Air date: December 31, 2020
[festive music playing]
[festive music slows]
[cymbals crash rhythmically]
[cymbals crash rhythmically]
[suspenseful music]
All right, Counselor, what’s the story?
Uh, theft of meat from Rouse’s on De Gaulle.
And what are you offering?
Four years.
For stealing meat?
$502 dollars of meat.
Why’d you do that, Mr. James?
I wanted my family back.
What does that mean?
Well, my wife told me I was dead to her.
When?
Three months ago.
Why?
Booze.
You don’t look–
I been sober 59 days now.
Good.
So where are you living?
Claiborne.
Where on Claiborne?
Under it.
[phone chimes]
[phone chimes]
Whose phone is that?
[James] It was our tenth wedding anniversary. The day we got married, we had a barbecue for everybody. I just wanted to show her what I’ve done. I’ve given up the booze. Holding it all together. I thought maybe she’d have me back if I could just turn the clock back ten years. But I ain’t had no money, so…
So you stole the meat. It’s difficult to… give up drinking.
Yeah, Mojo Coffee House saved my life. I go to a 6 a.m. AA meeting every morning, rain or shine.
Proof of that?
Me standing right here. I’m betting you don’t need no piece a paper to judge a man by. You can see right inside of a man. Am I right? Well, here I am. Ain’t no way you wouldn’t know if I wasn’t telling the truth. A daily meeting at Mojo’s, uh, stands a better chance at putting this man’s life back together than time in prison.
It’s not my life I’m worried about. It’s my boy. I want him to have a father that’s gonna provide and keep him safe. I just want him to have somebody that he can be proud of. That’s it. That’s all I got.
[phone chimes]
Jesus, please. [slaps hands on desk] Come on.
[phone chiming]
[tense music]
Sorry, Mr. James, I’m gonna put you out of your misery right now. 12 months probation. Call a recess.
[bailiff] Recess! We’ll resume in 15 minutes.
[indistinct chatter]
[phone beeps]
Is there anything I can do, Judge?
Uh, no. I’m good, Alan. Thank you. Oh, uh, Alan, wait a second.
When you come in and open up the courtroom in the morning, are there times when you go back out again?
Yeah, I come and go a little.
Okay. So the courtroom is open and empty? Okay.
Is there anything wrong, Judge?
No, uh, no. No, but would you please tell Betty I had to leave?
[tires squealing]
Shit.
[tires screech]
[horn honks]
Call Adam.
[recording] This is Adam. Leave a message.
[Michael] Adam, pick up your phone, please. Where are you, son? Call me.
[suspenseful music]
[keys jingling]
[door creaks open]
[keys jingle]
[thudding nearby]
Django?
[Michael panting]
Oh, shit! Oh, no!
[Django whines]
Hey, I’m sorry, buddy. Okay. Okay, here we go. Here we go, here we go, come on.
[whines]
Here we go, here-here we go. Okay, there we go.
[birds chirping]
[Michael huffing]
[Amy] I saw someone.
Amy, he’s had seizures and he could have more. I’ve got to get him to the vet right now.
I saw someone.
A-Amy, please not now.
He was at the house.
Django’s… Well, w-who?
White male, green Toyota Camry with a horseshoe in the window.
Horseshoe? No, a U shape.
Yes.
Two fits, definitely.
There could be more though.
Right here, Michael.
The last one was 20 minutes ago.
Here I go, okay.
Okay, here we, here we go, buddy.
There we go, there we go.
Here we go.
Can I get a temperature, please?
Sure.
Yeah, is he gonna be okay?
Michael, we got him now.
Oh-oh, yeah, okay.
Hey, buddy, okay.
All right, buddy.
That’s a good boy.
Okay, after vitals,
we’re gonna put him on oxygen.
[jazz music]
Moonbeams got me on my way
Let your subtle glow be all I need to know
That I’m in love
–
[dialogue inaudible]
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out
If it’s night or day
When two hearts are left here on their own
So shine down all your beams upon me
Let me know the way
Without you here to guide my heart
She just might get away
[Carlo chuckles]
[exhales sharply]
[laughs]
You look…
What?
Uh, older.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so what are you up to?
What am I up to?
You know, same old stuff.
Lots of drinking and sleeping around.
Any guy comes near my little sis–
Who said it’s a guy?
[scoffs] Always with the jokes, right?
[laughs]
People say revenge doesn’t help.
What you did, the move you made…
it won’t bring him back,
My heart will never heal.
Do I feel better?
Absolutely.
[bluesy music]
[speaking inaudibly]
[man] Hey, son, stay strong.
[low, indistinct conversations]
[women talking and laughing nearby]
[woman] Ooh!
[woman 2] Uh, it look like…
[laughter]
It look like it ain’t been in the oven yet.
[chuckles]
Little man.
Why don’t you explain it to him.
Explain?
How you had it all under control.
How you was the big man making all the calls by yourself…
and got his mama and them babies blown to pieces in their own fuckin’ home.
Go ahead, Little Mo, tell him.
The cop that keeps the heat off us… he needed a car to get stole, so I had to make it get stole…
You didn’t need to do shit.
That’s why I pay him five grand a week.
Now I got this baby with holes in his heart where his family used to be and a mob boss motherfucker with a blowtorch.
Now we go to war?
That’s your ass.
Follow me.
[Eugene] You pay for my mama funeral?
[indistinct chatter continues nearby]
Everybody say you did.
I ain’t never spoken on this.
Don’t tell no one.
You hear?
When my mama died, she died in her bed.
Nobody came.
Only me there.
I was three years old.
Kept her warm after she dead with blankets and shit, but-but… nobody came.
Something else?
Baxters gotta pay.
They will, little man.
But Big Mo play the long game.
So I need you to get real patient with some shit.
You do that, then Desire here for you.
If not… [mutters]
…you can go your own way.
[indistinct chatter]
[children chattering nearby]
[Joey] Your dad’s got stones, bro.
Sure.
What makes you say that?
[chuckles] The gas leak.
It was a gas leak.
Yeah.
It was a gas leak.
Yeah.
[chuckles]
What’s up, prison shit?
Heart-to-heart I had with that fuck that killed Rocco.
How’s his heart?
Stopped.
His head?
Cracked open like a fucking watermelon.
[laughs]
So here’s the thing.
Fentanyl cut with heroin.
You tried that shit?
[exhales] You kidding me, that shit?
It’s too beautiful to even touch.
[dialogue inaudible]
So, what, are you talking to someone?
Angola gives its guests so much more than just Jesus.
[laughs]
[Jimmy] Is this a meeting?
Why don’t you go spend some time with your mother?
Hmm?
[indistinct chatter]
[hip-hop music]
You ain’t come here to hunt. [laughs]
Yo.
All right, little man.
This fell out of your pocket before.
Or was you just testing me?
You only know me on the video
[chuckles]
Now you say you got a crush on me
Now you say you got a crush on me
[panting]
[phone chimes]
Hey, the thing with a cluster of epileptic fits is that kidney failure is a real concern.
Right.
It’s touch and go, Michael.
We’ll do everything we can for him.
Okay, uh…
Uh, I-I…
I-I need to go now.
We’ll call you.
Okay.
[line ringing]
[phone ringing]
[phone beeps, ringing stops]
[low, indistinct chatter]
Hey.
I know you, right?
Yeah, uh, maybe, um…
Uh, uh, Rocco’s memorial.
I’m his sister.
Right, um…
Hi.
What are you doing?
Uh, college interview tomorrow, so I’m just, you know…
Reading David Foster Wallace.
Of course, the interview scene at the start.
Where are you applying?
Uh, NYU.
Was that your first choice?
My mom went there.
And she wants you to repeat her past?
Ah, she’s dead, so…
[laughs] Sorry.
Um…
So I guess we have something in common.
Mm-hmm, death and grief, yeah.
Uh, what-what was he like?
Your brother.
An idiot.
Fun.
I’m sorry.
I shouldn’t have asked you…
No, no, no.
It’s, uh… it’s good.
Too many of my friends have stopped talking to me ’cause they don’t know what to say. How’d you know Rocco?
I just met him once actually.
When? Where?
Uh, Tipitina’s, th-that club.
What?
Um… no, uh…
he was wearing my T-shirt the day he died– my Tipitina’s T-shirt.
Oh.
Uh…
I mean, they told us he died instantly.
Head injury like that, he wouldn’t have suffered.
I wonder if that’s true.
I mean, what are they gonna say?
You know– he was in terrible pain?
He choked on his own blood?
You think they’d tell you the truth?
I understand.
Do you?
My mom, she was murdered.
Shit.
Yeah, I-I wasn’t there, so…
You know, I think about her last moments all the time.
What it was like for her.
Um, so I guess this question matters even more now that we’ve… established that your dead mom went there, um…
is NYU your first choice?
Uh… yeah, I think so.
I mean, New York seems cool.
And their photography program…
seems cool to… [laughs]
-I-I guess.
You guess?
Yeah, no, ’cause you can’t say any of that tomorrow.
‘Cause you get in anywhere with that emo vibe.
Sorry.
You know what, dress rehearsal.
You ready?
Oh.
Okay.
I’m, uh…
Professor Big Brain.
I don’t know your name.
Adam.
So… what does a, uh, a Southern boy like you who seems to have trouble remembering his own surname hope to learn from attending our… big-city New York University?
I hope to gain the interpersonal skills to finally achieve some sort of social life.
Mm-mm.
Is it something I-I’ve lacked during high school ’cause I was too busy reading books and taking photographs?
Well, I, uh… I have to tell you, here at NYU, we love nerds without social skills.
Um, what social and political issues are you passionate about?
Dogs. An-Anything with dogs.
Hmm. Um, okay.
Rottweiler or Chihuahua?
Rottweiler.
Great Dane or Newfoundland?
Both.
Ooh. Um… Leonberger or sh–
Oh, Leonberger.
[laughs]
Okay.
Um… one last thing.
Other than the death of your mother, tell me about an experience that’s had a big impact on you recently.
[sniffs]
[soft rock playing quietly]
Um…
I-I just met a really cool girl.
Hmm. What do you like about her?
She’s good at fishing.
You’re in.
[distant siren wailing]
[distant shout]
[slow, suspenseful music]
[dog barking]
Hold on.
Help you, lady?
Got blow. Base? Blues maybe?
I could be a cop.
[laughs] In this car?
You don’t remember me?
I’m Kofi’s lawyer.
[sighs]
Kofi dead.
I’m still his lawyer.
You don’t think they’re exploiting you?
[sniffles]
So you came all this way just to tell me
I can’t take care of myself?
No.
What then?
I want to know what happened to Kofi.
To do that, I need a second autopsy.
To do that, I need the signature of a relative who’s over the age of 18.
[scoffs]
You know, you lawyers take a long time to say shit.
You know where your father is?
I’m on my own.
[door bells tinkle]
[door bells tinkle]
[door closes]
Yo, little man, back to work.
[door opens]
[door bells tinkle]
You notice how ever since you came around here trying to help people, them same people ended up dead?
Same could be said about you.
Mm-mm.
[exhales sharply]
Where were you raised?
[sighs]
Garden District.
Ah. Explains it.
Explains what?
I don’t know.
Your sense of entitlement, the way you look.
How you shouldn’t be here.
You threatening me?
[chuckles]
You done with that, baby?
Oh, you can go now.
I got this.
[waitress] All right now.
[car alarm chirps]
Hey.
Thank you for lunch.
Thank him. He’s paying.
Look,
Kofi dad and my dad, not the same man.
You know where he is?
[Michael] And his kidneys?
Oh, God. Please don’t let him die.
That dog is…
Please just do everything that you can.
Thank you.
[elevator bell dings]
PWID? Shit was only for you and Joshua.
Oh, don’t matter. It’s still distributing.
But they only had, like–
No.
It don’t matter if it’s commercial.
You’re still a dealer.
Well, at least what the law thinks.
Shit.
Weed?
Huh? Who’s the judge?
Who’s the judge?
McCallister.
Yeah.
Anyone in your family have cancer?
My grandmama.
All right.
Judge McCallister’s wife died of breast cancer.
You tell him that you bought the weed for your grandmother.
You’ll still need to bring in a script of her other pain meds and records of chemo and…
I mean, she needs something from the doc.
Yeah.
All right.
Cool.
[Michael sighs]
Either of you know how to trace a burner phone to where it was purchased?
[slow, suspenseful music]
[sighs]
There we go.
D… A…
Zero.
Oh.
In Algiers.
Where in Algiers?
[dramatic, lively music, featuring violin]
[indistinct crowd chatter]
[suspenseful music]
[Big Mo sighs]
[clock ticking]
I didn’t invite you to my hotel.
Well, who invited you to Female Jones’s house?
[sucks teeth]
You blew up that house with her babies inside.
Tragedy in it all: you did it for nothing.
So…
I come down here to help you get your facts straight.
Little Mo got a call to steal that Volvo the day after your son was kilt.
Say what you’ve come to say.
Little Mo told Kofi to steal that car on October 10.
Kofi was arrested on October 10.
Your son was killed when?
Ninth.
Mm.
So…
I don’t know who killed your son, but it sure the fuck wasn’t Kofi.
‘Cause he was dead
well before Kofi took that motherfucking car.
Why are you telling me this now?
Shit.
Didn’t have reason to tell you fore now.
And blowing shit up ain’t getting nobody nowhere.
If you want a war… I can give you a war.
Due diligence.
Who the fuck is that?
Your rabbi?
I need to confirm what you’re telling me.
Oh.
[inhales]
[sighs]
Tell Mr. Diligence… [exhales]
to confirm the shit out of this shit
real quick.
[slow, suspenseful music]
[door closes]
Get me Cusack.
I had Kofi every weekend for a few years.
And then he got into the game.
You know, the truth is,
once I had my girls,
I just couldn’t expose ’em to that.
He was a good kid.
You’re either in or you’re out.
And if you’re in, you’re dead.
I got a wife now and two really good kids.
I need your consent.
Without it, I can’t get a second autopsy.
The last thing I want to do is go up against some gang.
That’s not how it would be.
Could be, though.
It could be.
You’re Kofi’s father.
You couldn’t help Kofi when he was alive because of how things are.
Now he’s dead.
You could help change how things are.
[slow, somber music]
Body’s been washed.
Does that mean…?
No. Uh, remnants of DNA still possible.
But the brain’s the thing.
Wait, the brain?
The coroner puts it in a garbage bag after he’s done examining it, with, uh, all the other organs.
And then that gets put in the chest cavity… [exhales] before it is sewn up.
[exhales] This is what counts.
This is the story.
[Little Mo] Back here, little man!
[grunts softly, sniffing]
Finally had a minute to set you up proper.
No more sleeping bag.
For how long?
Man, as long as you want.
[chuckles softly]
[laughs] Ain’t no need to be shy about it.
Man, didn’t skimp on the thread count.
Yeah.
Never had my own room before.
[chuckles] Well… just keep your head down and your mind sharp and your loyalty with us.
We’ll take care of you.
[chuckles softly]
[Michael] When your phone rings and it’s me, you answer it. Whatever you’re doing, whoever you’re with, you pick up. Where were you?
Cafe.
All day?
Prepping for my interview.
Who were you with?
Dad.
Who were you with?
Nobody. What happened to Django?
[sighs]
You forgot to give him his meds.
What happened?
[phone chimes]
[whines]
[tense, dramatic music]
[box closes]
[lock clicks]
[Frankie] He’s here.
[Jimmy] Bring him in.
What did you find at Kofi’s house?
Bloody clothes?
Rocco’s phone?
Anything?
Cash. Weed.
Planted?
I don’t give a fuck how you made it look.
I want how it was.
Had Forensics at the scene?
Jimmy, he was driving the car.
He pled guilty.
He, he confessed.
It’s done.
What the fuck is the matter with you?
“Done”?
This is my son we’re talking about.
Do not fucking insult me with police shit.
I want the truth.
[Jimmy] What’s this?
It’s a flash drive.
It’s all there. All the evidence we got.
Is the call on there?
The 911 call.
It’s on there.
Then I want to hear it.
You’re gonna take a huge hit withdrawing this much cash.
The college fund, too.
You didn’t say that.
No, I did. I told you.
Well, that-that’s gonna take a while.
No, no, i-it can’t.
I need it now.
This is a bank.
This is the 21st century.
Get my money now.
Uh, all right. I’ll be right back.
[suspenseful, dramatic music]
Shit.
Hey.
[banker] I’m sorry.
I’m afraid we need 48 hours’ notice before we can release funds from this account.
[horns honking]
Shit.
[crying softly]
[Jimmy] Gina.
Gina, you okay?
What is this?
[woman] This is the 911 operator.
[man] You filled up. Now fuck off.
[horn honks]
[woman] Just stay on the line. We’ll get you some help.
This isn’t it.
We just need to work out where you are.
[woman] Please, if you can…
Should be Rocco breathing.
This is the 911 operator.
[man] You filled up. Now fuck off.
[horn honks]
[woman] Just stay on the line. We’ll get you some help.
We just need to work out where you are.
Please, if you can…
[beep]
They called back.
What?
The operator called back.
While that… that monster who killed our son was getting gas.
He killed Rocco, he drove away, he stopped for gas.
[people shouting and laughing]
[loud, upbeat music playing]
[shouting and laughter]
[woman] This is the 911 operator.
[man] You filled up. Now fuck off.
[horn honks]
[woman] Just stay on the line. We’ll get you some help.
We just need to work out where you are.
[door opens]
Jim.
Jimmy.
[horn honks]
The 911 call came from a cell tower in Chalmette.
There’s three gas stations.
atmospheric music
Were you working October ninth?
What day was that?
That’s a Wednesday.
I work every weekday.
Have you ever seen this kid?
You’re kidding me, right?
What about your security cameras?
[chuckles]
[loud, upbeat music playing]
[phone ringing]
Yeah?
[man] Where the hell are you?
Listen, I’m on my way, but I gotta talk to–
Shit.
[phone rings]
I did not hang up on you.
No, I’m-I’m-I’m doing it, but I-I… I needed to tell you something.
You’re out of time, man.
I can’t-I can’t hear you.
Do you hear me?
Wait-wait a second.
Give me a moment. Hold on, hold on.
Listen, I don’t have all the money yet.
[man] What?
I need more time.
Well, you’re out of time, man.
Get the fuck off me.
Do you hear me?
You’re out of time.
I don’t think you have it.
Have what?
The evidence that you need.
Or the balls to see this through.
Shitty Camry, living in Algiers.
I don’t know, I wouldn’t back you.
[call disconnects]
[dramatic music]
This fella here?
[man] Yeah.
You sure about that?
Loves his Leonard Cohen and his bourbon.
You the guy who’s been running around with his wife?
What are you talking about?
He came here.
Wanted to see the surveillance video from my camera.
Said he’s looking for the guy who’s been sleeping with his wife.
You, uh… do you still have the footage?
Nope.
It got erased.
By who?
Dylan Thomas. This guy right here.
He deleted the footage?
Yeah.
[shouting and laughter]
[phone chimes]
[phone chimes]
[phone chimes]
[somber music]
[gentle music]
