Treme s02e01 Episode Script
Accentuate the Positive
- Robert! - I gotta practice, ma.
Take it down the street for a while.
You're working my last nerve.
I'm not asking you again.
All right.
- Lemon ice stays the same-- Better.
- I'm glad.
Saw the picture in the paper.
Yes, the line was down the banquette and around the block.
Everybody missed you.
We're glad to be back.
This was a good idea, Sof.
I wish daddy were here.
hangin' in the Treme watching people sashay past my steps by my porch in front of my door church bells are ringin' choirs are singing while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone - mmm-hmm - Yeah down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun trumpet bells ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans and there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun.
Whoo! We'll take a boat to the land of dreams roll down the river down to New Orleans the band's there to meet us friends are there to greet us where all t light d dark folks meet heaven on earth, they call it basin street basin street Poseurs! Basin street that's the street Tasting menu for three.
- Two scallop.
- Two scallop.
- One ravioli.
- Ravi-- Heard.
- One pigeon and a duck.
- One pigeon, one duck.
- Three market salads.
- Three salads.
- Two tuna tartares.
- Two tunas.
- Two cod, one snapper.
- Two cod, one snapper.
All right, watch yourself.
You got a cote for two walking in.
- Cote for two coming in.
- Young man.
- Young man.
- Sir? Yes, you.
Lobsters-- Get me some lob.
Fuck me, no way.
He's not serious.
Yes, he is.
And the best part is we've got no fucking lobster.
He's got to send that kid to fucking Chinatown to get some.
- Get me a receipt and hurry the fuck up.
- Right away, chef.
No sleepers.
Make sure they're happy.
I want peppy lobsters.
- Yes, chef.
Coming down the line! - Peppy.
We're doing butter-poached lobster with roasted corn coulis and something to be determined later.
Right now, entremetier, roast me some fucking corn! Yes, chef.
Oh my God, he gives that to us-- I'm gonna go in the walk-in and cry.
Fuck.
Degustation's got what? We have-- We have the razor clams, the salmon, the cod.
Now he's gonna squeeze in some fucking lobster? Why not just shove a goddamn pineapple up my ass? He's giving it the saucier.
The chef's been looking at her funny all night.
- You know the look? - Yeah, I've seen it.
In my fucking nightmares I've seen it.
That's why I try not to look at the guy, you know-- Never directly, right? 'Cause the eyes is like his way in.
That's how he gets you.
That's how he gets inside-- He looks at you.
Then he crawls up in your brain, takes a big dump on it.
And then he's got you.
So avoid the eyes is what you're saying.
Yeah, avoid the fucking eyes.
Madame le saucier! It's looking good.
- Yeah, chef.
- Ah.
You'll be doing the lobster course.
Get your station ready.
Absolutely, chef.
Coming down line! Behind.
Hey, can you take that for me, please? Right away, chef.
Oh, I once had a vision ooh ooh ooh-ooh-ooh ooh like an old-time love story ooh ooh ooh I want to whisper in your ear ooh ooh watch the light in your eyes light in your eyes There you go.
Annie tee on the fiddle.
Annie tee on the fiddle.
Love you, Annie! - Yes indeed.
- Love you.
Back home it was all saints' day.
Y'all might not know that.
They do all saints' day up here in Connecticut? Whoo! How about all souls' day? Don't know it, huh? Well, in New Orleans it's a pretty big deal, so we're gonna do this song right here for you.
All right? Carved in stone is a name I will remember Yeah, baby.
Skin and bone and the heart that s so tender Sofia b.
Real here from New Orleans.
Y'all may have can we talk abouts, the so-called recovery? It sucks the big one.
be getting better here.
to be getting easier.
It ought to be getting fixed.
You feel me? Well, it isn't.
It gets harder every day.
There's still 100,000 empty houses in New Orleans at least, that can't get home.
Everyone in this freaking city is on painkillers or booze.
No kidding, 85% of the city is doped just to cope.
And you need an ak-47 to go out at night.
And the freaking national guard is patrolling our streets like we're fallujah or something.
So you know what? Drop and give me 50, you fucking fucks.
Drop & gimme 50 drop & gimme 50, drop & gimme 50 That was 10th ward buck with his timeless standard, the evergreen "drop & gimme 50.
" Oh, must be time for the o.
Z.
Live music calendar.
I'll be right back.
Davis.
Darnell, I thought you left hours ago.
I heard the show and came back.
Mix it up a little, will you? - Absolutely.
- I'm serious.
So am I.
Look at my face.
I got "gin in my system.
" I thought that was a coke.
And don't spill it on the control board.
You will pay for this one.
Empty threat.
Then you'd have me around for the next 20 years working it off.
I got "gin in my system" on deck.
Big freedia.
A little tranny bounce as a change of pace.
That's now what I mean by mixing it up.
Brass band, funk, trad jazz, rock 'n' roll-- I don't care.
Oh, I feel you.
How about a little acoustic piedmont blues from bumble bee slim, a little lullaby to put our audience to sleep? You know what? I don't even mind you playing a little bounce once in a while, just not nonstop.
Mix it up, Davis.
So go out and see some live local music.
Oh, and bring your gun.
Uh, this one goes out to someone who at the moment is very much on my mind.
Carry on have yourself a lovely ride think of me when you finally reach the other side Yeah! Hold on tight to the things you always taught us - It's more of a white thing.
- You think? Dressing up and shit? Oh yeah.
They got Halloween in Holland, right? No.
They don't? Shit.
They got mardi gras though? - Seven and seven? - Yeah, man.
That's a catholic thing.
So what, y'all ain't catholic? Not so much.
We got queen's day.
Everybody wears orange.
Sounds like hallo-fucking-ween to me.
Five.
We expect the four wounded to recover.
Sorry to disappoint you.
I know that five dead would make a better story.
This is all off the record, right? You want an official statement-- You need to call PIO Leads? No, no leads.
One or two.
We're still sorting that out.
No, things were worse last spring and this summer.
I'm sure it is having an impact on tourism.
That piece of mayhem didn't have anything to do with Katrina.
He was a vet-- Iraq.
Listen listen, I read the note.
I went to the scene.
Stuff like that can happen anywhere.
The stove and the refrigerator.
Yeah, but he didn't eat her, not like that guy in the east village years ago.
Uh-huh, look it up.
You'll mention that in your article? You're welcome.
Jesus.
"The New York times"-- I think they live for the latest grotesquerie from New Orleans.
They just love them some Zack and Addie.
What've you got? A couple of knuckleheads walk in a club, see another couple of knuckleheads, go to the car, get their guns.
Uh-huh, bring their neighborhood shit down here.
My phone's ringing off the fucking hook.
Shooting in the quarter gets everybody's attention.
Got mine.
Good to go.
- How's business? - Booming.
Really? More work than we can handle.
Impressive.
Yeah, so-- So I guess I'll-- I'll see you around? Who knows? - Have a good one, okay? - Okay.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Go ahead.
You can say it.
Hey, no comment implied or intended.
Far from it for I to be judgmental and shit.
Oh really? So what? I don't know.
You know, first rule, right? Don't fuck the floor.
Hey, he's not my floor.
That's not my restaurant.
I got takeout on the way home.
Is that okay? My apologies for ever doubting you.
Wake and bake? I gotta go to work.
I guess you kind of need your brain where you work-- Stay alert, stay alive kind of a thing.
You guys work stoned where you are? No, not really.
It's just we don't have to be in till 2:00.
Oh man, I would not want to be fucked up at all around Brulard.
Yeah, that dude senses fear, or at least that's what I hear.
And then he fucks with you just to prove that he can fuck with you, because he likes it, because he loves it.
- Good cook though, right? - Oh, he's a great cook.
- Mmm.
- Right? I'm on carroll street now.
Yeah.
All right.
Do the count.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
So are we good? Yeah, we're good.
Come again.
Thanks, man.
Tell your friends, will you? What the fuck was that? He's cool.
We know him.
Yeah, still.
Need an eye opener? Hey, Riley, meet my cousin Nelson, in from Dallas.
- Thad Riley.
- Nelson Hidalgo.
You related to him? By marriage.
Your Spanish is terrible, Coz.
I can't understand a word.
How long are you here for? I'll see how it goes.
Welcome to New Orleans.
I'm liking it so far.
Jesus Christ, Albert.
The fuck's my sign? I can see why your mom couldn't bear coming back.
Once was all she could handle.
Looka here.
Mama musta put them up there and forgot them.
Kinda wrinkly.
Oh, they didn't take no water.
Not bad for being in this house for more than a year.
Oof.
I guess your mama's doing the right thing.
At least she'll get something for it.
Seems a shame though.
You grew up in this house.
She grew up in this house.
What little we get from road home-- Can't fix it.
Can't afford to.
Mm, I guess.
How soon will she get the money? They're saying four to six weeks after you file they tell you how much.
I gotta get through the paperwork first.
Well, you're good at that though.
They want a deed.
Oh shit.
Don't know how the fuck I'm gonna get around that.
Grandma got it from her aunt Celeste whose daddy built it himself, who won the land playing bid whist.
It's just always been in our family.
Are we taking the bus or are you gonna call a cab? I ain't walking all the way over to no Saint Claude to wait on no bus.
I'm calling.
I'm calling.
You need to get a job job, Antoine.
Listen, I know, I know-- A job job.
Maybe we could move into the musicians' village.
You really want to move all the way down here in the ninth ward? Maybe.
It's closer for you though.
We'd have to qualify for a mortgage, might have to get married.
Shit.
Shit.
Here it is.
We're always suing the city.
I am anyhow-- one thing or another.
So after the shootings at the big second line on MLK weekend-- I'm sorry.
Shootings, MLK weekend, second line.
When did you get to town? September, right after labor day.
And you still haven't been to a second line? You could have stayed in California.
- I've been meaning to.
- We're gonna rectify that.
This Sunday-- Sudan with new birth.
We're going.
Sounds good.
Um, so these shootings? Well, if there's any violence at all after the second line, NOPD always blames the clubs.
So after m.
L.
K.
, which is the same weekend Nagin plays the "chocolate city" race card, Riley Jacks up the fees, like, 300%.
I mean, talk about your mixed message.
He says he needs to pay for overtime police protection with two hours before and two hours after.
- Is that new? - Unprecedented.
Next thing you know, they'll be trying to make the Indians have permits.
And then there will be blood in the streets.
So you're suing the city to roll back the fees.
It's a huge thing.
It's about sustaining the culture.
The city's always at war with the Indians, the musicians, the second-liners about noise, curfew, permits.
It's-- - Makes no sense.
- Yeah, they just don't get it.
You'd think we came so close to losing everything that they'd appreciate what we have, but no.
So there's that.
And I'm also representing one of the families in the Danziger bridge thing.
Find the file, read it.
I'll get up to speed, I promise.
And what is going on at home, with Sofia, at school, new house, old house-- I won't bore you with the details, but I'm not taking on anything else for the time being.
Got it? Got it.
So you say you're always suing the city? Oh, one thing or another.
I'm late for court, but remind me to tell you my Harry Lee story.
Hey, dig the new record, man.
I appreciate it, brother.
Thank you.
I agree.
Really forward-thinking, great writing, execution.
- Cool.
- What've I been telling you, del? Well, she's got to say that shit to me.
So how's New Orleans? I hear it's going slow.
It's frustrating for everybody, you know.
Why? What's taking so long? Corruption? Bureaucracy? Some of all that, I guess.
Do you think it'll ever be the same? I mean, how can it be, right? Well, look at New York, ground zero.
Right, but that was man-made.
This was a natural disaster.
- Well, actually-- - It's apples and oranges.
Not necessarily.
I mean, people talk about the slow recovery in New Orleans, but ground zero is still a hole in the ground five years later.
- We're talking about an entire city.
- Right, exactly.
New Orleans-- One of my favorite places.
- I haven't been since the storm.
- Well, you should go.
I mean, it's different, no doubt, but it's still the same.
You know what I mean? - Mmm.
- Are we talking about New Orleans? Yeah, we were just saying how different it must be now.
Such a beautiful city.
Are the musicians coming back? - Some.
- Are there places for them to play? Not as many, but yeah, they're coming back too, slow but sure.
- Well, are you going back? - Oh, he ain't going back.
He's a new yorker now, an ex-pat like Wynton And Harry and Branford and Christian.
That's what I like about your record.
Listening to it, - I wouldn't know you were from New Orleans.
- You wouldn't? She's right.
It transcends new Orleans, like all you ex-pats do.
- Transcends? - Well, maybe "transcends" isn't the right word, but-- And Wynton embodies New Orleans, by the way.
Not necessarily.
I mean, yes and no.
Wynton is a curious case-- A deracinated synthesis of New Orleans trad jazz and big band swing.
I don't know what you're talking about, but I think you just dissed him.
Well, let's put wynton aside.
You know what I mean about New Orleans style jazz.
Right right, that dixieland shit, preservation hall.
A) It ain't dixieland; It's trad jazz.
B) There's a lot of great players at the hall.
- No doubt.
- Great players.
No doubt and no disrespect, but caught in that tourist economy like a minstrel show.
Whoa, "minstrel"-- I don't know about that.
- Trapped in Amber though.
- Okay.
- It's a living tradition.
- But you don't play trad jazz.
You don't think I call up new Orleans every note I play? - Well - Honestly, no, I don't.
Ask Donald, wynton, any of us-- All tell you the same thing-- Everything we play, - everything we play-- - Yeah yeah, inflected with the blues; It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing; New Orleans is a great big gumbo-- We know the rap, the buzzwords.
Yeah, I know you guys all feel like you have to say that shit, but hey, you're here, not there.
I mean, proof's in the pudding, right? Fuck y'all.
Y'all don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Excuse me.
Wow, that went South in a hurry.
I guess I shouldn't have used the word "minstrel.
" Mr.
go, we know you've got to go Mr.
go, you brought me way down low Mr.
go, you know you've got to go Mr.
go, you brought me way down low 20' of water on my crown Mr.
go, you're bringing me down cypress swamps that used to be Mr.
go breaking all their knees St.
Bernard and Backumaine lower nine coming back again I don't know what's been said Mr.
go, you killed 'em dead.
One, two, three! Hit it! Whoo-hoo! Fucking know-it-all new yorkers.
They were being sympathetic.
Fuck their sympathy.
Come on, del.
I've heard you say all the same shit yourself, Mr.
Manhattan, about how New Orleans music is a wax museum, how it's a soundtrack for tourists.
Never dissed the hall.
Never used the word "minstrel.
" And what the fuck does "deracinated" mean? You are always talking about how it's never gonna be the same.
I get to say that.
They don't.
You sound good on those vocals, man.
You should do more of that.
Yeah? You think? The crowd dug it.
It was fun.
Seems like we were here the same time last year.
At the old point with the nightcrawlers.
Oh yeah.
You gig around a lot.
So do you.
Ever get old? What else am I gonna do? I hear that.
You lead sometimes too, right? That's right-- Sunflower City.
How is that-- You know, having your own group? It's like wrangling cats, but yeah, it's a rush.
It's satisfying.
See, that's what I'm talking about.
You start thinking about the crossroads in your life, you know, like when I picked up the trombone instead of the trumpet.
Man, life would have been a whole lot different.
You ever think about that-- I mean, with the sousaphone? You ever wish that you were out front playing the trumpet or a harmonica or something instead of that big-ass motherfucker you gotta haul around? It crossed my mind.
You thinking about picking up the trumpet? Oh, I'm playing me some trumpet.
I'm thinking about pussy.
No, man, it's too late for that.
I'm stuck with this here.
Although I do think about all the pussy I could have got if I played trumpet instead of trombone, man.
Look, you knew I was gonna be coming back sooner or later.
How many of y'all have been living here? - Just me and him.
- I heard it was more.
Yeah, mardi gras.
But George's working on his house.
And me and Troy are staying over by my mom's.
Hmm.
Look, I appreciate y'all clearing out so quick.
And anytime you want me to open it up for Indian practice, just-- Just let me know.
I appreciate this, Coz.
I'll catch a cab back to the hotel.
Who you gotta meet downtown? A banker.
You know a banker in New Orleans? Not just any banker.
One of the powers behind the throne, a kingmaker-- CJ Liguori.
Coz, Coz, Coz.
And you know this CJ whoever? Let's just say he's a friend of my friends.
And he's gonna make you a king? How many kids you have six.
Three grandkids, maybe another on the way.
Keeps me busy.
That's what it's all about, right? You? Not yet.
But I come from a big family-- 13.
I'm smack dab in the middle-- Six older, six younger.
One of seven myself.
Catholic families, huh? My parish in San Antonio growing up-- Saint Alphonsus liguori.
No kidding.
Redemptorist? Of course.
So when I heard your name-- We have a Saint Alphonsus here too.
- You should check it out.
It's beautiful.
- I will.
Took a beating in the storm, needs a lot of help.
I'm active on the building committee and the capital campaign.
I'd like to be involved in that.
Well, that's fantastic.
I'll have somebody reach out.
My mother used to say we're direct descendants.
Of the Saint? I hope not.
Well, you never know.
We have other things in common too.
I bring greetings from governor Perry, speaker Craddick, Tina Benkiser.
Good friends.
Say hello back.
I will.
You know, we've been through a lot here.
From the little I've seen, I'm beginning to get a sense of that.
We still have a long way to go.
Nobody's been through what we've been through, not in this country, not since the San Francisco earthquake.
But it's an ill wind that blows no good.
You understand what I'm saying? Never let a disaster go to waste.
This is a unique opportunity to put things right, to fix New Orleans.
Crime, schools, infrastructure-- We've been on the downhill slide for a very long time.
This is a second chance for this city.
You know, at one time we were the biggest city in the South.
Then Houston and Atlanta and Dallas left us in the dust.
Now people say, "why rebuild New Orleans at all?" Have you heard that in Dallas? A little.
I bet you have.
But there has to be a city here.
The mouth of the Mississippi-- Has to be a port here.
The nation needs it.
The nation needs New Orleans.
And there's no reason why New Orleans can't be a great city once again, why it can't be a great, modern, 21st-century city.
It's an exciting time to be here.
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
And I hope you're here to make money, because there is money to be made.
I can't wait to get started.
What a nice view you got here-- The mighty Mississippi.
That's the west bank.
But we're looking east.
It's confusing.
Huh.
Azz azz azz azz azz azz azz.
"Azz azz azz.
" That'll work.
That'll work.
That'll work.
Azz azz azz azz azz azz.
- Hey.
- Hey you.
Oh, am I glad to see you.
Me too.
Ohh.
How was the tour? It was awesome.
Those guys are so nice.
They had me jam with them during their set every night.
- Oh, fantastic.
- Yeah.
- They hit on you? - Perfect gentlemen.
Yeah, Magnie and Malone-- Maybe.
Messa is a dog.
Amedee with his beret and the tambourine shtick-- A chick magnet.
Davis? You cleaned for me.
Kinda smells like a spring meadow, doesn't it? Yeah yeah.
That was nice.
Mm-hmm.
You're not gonna turn on the tv, are you? No, uh-uh.
Gotta thank your mama.
For what? - Taking the boys.
- She didn't want to stay over.
She just wanted to check up on Damo, you know, make sure his grave all right, to visit with him awhile, go on back to Baton Rouge.
Thanks, baby.
I like it when you shout.
Was I shouting? In the end-- "Oh baby! Oh baby!" Well, I figured if I stick with "baby," I'm safe.
Mm, long as you think about me.
Who else, baby? Now that mama's living with us, you can come down here more.
Be alone together as often as you want.
Not like we have any privacy on the weekends when I'm up there.
What time you have to go in the morning? Not too early.
First patient's at 9:00.
You want to ride up with me? Gotta open the bar.
Ladonna, when are you gonna come home? I am home.
No, this is your mama's home.
And she's not coming back.
Now we need to sell this place.
We need to sell the bar.
I ain't selling the bar, Larry.
You got no reason not to, ladonna, now that she's up there.
You're here all alone.
You come visit me more during the week, I won't be here all alone.
Oh, now you're changing the subject.
- Mmm.
- No.
Spread joy to the maximum bring gloom down to the minimum and have faith, or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene to illustrate my last remark Jonah in the whale and Noah in the ark what did they do when things got very dark? oh yeah they said, "ac-centuate the positive e-liminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with Mr.
in-between" they said, "ac-centuate the positive e-liminate the negative and" - How long for 14? - 10 seconds on the cod.
You good on the salmon? - Coming up with you.
- Ready on the duck.
What about my pigeon? You got my fucking pigeon? Talk to me.
Yes, chef.
Now, chef.
- One cod.
- One cod.
- One salmon.
- One salmon.
- One pigeon.
- One pigeon.
- Two ducks.
- Two ducks.
- Are you good on the broth? - Taking it now, chef.
All right, let's go.
Put it in e bowl.
How many more do you have all day? Three all day, chef.
Put salt and pepper in it.
Yes, chef.
I got two more scallops coming up.
Motherfucker.
Motherfucker! Start again.
One cod, one salmon, one pigeon, two ducks.
And you think it might be possible that we can get the ducks right this time, Mr.
Fucking grill man? Do you think that that might be within the realm of possibility-- That you cook two duck breasts properly and maybe dress them before you slice them and not fuck over your coworkers and my customers by doing miserable, half-assed, thoroughly unacceptable work? - Can you do that, chef? - I'm sorry, chef.
No no, don't.
I don't want you to be sorry.
I don't need that.
What I need is for you to not fuck with my food again.
- Yes, chef.
- Is that understood? Yes, chef.
They're walking in-- New table.
Got one scallop-- and the freaking national guard is patrolling our streets like we're fallujah or something.
So you know what? Drop and give me 50, you fucking fucks.
drop & gimme I'm in some foreign place and I don't know a face where I am yet all that I'm needing is leading me home once again my sisters, oh my sisters I remember dancing in the kitchen with my lovely sisters oh my sisters when I got in trouble they were always bitching lolettelanette, lilian, lorna lita, lonora everything I'm bringing every song I'm singing's for you I'm in some foreign place and I don't know a face where I am yet all that I'm needing is leading me home once again yes, all that I'm needing is leading me home once again well, all that I'm needing is leading me home lolette, lanette, lilian lorna, lita, lonora.
Thank you.
Hey, that was nice.
You sound great, darling.
You too.
See you.
See you.
Y'all were great.
He just showed up.
I'm not worried.
I'll say hi.
- Hey man.
- What's going on, baby? - Good to see you.
- Hey, daddy-o.
Hey, nice job.
Thanks, man.
You've been good? Yeah yeah.
Hey, I heard you were at that club the other night.
Scared the shit out of me, man.
Yeah.
Annie seems well.
Yeah, she's doing great.
She just came off the road, opening for the subdudes-- A girl and her fiddle.
Whoa.
Her chops just get better and better-- Singing too.
Yeah, the sky's the limit, don't you think? Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
Well, it's nice to see you, man.
- Take care.
- All right.
Take care of her.
Yeah, always.
Man, they can't understand a word you're saying.
'Cause they're all from Honduras and El Salvador and shit.
No, it's 'cause your Spanish is de la chingada.
Come on, I'll take you to lunch.
Where did you get the wheels-- A rental? It's nice, huh? I'm leasing it.
That mean you're staying? Means I'm driving back to Dallas in style when I go.
Where to? A burrito wagon over on claiborne.
It's not bad.
Coz, Coz, Coz, this is New Orleans.
The food's supposed to be great.
Come on.
A guy told me about a place.
The cops thought they were being fired on.
They were being fired on.
Not by the people they shot.
And they weren't being fired on.
The only people firing guns out the were cops.
Toni, how n u know that? Terry.
All right, fuck it.
You know what? I guess it'll all get sorted out.
Well, thanks for giving me copies of these.
When are you gonna stop harassing the musicians on Jackson square? Oh, are we gonna fight about that too? How's Sofia? Depressed, angry, anxious.
Aren't we all? Everybody is out of their minds.
How are yours? Fine, I guess.
Whenever I do manage to get them on the phone, it's always monosyllables and, you know, multitasking.
I can always tell.
"Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Sure, dad.
What?" Sounds familiar.
It's been six months.
Seven.
Things getting any better? Worse, I'd say.
Talk about it? It was an accident.
That's what she knows.
Mmm.
Everything okay here? Fantastic.
What do you call this thing again? Frenchaletta.
It's our version of a Muffaletta served on French.
Really? Muffaletta, ooh.
Got it.
Pontchartrain, tchoupitoulas, muffaletta-- I'm learning stuff.
Listen, I'll take the other half with me.
All right, I'll get you a go box, baby.
- Thank you, darling.
- You're welcome.
Look at this thing.
It's the size of la verga mÃa.
I gotta take a picture of that.
I love this town.
Why didn't anybody tell me about it before? I've been calling you for the last six months trying to get you down here.
Yeah, but you never said how great it was.
- You just said there was dinero lying in the streets.
- Yeah.
Hey, you know a place we can go hear some music tonight? Coz, Coz, Coz, there's more to life than money.
How's school? It's all right.
Haven't seen any tests or quizzes recently.
Haven't been any.
Really? What are you reading in English? Frederick Douglass's autobiography.
Parent-teacher conferences are coming up soon.
I'm not in for any surprises, am I? Hmm? Sofia.
Are you making friends? Mom, I have the same friends I had last semester.
The school is gorgeous, state of the art.
The teachers are just the best-- So caring and committed.
The student body is so perfectly benetton diverse, it makes you want to puke.
You can take a picture of it and put it on tv.
I just asked a civil question.
I don't need your sarcasm.
I'm just saying status quo, okay? Everything's status quo.
If anything changes, I'll let you know.
I think this new quarterback looks pretty good.
Hmm.
And we know Reggie bush can bring it-- Heisman damn trophy.
Okay? Whoo! This could be our year.
- Mr.
Riley, Mr.
reyes.
- Ms.
la Dee.
- And who do we have here? - Ms.
Williams, my cousin Nelson.
- Oh.
- How are you, ma'am? I'm fine.
What'll you all have? Can I buy you boys a beer? No music tonight? Music? - You said there was music.
- We got a jukebox.
- That'll work.
- Have a seat.
- Y'all really cousins? - That's what I said.
Look, the jukebox is over here.
Thank you, ma'am.
Don't be calling me ma'am.
Ladonna.
Ladonna? That's a beautiful name.
All right, boys.
"El pavo.
" Sounds Latin.
Is Latin.
What-- Look at your boy over there.
What? - Yeah! - Check this out.
Oh! Look at all that brought up in here.
Ha! Okay.
Okay, all right, Antonio Banderas.
Ahh.
That's what I'm talking about.
Whoo! I give up.
From the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block How do they make this all go together? It's New Orleans.
We put everything together.
You know what gumbo ya-ya really means? No.
Everyone talks at once.
Freret and Louisiana, camouflaged bandana round there I had to man up, magnolia had to stand up didn't believe in Santa, hustled in front of grandma last seen in the circle when the lights went out I must have made about a couple hundred thousand in drops Toledano and robertson when I was out and about I'll take you to hear the Klezmer all stars sometime.
Ben Ellman-- He plays with them too.
You could sit in.
I don't play Klezmer.
With them.
On fiddle? I don't think so.
Fiddle goes with everything.
It's like hot sauce.
From the corner to the block from the corner to the block hey keep 'em up now, keep 'em up now keep 'em up now keep 'em up now, keep 'em up now listen, uh t.
C.
And l.
D.
With me 6th and willow, Washington and Clara street with me my front porch was the bus stop, my face was a mug shot money was running low so I hit some hustles and whatnot right on elysian fields me and rickie at the truck stop back to the hood with the good to make the cut out this is my corner where I'm prone to get shuteye juvie the great man, who else could it be but I? from the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block How long have you been playing, man? Two months.
It's hard.
It'll get easier.
Hope so.
Me too.
Me too.
L.
T.
Says I'm early relief 'cause I got court.
- Which is bullshit.
- Which is bullshit.
If I gotta be in court till 3:00 or 4:00 every day, then why I gotta come in early? What've you got? Straight up robbery.
Two kids on bikes.
She was a little slow giving up her purse.
All right.
Thanks.
- Why the lieutenant gotta do you like that, huh? - Man, fuck if I know.
He rides me five times harder than anybody else on the squad.
And I didn't do a motherfucking thing to deserve it.
A couple of my cases went South last month Kid.
You, hey.
There's a curfew.
The fuck are you doing? Go home.
eliminate the negative latch on to the affirmative don't mess with Mr.
in-between you've got to spread joy
Take it down the street for a while.
You're working my last nerve.
I'm not asking you again.
All right.
- Lemon ice stays the same-- Better.
- I'm glad.
Saw the picture in the paper.
Yes, the line was down the banquette and around the block.
Everybody missed you.
We're glad to be back.
This was a good idea, Sof.
I wish daddy were here.
hangin' in the Treme watching people sashay past my steps by my porch in front of my door church bells are ringin' choirs are singing while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone - mmm-hmm - Yeah down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun trumpet bells ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans and there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun.
Whoo! We'll take a boat to the land of dreams roll down the river down to New Orleans the band's there to meet us friends are there to greet us where all t light d dark folks meet heaven on earth, they call it basin street basin street Poseurs! Basin street that's the street Tasting menu for three.
- Two scallop.
- Two scallop.
- One ravioli.
- Ravi-- Heard.
- One pigeon and a duck.
- One pigeon, one duck.
- Three market salads.
- Three salads.
- Two tuna tartares.
- Two tunas.
- Two cod, one snapper.
- Two cod, one snapper.
All right, watch yourself.
You got a cote for two walking in.
- Cote for two coming in.
- Young man.
- Young man.
- Sir? Yes, you.
Lobsters-- Get me some lob.
Fuck me, no way.
He's not serious.
Yes, he is.
And the best part is we've got no fucking lobster.
He's got to send that kid to fucking Chinatown to get some.
- Get me a receipt and hurry the fuck up.
- Right away, chef.
No sleepers.
Make sure they're happy.
I want peppy lobsters.
- Yes, chef.
Coming down the line! - Peppy.
We're doing butter-poached lobster with roasted corn coulis and something to be determined later.
Right now, entremetier, roast me some fucking corn! Yes, chef.
Oh my God, he gives that to us-- I'm gonna go in the walk-in and cry.
Fuck.
Degustation's got what? We have-- We have the razor clams, the salmon, the cod.
Now he's gonna squeeze in some fucking lobster? Why not just shove a goddamn pineapple up my ass? He's giving it the saucier.
The chef's been looking at her funny all night.
- You know the look? - Yeah, I've seen it.
In my fucking nightmares I've seen it.
That's why I try not to look at the guy, you know-- Never directly, right? 'Cause the eyes is like his way in.
That's how he gets you.
That's how he gets inside-- He looks at you.
Then he crawls up in your brain, takes a big dump on it.
And then he's got you.
So avoid the eyes is what you're saying.
Yeah, avoid the fucking eyes.
Madame le saucier! It's looking good.
- Yeah, chef.
- Ah.
You'll be doing the lobster course.
Get your station ready.
Absolutely, chef.
Coming down line! Behind.
Hey, can you take that for me, please? Right away, chef.
Oh, I once had a vision ooh ooh ooh-ooh-ooh ooh like an old-time love story ooh ooh ooh I want to whisper in your ear ooh ooh watch the light in your eyes light in your eyes There you go.
Annie tee on the fiddle.
Annie tee on the fiddle.
Love you, Annie! - Yes indeed.
- Love you.
Back home it was all saints' day.
Y'all might not know that.
They do all saints' day up here in Connecticut? Whoo! How about all souls' day? Don't know it, huh? Well, in New Orleans it's a pretty big deal, so we're gonna do this song right here for you.
All right? Carved in stone is a name I will remember Yeah, baby.
Skin and bone and the heart that s so tender Sofia b.
Real here from New Orleans.
Y'all may have can we talk abouts, the so-called recovery? It sucks the big one.
be getting better here.
to be getting easier.
It ought to be getting fixed.
You feel me? Well, it isn't.
It gets harder every day.
There's still 100,000 empty houses in New Orleans at least, that can't get home.
Everyone in this freaking city is on painkillers or booze.
No kidding, 85% of the city is doped just to cope.
And you need an ak-47 to go out at night.
And the freaking national guard is patrolling our streets like we're fallujah or something.
So you know what? Drop and give me 50, you fucking fucks.
Drop & gimme 50 drop & gimme 50, drop & gimme 50 That was 10th ward buck with his timeless standard, the evergreen "drop & gimme 50.
" Oh, must be time for the o.
Z.
Live music calendar.
I'll be right back.
Davis.
Darnell, I thought you left hours ago.
I heard the show and came back.
Mix it up a little, will you? - Absolutely.
- I'm serious.
So am I.
Look at my face.
I got "gin in my system.
" I thought that was a coke.
And don't spill it on the control board.
You will pay for this one.
Empty threat.
Then you'd have me around for the next 20 years working it off.
I got "gin in my system" on deck.
Big freedia.
A little tranny bounce as a change of pace.
That's now what I mean by mixing it up.
Brass band, funk, trad jazz, rock 'n' roll-- I don't care.
Oh, I feel you.
How about a little acoustic piedmont blues from bumble bee slim, a little lullaby to put our audience to sleep? You know what? I don't even mind you playing a little bounce once in a while, just not nonstop.
Mix it up, Davis.
So go out and see some live local music.
Oh, and bring your gun.
Uh, this one goes out to someone who at the moment is very much on my mind.
Carry on have yourself a lovely ride think of me when you finally reach the other side Yeah! Hold on tight to the things you always taught us - It's more of a white thing.
- You think? Dressing up and shit? Oh yeah.
They got Halloween in Holland, right? No.
They don't? Shit.
They got mardi gras though? - Seven and seven? - Yeah, man.
That's a catholic thing.
So what, y'all ain't catholic? Not so much.
We got queen's day.
Everybody wears orange.
Sounds like hallo-fucking-ween to me.
Five.
We expect the four wounded to recover.
Sorry to disappoint you.
I know that five dead would make a better story.
This is all off the record, right? You want an official statement-- You need to call PIO Leads? No, no leads.
One or two.
We're still sorting that out.
No, things were worse last spring and this summer.
I'm sure it is having an impact on tourism.
That piece of mayhem didn't have anything to do with Katrina.
He was a vet-- Iraq.
Listen listen, I read the note.
I went to the scene.
Stuff like that can happen anywhere.
The stove and the refrigerator.
Yeah, but he didn't eat her, not like that guy in the east village years ago.
Uh-huh, look it up.
You'll mention that in your article? You're welcome.
Jesus.
"The New York times"-- I think they live for the latest grotesquerie from New Orleans.
They just love them some Zack and Addie.
What've you got? A couple of knuckleheads walk in a club, see another couple of knuckleheads, go to the car, get their guns.
Uh-huh, bring their neighborhood shit down here.
My phone's ringing off the fucking hook.
Shooting in the quarter gets everybody's attention.
Got mine.
Good to go.
- How's business? - Booming.
Really? More work than we can handle.
Impressive.
Yeah, so-- So I guess I'll-- I'll see you around? Who knows? - Have a good one, okay? - Okay.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Go ahead.
You can say it.
Hey, no comment implied or intended.
Far from it for I to be judgmental and shit.
Oh really? So what? I don't know.
You know, first rule, right? Don't fuck the floor.
Hey, he's not my floor.
That's not my restaurant.
I got takeout on the way home.
Is that okay? My apologies for ever doubting you.
Wake and bake? I gotta go to work.
I guess you kind of need your brain where you work-- Stay alert, stay alive kind of a thing.
You guys work stoned where you are? No, not really.
It's just we don't have to be in till 2:00.
Oh man, I would not want to be fucked up at all around Brulard.
Yeah, that dude senses fear, or at least that's what I hear.
And then he fucks with you just to prove that he can fuck with you, because he likes it, because he loves it.
- Good cook though, right? - Oh, he's a great cook.
- Mmm.
- Right? I'm on carroll street now.
Yeah.
All right.
Do the count.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
So are we good? Yeah, we're good.
Come again.
Thanks, man.
Tell your friends, will you? What the fuck was that? He's cool.
We know him.
Yeah, still.
Need an eye opener? Hey, Riley, meet my cousin Nelson, in from Dallas.
- Thad Riley.
- Nelson Hidalgo.
You related to him? By marriage.
Your Spanish is terrible, Coz.
I can't understand a word.
How long are you here for? I'll see how it goes.
Welcome to New Orleans.
I'm liking it so far.
Jesus Christ, Albert.
The fuck's my sign? I can see why your mom couldn't bear coming back.
Once was all she could handle.
Looka here.
Mama musta put them up there and forgot them.
Kinda wrinkly.
Oh, they didn't take no water.
Not bad for being in this house for more than a year.
Oof.
I guess your mama's doing the right thing.
At least she'll get something for it.
Seems a shame though.
You grew up in this house.
She grew up in this house.
What little we get from road home-- Can't fix it.
Can't afford to.
Mm, I guess.
How soon will she get the money? They're saying four to six weeks after you file they tell you how much.
I gotta get through the paperwork first.
Well, you're good at that though.
They want a deed.
Oh shit.
Don't know how the fuck I'm gonna get around that.
Grandma got it from her aunt Celeste whose daddy built it himself, who won the land playing bid whist.
It's just always been in our family.
Are we taking the bus or are you gonna call a cab? I ain't walking all the way over to no Saint Claude to wait on no bus.
I'm calling.
I'm calling.
You need to get a job job, Antoine.
Listen, I know, I know-- A job job.
Maybe we could move into the musicians' village.
You really want to move all the way down here in the ninth ward? Maybe.
It's closer for you though.
We'd have to qualify for a mortgage, might have to get married.
Shit.
Shit.
Here it is.
We're always suing the city.
I am anyhow-- one thing or another.
So after the shootings at the big second line on MLK weekend-- I'm sorry.
Shootings, MLK weekend, second line.
When did you get to town? September, right after labor day.
And you still haven't been to a second line? You could have stayed in California.
- I've been meaning to.
- We're gonna rectify that.
This Sunday-- Sudan with new birth.
We're going.
Sounds good.
Um, so these shootings? Well, if there's any violence at all after the second line, NOPD always blames the clubs.
So after m.
L.
K.
, which is the same weekend Nagin plays the "chocolate city" race card, Riley Jacks up the fees, like, 300%.
I mean, talk about your mixed message.
He says he needs to pay for overtime police protection with two hours before and two hours after.
- Is that new? - Unprecedented.
Next thing you know, they'll be trying to make the Indians have permits.
And then there will be blood in the streets.
So you're suing the city to roll back the fees.
It's a huge thing.
It's about sustaining the culture.
The city's always at war with the Indians, the musicians, the second-liners about noise, curfew, permits.
It's-- - Makes no sense.
- Yeah, they just don't get it.
You'd think we came so close to losing everything that they'd appreciate what we have, but no.
So there's that.
And I'm also representing one of the families in the Danziger bridge thing.
Find the file, read it.
I'll get up to speed, I promise.
And what is going on at home, with Sofia, at school, new house, old house-- I won't bore you with the details, but I'm not taking on anything else for the time being.
Got it? Got it.
So you say you're always suing the city? Oh, one thing or another.
I'm late for court, but remind me to tell you my Harry Lee story.
Hey, dig the new record, man.
I appreciate it, brother.
Thank you.
I agree.
Really forward-thinking, great writing, execution.
- Cool.
- What've I been telling you, del? Well, she's got to say that shit to me.
So how's New Orleans? I hear it's going slow.
It's frustrating for everybody, you know.
Why? What's taking so long? Corruption? Bureaucracy? Some of all that, I guess.
Do you think it'll ever be the same? I mean, how can it be, right? Well, look at New York, ground zero.
Right, but that was man-made.
This was a natural disaster.
- Well, actually-- - It's apples and oranges.
Not necessarily.
I mean, people talk about the slow recovery in New Orleans, but ground zero is still a hole in the ground five years later.
- We're talking about an entire city.
- Right, exactly.
New Orleans-- One of my favorite places.
- I haven't been since the storm.
- Well, you should go.
I mean, it's different, no doubt, but it's still the same.
You know what I mean? - Mmm.
- Are we talking about New Orleans? Yeah, we were just saying how different it must be now.
Such a beautiful city.
Are the musicians coming back? - Some.
- Are there places for them to play? Not as many, but yeah, they're coming back too, slow but sure.
- Well, are you going back? - Oh, he ain't going back.
He's a new yorker now, an ex-pat like Wynton And Harry and Branford and Christian.
That's what I like about your record.
Listening to it, - I wouldn't know you were from New Orleans.
- You wouldn't? She's right.
It transcends new Orleans, like all you ex-pats do.
- Transcends? - Well, maybe "transcends" isn't the right word, but-- And Wynton embodies New Orleans, by the way.
Not necessarily.
I mean, yes and no.
Wynton is a curious case-- A deracinated synthesis of New Orleans trad jazz and big band swing.
I don't know what you're talking about, but I think you just dissed him.
Well, let's put wynton aside.
You know what I mean about New Orleans style jazz.
Right right, that dixieland shit, preservation hall.
A) It ain't dixieland; It's trad jazz.
B) There's a lot of great players at the hall.
- No doubt.
- Great players.
No doubt and no disrespect, but caught in that tourist economy like a minstrel show.
Whoa, "minstrel"-- I don't know about that.
- Trapped in Amber though.
- Okay.
- It's a living tradition.
- But you don't play trad jazz.
You don't think I call up new Orleans every note I play? - Well - Honestly, no, I don't.
Ask Donald, wynton, any of us-- All tell you the same thing-- Everything we play, - everything we play-- - Yeah yeah, inflected with the blues; It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing; New Orleans is a great big gumbo-- We know the rap, the buzzwords.
Yeah, I know you guys all feel like you have to say that shit, but hey, you're here, not there.
I mean, proof's in the pudding, right? Fuck y'all.
Y'all don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Excuse me.
Wow, that went South in a hurry.
I guess I shouldn't have used the word "minstrel.
" Mr.
go, we know you've got to go Mr.
go, you brought me way down low Mr.
go, you know you've got to go Mr.
go, you brought me way down low 20' of water on my crown Mr.
go, you're bringing me down cypress swamps that used to be Mr.
go breaking all their knees St.
Bernard and Backumaine lower nine coming back again I don't know what's been said Mr.
go, you killed 'em dead.
One, two, three! Hit it! Whoo-hoo! Fucking know-it-all new yorkers.
They were being sympathetic.
Fuck their sympathy.
Come on, del.
I've heard you say all the same shit yourself, Mr.
Manhattan, about how New Orleans music is a wax museum, how it's a soundtrack for tourists.
Never dissed the hall.
Never used the word "minstrel.
" And what the fuck does "deracinated" mean? You are always talking about how it's never gonna be the same.
I get to say that.
They don't.
You sound good on those vocals, man.
You should do more of that.
Yeah? You think? The crowd dug it.
It was fun.
Seems like we were here the same time last year.
At the old point with the nightcrawlers.
Oh yeah.
You gig around a lot.
So do you.
Ever get old? What else am I gonna do? I hear that.
You lead sometimes too, right? That's right-- Sunflower City.
How is that-- You know, having your own group? It's like wrangling cats, but yeah, it's a rush.
It's satisfying.
See, that's what I'm talking about.
You start thinking about the crossroads in your life, you know, like when I picked up the trombone instead of the trumpet.
Man, life would have been a whole lot different.
You ever think about that-- I mean, with the sousaphone? You ever wish that you were out front playing the trumpet or a harmonica or something instead of that big-ass motherfucker you gotta haul around? It crossed my mind.
You thinking about picking up the trumpet? Oh, I'm playing me some trumpet.
I'm thinking about pussy.
No, man, it's too late for that.
I'm stuck with this here.
Although I do think about all the pussy I could have got if I played trumpet instead of trombone, man.
Look, you knew I was gonna be coming back sooner or later.
How many of y'all have been living here? - Just me and him.
- I heard it was more.
Yeah, mardi gras.
But George's working on his house.
And me and Troy are staying over by my mom's.
Hmm.
Look, I appreciate y'all clearing out so quick.
And anytime you want me to open it up for Indian practice, just-- Just let me know.
I appreciate this, Coz.
I'll catch a cab back to the hotel.
Who you gotta meet downtown? A banker.
You know a banker in New Orleans? Not just any banker.
One of the powers behind the throne, a kingmaker-- CJ Liguori.
Coz, Coz, Coz.
And you know this CJ whoever? Let's just say he's a friend of my friends.
And he's gonna make you a king? How many kids you have six.
Three grandkids, maybe another on the way.
Keeps me busy.
That's what it's all about, right? You? Not yet.
But I come from a big family-- 13.
I'm smack dab in the middle-- Six older, six younger.
One of seven myself.
Catholic families, huh? My parish in San Antonio growing up-- Saint Alphonsus liguori.
No kidding.
Redemptorist? Of course.
So when I heard your name-- We have a Saint Alphonsus here too.
- You should check it out.
It's beautiful.
- I will.
Took a beating in the storm, needs a lot of help.
I'm active on the building committee and the capital campaign.
I'd like to be involved in that.
Well, that's fantastic.
I'll have somebody reach out.
My mother used to say we're direct descendants.
Of the Saint? I hope not.
Well, you never know.
We have other things in common too.
I bring greetings from governor Perry, speaker Craddick, Tina Benkiser.
Good friends.
Say hello back.
I will.
You know, we've been through a lot here.
From the little I've seen, I'm beginning to get a sense of that.
We still have a long way to go.
Nobody's been through what we've been through, not in this country, not since the San Francisco earthquake.
But it's an ill wind that blows no good.
You understand what I'm saying? Never let a disaster go to waste.
This is a unique opportunity to put things right, to fix New Orleans.
Crime, schools, infrastructure-- We've been on the downhill slide for a very long time.
This is a second chance for this city.
You know, at one time we were the biggest city in the South.
Then Houston and Atlanta and Dallas left us in the dust.
Now people say, "why rebuild New Orleans at all?" Have you heard that in Dallas? A little.
I bet you have.
But there has to be a city here.
The mouth of the Mississippi-- Has to be a port here.
The nation needs it.
The nation needs New Orleans.
And there's no reason why New Orleans can't be a great city once again, why it can't be a great, modern, 21st-century city.
It's an exciting time to be here.
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
And I hope you're here to make money, because there is money to be made.
I can't wait to get started.
What a nice view you got here-- The mighty Mississippi.
That's the west bank.
But we're looking east.
It's confusing.
Huh.
Azz azz azz azz azz azz azz.
"Azz azz azz.
" That'll work.
That'll work.
That'll work.
Azz azz azz azz azz azz.
- Hey.
- Hey you.
Oh, am I glad to see you.
Me too.
Ohh.
How was the tour? It was awesome.
Those guys are so nice.
They had me jam with them during their set every night.
- Oh, fantastic.
- Yeah.
- They hit on you? - Perfect gentlemen.
Yeah, Magnie and Malone-- Maybe.
Messa is a dog.
Amedee with his beret and the tambourine shtick-- A chick magnet.
Davis? You cleaned for me.
Kinda smells like a spring meadow, doesn't it? Yeah yeah.
That was nice.
Mm-hmm.
You're not gonna turn on the tv, are you? No, uh-uh.
Gotta thank your mama.
For what? - Taking the boys.
- She didn't want to stay over.
She just wanted to check up on Damo, you know, make sure his grave all right, to visit with him awhile, go on back to Baton Rouge.
Thanks, baby.
I like it when you shout.
Was I shouting? In the end-- "Oh baby! Oh baby!" Well, I figured if I stick with "baby," I'm safe.
Mm, long as you think about me.
Who else, baby? Now that mama's living with us, you can come down here more.
Be alone together as often as you want.
Not like we have any privacy on the weekends when I'm up there.
What time you have to go in the morning? Not too early.
First patient's at 9:00.
You want to ride up with me? Gotta open the bar.
Ladonna, when are you gonna come home? I am home.
No, this is your mama's home.
And she's not coming back.
Now we need to sell this place.
We need to sell the bar.
I ain't selling the bar, Larry.
You got no reason not to, ladonna, now that she's up there.
You're here all alone.
You come visit me more during the week, I won't be here all alone.
Oh, now you're changing the subject.
- Mmm.
- No.
Spread joy to the maximum bring gloom down to the minimum and have faith, or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene to illustrate my last remark Jonah in the whale and Noah in the ark what did they do when things got very dark? oh yeah they said, "ac-centuate the positive e-liminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with Mr.
in-between" they said, "ac-centuate the positive e-liminate the negative and" - How long for 14? - 10 seconds on the cod.
You good on the salmon? - Coming up with you.
- Ready on the duck.
What about my pigeon? You got my fucking pigeon? Talk to me.
Yes, chef.
Now, chef.
- One cod.
- One cod.
- One salmon.
- One salmon.
- One pigeon.
- One pigeon.
- Two ducks.
- Two ducks.
- Are you good on the broth? - Taking it now, chef.
All right, let's go.
Put it in e bowl.
How many more do you have all day? Three all day, chef.
Put salt and pepper in it.
Yes, chef.
I got two more scallops coming up.
Motherfucker.
Motherfucker! Start again.
One cod, one salmon, one pigeon, two ducks.
And you think it might be possible that we can get the ducks right this time, Mr.
Fucking grill man? Do you think that that might be within the realm of possibility-- That you cook two duck breasts properly and maybe dress them before you slice them and not fuck over your coworkers and my customers by doing miserable, half-assed, thoroughly unacceptable work? - Can you do that, chef? - I'm sorry, chef.
No no, don't.
I don't want you to be sorry.
I don't need that.
What I need is for you to not fuck with my food again.
- Yes, chef.
- Is that understood? Yes, chef.
They're walking in-- New table.
Got one scallop-- and the freaking national guard is patrolling our streets like we're fallujah or something.
So you know what? Drop and give me 50, you fucking fucks.
drop & gimme I'm in some foreign place and I don't know a face where I am yet all that I'm needing is leading me home once again my sisters, oh my sisters I remember dancing in the kitchen with my lovely sisters oh my sisters when I got in trouble they were always bitching lolettelanette, lilian, lorna lita, lonora everything I'm bringing every song I'm singing's for you I'm in some foreign place and I don't know a face where I am yet all that I'm needing is leading me home once again yes, all that I'm needing is leading me home once again well, all that I'm needing is leading me home lolette, lanette, lilian lorna, lita, lonora.
Thank you.
Hey, that was nice.
You sound great, darling.
You too.
See you.
See you.
Y'all were great.
He just showed up.
I'm not worried.
I'll say hi.
- Hey man.
- What's going on, baby? - Good to see you.
- Hey, daddy-o.
Hey, nice job.
Thanks, man.
You've been good? Yeah yeah.
Hey, I heard you were at that club the other night.
Scared the shit out of me, man.
Yeah.
Annie seems well.
Yeah, she's doing great.
She just came off the road, opening for the subdudes-- A girl and her fiddle.
Whoa.
Her chops just get better and better-- Singing too.
Yeah, the sky's the limit, don't you think? Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
Well, it's nice to see you, man.
- Take care.
- All right.
Take care of her.
Yeah, always.
Man, they can't understand a word you're saying.
'Cause they're all from Honduras and El Salvador and shit.
No, it's 'cause your Spanish is de la chingada.
Come on, I'll take you to lunch.
Where did you get the wheels-- A rental? It's nice, huh? I'm leasing it.
That mean you're staying? Means I'm driving back to Dallas in style when I go.
Where to? A burrito wagon over on claiborne.
It's not bad.
Coz, Coz, Coz, this is New Orleans.
The food's supposed to be great.
Come on.
A guy told me about a place.
The cops thought they were being fired on.
They were being fired on.
Not by the people they shot.
And they weren't being fired on.
The only people firing guns out the were cops.
Toni, how n u know that? Terry.
All right, fuck it.
You know what? I guess it'll all get sorted out.
Well, thanks for giving me copies of these.
When are you gonna stop harassing the musicians on Jackson square? Oh, are we gonna fight about that too? How's Sofia? Depressed, angry, anxious.
Aren't we all? Everybody is out of their minds.
How are yours? Fine, I guess.
Whenever I do manage to get them on the phone, it's always monosyllables and, you know, multitasking.
I can always tell.
"Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Sure, dad.
What?" Sounds familiar.
It's been six months.
Seven.
Things getting any better? Worse, I'd say.
Talk about it? It was an accident.
That's what she knows.
Mmm.
Everything okay here? Fantastic.
What do you call this thing again? Frenchaletta.
It's our version of a Muffaletta served on French.
Really? Muffaletta, ooh.
Got it.
Pontchartrain, tchoupitoulas, muffaletta-- I'm learning stuff.
Listen, I'll take the other half with me.
All right, I'll get you a go box, baby.
- Thank you, darling.
- You're welcome.
Look at this thing.
It's the size of la verga mÃa.
I gotta take a picture of that.
I love this town.
Why didn't anybody tell me about it before? I've been calling you for the last six months trying to get you down here.
Yeah, but you never said how great it was.
- You just said there was dinero lying in the streets.
- Yeah.
Hey, you know a place we can go hear some music tonight? Coz, Coz, Coz, there's more to life than money.
How's school? It's all right.
Haven't seen any tests or quizzes recently.
Haven't been any.
Really? What are you reading in English? Frederick Douglass's autobiography.
Parent-teacher conferences are coming up soon.
I'm not in for any surprises, am I? Hmm? Sofia.
Are you making friends? Mom, I have the same friends I had last semester.
The school is gorgeous, state of the art.
The teachers are just the best-- So caring and committed.
The student body is so perfectly benetton diverse, it makes you want to puke.
You can take a picture of it and put it on tv.
I just asked a civil question.
I don't need your sarcasm.
I'm just saying status quo, okay? Everything's status quo.
If anything changes, I'll let you know.
I think this new quarterback looks pretty good.
Hmm.
And we know Reggie bush can bring it-- Heisman damn trophy.
Okay? Whoo! This could be our year.
- Mr.
Riley, Mr.
reyes.
- Ms.
la Dee.
- And who do we have here? - Ms.
Williams, my cousin Nelson.
- Oh.
- How are you, ma'am? I'm fine.
What'll you all have? Can I buy you boys a beer? No music tonight? Music? - You said there was music.
- We got a jukebox.
- That'll work.
- Have a seat.
- Y'all really cousins? - That's what I said.
Look, the jukebox is over here.
Thank you, ma'am.
Don't be calling me ma'am.
Ladonna.
Ladonna? That's a beautiful name.
All right, boys.
"El pavo.
" Sounds Latin.
Is Latin.
What-- Look at your boy over there.
What? - Yeah! - Check this out.
Oh! Look at all that brought up in here.
Ha! Okay.
Okay, all right, Antonio Banderas.
Ahh.
That's what I'm talking about.
Whoo! I give up.
From the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block How do they make this all go together? It's New Orleans.
We put everything together.
You know what gumbo ya-ya really means? No.
Everyone talks at once.
Freret and Louisiana, camouflaged bandana round there I had to man up, magnolia had to stand up didn't believe in Santa, hustled in front of grandma last seen in the circle when the lights went out I must have made about a couple hundred thousand in drops Toledano and robertson when I was out and about I'll take you to hear the Klezmer all stars sometime.
Ben Ellman-- He plays with them too.
You could sit in.
I don't play Klezmer.
With them.
On fiddle? I don't think so.
Fiddle goes with everything.
It's like hot sauce.
From the corner to the block from the corner to the block hey keep 'em up now, keep 'em up now keep 'em up now keep 'em up now, keep 'em up now listen, uh t.
C.
And l.
D.
With me 6th and willow, Washington and Clara street with me my front porch was the bus stop, my face was a mug shot money was running low so I hit some hustles and whatnot right on elysian fields me and rickie at the truck stop back to the hood with the good to make the cut out this is my corner where I'm prone to get shuteye juvie the great man, who else could it be but I? from the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block from the corner to the block How long have you been playing, man? Two months.
It's hard.
It'll get easier.
Hope so.
Me too.
Me too.
L.
T.
Says I'm early relief 'cause I got court.
- Which is bullshit.
- Which is bullshit.
If I gotta be in court till 3:00 or 4:00 every day, then why I gotta come in early? What've you got? Straight up robbery.
Two kids on bikes.
She was a little slow giving up her purse.
All right.
Thanks.
- Why the lieutenant gotta do you like that, huh? - Man, fuck if I know.
He rides me five times harder than anybody else on the squad.
And I didn't do a motherfucking thing to deserve it.
A couple of my cases went South last month Kid.
You, hey.
There's a curfew.
The fuck are you doing? Go home.
eliminate the negative latch on to the affirmative don't mess with Mr.
in-between you've got to spread joy