[MUSIC - NITIN SAWHNEY, "DEAD MAN"]
[SINGING] Cool boy playin'.
Fat man runnin'.
Old fool walkin'.
Dead man coughin'.
Cool boy playin'.
Fat man runnin' Old fool walkin'.
Dead man coughin'.
This is the best goddamn show.
[LAUGHING]
Oh, my ass is on fire.
That shit is not healthy.
This is the best goddamn show.
I shit you not, [INAUDIBLE].
There's nothing funnier than a good ass joke.
Just ask my brats.
You know what's funny is, you've been here for two hours.
Getting a bad feeling here.
Just relax, kid.
Hey, hey, check this out.
See that fat kid?
Looks like a big fat--
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
MAN AT DOOR: Chinese dragon delivery.
Y'all order some food?
Oh, that's a beautiful thing fellas.
Ooh.
Shh.
Now, let's see what your fortune say.
Oops.
You scratched on the 8-ball, son.
ANNOUNCER: 12:30 westbound, New Orleans to Houston,
platform six.
12:30 westbound--
[BASSY MUSIC PLAYING]
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Ask any kid where to find a monster.
They'll tell you to look under the bed.
But sometimes, when the bed ain't big enough to hold
those bad motherfuckers?
You got no choice but to get away.
At first, it's all a giggle.
Then you realize hitting the road's
like hitting the index, end of fucking story,
unless you discover you have a talent.
Then, you become a hustler.
Name's Nine Ball, kid.
You know it?
You can break.
Hablo Americano?
[SNIFFS]
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Nine ball, simple game.
Sink the nine.
Win the game.
Trick was, you had to sink eight other balls in order first.
Unless you got lucky and dropped the nine with one of them.
But there was no such thing as luck to a hustler.
Luck was what the other guy wanted.
Pretty mean break.
Run it back.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: What a hustler wanted was a mark who
couldn't tell luck from skill.
That's what made a pool player into a hustler.
[DRUM AND BASS PLAYING]
Look at that kid.
We ain't get that snake bite screw.
Jesus.
Nah.
He just break like Jesus.
Yeah.
He look like he need to be using a lighter stick.
You shoot like a cat called Tenderloin
Tony from San Francisco.
Beat me like a red-headed stepchild once.
He stuffed my stake horse, Cue Ball Carl.
Phew, royally.
All the bread he took offa him?
Tough titty, little man. Step on back.
Bring it up, 100?
I got somethin' for ya.
Like what?
[INAUDIBLE]
Tally that up.
OK.
Worm's turned.
You're done shittin' out.
Your momma tell you about throwing money at people?
Sorry.
You finally got him in the electric chair?
My turn to run.
We brought it up on that last one.
We at a Cecil a game now!
What?
You think he doin' business on me?
Come on Carl, look at him.
I mean, all right, he can shoot straight,
but Carl, man, I'm your player, man.
Then go play, and get 100 nickels.
[BASSY MUSIC PLAYING]
You played me this whole fucking time?
Tough titty, little man.
By the way, my name's Jericho.
Where the fuck do you think you're going?
Bring your fat mother fuckin' ass over here.
[GROANING IN PAIN]
Welcome to the tribe, son.
AGGRESSOR: Motherfucker.
[INAUDIBLE] bitch ass here.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Her name was Jezebel Black.
Two scoops of ice cream on a hot summer night.
Carl used her to line up the marks.
They used us to cut 'em up.
'Sup sweetie?
OK Jenna, no bullshit.
For real.
Am I the unluckiest fucking girl you know.
You know you fierce, Jez.
You think I'm fierece?
How much you in for?
Too large.
Come on, please?
A Cecil.
I'm good for it.
Sweetie, you into Case two grand, and you're
sitting here asking me for a s
Listen, I just need enough to get me started
on a riverboat game, please.
Tell him what happened.
I was up three grand.
I was sitting on a run to the 8, right?
Punched my nuts straight.
Let me guess?
What?
You pushed it all in?
Join your wad, baby.
Just one problem.
Always is.
I was shy of the pot by two fucking g's.
So you borrowed it from case?
Exactly.
I couldn't lose.
That Albino jackrabbit was probably making business on you
with his Filipino friend.
Only where he thinks he can keep a leash on your pussy.
I didn't know somebody was packing three fucking bullets.
How'd you get out of there, girl?
Well, International Ted was there,
so I told him that he could play with my titties
if he loaned me the scratch.
Just one fucking problem.
It turns out to be that the guy is gay.
Oh.
All right.
So I had to get the hell out of there, immediately.
Muy pronto. - Shit, Jez.
OK, I'll give you the two hundred.
You better not be playing me neither.
I love you mama.
Mm-hmm.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: You belong to Carl's tribe.
You're worried about nothing.
MAD BOY: I'm gonna call this place the shooting gallery.
I like that, my own private fishing hole.
Only two kinds of action we're gonna run, here.
A long frame, and a short con.
Long frame for taking in the big skull.
So let few play their part.
Don't lie can make that call.
He'll understand.
Y'all stick to working the short con,
you know, playing the tables.
Let it come to you.
And remember, be here for the dough, not to shoot.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: All you had to do was earn.
Sometimes, that meant violence.
C'mon man, I'm just a cook!
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Mad boy was what
we called the lucky Pierre.
He had no game, so he never got the choice end of the score,
but he always took the fall with the blue trap shut.
I don't have your money!
You don't have my what?
Fuck you!
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Paul The Pawn was off his fucking nut.
He was also Carl's number one player.
It used to be Nichols.
Nichols got turned out.
His team got kicked in, remember?
Fuck you!
Get--
So, uh, he owes Paul how much?
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Me, I was different from those fools.
I was a hustler, sure, but I had a goal.
And a hustler with a goal ended up one of two ways.
[INAUDIBLE]
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Happy--
Chicago.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Or dead.
No, Boston.
[INAUDIBLE]
What the fuck is this, a geography lesson?
This is bullshit.
I need some play [INAUDIBLE].
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Cue Ball Carl Bridgers.
He was one of the best nine ball players ever.
Now, he was just a stake horse.
You know, you never let a twist
get between you and the tribe.
You know what I mean?
Yeah?
Do you like arita?
Because I love arita.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: The shooting gallery.
Carl's own private fishing hole.
He sunk everything he had into it.
At the end of the day, he took 70% of whatever we made.
Snap it.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: One of the things Carl taught us--
never underestimate the stupidity
of the general public.
And never show your speed until the mark gave you
what you wanted.
If I don't have bad luck, I have no luck at all.
Fuck it, I'm done.
You got me sown tighter than a bull's ass tonight.
Ey, one more.
I'll give you the five and the break, c'mon.
But uh, it's 20 a game.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Like an Orange Crush--
the five and the break.
Wow, I have to be stupid not to take that spot, uh?
20 a game.
Can you fucking believe that?
I never shot stick--
come on, you gotta admit that's a hell of a shot.
Run it back.
Fuck that, man.
I quit.
Fuck.
[INAUDIBLE] gettin' you a regular pay day.
You've been in dead stroke for weeks now.
You know what I say Carl?
Give him a stick and he'll be as cool as cool
as the other side of the pillow.
I'm playin' OK.
W you say, son.
OK.
I'm going to bounce.
So, you guys can talk.
See you later, [INAUDIBLE].
That's some dangerous pussy, son.
You smell it?
[INAUDIBLE] telling me that she hear
about an ace nine baller coming into town
by the name of Tenderloin Tony.
Now I've got me some history with this fool.
In this town, he's supposed to be back by Rockefeller
[INAUDIBLE] wantin' to play high,
so I want to run a long cream on him.
No nine ball on this one.
Consider yourself my player.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Moving up in the tribe
was like hitting the jackpot on your birthday.
Nevermind Paul?
Paul's having some problems.
He's strictly front room from now on.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: It also meant someone else
was going to be moving down.
RADIO: Detective [INAUDIBLE] expressed his frustration
that the grand jury had failed to hand out any indictments.
The city with the number one murder rate in the nation.
The savagery of the triple homicide involving three
undercover NOPD detectives is remembered as one
of the most brutal slayings.
Hiya, Bambi.
They call me thumper.
Thanks for talking me up, making me look good to Carl.
So Carl made you his player huh?
Um, yes.
Thanks to you.
Thanks to me, right?
So, I was thinking maybe--
Yeah?
Listen, I landed this stake horse the other night,
and he told me that if I could get him a player,
he was going to give me a finder's fee.
I need the money.
So please?
OK.
Wait, Jez.
Come on.
I can help you but if Carl finds me freelancing, I'm fucked.
You know that.
He won't.
I promise.
So where'd you meet him?
Um, we can make a little money while we wait.
All right!
Hi.
How are ya?
I'm good, how are you?
I'm doing better.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Who showed your ass in a pool ball.
You lost your stake.
And when I played with Jags, I had fun.
I just did.
The hard part was not letting it show.
Fuckin' hustler dog?
Nah, everyone has their moments.
That's what I thought.
He is part of a crew.
Woah, woah, easy, easy.
You watch your fucking back.
Hey, how are you guys doing?
Sorry, I got hung up. - You're late.
We're leaving.
Where are you going?
You know if he leaves, you don't get your finder's fee.
You any good, kid?
It's going to cost you to find out, all right?
So that was him huh?
[INAUDIBLE]
We made money.
Glad we didn't make a deal with the stakers,
because I [INAUDIBLE].
Hey kid, I saw your tat.
That means you belong to Carl Bridgers right?
Where are you on your way to, Shooting Gallery?
What if I told you I was staking in a rogue player
from San Francisco looking to play high.
What do you say?
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Coincidence.
Carl called it God's way of remaining anonymous.
Got a name.
Fuck you.
Asshole.
Go around, fuckhead.
Yeah, player's name?
Tenderloin Tony.
Ever heard of him?
He's a great fucking player.
See, I need somebody on the inside to set it up, OK?
You do that for us?
What, you're still waiting for your finder's fee
aren't you honey?
Set it up for tonight, 10:00.
I'll pay you then.
I'll take that as a yes. Silence is a yes.
It wasn't a no.
[INAUDIBLE] a game.
Fuckin' unbelievable.
Why not?
[INAUDIBLE]
[INAUDIBLE] the guy was right, huh?
No way.
He's a hustla'.
Some of the best hustlers are cops.
They're fucking cannibals man, I'm telling you.
You ever been busted by a vise?
No.
You ever seen a vise sting in action?
No.
Do you know any vise cops, Paul?
No, I don't.
Well, thanks for the tip.
Next time I have a question about a mark I'll
make sure and ask you first.
Jez, tell Carl I'll be here for 10.
All right.
Oh, look at this boys.
Little fresh flower.
Got no bitch to save your ass now.
Shit.
Hey, listen.
Split up, split up.
I got the right.
You got him?
I got him.
[INAUDIBLE]
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Problem with freelancing?
No one to watch your back.
I know you was trying to double dip on this one.
Jericho called me while you lookin'
for outside finder's fee.
It's just this one.
Shh.
COP: Mardi Gras, 2 o'clock.
Him in the lights.
Six alpha four A, we got a possible 3-90.
Standby.
Excuse me, son.
On the wall.
How many drink's you had tonight?
It's Tenderloin Tony.
And on the seventh day, God was fucked up, so what'd he do?
He invented pool.
I've known him since he was [INAUDIBLE]..
[INAUDIBLE] chewed on nickels and emptied them out.
Seeing him makes my ass itch.
Just let me know when Jericho arrives.
If I can just get someone to post my bond
I'll be right there.
Hello?
Hey kid.
You just posted.
Ouh, you fucked up last night, kid.
You all right?
You a cop or a queer?
Yeah, I'm a cop.
It's my day job.
Everybody has secrets.
OK, here's the deal.
Still want you to set up that game for me.
Bridgers can't know I'm a cop, though.
OK, but listen, smart ass.
Do the math.
You make the game.
Bridgers gets a shot at Tenderloin Tony.
He takes him down, you move to the head of the class.
That's what you want right?
Go for the brass ring.
Think about it.
You think about who bailed you out?
Think about calling me.
All right?
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: The brass ring.
What hustlers dream of.
But give up Carl for it?
Guy must have thought I had rocks in my head.
Yeah it's a five dollars a game
unless you want some weight.
It's my table so you can go and break it too.
Unless, just say you break and you sink something, right?
See that fine little catfish over there?
[INAUDIBLE]
She's yours for 15 minutes.
But if you choke, you give us $100.
You think he don't replace the pawn rook?
I'll take over this shit, he gon' turn your mother
fuckin' ass out, beli' dat.
I'm sorry, look at that.
I'm sorry, you owe us $100.
Oh, hey.
Where were you last night?
Where's Carl?
He's scrubbing the floors.
Shit.
After they jumped me, I tried to get here,
but these two blue boys shook me down.
Honest to Christ, Carl.
Kiss the Goat's ass.
Kiss it.
You fuck with my action, you're fuckin' with my action.
You understand?
Good thing I just finished scrubbing.
A clean office is a sign of a clean establishment.
That's why every Monday, I come here for scrubbing day.
Oath to God, you leavin' anything out?
If I'm lying, I'm dying.
Know what a slider is?
A slider is an action that go so well,
the mark don't even know he's been hit.
Tenderloin Tony, but he gon' be back.
Can't help himself.
He think he got a chance to beat me clean.
So, we gon' run a slider on him.
Gon' call out his stake horse, and gon' set him up way.
And the next time he touch a cue, is gon' be his last.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Carl laid it out.
Make another game with Tony.
Play him on the limit.
Make a show of it.
Play the dandelion.
The idea was, once Tony realized the level of play in the room,
he'd jump at the chance to play Carl next.
That was the plan.
But I knew Tony's stake horse was a fucking cop.
So you decided to call.
That's good.
You tell bridgers I'm a cop?
Did you tell him I'm a cop?
I didn't tell Carl shit OK?
OK.
C'mon, get in.
Go for a ride.
Look through those again, anything stand out?
That last one, in the room,
There's your video.
Yeah.
But I wasn't in the room when it went down.
It's been the bane of my fucking existence.
Tape disappeared.
Bridgers was in that room.
So Bridgers must be on that table.
Fucking fairytale.
Fairytales have happy endings.
You want to know how this ends?
DA deemed everything I had circumstantial.
No DNA, no weapon, no videotape.
I lost my partner, my assignment,
eventually my marriage.
Because you couldn't prove shit.
Because I couldn't prove that Bridgers was the trigger man.
You scratched on the eight ball.
Yeah.
But I got a plan.
Hustle if you will, to get what's owed.
Starts with that table.
I know Bridgers.
I know what he likes.
Especially, I know what he hates.
He hates Tenderloin Tony.
So I called him.
I told him I was a stake horse.
[INAUDIBLE] high stakes game with Bridgers, and if you
want to be my player.
And I need you to find a way into the Shooting Gallery.
Desperation makes people do a lot of stupid things.
And that girl of yours?
Desperate.
She led me to you, unknowingly of course.
So this whole thing was a fucking setup?
COP: Bridgers has that tape.
Took it for insurance.
He owns the one thing I need, and I
need that game to win it back.
I can't get it any other way.
Why the hell would Carl stake a videotape that proves
he killed someone?
Allow me to demonstrate.
You know what a blank is?
Of course you do.
Fake bullet.
All bang, no bite.
Right?
You know it's a blank, but you're
afraid to move aren't you?
Go ahead, move.
I pull this trigger, there's enough powder in there
to send a part of your skull right through your brain.
You're a smart kid, but you only got one move.
Set up my game for me.
Set up my fucking game for me.
I'll let you take a walk.
I gotta take this.
Hello?
What?
It is the right amount, Michelle.
Hang on a sec.
Is Katie in the same room with you?
Could you try just a little bit harder to humiliate me
right the fuck in front of her?
Yeah, well I happen to be in a meeting
here myself, incidentally.
So I set up the game, you let me skate?
On my word.
Could you do me a favor, will you--
OK, so what is it?
How much is it, according to you?
The right and proper amount you blackmailing--
Katie, hi, hi.
How you doing?
No, no, we're not fighting.
Did your mother get you to say that?
Yeah, well, you tell her 2000 is easily enough.
Hello?
I can't see my daughter unless I send
her a maintenance check in the amount
that she thinks is right.
So what do you say?
We got a deal?
There's something you need to know about hustlers.
First, we're all about the money.
Now, you only just met Tony.
Called him on the phone.
Told him you had some money to play.
As long as you got some money, he's got an opportunity
to make it offa you.
What are you trying to say.
I think maybe he's working a double-dump on you.
Can you do me a favor?
Could you speak fucking English?
Doing some business on you, with Carl?
Thought ever cross your mind?
I don't doubt Bridgers could talk
the Virgin Mary herself into picking up a hammer,
but here's the thing.
That was a blank.
My other gun doesn't take blanks.
You set up the game for tonight.
That hurt?
Don't try to fuck me.
Jez.
Hey, what happened?
This whole situation.
What's with the bags?
You gonna go some place?
Not now.
You're sweet.
You don't understand.
You have that one backwards kiddo.
You get to know me a little better,
you'll see this is what I do.
What, run away?
You don't think I know about that?
That's not what I meant, Jericho.
Listen, I'm an addict.
It's just that instead of sticking needles up my arm
I gamble a lot.
And what happens when you gamble is that sooner or later,
you have to leave.
You have to jet.
Things got a little too hot.
You gotta go.
That's what I'm doing.
It's all right.
I would've.
You don't take what I say?
TENDERLOIN TONY: Did you know that in World War II,
Japs would use crystal meth to give
the Japanese pilots on the suicide mission,
right before they went off.
They would fly off into the sunrise
feeling better than they ever did in their goddamn lives.
Something poetic about experiencing
the pinnacle of pleasure.
Hope you don't mind.
It was open. Fuckhead.
You were supposed to meet me an hour ago.
What the fuck?
Hey, it's OK.
Close the door.
Close the door, Tony.
Close the door.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Take your fucking hand off me.
Fuck it Fuck you.
That's my fucking drugs.
That shit is expensive man.
Open your mouth.
That's expensive shit.
Come on.
Tony, fuck off.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here we go.
Good girl.
Fuck you.
Take your fucking hand off me.
Fuck you.
Fuck you, man.
You said we were gonna fucking play high.
We're going to come down to New Orleans, fuckin'
take Carl for everything he's got.
Take his fuckin' money, take his pool hall, take everything.
I'm still sittin' on my ass for two days,
and I still don't [INAUDIBLE].
That's my fucking wife.
Is she OK?
I cannot think with all that fuckin' noise.
Look at me, Tony.
Look me straight in the eye.
You do a deal on me with Bridgers?
Fuckin' [INAUDIBLE].
Fuck you.
Can you play?
Yeah.
You think you take time out of your hectic blowjob drug
binge schedule to make it to the pool hall around 10ish?
Good.
I'm on my way.
Tony, you stick to the plan.
Part of which being put on some fucking clothes.
I'm good.
How are you?
Hey Jez.
Case?
You're not thinking of going in there
and spending some of my money now are you?
I was just going to call you.
Oh, I see.
Going to a party later.
Maybe you can join us?
I'd love to, but--
But what Jez?
You see what would my friends say if they see me fucking
around with a cock like you.
Where does she think she's going?
Let's go.
Tenderloin Tony.
I'm fishing for Carl.
You want Carl, you gotta go through me first.
After last night's no-show?
You get some stones.
OK, I might.
Here it is.
Race tonight, Cecil a game.
And then Carl runs.
Five large, even.
Until someone pulls up or drains out.
OK.
Hey, you bought it, you break it.
All right, but not on that table.
What you mean "none of that type"?
This one.
Why that table and not this table?
Yeah, this table, for sure.
OK.
First, I want you to tell me why you don't like this table.
I don't like that table.
Fuck that.
We play on this table, or we don't play.
Fine.
We'll play on that table.
Don't worry, Jez.
You'll get your shit back when we're done with you.
That's twice you've run out on me.
Sorry.
I'm calling in my marker, Jez.
About time you work off your debt the old fashioned way.
[BASSY MUSIC PLAYING]
The first two are hard and fast, and the third is slow,
[INAUDIBLE], cheese.
I knew it was you.
Takin' a year's worth of dog was all you could take.
Yeah.
Carl, Carl, Carl.
You want to stop this, because you got too much gamble in you.
That may be so.
[BASSY MUSIC]
First game [INAUDIBLE] busy.
That boy done lost a lot of money.
He's expecting to win it back.
Ain't gon' happen.
[BASSY MUSIC]
Aw, did I mess you up fella?
MAD BOY: Oops, there go the moneyball.
Das cold, keeping someone out of stroke.
Somethin' me and your wife been doing to you for what,
a little over a year now?
I'm done, kid.
What the fuck?
Never play the game the other guy expects you to play.
I was holding back so much speed,
I thought I had [INAUDIBLE] crawling up my ass.
I played you [INAUDIBLE].
And you know what?
Yeah, Carl.
He thinks I don't rate.
Best damn game I'm ever going to get it from the old man,
and now, by tomorrow, I'm going to own Carl.
And you know who he's going to blame it on?
You.
Uh-oh.
Hey, my man, what's up?
Hey, what's up brother?
That's what I said.
Listen, you know, that kid's too good for me.
Shit, I'm going to need--
I'm gonna to need the seven out, raise to nine.
Frees up to 10 g's.
Come on Carl, let's put this arab in the limo.
That dog don't hunt, Tony.
Oh yeah, you made a game with a cop.
Ain't nobody in here ever going
to play you for money again.
He ain't a cop.
You're a cop?
Sorry.
Oops.
[MAD DOG LAUGHING]
Fuck you.
EASY [VOICEOVER]: The one thing you learn when
you hang out in a pool hall--
you can't trust anybody, because when
everyone's a hustler, sooner or later,
you're going to get hustled.
Well, that didn't go the way I planned.
You got everything.
I got nothing.
Hey, watch it.
Watch yourself!
I don't give two shits about the money.
I don't care about the money.
You keep the money.
I just want the tape.
That's right, Tony.
You fucked.
And don't worry, Jericho's next.
When you gon' learn that I own you?
I own you.
Tenderloin Tony.
I like that name.
Meet the meat grinder, motherfucker.
That tape?
Just think of it as a get out of jail free gold card.
Stomp this motherfucker.
You know this whole time?
You played me for a dandelion, son, and I can't have that.
So now, I gotta set an example out you.
I'ma turn yo bitch ass out.
Carl, I'm solid.
Let me prove it to you.
You solid?
When they're going to be wanting to take someone
downtown, you make it you.
Prove it.
Come on Tony, I'll make it up to you.
Yeah?
Ooh.
Hey Tony.
You had a bad day?
I'm done.
Yeah?
I'm going home.
Yeah?
I just want to play pool.
Yeah,
Did you like that girl in the bathroom?
She was nice.
- Yeah, she was nice. - People are nice.
Yeah, people are nice.
Here you go.
EASY [VOICEOVER]: Shitin' out.
That's when you make a shot you have no business making.
Tony?
He shit out all the time, he just never knew it.
[BUZZER]
Wakey, wakey.
Things with you keep going from bad to worse, don't they.
Maybe I should put you out of your misery.
Think I can get away with it?
I'm going to make sure you post tomorrow.
Train station, phone booth.
[INAUDIBLE]
If you think you're in trouble now,
imagine what's going to happen to you if the wrong person
picks up that phone.
Tomorrow, it all ends.
Shit.
Jez, what are you doing here?
My God, what happened?
It look bad?
Does it look bad?
Say number nine.
JERICHO [NASALLY]: Number nine.
It's broken, I'm sorry.
Ah, that hurts.
What are you doing here?
What the hell happened to you?
Nothing, nothing.
Who did this to you?
[INAUDIBLE]
What happened, tell me.
It's me.
OK, listen.
I'm going to have to leave town, OK?
Like, now.
I gotta.
All right?
Come with me.
I have a brother in California, I can go and move in with him,
before it's too late.
Forget nine ball, Cue Ball, all it.
Fuck it, let's do it.
We can go to Disneyland.
We go to space mountain.
We make out all over the mountain, come on.
Swim in the ocean?
You like that, right?
OK.
OK, yeah right.
OK.
You would do that?
Really?
Oh, shit!
Ow, ow.
What?
I need to tell you something.
[PHONE RINGING]
I'm here.
Survival is a product of punctuality.
You keep surviving.
Get me that tape.
Impossible.
OK, then.
You're dead.
Gotta catch me first, cop.
Figured you might say that.
Do me a favor.
Reach under the phone.
Got it?
Open the envelope.
Jezebel Black, 26 years old, resides
at 226 Moren Road, drive 7.
Blue El Camino.
Listens to Otis Redding in the shower,
sings along with it, not very good.
It's a picture of her mother, Rachel, in pretty silver frame,
by the edge of the bed, along with.
You pickin' up what I'm laying down?
I believe this is what is referred
to as binding arbitration.
I'll get you the fucking tape, but we do it my way.
Be at the Shooting Gallery, five to midnight.
When this is all over, you gotta promise
to leave us alone for good.
Cross my heart, and hope to die.
And that gun in there?
That's from me.
You carry it.
I'll tell you when I need it.
Mortensen.
If you fuck me, you'll never get that tape.
But I will.
Woah, woah, woah.
No, no.
Take this.
Meet me at Algiers point, 12:30 tonight.
If I'm not there, fly to your brother's.
You're going to show up, right?
Please?
12:30.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: Hardest thing about being a hustler?
Trust.
You trusted no one.
You never got took.
I spoke to the cop.
He's coming for you, Carl.
Last night, it was a test.
The only the way you could know if you could trust me.
See, at first, I thought that detective was off his nut.
Desperate.
Thinking he could get you to stake the tape on a game,
a tape that could send you to jail, mm-mm.
What happened in that apartment?
That you didn't kill his men and take his money?
Tell me, Carl.
Mortenson doesn't want that tape because you're on it.
MAD BOY: Oops, you scratched on the eight ball, son.
He wants the tape because he's on it.
Am I right?
Tell me I'm right.
What's worse than a cop killer?
Shoot him, kill him.
That's your boy, not mine.
A cop-- that's a cop killer.
What does it take to make a law man into an outlaw?
Show me the money
Three quarters of a mill a good place to start.
It was his operation.
It was his partner.
Cops.
I like to call them the blue tribe,
and the blue tribe are the best hustlers of them all.
He took his shot, made me an offer,
I said if I help him pull it off, I get half.
Enough to purchase my pool hall.
So what happened?
He wanted to make me his Patsy.
He wanted to pin the whole thing on ol' Carl.
Let me go to the big house for life.
I saw it comin', and I took the money and the tape.
Smile.
You on candid camera.
So you have it?
If I wanted, you'd die.
BANG!
[LAUGHING]
Come on' Jez.
Now look around here, huh.
This here is what it's got me.
Well, you're one hell of a player, son.
What say you and me take a little road trip?
You know, my stake, your game, my experience.
Boy, we'd be unsinkable.
Boy, you done lost your natural mind.
It ain't that easy, Carl.
It just ain't that easy.
Holy bejesus, boy.
Where you get all that money?
It's mine.
Do you want it?
You gotta get in a grease.
Everybody get the hell out of here.
Easy, close the do' behind.
You don't want none of this, son.
Nine ball?
Sure as shit.
[SINGING]
You gonna give me weight?
Nah.
You're serious.
[INAUDIBLE]
Thousand a game?
10, 10 raise to 11.
Done.
This table cool.
Flip it up.
I'm going to put you in the electric chair.
Good break.
OK, just a couple of hands, talk about [INAUDIBLE]..
What's the problem?
There's no problem.
Sometimes I just like to look at myself a little when I play.
The sharper you look the sharper you play.
You don't know nothin' about that
judging by the way you dress.
That's five on the road, Carl.
You hustling me?
Son, I never played this game before in my life.
You're sharking me now?
I wouldn't think of it, son.
By the by, where's that sweet little twist, Jezebel?
She ever tell you about the time I got her
the job at the donut factory?
You know what her job specialty was? s Sucking the hole out
the donut.
Leave her out of this.
She was very, very good at it, too.
Don't try to get in my head, break.
Damn.
You like that, don't you.
Thinkin' maybe I take the heat.
Good call.
That's real good.
Because if you like that, you're going to love this.
No, now that's impossible.
I've been clocking you for a month of Sundays.
Ain't no way you can shoot on that side.
Then he'll call.
That's a pretty neat trick you pulled, holding
back your speed that long.
What you after, son?
Oops.
Winner take all.
The money, and the tape.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: And there it was.
A normal person would've walked with his cash,
and hopped the train with his girl to a better life.
C'mon son.
You finally a hustler, now.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: But I am a hustler, remember.
Done.
Rack 'em.
What the fuck?
I'm looking for Jericho, give me the keys.
- Give me the keys. - Huh?
- Give me the fucking keys! - I'm sorry.
What's the matter.
You feeling guilty, son?
Where's all the white women at?
You right.
So here we all stand.
Jericho, you with me or that?
Binding arbitration, remember.
Go on, make it.
I get the tape.
You live happily ever after.
Happily ever after.
What kind of talk is that?
Fairy tale.
You dog it.
All is forgiven, son.
Hi, fuckhead.
Motherfucker.
All I want is my life back.
Scratched that shit on eight ball.
So it all goes down in one shot, huh?
The second he drops, I'll shoot you in the fucking face.
With that pop gun?
I'll take both of you one shot.
Go ahead, try.
Hold on why don't we all just calm down.
Shut up!
Come on.
Get out the fucking car.
What are you gonna do?
Let's see Carl.
Drop the fucking gun.
Kiss my black unruly ass.
Paul.
Point your gun at the cop.
Jericho.
Jez?
I said, point the gun at the cop.
You know what?
I don't think so, Carl.
You chose him over me?
It was supposed to be me.
Me.
You've been a fool your whole damn life, son.
Point the gun at the cop.
That's exactly what I'm fuckin' talkin' about.
You think you can take my spot?
Huh?
You think I won't pull your card?
Think, again, motherfucker.
I'm sorry.
Shut up.
Jericho, why did you do that?
Why did you kill that guy?
That'll have to go to the police report--
[GAGGING]
You gotta get out of here right now.
No, I'm not gonna leave without you, no!
Trust me.
I'ma be OK.
They're both out, go, go, go, go.
That was really exciting.
Be calm, cop.
Let's end this right now.
Abso-fuckin'-lutely.
You're empty.
Maybe.
Gimme the fuckin' tape.
Thank you.
Good boy.
Give me my fucking spare.
Catch.
You had a gun with your prints on it.
Stick your hands in your pockets.
I told you.
I wasn't gonna leave without you.
We had a deal, cop.
The frames over.
You got the tape.
Let us go.
Let her go.
Can't do that.
You can't even breathe fine.
You'll shoot him.
I have never killed a fucking thing in my entire life,
but if you hurt Jericho I will never,
never get tired of shooting you, motherfucker.
I think you should stand a little closer with that.
I think you're gonna miss.
Very good.
You got that part right.
Oop.
I think the safety's on.
I guess what we've got here is a Puerto Rican stand off.
Oh no, no, no.
Jericho?
No, please, no.
Shit!
No!
[SOBBING]
Thanks, baby.
You know what a blank is?
All bang, no bite.
Cool huh?
Oh my God.
You stupid.
You one surprise after the next.
So you set it all up, huh?
And what you got to gain, son?
Remember him?
Das my brother.
Scratched on the eight ball, son.
[LAUGHING]
You a long frame on ol' Carl, huh?
[INAUDIBLE],, that's the kicker for sho', isn't it?
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: My name is Jericho Hudson.
Everybody has a secret.
My brother, Robert, he knew what Mortenson was up to.
Hudson?
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: That's why I had to find out which
one of them took his life.
In a way, they both did, and I had to set the record straight.
I told you from the beginning, I am a hustler.
A hustler who had a goal.
Welcome to the tribe, son.
JERICHO [VOICEOVER]: So I joined the tribe.
Falling in love?
Who knew.
All I needed was a little operating cash, insurance money
from my brother.
I didn't think he'd mind me using it to catch his killer.
Sooner or later, a hustler with a goal
either ends up dead or happy.
And man, I ain't dead yet.
[MUSIC - NITIN SAWHNEY, "DEAD MAN"]
[SINGING] Cool boy playin'.
Fat man runnin'.
Old fool walkin'.
Dead man coughin'.
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
Cool boy playin' Fat man runnin'.
Old fool walkin'.
Dead man coughin'.
Cool boy playin', Fat man runnin'.
Old fool walkin'.
Dead man coughin'.
[BASSY MUSIC PLAYING]