Original subtitles

Everybody has a story

and this one is mine.

301 Sutter Avenue

between Rockaway and Mother Gaston,

Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York.

The Langston Hughes Projects are the three tallest buildings

in all of East New York.

Each 22 stories high with eight apartments per floor

and whose average household has more than six people.

That's more than 3,000 people living on one city block.

That's what I got so far.

What do you think?

Shouldn't a poem rhyme?

Not all poems have to rhyme, Titi Elizabeth,

like a, like a haiku doesn't rhyme.

Hi-what?

The judges at the talent show tryouts

ain't gonna care if it rhymes, Titi.

It just has to be something uniquely me.

What does that have to do with where we live?

Oh, my God, Titi.

Please don't tell me you have again.

How would I know?

Put it here.

Elaine!

Come upstairs!

Elaine!

Okay, Mami, I'm coming!

Come on, we gotta go.

You go.

I'm trying to catch a tan.

Abuela will kill me if you get sunburnt on my watch.

Elaine!

Yo, Leelo.

Can you watch Elizabeth for a few?

No, not Leelo.

Ti, just put on your oxygen

and you won't have to smell his breath.

Where's the other one?

Huh?

More than 3,000 people living on one city block.

Average household has six people.

We live in apartment 12F.

-Hey, give it back, Ben. - We is me --

-Forget it, chump. - My mami, my papi,

my big head brothers, my sister.

Benjamin, stop being such a pendejo.

Share with your brother or you're not gonna get.

Pick on somebody your own size, stupid.

Ana, don't call your brother stupid.

Elaine, tell your papi to come to eat.

That's Papi.

We're just alike, except he is obsessed with salsa music

and the Puerto Rican flag.

Elaine,

our flag,

the red is for the Taino Indians indigenous to Puerto Rico,

the white is for the colonizer that has invaded us,

the blue is for the sad Africanos they brought with them,

and the star,

that one star is all of us rolled into one.

How about that, eh?

Can't you play something in English?

Ay, Papi.

He can't help himself.

He's a proud salsero.

He's a rumba man.

Oh, a rumba?

A rumba is when a bunch of Puerto Ricans get together

and we have an acoustic jam right outside.

And that's not even

the best part of Papi, neither.

Is that the new song you're writing, Papi?

Yeah.

Do you like it?

Does it have to be in Spanish?

We artists have to create from our hearts.

My heart sings in Spanish, yeah?

Are you gonna be okay here?

Okay.

Papi, you got the best job ever.

This is my job, Goji. You can't come here.

Relax, Manny.

School's out.

You got something for me?

You'll have it by tomorrow.

Come on, man, my kid is here.

- Yo, you lying to me? - Papi?

Oh, so you Manny's daughter, huh?

I be seein' you around the block.

Elaine, go get us some chocolate milks from the lunchroom.

So the school just doesn't need this piano anymore, Papi?

Nah, the school has three of these.

They don't need this one.

That is a junkie.

A lot of them around here.

Papi says, gotta stay away from them.

They'll drag you down.

It's good as new.

What am I gonna do with a piano, Manny?

Come on, Maxi.

Uh, that's what you said about my trumpet.

Trumpet is brass.

A piano has plenty of metal parts.

It'll take you no time to strip it.

I'll give ya 50 bucks.

I need 75.

Elaine?

Hey, Elaine?

Hey, Manny.

Elaine.

Elaine.

Can we keep the piano, Papi?

We can write songs together.

Okay.

Seventy-five.

Police, open up. We have a warrant.

Okay. Ho--hold on.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Ma'am, we need you to open the door.

Wait, wait.

- Go to your room. - Senora ,?

Your room.

Go to your room.

Senora.

Hold on. Uh, I gotta get my clothes on.

Go back to your room.

500 East to I-10...

104.

Correction, 4.

Manuel Del Valle, you here?

How do I know you're real cops?

Look, you can make this easy, or you can make this hard.

895, 450.

I have four kids.

My mother lives right downstairs on the sixth floor.

-Can I bring them to her? -Hey, listen, listen.

Maybe she can come get them,

but you're gonna have to let us in.

All I need is out there.

Brown-eyed, tan.

Hey.

- Your father here? - Don't talk to my daughter.

It's okay.

And that's 4020, correct?

Your father back there?

I said don't talk to my kid.

Ma'am, stay calm. You're scaring your kid.

You're the one that's scaring my kid.

Please.

Just let me call my mother.

She's right downstairs.

I got three more kids sleeping back there.

She'll come pick them up, huh?

Huh?

Ah.

And then the car ride.

Bye!

All right, guys, what are your names?

Daniel Medina.

Daniel Medina.

Benjamin Medina.

Ana Medina.

Ana Medina.

And you, what's your name?

Her name is Elaine.

Elaine?

M--Medina?

No, Del Valle, like him.

Listen, ma'am, just give us what we know you have so this could all end.

Yo-- You checked the room.

Th--There's nothing there.

I'm telling you, I got nothing.

There's nothing here to find, please.

Th--There's nothing here to find.

Please, just let them go.

I--I'll walk you through the apartment, just...

There's nothing here, please.

Look, I'm not who you're looking for.

Come on.

I'm not who you want. Please.

Look, look, yo--You got the wrong guy, I'm telling you.

Come on.

Here. We'll give it back.

Found somethin'.

Check his arms.

This guy's not a dealer. He's just a junkie.

That's not true.

Tell him that's not true, Pa.

Tell him that's not true, Pa.

Please tell them, please.

I don't wanna be a junkie,

and you don't wanna be a junkie, either.

- Please. - Negative.

-Del Valle is a junkie. -He's not a junkie.

-Stop saying that. -Come on, kids.

Let's go with Abuela.

I'll come for you soon

as I get this straightened out, okay?

Come on, guys.

Come on, baby.

Mami?

What happened?

Nothing.

It's okay.

Go back to sleep, Titi.

Elaine, I don't have.

Okay, Titi, just go back to sleep.

Elaine, come to bed.

Come on.

We got school in the morning.

Go away.

Go away.

Go away.

Why are you here?

I told you to go away.

Go find another family.

My heart was together, but now you broke it into pieces.

I hate you.

I was never like you.

Go take your stupid Puerto Rican flag, your conga,

your salsa music, and your salsa records.

I never wanna see your face again.

Go find another family.

Puerto Rico, Texas, Mexico.

I don't care where you go, but just don't come to my house.

I never wanna see you again.

You junkie.

Elaine, are you ready?

Elaine.

Elaine, are you ready?

Mm.

Come on, girl.

You're gonna be late for school.

My stomach hurts.

Can I stay home from school?

Now don't give me that. It's your last day.

Come on, let's go. You have all summer to be lazy.

- Let's go. - Come on.

Whoa.

I can smell your breath from here.

Shut up, stupid.

Dude, just hang up when they call.

I can't. I feel too sorry for them.

They're using you to get to me.

Unless you want my sloppy seconds.

Aah!

What the f--

She probably just saw a cockroach.

Can you two shut up? I'm trying to do my homework.

What's going on?

Hey, hey, better open the door, girl.

Let me in. What you do? You called me.

Let me in. What?

You're a senorita!

Oh, my gosh. Okay, it's okay.

It's gonna be okay. Close the door, close the door.

Yeah...

Oh, I thought she was never gonna get it. Oh, my God.

I don't see why I just couldn't stay home.

What does it matter where you lay down?

Stay with Elizabeth. This way,

me and Abuela could get our stuff done faster.

Just promise you won't tell anybody.

Who am I gonna tell?

I had to tell her why I let you stay home from school.

No go outside.

We should be back by five.

You got cramps?

I don't wanna talk about it.

Okay.

You wanna play Bingo, then?

O, 64.

Yo, Crystal.

Yo, why you ain't come to school today?

-'Cause she got her period. -Ti.

What the hell, Titi?

Don't say that.

But that's why you didn't go.

I got a stomachache, but I'm good now.

Oh. We gotta cypher by the basketball courts. Come down.

-We're not allowed-- -Quit it, Titi.

Not everybody has to be all up in our business, okay?

Yo, Crystal, I'ma meet you there.

All right.

Where you going? You can't leave me alone.

I'm not.

You're coming with me.

But Mami said--

But Mami nothing.

Ti, you heard Abuela say that I'm a senorita now, right?

That means I'm not a kid anymore, right?

And I can make my own decisions.

-Yeah, but-- -But nothing.

If you wanna spend the rest of your life stuck here,

you're gonna have to do it by yourself.

Don't cry, Titi.

I didn't mean it like that.

It's okay.

We're gonna go out together and have some fun, yeah?

We just have to not tell Mami and Abuela, right?

Like. not everybody has to be up, all up in our business?

Exactly like that.

Come on, let's go.

Hey, what's up.

Spit somethin'.

Okay.

-'Ey, that's what's up, girl. -Fire.

-'Ey. -Oh, my God.

That was hot.

Oh, oh.

You're gonna be okay, Titi. Just breathe.

You need to breathe, okay? Okay?

Don't leave me.

I'm not gonna leave you. I promise I'll never leave you.

I'm just gonna get your wheelchair and your inhaler, okay?

Hey, Elaine.

Elaine, Elaine.

Hey, Elaine, right?

Manny's daughter?

No, um, he moved to Puerto Rico

right after he got out of the jail.

Yeah, I heard.

I been keeping my eye on you.

Make sure nobody messin' with you.

And you'd be doing a solid if you hold on to this for me.

Ready?

I'll come get it later.

Go. Go home now!

Come on.

Get in.

You're okay, you're okay.

Suspect is a male Latino

traveling southeast on Belmont Avenue

in the vicinity of Sutter Avenue and Rockaway Avenue.

Approximately 5'9".

Last seen wearing a beige hoodie

and holding a burgundy laundry bag.

-Hey, kid! - 10-85, 10-85 all units.

Can't fight it.

Hey!

All units, standby, units.

Hey, kid!

Press for-- Press for the elevator, Titi.

Elevator.

Go, go, go. I'll meet you upstairs, okay?

- No, Elaine. - Kid!

You didn't hear me calling you?

You were calling me?

What was in that bag?

What, what bag? I was just helping

-that crippled lady into the building. -What's your name?

- I--I was just-- - I said, what's your name?

I didn't do nothin'.

I was just with my friends. You can ask them.

We were cyphering by the basketball courts.

Think about what you're saying, kid,

-'cause if you're lying to me, I could lock you up. -Hey!

What are you doing questioning a kid?

You wanna question a kid, you need to make sure they have a parent around,

and I don't see hers nowhere.

-Who are you? -Get your butt upstairs, Elaine.

Hi, they call me Miss Martin.

Who are you?

Meaning I'm gonna need your name

and your badge number, Chandler.

Ti, it's okay, open up.

Titi?

Titi Elizabeth?

Titi?

Titi Elizabeth?

I just--I don't know.

Miss Clarke.

-Hey. -You see my Titi Elizabeth?

Mm, no.

Mm-mm, mm, no,

I haven't seen Titi Elizabeth.

Joe, okay.

Thank you.

Of course.

Hi.

Hi, mm, mm, mm, ah, hi.

-Hi. -Hi.

How are you doing?

I'm good, thank you, Miss Clarke.

Hi.

It's your floor, Miss Clarke.

Hi, okay, hi.

Hi.

Hi, how you doing?

Hi.

Hi.

Hi.

Ah.

Hi.

Yo, Leelo, you see my Titi Elizabeth?

Nah. You want a hit?

Why are you crying?

Oh, my God, Ti, you had me worried sick.

Where were you?

You left me.

I didn't mean to leave you.

I meant for you to come up here and...

You know what?

Tia, what'd you do with the bag that I gave you?

I put it where it belongs.

You gotta use Tide.

Name something a woman expects on a first date.

To get married.

A new car.

A baby.

Hey, up here.

Flowers?

Hey, Mami.

Peace.

Afternoon, ladies.

This the one that have all our shit?

Come on, man.

Soon.

N--nothing.

- Mm. - , Abuela.

I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.

Here.

Psst,

let me take care of this one.

I got this.

Let me talk to her.

Hey, I like the way you handled yourself today.

Can't teach that, you know?

It's an instinct.

Your old man had.

I got something for you.

Take it.

I don't bite.

Come on, you earned it.

You been growing up nice.

I noticed.

I know what it's like out here growing up without a father,

so I get it.

Hey, anybody ever tell you you could be a model, huh?

Hmm?

No?

You come find me if anything, all right?

Anybody messes with you, you want another job, anything.

I stay down by the Tilden Houses, all right?

The elevator's here.

Let me get it for you.

You goin' down?

Up.

Elaine, come to eat!

Coming.

We got the new Cabbage Patch dolls in our work.

Elaine, you want one?

I don't play with dolls no more.

Ain't no one say you gotta trade in your Barbies

for a Kotex, shorty.

Mami, why you tellin' everybody?

Yo, chill out, scrub.

- Mami ain't tell me nothin'. - See?

I overheard her on the phone telling Titi Magi, though.

-Heard what? -And after, she told Camila and Andrea.

Okay, stop it.

Sons, stop trying to start drama.

I have something serious I need to talk to yous all about.

'Ey, 'ey, 'ey.

Benjamin.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you for the food we about to eat

and for the countless blessings you've bestowed upon us.

- Amen. - Amen.

I did something very important for us today.

You got us a Nintendo?

Yeah, sure.

It's in the trunk of a Cadillac

parked outside of our mansion, Danny.

Oh, Mama doo-wop just burnt your--

Ay, would you cut it out?

Real talk.

Abuela took me to enroll in summer school

so I could get the last two credits

of my high school diploma.

-That's great, Mami. -Mm.

So what that means, while you three are at, at your summer jobs,

um, I just need you guys to all be on top of your chores, okay?

And Elaine, you're gonna stay at Abuela's until I get home.

What? Why?

Ah, 'cause you're the baby of the family.

Ah, Benjamin.

Why do I always feel like I have to referee,

like you're lucha libre ?

Elaine, no,

you're not a baby.

But you're also not old enough

to be left unsupervised alone for the whole summer.

Unsupervised? You leave me with Titi Elizabeth.

I'm the one taking care of her.

I know, I don't wanna hear an argument.

You either stay at Abuela's,

or you could visit your father in Puerto Rico.

- You know? - He's been asking you to visit.

Yo, can I get Elaine's pork chops?

I brought your food.

I wasn't gonna let Benjamin eat your pork chop.

She shouldn't have brought up Papi.

You gotta talk to him sometime.

He sounds okay every time I talk to him.

Don't.

Okay.

I'm just saying,

one of us actually has a father

that wants to know about them.

And you used to love hanging with Titi Elizabeth.

When I was eight.

Now it's like babysitting.

It's not babysitting if it's family.

And we don't get to choose our family.

If we did,

then we'll definitely be choosing a different abuela.

Lalita, fine as hell, baby.

You already know.

-Goji. -Yeah.

Don't be playing me with no little girls.

Come on, baby.

Man, I'm not doin' you like that.

For real?

Hey, you want me take some pictures of you?

I thought that's what you bought it for.

Come on, let's go.

I'm hungry.

Wanna go for some pizza?

My treat.

Excited to see the movement,

to see the energy and feel, it's just unbelievable.

Hey, Vito.

Hey, kid.

Can I have two slices and a Coca-Cola

and some , please?

- Phew. - With extra sugar, Vito.

Okay.

I have to go to the bathroom.

It's not bad at the end of the playoffs season.

You know what? It's great, well, it's great

and grand to be back in the stadium after so many years.

If you could just see the crowd, how energetic they are.

We got the, the children out there wavin' their baseball gloves,

and, and we have such an exciting game up here

in the bottom of the fourth inning.

And it is heating up 'cause you know,

the end of this ballgame-

- Yo, Vito. - What?

You told us the bathroom was out of order.

What the fuck?

Come on, what do you want from me, kid?

You know she's a cripple.

Hold on, hold on. She ain't even a cripple.

She just got up off her wheelchair. What's up?

Why you treating them better than us, huh?

-Nobody's treat-- -What's that about?

Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. You come in here all the time.

You do whatever you want.

You even drink here, and I don't even sell beer.

Come on now, stop.

Come on.

Come on.

I'm not a cripple.

No, you're not.

Vito knows you only have asthma.

Could have walked here.

I know.

It just would've taken a little longer.

Probably why we're in a tied score.

What do you want from me, kid, huh?

I let you guys use the bathroom and all sorts of hell breaks out here.

Feelin' tired, but nobody's givin' up 'cause they want

that playoffs spot.

Go sit down, Titi. I'll be right back.

No good deed goes unpunished.

-Have me one of these. -Ooh.

-Ooh, ooh, yeah. -Ah, ah.

-Hey, don't tip-- -Ah,

-Don't tip, don't tip it. -Oh, shit, oh.

Yo, Crystal. You know my auntie need that wheelchair back.

Why you askin' her?

She ain't the one that got it.

It's a miracle.

Hallelujah, she could walk.

Yeah, nah, nah.

She could walk,

just not far, on account of her breathin'.

And that's why we got the asthma pump.

Oh, you mean this?

Give it back!

-Thought this was a-- -That's medicine!

-Is it, really? -Medicaid don't pay

for more than one of those a month!

-You mean this right here? -Give it back!

-Let me see that. -This one?

Oh, oh, oh!

-Give it back! -Here you go.

I'm so sorry. Don't give a shit.

Give it back!

- Give it back! - Take it.

-Please. -Now snatch it back.

Yo, Crystal, what the hell?

Yo, what do you mean?

You shouldn't be messing with 'em like that, okay?

Thank you.

Yeah, don't mention it, frickin' retards.

We're not retards. You are.

And you're a bully, too.

Ah, shit.

Monyetta, you gonna let her dis you like that?

She doesn't know what she's talkin' about.

Yo, what she say?

She didn't mean it.

-What she say? -She didn't mean it.

Bitch, I should just slap you.

She doesn't know what she's talkin' about.

Ah!

Oh, snap.

-Yeah. -Look at you.

Bitch, you lookin' stupid.

Yeah, that's what you get for tryin' to act up.

Help, need this back up.

All right. How much you think we can get for this,

this wheelchair right now? How much y'all think?

Guys, can I hit you at the center and play some pool later?

Could you pick any of them out in a lineup?

Answer him.

We just wanted pizza, Mami.

With beer.

You smell like a brewery.

They poured beer on me.

She's telling the truth.

My daughter doesn't have to go out for no beer.

There's--There's plenty beer in the house.

Leave a minor alone in the house with alcohol?

Who doesn't keep beer in the refrigerator?

Look, my sister, she-- She's not a minor.

She's an adult.

She's an adult with a mental capacity of a minor.

And as of the law, they're both minors. We could charge you.

What are you talking about?

Don't play innocent, Miss Medina.

We pulled your history.

Heroin possession, child endangerment.

That was five years ago, okay? And those were my ex's drugs.

Look, I'm back in school right now, all right?

I'm trying to get my high school diploma so I could get a good job.

And my kids, they're older now, so they don't need me as much anymore.

So you expect to leave them home alone again?

No, I didn't leave them alone.

I left her with my mother.

Mami, por favor.

No.

- No, she no stay with me. - Mami, no.

I want Elaine.

Shh, shh.

Can you blame her?

How the hell is Elizabeth gonna get around without her wheelchair?

I'll get it back.

Oh, so you do know the girls who beat you up and stole it?

No, I'll buy her a new one.

-Damn, what happened to you? -You can't even be trusted

to keep your Titi Elizabeth safe!

I did keep her safe!

She's the reason I got punched in the face

in the first place!

You're the one who brought her outside to begin with.

Do you know what the hell could happen to yous out there?

I'm not the reason we live here! I didn't ask to be born here!

Well, you don't have to worry about being here no more

'cause I'm sending you to Puerto Rico with your father for the rest of the summer.

-I'm not goin' there. -Oh, you don't have a choice!

It's just a bunch of hicks in Puerto Rico. I can hardly understand them!

Ay, your father will translate.

I hate you! I hate both of you!

Well, you're stuck with us.

No! I'm not talking to him ever again!

I told you already!

Oh, you don't wanna talk? Don't talk.

I don't give a shit if you ever say another word,

but you're goin' to Puerto Rico.

You're going and that's final!

You ever been to Puerto Rico?

You must be 13.

I got one of yous at home.

Elaine.

Elaine.

Elaine.

That your father?

Elaine.

I can see the resemblance.

I'm nothing like him.

Hi. Uh, can you sign right here?

Gracias.

Gracias.

Passengers or...

It's just this way.

Come on.

Times, 5:00, 3:30.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Okay.

It's the company car.

They let me use it.

It's cool, yeah?

Be right back.

Fourth grade was my favorite.

You still like coquito?

Well, I know I could use one.

Hey!

Hey, man.

, Elaine.

Elaine, your daughter from New York?

- Yeah. - But you're so ugly.

How can you have such a pretty daughter?

Hm, tough cookie, huh?

Yeah.

Two coquitos on me.

Hey.

Mm, ah.

Perfect, thank you. Thank you.

Mami!

Mami!

Your grandmother is half-deaf.

Mami!

Ay.

Oh.

Abuela.

Hola.

Church.

It's Tuesday.

Pentecostal church is every night.

Do you have a dress?

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Uh-huh.

He no speak Spanish.

'Ey.

No!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Hallelujah.

Elaine, I wrote this song for you,

knowing you were coming.

Excited that maybe we might start over,

get to know each other again.

These people, this place, this island helped heal me.

And I hope it can help heal us, too.

You'll be comfortable here. It's a good bed.

Ah, you can play music if the sounds of the coqui are killing you.

I set the presets to English stations.

And uh, if you get hot, you can turn the fan on.

I'll let you get some sleep then.

Elaine,

I'm really glad you're here.

Where are we going?

Shh.

I do this all the time, always.

Oh, yeah.

Yoo-hoo, whoo-hoo.

Ay, Madonna!

You know English songs?

Uh-huh.

Madonna, "Like a Virgin."

Michael Jackson, "Bad."

"It's Tricky," Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C.?

Oh, yeah.

Run, Run-D.M.C.!

Yeah?

You drive?

Uh, I don't know.

I...

No!

Ay.

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Run-D.M.C.!

So, what part of New York you from?

Upper West Side.

Ah, rich girl.

So, what you doin' slummin' out here?

Where'd you get that shiner from?

No, no, no, no, I ain't mean it like that, shorty.

It ain't blocking your beauty.

Ah.

I'm from Staten Island.

My mom and I moved out here like a year ago.

You?

Just visiting.

Staying with your cousin?

No, my father.

You got one of those?

Not really.

You got jokes, too.

I like that.

Jamora, Jamora.

Shh, shh.

Jamora, por favor.

Jamora, por favor.

Nah, I'm out of here, J.

Maria Isabel, get in the car!

Get in, please!

Come on!

Si?

The window.

Papi needs the car to work.

Have you two been drinking?

It's one thing she steals my boss' car,

but she shouldn't be dragging you into her shit, Elaine.

Like you did?

You still have a choice, Elaine.

You can learn from my mistakes or repeat them.

Elaine!

Elaine.

Elaine!

Now.

You are coming to work with me.

Come on.

You're going to earn that window

and apologize to my boss.

This is where I learned to drive.

You won't be able to see a thing with this on.

-You're driving. -What?

Oh, she speaks.

Look, the way I see it,

it's the only thing I can teach you that Mami can't.

Ay, come on, what teenager doesn't wanna learn to drive?

Don't worry, you won't have to look at me, huh?

You'll have to keep your eyes on the road.

Okay, okay, okay. Whoa, whoa.

Watch, watch, watch.

Okay, it's here now, yes.

Okay, okay.

Okay, we're going to go straight here.

Okay.

Right back to where we started, okay?

Okay.

You are a natural.

-Very good, very good. -Told you.

Okay, uh-huh.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

That's good, yup.

Very good.

I'm very relaxed.

This is how I celebrate.

This is a good one.

Listen to it.

Now listen, I'll tell you here.

Come on.

Dance with your old man here, yeah.

There you are.

Don't ever let anything steal your light, okay?

Carmen, she's as beautiful as you and smart as a whip.

She gets that from me.

I can't believe this trip is almost over.

I will miss her every day,

just like I miss you every day.

I'll always love you, Carmen.

You'll always be the love of my life.

Thank you for this time with her,

for everything.

Really.

I do?

Si.

Gracias, Abuelita.

-We're gonna miss you so much.

You'll have to come back soon.

Actually, I was thinking,

maybe I could stay here?

Ay, Elaine, no.

Your mom is expecting you, hmm?

I bet Mami would wanna come, too.

Who wouldn't rather stay here than New York?

Benjamin, and Danny, and Ana would love it.

Elaine, you're talking crazy.

We can't expect them to uproot their lives like that.

Okay, maybe not Ana.

Maybe Ana's gonna graduate from high school in New York.

But me, nobody likes me in my school.

-I can transfer schools. -Elaine, no.

-I'm not really-- -Elaine, no.

, Mami.

Elaine, you can't stay.

You have to go back.

Why wouldn't you want me to stay with you?

Maybe you, you can all come visit soon, okay?

I'll go put my stuff in the car.

Elaine!

She'll get over it once Medicaid approves the new wheelchair.

You mean she hasn't been able to go out since?

Hey. No, no, no, no, don't worry.

It's gonna be one of those new electric ones, too.

Yeah?

Just put anything dirty in the hamper.

I'll wash it tomorrow.

Ah.

I remember this.

Mom, put that down.

Elaine, where'd you get this money?

Answer me.

From Papi.

-Give it back. -Mm-mmm.

I know your father ain't got money to spare like that.

Where'd you get this?

I told you.

Don't make me have to call your father.

You'd believe him over me?

You know how good of a liar he is.

I heard him tell you he loves you.

If he really loved you, then why isn't he here with you?

Or why doesn't he let us live in Puerto Rico with him?

'Cause not everything is black or white.

-Give it back! -No.

Not until you tell me where you got this money.

Fine, be stupid.

He's still probably a junkie for all we know.

Keep it.

I can get more.

And you can tell Papi I found all his pills.

Yo.

You lookin' for a little somethin' somethin'?

No.

I'm--I'm looking for a dude named Goji.

You know where he at?

What you know about Goji?

He told me I could come here

if I was ever looking for work.

Oh, damn.

How you like that?

-What? -Goji dead.

Shot two weeks ago.

Right there in front of that building.

All right, thanks.

Work's still here if you lookin'.

Wanda, why the hell you not outside?

Goji said she could come here for work.

Ah, yeah, I remember you.

Goji's people, right?

You heard that, nigga?

She Goji's people.

So what's up, shorty, you trying to work?

Hmm?

Got a uniform for you.

Make sure nothing goes missing, you know?

Down the hall, first door on your right.

Bitch, get your ass outside!

Lalita!

Show her the ropes.

Goji.

Get changed and you could start.

Y'all know each other?

Uh, just from school.

Mm.

Show her what to do.

Put your uniform on.

Yo, Crystal.

You know what they did with my auntie's wheelchair?

Uh, Shanequa sold it to the scrap metal yard.

This that beam me up, Scotty, shit right here.

We giving out clean needles now.

Government-provided.

I be seein' you around the block.

'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, 'ey, where you goin'?

I changed my mind.

-Yo, Bass! -Hey!

Don't nobody open that freakin' door but me.

The freak you thought, bitch?

You was gonna creep up in here, leave without my say-so?

How I know you're not snitching to the cops?

I wouldn't do that.

You look at me when I'm talking to you,

you hear me?

She said she wouldn't do that.

Ain't that what Goji said?

That's why I killed that nigga.

He was snitchin'.

Gettin' his clients busted when they couldn't pay up.

And Goji sent you.

He sent your stupid ass, so I know you a rat just like him.

I'm not.

You got any last words, bitch?

Hmm?

Go-Go-Goji got my father arrested

because he couldn't pay.

Your father? Who the hell is your father?

I said, who the hell is your father, bitch?

Manny Del Valle.

Manny Del Valle is my, my father.

He was a j--junkie

and he got arrested because he couldn't pay.

Get the freak out of here before I kill your stupid ass.

The fuck are y'all lookin' at?

Did I say stop workin'?

Mami?

Oh.

Mm, mm, I'm sorry, Mami.

It's okay, baby. You're here now.

Oh, girl, it's a mad world out there.

You can't just leave like that, all right?

You, we were worried sick.

Your brother's out there looking for you.

I didn't steal that money.

I swear.

But I can explain.

Elaine, there's a lot that we need to explain to you.

You can't make good decisions if you don't have all the facts.

Honey, the pills you found,

they're your father's medication.

Medication?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hey, Papi.

Yeah.

Mami told me.

AIDS, Papi?

Yes.

I...

Mami is right, I have AIDS.

I didn't want this to happen. I'm sorry.

I said all those horrible things to you.

I really didn't mean them.

Sorry.

Oh, Elaine, stop.

Everything in life happens for a reason.

It's up to us to find a good reason.

Getting arrested was the first step to getting my life back,

to-- to getting clean.

But you're gonna die now.

I don't want that to happen.

I don't want you to go.

Hey, we're all gonna die someday.

In the meantime, I get to live

in gratitude for every moment I've ever had

and every moment I have left.

Please, I'll take care of you.

I'll go back to Puerto Rico.

No, no.

I don't want you to have to take care of me.

That's why I-- I couldn't let you stay.

Elaine, I,

I don't want you to watch me die.

I want you only to remember my life.

I don't want you to go. Please, just stay.

Elaine, please, do something for me.

What?

Be happy, and be smart.

Some choices, Elaine,

you can't come back from.

Some choices you cannot undo.

Learn from my mistakes.

Let them mean something.

But I can't be happy without you.

I will always be with you, I promise.

I want you to remember me, to-- to remember us

with happiness.

Will you do that for me?

I promise I'll be happy for you.

I love you, Elaine, and I will always be with you.

Don't ever forget how much I love you.

I've been looking out my window all my life

and feeling the wonder of all the other places I could be,

like the birds.

Not the fancy birds with special colors,

just the plain old pigeon kind.

Black, brown, and gray, like the ones we got in Brownsville.

They could fly anywhere.

But here they are,

reminding us that we can all soar,

no matter where we come from.

They say when birds fly in flocks,

it means somebody just died.

I'm not sure if everybody believes that,

but it's what we believe in my family.

I think of Papi in every conga beat

and in the parts of songs

that make the hair on the back of my neck rise.

I think about what he taught me.

I accept all the parts that make me who I am,

see the silver lining,

and be the silver lining.

I am Brownsville bred, and I will not be defined.