Hurry up!
- What's eating you? - Stop coughing on me!
Your hands are all greasy.
- And yours aren't? - No, I washed them.
Here.
God, it's hot.
Hurry the fuck up!
This is good smack.
How many are you taking? - Two. Who gave it to you?
Climax?
"Climax"... what a shitty name.
He used to hang out at the Climax,
and now the name has stuck.
Hang out where? Who's Climax?
Never heard of the disco Climax?
No? Jesus, Vanda!
No.
You never went to the Cellar?
Hurry up and smoke. Come on!
Smoke!
If it'll shut you up.
I'm not in the mood to cut the coke.
- Give it here. I'll do it. - Yeah, right.
Come on.
Give me that.
You done?
Pango found a place to stay.
- Who's Pango? - Nhurro.
He did?
Nhurro, Pango, Yuran, Chumbito...
he goes by all those names.
He's staying where that girl lived who killed her baby.
Smoke.
God, my back hurts.
Hurry up with that, Vanda.
Smoke to get over the agonies first.
You gonna drink all that?
No.
Then don't.
Watch it!
It burned up.
IN VANDA'S ROOM
Hurry up!
Fuck, I'm totally wasted.
Come on!
Scrub hard, man. Don't be afraid.
- Nhurro! - Not now. I'm busy.
Fuck!
Look at that great dresser.
May the Lord help me.
Vanda, get out on your rounds!
The scissors, Zita?
I had them.
The old woman had it all over her head
Me too, but I lost my head
Here.
Wait a minute. The strawberries aren't thick yet.
All this fuckin' noise is getting on my nerves.
- Is this all? - What are you talking about?
Fuck! Look at yours and look at mine.
What about it?
Fuck! You try to talk to her and she starts shouting!
Damn right.
Shit!
Goddamn it.
Look at the mess in this room!
It's only the bed! It all just needs folding!
That's what you always say.
It just has to be folded!
Come clean this room, and Vanda will clean hers.
Yeah, and you'll clean yours.
Everyone will clean their own room,
and we'll see who's done first. One, two, three, go!
Lena?
- What is it, Anita? - You got any manioc?
No, not until Friday.
Not until Friday.
Come in.
Don't touch that!
It's not yours.
Boots, jeans...
you help yourself to everything.
Stop the fucking shouting!
You're pathetic.
You're a pathetic bitch.
- You're the pathetic one. - Fucking pathetic.
Senhora da Luz, you want lettuce or cabbage?
Senhora da Luz?
Nuno, you want cabbage?
See you later.
Beware Noah's Ark! Noah's Ark is coming!
Noah's Ark?
How am I gonna take these blankets?
It's not much stuff, mostly blankets, but still...
Ma'am, you want lettuce or cabbage?
No, no money.
Thank you.
You don't want any? Thank you.
See you later. Thanks.
Ma'am, you want any lettuce?
So they pulled your house down, Geny?
Geny, you'll have to sleep with me tonight.
You poor thing.
- Throw that out for me, will you? - Where?
In the trash out there.
- Go out to the fuckin' highway? - Come on, do me a favor.
Empty those for me. - Go out to the highway now?
Do me a favor.
- Hold on a minute. - No, do it now.
I'm cleaning this place up. Empty them for me.
I have to do it now?
Can't you do that for me? Do me a favor.
Don't you see I'm cleaning up so we can feel at home?
Give me a hand with this.
- Over there? - No, outside.
- In the street? - Yes.
Go on.
Now go empty those for me.
Okay, but let me shoot up first.
The guy went to get the coke, so help me out here.
Okay, I'll do it soon enough.
Let me shoot up first and then I'll go.
Just forget it.
Now you're gonna sit down? Don't sit there.
Go sit on the sofa.
On the sofa, out of the way. - I'm fine here.
Sit over there on the sofa.
Can't you see I'm cleaning?
Lift it up.
Fuck this shit.
My arms hurt.
I gotta go to the can.
Fuck! Like this I can't...
Shit.
You got it?
Ouch.
Miranda...
You know who used to live here?
It belonged to a girl,
a pretty thing
who tried to sell her baby for 1,500 escudos.
That blond girl who put her baby in the trash can?
Yeah, I know the one.
Whether she put it in the trash or killed it, I don't know.
Pango, the place has turned out cool, hasn't it?
It's right on.
Give me a smoke.
Thanks.
Good luck, bro.
This can all go in the living room,
where I put all the fruit.
Put it all over there.
I put all the fruit there.
And if you're looking for the red apples,
they're under the bananas.
Look, Ma.
Look what I found.
Where?
Out there.
Ah...
- Ah, what? - What do you want that for?
It's an antique, dummy.
Somebody must have taken it out of someone's house.
It's all in one piece, except some wires are broken.
It's an antique, isn't it, Miranda?
Don't you think I could get at least 5,000 for it?
Look, it's just the wire that's broken.
Didn't you see it, Ma? Out behind the streetcars?
Just a few wires,
but they can be fixed.
Nice, isn't it? There's one missing here.
I thought you'd seen it. It was out there.
I went to get a box and found it there.
There's one missing here. Look at the wax.
It's wax or oil or something.
Right?
If Emilia saw it, she'd want it right away.
Don't put it there! It's dirty!
Then clean it.
Get it off the fruit. Put it down there.
Get it off yourself.
Not there. We won't be able to reach the TV.
Did you see the ship?
Over there.
Look.
It's all in one piece. - It's nice.
Hey, that's mine, damn it!
I left it by the trash cans to clean it.
- It was out by the streetcars. - I forgot to go get it!
I left it there. It's mine.
Listen, I've got blankets.
Just imagine if I'd been in there.
- You'd have come out... ... burnt to a cinder.
If they'd gotten hold of you and poured gasoline all over you...
And me crippled, with crutches and all. I'd have been a goner.
You couldn't even move.
Those boys are bad news.
Evil. They have evil in them.
They're from Venda Nova, Nhurro's barrio.
There are five or six of them.
Three black guys and two white guys.
One of them was the one
from that place where you and I used to sleep.
That's right.
He's the one pulling those robbery tricks too.
He's a sly one.
They thought I was still inside.
And they set fire to it?
Right.
Pathetic.
If you'd really been in there, you'd still be there.
How would I have gotten out?
- With all the blankets and stuff. - Of course.
Gasoline does the job in no time.
Yeah, and with everything all so dry,
you couldn't be out of there quick enough.
It all goes up in no time.
You remember an old sofa there?
- One of them big ones? - Yeah, up against the drum.
They must have put a match to it.
It burned like straw. Went up in smoke.
The blankets I had in the drum, the clothes and everything,
all fucking gone.
- That was pure evil. - Nothing but evil. And then they...
They scattered your blankets and stuff all over.
Yesterday and the day before, I was in the drum,
and they started throwing rocks at me.
I had to start shouting
and pretending they'd hit me for them to stop.
Day before yesterday I was walking past that school up there,
and the guy who owned that house where we used to sleep,
he and two black girls
decided to wait there...
and clean me out, you know?
Because they knew I was tending parked cars.
They got it into their heads that I had money on me.
"Give us some change. "
I said, "I ain't got a penny. "
"Jump up and down. We'll see if you have any. "
So I jumped up and down, and I had money.
"Empty your pockets!"
But I wouldn't give 'em shit.
Good thing Vanda's father showed up.
The old guy. I was lucky he saw it.
'Cause they'd started ganging up on me,
and he was there working in a bulldozer.
He came to your aid.
He was working in a bulldozer.
I headed straight for that bulldozer and jumped in the cab,
and he brought me down here to Fontainhas.
Goddamn it.
I'll be too cold like this.
Cold, cold, cold
I feel cold
Ay, Mouraria
On the old Rua da Palma
One day
I left my heart there
When he passed right by me
Oh shit.
With dark skin
Fine lips
And a beguiling look
Vanda, Vanda...
Leave me alone.
See ya, Nhurro.
You got a cigarette?
Good luck, bro. See ya later.
Fatima, give me a Martini, please.
- In a glass? - That's fine, thanks.
Or you want the bottle?
Thanks.
Vanda.
I heard about your sister Nela. It's so sad.
Night's coming on.
It's getting dark.
I better go buy some candles.
Here comes Crutch.
Nhurro!
Oh, God.
Father, help me.
- Lena? - What is it?
Goddamn it.
Fuckin' shit.
Yuran...
I'm dying.
Go to sleep, Paulo.
Bad guys like us never die.
It's the innocent who die.
Tomorrow we'll have to do something about your hair.
Is Ma going to visit Nela?
She already called today.
- What did she want? - Money.
- Get out, you bitch! - I'm not going fuckin'nowhere!
- I'm at the end of my rope with you. - Cunt!
You have no idea.
And you have no idea how much I hate you.
Get out of my room.
- I hate your guts. - No more than I hate yours.
- I'll let you have it. - Go ahead!
- Get screwed. - Get screwed yourself!
You've got the husband for it. I don't.
"Find a husband. "
Tell her, Diogo: "Find a husband. "
Ma, this Tupperware is broken.
Ma, the cops will take that cake apart right in front of you.
They have to break it all up.
To see if you're bringing in drugs.
They'll break it all up, crumb by crumb.
And who knows if they'll let the ham by.
Help me clean this room.
Lena, hurry up. The baby shit in his diapers.
He needs changing.
Where are you taking all this?
You're going out with your hair like that?
- Put that in a bag for me. - My hands are dirty.
Call Zita.
Zita, put all that in a bag.
They only let those bags in.
The Tupperware containers first.
Put the hot stuff in first, down at the bottom.
They only let those bags in.
Give me the money.
No, put this in first.
Shut up.
Didn't you hear what she said?
- What did she say? - The hot stuff first.
Hey, Zita. How's it going, Vanda?
She didn't even seal this.
You got any bananas, ladies?
Did you find a place to stay, Paulo?
Sort of.
Where is it? Maybe I know it.
With Blondie.
Some place up the hill, near Venda Nova.
You know, I saw my old lady today.
Did she speak to you?
Seeing her brought tears to my eyes.
She was digging in the garden, tending her cabbage.
She looked at me. "You're so thin. "
Out of shame, I reached into my pocket.
I took out all I had and gave it to her.
"Look at you.
You're all dirty. Your shoes are dirty.
You're breaking my heart. "
Then she asked, "Do you get enough to eat?"
I said yes, which is the truth.
"Now and then I leave some food in the oven
to see if you come take it.
I always hope it was you who took it. "
I can't bear running into my old lady. It makes me too sad.
Yuran, you'll end up killing your mother.
Don't say things like that.
Paulo, I need to get new needles.
Leave me yours.
No, mine's brand-new.
I just opened it. - "Brand-new"!
I'll go with you to get new ones later.
- How many needles you got? - Two.
I exchange them in Pontinha.
I opened one just now and the other one a while ago.
They're both still real good.
They're both good. If you saw some of the needles I've used.
This all goes in the trash.
You gonna take all day with that?
I've got some things to do.
Good luck.
Yeah, good luck to you, Paulo.
May the Lord go with me.
What's this?
Crutch's silver spoon that he eats his yogurt with.
Who is it?
Don't you look in fine shape!
It's real degrading. They treat you like a convict.
- Really? - Like a convict.
Did they take you straight to jail from the station, Carla?
Yeah. At 5:00 a. m. They took me straight to a cell at the station.
Shit.
In the meantime they did that...
I don't know what they call it.
That "you're under arrest" thing?
A piece of paper to take me to the women's prison.
I left the station at 9:30 and was behind bars by 11:00.
You can't wear jeans or anything.
You have to wear cotton trousers
and an overall.
A blue one?
Depends. Different colors. I'll be back.
It's probably just for the older ones.
No, all the women in prison have to wear that.
All over a few Knorr cubes! Fucked, isn't it?
That's prison for you.
But she had a long record.
Eight years of stealing.
But Jesus Christ, doing time for a few Knorr cubes?
Where else would that happen?
Only here in Lisbon.
Three fuckin' years for a few Knorr cubes.
Vanda, didn't you hear what she said? She had a record as long as her arm.
Because she was caught so often,
and they kept bringing charges.
Three times she was about to get out, and along came another trial.
I know four people who were inside and got out.
Then the cops discover something else, and they go straight back in again.
That's right. They come and get you.
Take Zeninhas.
He wasn't out a week before they came for him again.
Why?
More charges, a new trial, and off he went to prison.
- How many years did he get? - Don't ask me.
Shit.
That's really bad.
Worse than bad.
Going to prison. Fuck, the very thought...
It's not just that, Maria. It's going to prison...
over some fucking Knorr cubes! Where else would you see that?
Going to prison for stealing Knorr cubes?
I think she was the first person
who ever did time for that.
"I'm doing time for stealing Knorr cubes. "
That's pathetic.
Our country is the poorest, most pathetic of them all.
So many years suffering at the hands of that man.
After 24 years he left her with nothing.
It's sad. She went hungry so she could feed us.
I'll never forgive him for that, never.
My dear mother.
Fuck! My sister Zita's lucky to be alive.
He trapped her belly,
with her almost due,
in between two armchairs
and almost killed her.
God is my witness.
Geez, that makes me mad.
The N didn't turn out very well.
"No credit today. Tomorrow. "
This sign is going up if it's the last thing I do.
Is this new house a secret? Can I move in with you?
We won't say a word to Crutch.
You're getting old.
I'm gonna tell her,
"Nela, if you keep on making life hell for Ma,
it's the last you'll see of me or anybody else. "
I wasn't allowed to use the phone. That's why I never called.
Else I'd have done the same as her, calling all the time.
But you wouldn't ask for what she's asking for, would you?
I'd only ask for 1,000 escudos... in smack, not money.
What would I do with money in the hospital?
And there was smack all over the place anyway.
Jesus, if I'd known sooner!
I'll never forget the trouble I went to for a little foil.
All I could think was,
"Those drawers back home full of fuckin' foil, and me here. "
Know what I did?
I got hold of one of them iron things
that they keep thermometers in.
I got hold of it, put the lighter to it,
and, "I can smoke again!"
I go, "Give me my fix. " He says, "I ain't got no foil. "
Fuck, I had to find some foil.
I'd have used the fucking bedpan as long as the drops would run.
"Vanda, you're not taking that stuff in there. "
I was bringing you foil, smack, the whole setup.
But Miranda wouldn't let me. He took it all.
When he saw me come out with that mask still on...
They'd caught my hair in the knot when they tied it on me,
and I couldn't get it off. "Miranda, get this off me. "
This is dead.
"I'm too nervous to get this thing off. Help me. "
No one imagined what we had on us.
It's fucking torture, I'm telling you.
The real torture is knowing that other people can smoke.
That's right!
Knowing that you were going home to smoke.
Fuck, you know what I did?
I yanked out the drip and everything.
You know how many times I went over to the window?
I kept falling down.
Thin as I was, I could hardly stand up.
I'd have escaped.
There's nothing but assholes around here.
Nobody helps. All I hear is "in a minute. "
Fuck, all you do is make me work. What do you want now?
You're pushin' it, you know. Take it easy.
Let me shoot up first. Then I'll take the trash out.
But I'm shooting up first.
What would look good here is some nice flowered wallpaper.
Talk about hematomas, man... I'm a fuckin'martyr.
Quit your moaning.
I've had loads of 'em.
If you'd taken all the shit that I have...
Loads of 'em. Seven or eight.
You'd be scared shitless.
I was a walking blood clot.
I've been jabbed so bad.
One time I just couldn't get the needle in.
This one was a real bitch. An internal hematoma.
It covered all my tendons.
My leg went stiff.
I was in that vacant lot for three days and nights.
It rained. The sun shone. It rained again.
And me lying there under my blanket, until I finally burst it myself.
I was useless in the morning without my Serenals.
But then it got infected, 'cause I'd messed it up.
It was Serenals back then.
I didn't get it bandaged that weekend,
and the one in my neck swelled up so bad
that on my way to the clinic on Monday,
I began to squeeze it, and the pus was running out.
Without the Serenals I could hardly even walk.
I went to the clinic,
and she stuck this huge needle in my neck.
My eyes were popping out of my head.
It was Antral or Anthrax, something like that.
If you ask me, all my hematomas were side effects from the Serenals.
I had two on my chest, on the left and right.
I burst the one on the right.
I have one on my left foot.
- Which one? - Two on my chest.
I had one on my neck and on my leg at the same time.
- You had one on your neck. - The one on my neck burst.
No, I mean the one on your neck.
I took antibiotics for that one, straight into the blood.
Give me a drag, Nando.
Serum and all that.
But that was when I went to the hospital after I burst the one on my leg.
After I got back from the hospital, I got another one on my right arm.
What about me? One on each foot, remember?
And one on my arm. This one here.
So who won the championship that year?
Benfica. No, Porto.
- I mean the Hematoma Championship. - Fuck you, Nhurro.
What really got to me was the old woman.
She looked like a hunchback,
all bent over, with her walking stick.
An old woman in prison.
Get out on your rounds.
It's all old people in there.
But she's free to walk around.
"Bring me smack. " "Yeah, right.
We'll bring you money, but no drugs. "
But I'll take her a few hits the next time.
I will.
If you get caught, you're on your own.
If I'm caught, I'm caught.
You liked it there that much?
They have a cafe and everything.
And there aren't bars, like people say.
Just that wire in little squares, like we've got.
And there aren't bars on her cell either.
It's glass blocks.
But geez, what a haul from where they searched us to Block 3.
And finding Nela...
like a needle in a haystack.
You can't find her.
She says she has a sword and she's gonna kill herself.
A sword?
Says she made it out of bedsprings.
- Come on. - It's true.
She's crazy. She's lying.
But I'll take her some next time.
Just tell them it's for your own use.
No, Granny, I'll hide it in my dentures.
It'll fit.
Hurry up and get out on your rounds.
No, their machines only detect metal.
I can't take anything made of metal.
I left her talking with the wardens, with that woman I know.
It was a good thing she was there.
- Who? - A customer of mine.
Just imagine... she's a warden.
When she saw me, she said, "Hey, it's the vegetable girl. "
I'm going back on Friday.