive... got Mundo, J.D. And me ten to 25. - Give me a year,J.D. - Fuck you, homes. - I'm gonna go make my collections. - Orale. What's up, peckerwood? Power became our game. Make sure the meeting's set for tonight with the Black Guerrilla Family. Power to provide everything you find outside. Make sure the Aryan Brotherhood's behind us. Make sure they're part of the whole thing. Be careful. I'll be over with the carnales. - You got your people, big Jim? - Be straight with me, man. Hey, Santana. Extortion. - They wanna do it. What should we do? - Go ahead. - Look, we're getting it together. - Gambling. You just give it a little bit of time. Prostitution. All right. It's done, man. We give you three packas. Make sure it's done right. We got it together because we had to, didn't have a choice. The Eme is here because before there was nothing. You all right, Santana? This is your home too, ese. Power to make every inmate pay rent. And the biggest money-maker: Drugs. - Oye, loco. - No, I need to clean up my tab, man. You know, pick up some more shit. The thing is, I gotta get it right away 'cause I'm out. The Aryan Brotherhood... and the Black Guerrilla Family shared the yard. But Folsom belonged to us, the oldest clica, La Eme. The Mexican mafia. Hey, Montoya. Homes, I got ya at table eight over there. - Orale, carnal. - Orale. Orale, carnal! - How ya doin', Paulito? - Fine. Move over. Hi, mama. - How are you? - I'm okay. - How you doin', little one? - Fine. - Doing good? Drawing the pumpkin man, huh? - Yeah. Bus ride is hard for you, isn't it? It's okay, Santana. You know, your father wanted to come see you, but... something came up. He couldn't make it. Whatever, mama. Santana, I brought you something. You know, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, there was a thief named Dismas on the cross next to him. He believed in Jesus and asked him not to forget him when he died. When Jesus died, he took Dismas to heaven and Dismas became a saint. I want you to wear it. Let me see it, mama. Mijo, let's put it on your brother. Okay. - Santana. - Excuse me, ma'am. You're not supposed to pass items to convicts. - But you see what it is. - Sorry. That's policy. He can pick this up with the rest of his property you brought for him. - You'll wear it, huh? - I'll wear it. Don't worry. They'll give it to me later. Don't cry, Mama. I'm okay. Watch out. Orale. Cheetah? Take it. Pie Face. Pass the wire. - Japo. - Orale. Watch it. - Hey, homes, you got a visitor. - I ain't seein'nobody. Have it your way. Pass the wire. Orale, pass it on, ese. Pass it on. - Hey, vato, pass that wire. - Just a minute. Pinche, mayate. What the fuck's going on, ese. Pass that wire. Orale, pass the wire! Here you go, man. Here you go. Fuck! Chow release! Let's go. Let's go, gentlemen. Chow release. Okay, gentlemen, let's go. C'mon, move it. Give him the uppercut. He's going down. That shit wasn't even clean, man. Let him go, Huero. What's your problem? - I paid for a full load. - Don't worry. We'll take care of business. Don't worry? I'm sick, motherfucker! - Make sure he gets what he ordered right now. - Simn. Thank you. I fuckin' appreciate that. - Who copped his wire? - Some fuckin' mayate. He's dead. Make sure nothing happens to these guards. Orale. Steve! - Cover them for me. - Orale. They haven't started to kill each other yet. They're still throwing shit. C'mon, motherfucker! That's right, you fuckin' son-of-a-bitch! Bring it on, then! Fuck you, you motherfucker! You motherfucker! - Fuck him up! - C'mon, kick his ass! Your motherfuckin'ass! Talk to me, baby. Talk to me! Dead dude burned somebody for their stash. - Colour wasn't involved. - You sent the wrong message. We can do this any way you want, Doc. One to one from the chest... Or we can all get down! Yeah, we can all really fuck this place up! I'm not going against the guns. You're gonna lose, Doc. Any move you make, we're on you. You fucked up! You're staying in the hole for as long as it takes... to break up your little gang, Santana. There was nothing the system could do to stop me. I could run this show from solitary. Gracias, carnal. J.D. Takin' care of business? Simn, ese, but the heat's on. They're tryin' to break us up. They're transferring everybody to different prisons. Danny's down in Soledad. Stevie's down in Chino and Willie boy's in Vacaville. We need a meeting, keep ourselves together. Any of our people on the outside coming up for trial? Puppet's little brother got busted. Tell our lawyer to subpoena us, get us together in one place. - The brothers send their love, carnal. - Gracias. The state is so lame, they paid for the game. There were a couple of things from some of our people who've already gotten out... that weren't in sync with instructions I've been getting from inside. Inside runs the show. If there's any problems with that, let us know. I'd like to interview each of you individually. - Who wants to go first? - Corky. Corky. Santana, how was the bus ride home? Sunshine felt good. This is my brother, ese. They call him "Little Puppet. " - He's a genius, homes. - Don't get carried away, ese. He does the best placas in East L.A. Check it out! Nice tits! He had a lightweight Jones goin' and got popped. He's comin' up to Folsom. I want him in with us. - Can he take care of himself? - He don't know nothin', but I'll be responsible for him. - You know what you're doin'? - How you doin' on the tecato side? I'm clean now, ese. Thank you for helping us get this meeting together. Yeah, I'd do anything for my carnal. When you come up, if you need anything, let us know. - You run into problems, we'll take care of it. - Gracias. My little brother. Oye. Orale. Sparky, how're we doin' in Vacaville? Goin' slow, homes. Tryin' to get it together, but we got a little problem. Some of the farmers we won't take into La eMe are starting up their own gang. They're calling it Nuestra Familia. We spent all of our time tryin' to get it together. Dealing with whites and the mayates, only to be dealing with our own. Orale, carnal. These aren't our own people. They're nothin' but lame farmers from up north. - They're chicanos. - It's too late, homes. They're already too big in Vacaville. And now they're makin' a play on our shit in Folsom. - They gotta pay the bill, ese. - Who's carrying all the weight for them? Dude named El Chucko Pea. I know that vato. I know him real well. Good, then you get to kill him. Me and him shared the same needles many a time. That should make it easier to get next to him, ese. He used to be my crime partner! That dude is the best! What the fuck is wrong with you, ese? It's cool. Pie Face had left me only one choice, the strength of a gesture, a thought... but no voice. Careful! The guard. Come on, Pie Face, pump it! Orale. Sabes qu? Little Puppet. Her tits and her ass are too big, ese. Looks like your mother. Chale, loco. Sabes qu? It looks unnatural, ese. Bullshit, man. Don't get all mad, man. Open your eyes, vato. I was proud I didn't let my feelings get in the way... of doing what we had to do to Pie Face that day. Killing one of our own, had earned us a new respect. But none of us knew the price. Little Puppet. Orale, homes. - How you doin'? - All right. That's good, ese. Got a little favour to ask you. - All right? - Simn. You know that dude, El Chucko? I want you to handle that for us, all right? I'll take care of it, ese. Was I talking to you, ese? Santana? Let me do it. Mi carnalito, that's not his thing. He's not no punk or nothin', but... He's not talking to you. There's something I want you to understand, Little Puppet. What happened to Pie Face, I didn't like it, but it was necessary. Especially right now. Take a look over there, ese. El Chucko and La Nuestra Familia's making their play to get respect, ese. La Eme took a long time earning their respect in this place. And if we want to keep it, we gotta show some class. Now I know, Pie Face wasn't weak, ese. And you know he wasn't weak, either. But how 'bout other people? How 'bout El Chucko, what'd he think, ese? 'Cause that's what it's about. It's not just about being weak that we can't accept. It's about other people even beginning to think we're showing weakness. It's up to you, you know? Don't try to serve a summons on me! I'll do it. Get down! Get down! I said get down! Wipe your face. I got him, ese. I got the vato. You're bleeding, carnal. Hey, the dude had a filero. He cut me, man. I got him in the neck. You did good, Little Puppet. Take it easy, J.D. T.C.B., J.D. Orale, carnales. Look at this guy. You're looking good, brother. We'll be ridin' right alongside of you out there on Broadway. Feels good, ese. Orale. T.C.B. Out there. You know I will, ese. You keep taking care of it in here, homes. Orale. We ain't many, but we're crazy. Get laid out there for me, brother. Life was changing forJ.D., Mundo and me. But I didn't know how much. Orale. - Want some grilled cheese, ese? - Simn. Paulito, you grew up on me, man. Did you get my letters? Where's mama? Did you come here by yourself? She's sick? She's dead. I love you, carnal. You never stop to think... of what life has meant... 'til reality hits hard. You ride behind pride... thinking you can hide... feelings deep within you. I had years on the tier to think about how my life... had affected my mother. All these years, nothing's changed. A lot has changed, homes. Took me a while to see it. To see where we can move out here, man. Dig that shit out. - It's nothing new. - It's the numbers that are different, brother. We're talkin' about 200,000 tecatos doin' their thing every day, brother. The Italians are still runnin' the show, but they're gettin' sloppy. It's a move with a heavy upside. Runnin' that show on the inside's one thing. Runnin' it out here is a different trip. Inside and outside go together, brother. You're the one who pulled our coats to that. Control the inside, you own the outside. Welcome to Broadway, homes. Yeah. Shit takes a while, ese. Heard that. It's good to see you, ese. I'm gonna get a drink. Pedro. Santana. I got home a couple hours ago. I know. If it bothers you, I won't stay. I remember when I was a little chavalito. I used to sit by the window... waiting for you to come home. I would get so anxious, I'd pinch myself on the hand until it would bleed. Then when you came... There you are, man! I was looking for you! I want to show you something. Hey, Papa. Check it out. It's the letters you wrote me. From the time I was a little vato. I used to read 'em to my homeboys. They listened, too. Said it was like poetry the way you wrote them. Check it out. This is the homeboys. - Heard a lot about you, homes. - Homes, Paulito talk about you. Good to meet you guys. Hey, you bastard! Lighten up, ese. You know Puppet and Little Puppet? They're my cousins. - They're good people. - Simn. - Hey, Chuy. - That's Neto. He's our neighbour. He lives in 116 with his mom and sister. See that fine-lookin' one over there in the white blouse? - No, you're not going over... - I'm gonna go hang out with the guys over there. - What guys? - Them there. Are you okay, man? Yeah, just not used to socializing, you know? You want a beer? J.D., want a beer? Hey, little vato, hidin' the tequila? - Tequila. - Go get him some. You live with your sister... and her husband? Her husband? - The guy with the suit. - That's my primo Eddie. He's Puppet and Little Puppet's brother. He thinks his shit don't stink because he's going to college. Hey, Julie! Come over here. Santana wants to meet you. Julie, this is Santana. This is my brother, man. Only dude around who'll walk the main yard alone, eh? Hey, relax. Oldies rule forever. Let's move over here, all right? - Hey, homes. - Simn. Yeah. So, how long's it been since you've been home? About 18 summers, you know? Hmm, since you were a kid. You like to dance? C'mon. When was the last time you danced? I never really tried it, you know? Shit! I don't know how to dance. I guess this is your first time, huh? - Sorry. - It's all right. Watch. Just relax, okay? Yeah. Just, um, you know, just move. There you go. That's good. You're doing really good. Afraid I'm gonna step on you again? No, no, I was, uh... I was checking out your shoes. I haven't seen any like that in a long time. They're nice, though. I like 'em. Mom! - This your boy? - Yeah. - Oh, you're tired, son. - Yes. Mico, say hi to Santana. It's all right. I better get him home. It's... it's late. Thanks. C'mon. I should have thought with my heart instead of my head. But I didn't know about that. Orale. - How long's he been in? - Six months. Gentlemen, Mr Scagnelli would like to see you. - We appreciate your taking time to talk to us. - What can I do for you? There's gonna be some changes in the way business is done in East L.A. From now on our people are gonna be responsible for the East L.A. Exchange. All deliveries between Mexico and the exchange are gonna be done through us. All collections are gonna be done by us. Is that what you came here for, to tell me my business? From now on, your business in the barrio is gonna be our business too. Let me explain something. For you, for us, for anybody who does business, things happen. And you or your family or friend can end up doing time. Somewhere along the line we have to deal with that. You run the distribution on the outside, we run the inside. Our offer is this: We guarantee your people no problems on the inside. You listen to me. I don't know who you think you are, but if anything, and I mean anything, happens to make my son's stay... any more uncomfortable than it already is, you'll regret the day you make that choice. Ese, Toni, got some new trays for you, bro. - Hey, wait a minute, what's happenin', man? - Good news, carnal. Hey, man, I got word from my old lady, ese. She said the meeting with your father went real well, bro. - Yeah, man? - Simn. Glad to hear it, I wasn't sure how it was gonna work out. They say your father was a real trip, ese. Yeah, man, he can get kinda crazy sometimes. Some of the carnales just finished cookin' up a batch of pruno. - Oh, yeah? Good stuff? - Simn. We're gonna have a taste tonight after dinner. Catch you later, bro. - Hey, hey, hey, man. Uno ms. - Orale. - Hey, I'm into it man, I'm into it. - Orale. - Shit, yeah. - I'll see you at the party. - All right, man, party. - Okay. That was funny, man. Yeah, chale, homes. That chick ugly, homes. Hey, homes, fuckin'... Check it out, Neto, she ugly, homes. - Orale, carnalito. - Hey, what's happening, homes? Listen, I was just over at your house. Your sister home? Nah, she's at work at the bakery store, homes. Right there on Soto and Firs... On Soto and Brooklyn. You guys are flyin' high, huh? - Chale, dude. Just some lightweight shit. - You only live once. Just don't live it too fast. You might burn out. - Take it day by day. - Simn. It's not for me to say, but you gonna have to learn the hard way. I'll be watchin' you later, right, carnal? Cudate. - Take it easy. - Later, carnal. - What's wrong with him? - I don't know, eh. He think he your dad or someone? - Hi. - Hi. So this is where you work, huh? I mean, I know this is where you work, your brother told me. Yeah, were you just in the neighbourhood or what? I was thinking about my shoes, you know? Your shoes? What you said the other night made me think maybe they're old-fashioned. Hey, it's, it's okay. I was just... I was thinking maybe if you could, if you would wanna help me, buy another pair of shoes. You don't have to, if you don't want to. Everything's okay, you know. If you got things to do and everything, you know. These are pretty good. - I'd like to buy these... - I'll be with you in a minute. Hey. Look at me when you talk to me, all right? I have a customer waiting. I'll be right with you. - What's wrong? - Nothing. What, you thought he wasn't showing you respect or what? I didn't think nothing. Hey, ese, the vato was just doing his pinche job. You know? Orale. Taste this, this is really good. These are chinchalones. S. Uh-huh. S. Gracias. Give me one of those, one of those with the green chiles. Watch, this is really good. Why don't you taste this? It's not too hot, is it? Huh? - Get me some water! - Por favor. Un agua, por favor. When I got off at Folsom first time, I took a look around, smiled and said, "I finally made it to the big time. " Mmm, how did you survive there? Got the clica going. Had anything I wanted. Mmm. Before, you know, before if somebody wanted something from you like, uh, cigarettes or your manhood and they were stronger than you, they just took it. We changed all that. We made it better for our people in the joint. But you never finished school. But I fed myself. History, politics, biography. Anything I could get a hold of. To help me forget about myself, think about something else. Our people, the revolution, the movement... I loved it in there. Had whatever I wanted. Yeah? How about walking outside... or going out with a girl? Hmm? I didn't know about that. Didn't care about it either. Salud. - Friends! - Friends, yeah! Forever, eh? Oh, man. Hijo, hijo. - Te aventaste, Puppet man. - Chingao. Good, man. It's good shit. Okay, now, just let... Ease the clutch out and push on the gas. Okay, good, are you sure you've never driven before? Good. - Why does it do that? - You got to let the clutch out... and push the gas in at the same time. 'Cause... watch. Okay, step on the brake... You did real good. To the greatest fighter pound for pound, vato, see, without a doubt, con los left jab, los hooks, los uppercuts, hands down, Mando Ramos. - Mando Ramos. - Simn. Vete, hombre. Mando Ramos. Who the hell is Mando Ramos? All right, a toast to Mando Ramos. Do you like what you do? It's nothing special. What do you wanna do? I don't know. I used to want to go to school, you know? Really learn something. Why don't you do it? Oh, man, wouldn't be that easy now. I got a kid. I got to work. I'd be older than everybody else. Read. Go to school once a week. Educate your mind. It'll be good for you and Mico. Or is it, uh, that all you want is for things to be easy? I don't know. You wanna know something? What? I never been at the beach before. For reals? Yeah, for real. You like it? Yeah. I like it. Oh, man, I'm gettin' dizzy. This pruno goes right to your head. Hey, man, come on, drink up. It's good for you. Great party, man. This is a great party. Hey, wait 'til the broad gets here. Oh, yeah, who's the broad? You are, baby. Don't even think about it. Your father didn't think much of our business offer, or you. Relax, you might enjoy it. You've never been with a woman before. I told you you'd like it, huh? It's okay. It's o... Wait. No. Wait. Wait! No. No! Stop it! No! Stop it! No! - We always have beans every single night! - No, we don't. - We're gonna put some salsa in it so it'll taste better. - Okay, grandma. Why does he listen to you? He never listens to me. Neto! Neto, come and eat, please. Neto, come and eat. The food's getting cold, hurry. - What are you doing? - I'm making a burrito. Come on, Neto. Look at the mess! That's why you're here, to clean it up. Neto? You're dropping it all in the plate. I'll scoop it back up. Neto. Neto? Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Call an ambulance! Get Mico outta here! Come on, Neto, wake up! Neto! Damn you! What did you do, you stupid shit! - Wake up! - Neto! You better wake up, goddam you! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Damn you! Wake up! - Let me see! - No, Mico, no! Let me just see. He's my uncle. No! It started happenin' around 7.00 tonight as soon as the new stuff hit town. How many O.D. S? 30, 40, maybe more. That's just the first ones we know about. It's all over town, ese. Scagnelli let the shit run through uncut. 100 percent pure. Every tecato's dream come true. - Don't make no sense, carnal. - It makes a lot of sense. He must have known what would happen. He's killing off his own customers. How many Italians O.D. 'd? Italians? There ain't no fuckin'Italians in East L.A. What are you doing? Those are Paulito's things. - Where is he? - I don't know. - What kind of shit is he on? - I don't know. Where is he? He don't listen to me, just like you. - Where is he? - Get your hands off me. - Listen to me, where is he? - Don't touch me. - I said, where is he? - Let me go! Where is he? Where is he? Talk to me, where is he? What are you guys doing? Let go! What kind of shit are you on? What you talkin' about? I'm clean, man. Paulito told me you've been coming here everyday. About the other night, I, uh... Forget it. Whatever I did to you or to mama... to make you hate me, I'm sorry. Your mother... was a beautiful woman. She made me feel proud. She was 19 years old. Raped... by sailors. After it happened... we never talked about it. Then we got married... and we tried to forget. When you were born... I tried to love you. But every time I looked at you... I wondered who your real father was. I wondered which sailor's blood you carried inside you. Stop. Hey, what're they, football uniforms? Certainly not, they're space suits. Hey, Les, don't I look like a piece of bubble-gum? Step on it again, homes. J.D. Wants a good count. It's gotta be right. Our names goin' out behind this. Makes me nervous lookin' at all this shit... and not bein' able to chip a little taste, brother. Business, Tin Man, then we'll think about takin' a little off the top. Now we're talkin', brother. Watch out, homes. Look, watch this. Orale, homes! - Relax, homes. - He's gonna get fired. I'm just watchin' the tube. What happened to Abbott and Costello? - They're on their way to Mars. - They ain't the only ones. Drop the gun! Now! Back up against the wall! Who the fuck are you? Down on your knees, put your hands behind your back. Now! Bow your heads! Do it! You know who we are! - You know who we are? - Yeah, I know who you are. Now breathe! Deep! Breathe! Breathe... real deep. The word is, it was the Black Guerrilla Family. Scagnelli had his people check out how things work in here. Farmed it out to the B.G.F. What the hell are the mayates doing with the Italians? Scagnelli hooked up with the Compton dope exchange. B.G.F. Runs muscle for Compton. I hear our lawyers are getting some of our people dates, huh? Yeah, Puppet and Little Puppet gonna see daylight real soon. Little Puppet in about 3 weeks, Puppet in about 7. Little Puppet wants to get married on the day he gets out, eh? He wants me to be best man. Qu vato. Santana, watch your back. If we show weakness now, homes, everybody's gonna see it. Not just the mayates and wops, but the Nuestra Familia as well. They're just waiting to make their fucking move. There's a way we can do it clean. Do what Scagnelli did. Farm the shit out. To who? Aryan Brotherhood. They hate the mayates. Mayates hate them. Ain't no big fuckin' thing. Let the A.B. Give the blacks the message. That way we don't have to risk anything. We're spending all of our time dealing with the Italians... and now with the Black Guerrilla Family, ese, instead of getting our people out and keeping them out. You know what? If we don't fight for this shit now, we're gonna lose it all now, homes. I also want to take a minute to thank the owner of the club, Maynard. Let's have a good time. Let's party! - Get down! - Back, motherfucker. We don't need no trouble. Just take the money... Everybody, shut up! Get down! - What is your name? - Arthur J. Uh-huh. Now it's Mrs J. For weeks I wanted to tell you how I felt. But when I was finally with you, I couldn't find the courage. This is how I always imagined it. The only thing, I wish my brother was here. When he comes out, let's have a party for him. I want to have a party, a big party. Orale. Lourdes, this dude and my brother, man, are the only reasons I made it. You know, without them... I can't believe we're out here, ese. We made it, qu, no? Yeah, we made it. Let's get a drink, qu, no? Yeah. Day in, day out. Same fucking thing. You know what it was in there, homes? Dead time, wasting my fucking life away, ese. And for what? So I could look in the fucking mirror... and say, "You're bad, ese. You're bad. " Shit, homes, the best tattoos in East L.A. Now I can't draw shit, ese. Fuck it, homes. It's okay. I'm lucky, huh? - I can still do somethin'. - Go sit him down. Hey, you know, I'm here, ese. Orale. You know what? I don't need to be bad any more. What you laughing at, punk? Wipe that fucking smile off your face, asshole. Hey, carnal. Wedding present, man. Chale, ese. Be cool, man. Be cool? Orale, I don't need to be cool. Sabes qu? I'm married now. Orale. You're cool. You're so cool... I'm gonna call you asshole. What went down in Compton was wrong, ese. It was supposed to be business. It came out racial. We wanted to send a message to the B.G.F. About stayin' away from our business. And we send a bunch of fucking cowboys... into other people's home turf, talking trash and shooting some guy in the dick. I don't know what's wrong with you? I don't know if it's that woman or what. But you're starting to show weakness. And we both know that you can't do that. Give me one honey, a kiss, c'mon, give me one! Get away, damn it, your breath smells like goat shit. Oh, shit, come on, Little Puppet. - Come on, primo, get up. - You all right? Come on, guy. Time for you to take a walk. Come on. Excuse me. You okay? My cousin, man, she a fox or what? Hey, Santana, I don't want to be in the La Eme any more, ese. I wanna be a John Doe, t sabes, you know? Sears and Roebuck all the way, homes. Work for a living. Move to Bakersfield. Have some fucking kids, ese. Give him to me. Excuse me. Oh, man, oh, I feel better now, except I'm fucking hot. Take it easy, nobody wants to see you naked, all right? Okay, homes. I'm gonna go wash up a little, all right? - Wait up, I'll go with you. - Oh, no, that's okay. Julie, I'm sorry, huh? It's okay. You're my cousin, remember? Fox is my cousin, qu, no ese? I'm sorry to hear about Neto. I don't know what to say to you. Whatever, you know. You're like two people. One is like a kid... who doesn't know how to dance, who doesn't know how to make love. That's the one I cared about. But the other one, the other one I hate. The one who knows, who has his rap down, who knows how to run drugs, who kills people. I don't have to listen to this shit, all right? If you were a man, I'd... You'd kill me. Oh no. No, you'd fuck me in the ass, right? Right? I guess we got nothing to say to each other. You know, when I met you, I was impressed. Yeah, you talked about La Raza and education... and the revolution, but you know what, man? You really don't care about any revolution, do you? You're nothing but a fucking dope dealer. - Just a road to where we're going, esa. - Bullshit! Sabes qu? I don't do drugs. I don't even like them, but they're there. It's a reality. If I don't take care of that business, somebody else will. Yeah? Well, your business kills kids, man. It kills kids! Like Neto and Paulito... and Mico, my son, who look up to you. They idolize the ground you walk on. What the fuck do you want from me? Do you want me to start over? Get a job? How about become a citizen? There's no fucking hope... for our kids... for our barrios... with people like you around. Good evening, buses stopped running at midnight. Is everything okay? Yeah, what's the problem? You ever been in the joint? - Yeah. - What about you, miss? No. We weren't doing anything wrong. Can I see some I. D? This yourjacket? Any weapons? Okay, step to the car. Put your hands on the hood. Now! - He wasn't doing any... - Stay out of this, ma'am. She's just a chick I picked up at a party. - Come on, he wasn't do... - Stay back! Step away from the car and put your hands on top of your head. Hands out in front. Over. Wiggle the fingers. Reach down and lift up your nut sack. - Can I talk to you a minute? - Simn, ese. I heard about what happened. I'm sorry, Santana. Mi carnalito, he messed up. It wasn't his fault, ese. It was an All-American beef. When they wanna pop you, they're gonna pop you. Want some grilled cheese, ese? - No, thanks. - You sure, ese? It's good. People are saying it's Little Puppet's fault. - It wasn't his fault, ese. - You know me, carnal. I'll do anything for La Eme, anything! But I'm asking you, please, take my brother's name off. Your brother's name's on a piece of paper, ese. They want me to kill him. It's a mistake, ese. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Nothing's gonna happen to your brother. That's good to hear, ese. That's good to hear. I hear Little Puppet's name's on a piece of paper, ese. I want you to co-sign it. - I'm taking it off, ese. - That punk got you kicked back in the hole. Set us all back. Now he's runnin' around talkin' about how he wants out of La Eme. His number's up, homes. I said I'm taking it off, ese. What's gonna happen... is gonna happen. Don't try to stop it. You understand me? I'm asking you, carnal. Is that where it's gotten to, ese? The brothers are talking about you. What are they saying, ese? They're saying that you're not showing them anything. You know, a long time ago, two best homeboys, two kids were thrown into juvie. They were scared, and they thought they had to do something to prove themselves. And they did what they had to do. They thought they were doing it to gain respect for their people, to show the world that no one could take their class from them. No one had to take it from us, ese. Whatever we had, we gave it away. Take care of yourself, carnal. But it's looking good as far as the appeal is concerned. I'd say maybe in the next six months, but it's gonna be tough. - Puppet. - Orale, Mundo. What's the word, mockingbird? Gonna fly the coop on us? Simn. You gonna take care of that business for us, right? You brought your brother in. You gotta take him out. - Santana was gonna talk to J.D. - Come on, don't punk out on us, ese. If you can't take care of it, we will. Anybody that happens to be with him gets to go along for the ride. One-two-three, five! One-two-three, six! One-two-three, seven! Dear Julie... maybe the reason I learned how to read and write... was so that I could write you this letter. Here in this cage, behind these bars, I can read, I can learn. I can even make love, but it's distorted. I thought that what I had learned on the inside... was everything I needed to know... even on the outside. Like they say, things don't always turn out the way one feels they should. 'Til now, all the books I've ever read... have been to try to get power. Let's see. - Mico, help me find my shoe. - Yeah? You'd lose your head if it wasn't fastened on. You were the door to another life, where my seed might have been affirmed. Ta-da! I found your shoe! I've brought back to this home... a breath of life, which I am trying to use. We make it, carnal. We don't fake you, wejust take you. 'Cause La Primera's ese. Always has been, always will be. - Orale. - Orale. Welcome to the clica, carnal. Por vida, ese. Por vida. - Are you coming out, ese? - Stayin' in. Are you sure you know what you're doing, ese? Simn. You scared me by showing me... a glimpse of what my life might have been. That's Lourdes. She looked hot that day. - Orale. - Hey, be careful! Don't worry, homes, I ain't gonna crash. Check that one out. See all the people? They were throwing rice and shit. Look at mama. Pull over up here. I gotta take a leak. This medal I send to you as a gift... for helping me find my voice, a key to my soul which I will use. St Dismas is the patron saint of all those in prison. He has protected me. May he do the same for you. Have hope. You deserve it. La Primera lives, ese. It lives through us. It gives to us. It is us. Simn, ese, it's all we got. It's all we've ever had. Carnal, remember that time we went down to the L.A. River? We drank that funky, funky wine, ese. Man, I was sick for a week. You wanna know what Lourdes asked me? I'm telling you this 'cause you're my carnal. She wanted to know if the reason why they call me "Little Puppet" was... You know. Made me real angry. I think she's pregnant now. I guess I showed her, huh? Don't look at me! Don't look at me. Don't fight. Please, don't fight! Just die! Just die. Mi carnalito. Goddam me. Goddam me. Comin' out? Paulito. Can I talk to you for a minute? Your brother sent this for you. He wants you to have it. - You know what it is, right? - Yeah. Yeah, I went with my mom to give it to him, years ago. Thanks. Orale. Hey, check it out! Look at what my carnal sent me. Mommy, where're you going? - To school, Mico. - To school? Give me a kiss. Mmm, I love you. - Is it okay if I go with the guys? - No, it's not okay. - Why not? - Because I said so. - Please? - No, you can't. Looks good, don't it? You're a man now, ese. - Let's go cruise the boulevard. - Paulito. - Be right back! - Paulito! - Paulito! - Papa, I'll be right back. You coming out, ese? Yeah. You got a lot of heart, carnal. Maybe too much. You've always gotta give it your best shot, you know? Which one, ese? Don't matter. Fuck it, homes. La Primera lives! What is time? Time is when a man is tryin' to make time with your woman, but you doin'time behind bars and your time is standin'still. Yo, Frost, kick it to these people for real. - Likejust last night - What happened, man? Yo. - But no, you didn't think - Sucker. True. Yo, kick it. Just for you in '92. You know what I'm sayin'? So if you don't want to do no time, you better take time and try to draw the line. Or you're gonna be the next fool in line doin'time. You know what I'm sayin'? Like my man said. Ain't no sunshine, fool. Ain't nothin'happenin'up there. You know what I'm sayin'? Yo, me and Frost is outta here. |
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