All language subtitles for The.BMF.Documentary.Blowing.Money.Fast.S01E02.720p.WEB.h264-OPUS.[eng]

[Scott]
When the Flenory family

arrived in Detroit in 1969,

the lights had really already
been turned out in the city.

[Roland] The Flenorys,

they get they gas cut off--
Terry and Demetrius...

[Rick] They got involved
in the drug business to try

and help their parents
pay their bills.

[E.D.] You could see
in his eyes--

I mean, he- he wanted money.
He was hungry.

They turned to the streets.

Everything changed at home.

[Derick] You could be
having a wonderful time,

and somebody come by
and blow your brains out.

[Scott] The number one
villain is Layton Simon.

Now it was all-out war.

[dramatic hip-hop music plays]

[Meech] E-everybody move
like brothers.

[echoing] Like brothers.
Like brothers.

♪ ♪

Everybody's shining
like new money.

[echoing] New money.
New money. New money.

♪ ♪

It ain't no other crew
like this in the world,

and never will be another.

[echoing]
Never will be another.

[tense music plays]

[distant sirens wailing]

♪ ♪

[reporter] The Wild West
had cattle rustlers,

but one Midwestern city
has rustlers of another kind:

drug dealers
and crack addicts.

♪ ♪

[Troy]
When crack hit the community,

it was everywhere.

It hit our neighborhood
like a bomb.

[thunder rumbling]

We weren't really prepared
for it.

It seemed to be a blessing
and a curse.

[reporter] Crack cocaine.

In Detroit, the problem has
reached epidemic proportions.

People were losing houses,
cars, homes.

I mean, it just degraded
the city, all that.

[thunder rumbling]

[Scott] The city itself was
already on the ropes.

Crack cocaine was
the knockout punch.

I mean, I saw it as a kid.

♪ ♪

It affected kids, mothers,
lawyers, doctors.

Crack didn't discriminate.

[Derick] I have seen
women and men do stuff

for this crack that you never
thought you would see--

do in your life.

It's a shame.

And I thought about it,
I was like,

"Damn, I'm probably
the cause of this shit."

I'ma say this, you know.

I-I don't glorify
selling drugs, okay?

♪ ♪

It was a option.

For some Black men,

that's what they had to do
to eat.

[Troy]
Man, looking back on it, man,

it was the worst thing
that ever could have happened

to the community.

But because people
now had money

and they could fix
certain things with money,

you know what I'm saying,

it seemed like
the thing to do.

[upbeat music plays]

♪ ♪

Money is a drug, okay?

You know, you can't never get
enough of it.

On a bad day,
the 50 Boyz would do

about $6,000, $7,000.

Depends on how long
they was out there.

And when you talk about Friday,
Saturday, you know,

it was- we talking
about $10,000, $20,000, okay?

I was making, yeah,
you could say in the millions.

With the weight
and all that, yeah.

Yeah, I was a millionaire.

[Roland]
We was Edrick's suckers.

We was getting paid $750
every week.

Plus, on a Sunday,

he'd give us a limousine
for all day.

People was telling us
that's our downfall

because we don't see no money

because E.D. keeping his foot
on our neck.

♪ ♪

[Derick] We also had to worry
about Layton

every five minutes.

You know,
like the boogeyman is coming.

Layton's the boogeyman.
He gonna come.

[tense music plays]

[Troy] Layton was the OG,
you know what I'm saying,

that really didn't play.

Nobody crossed him.
Nobody fucked with Layton.

♪ ♪

He was something to be feared.

He was definitely something
to be feared.

[Derick] Layton was like
a kingpin hisself,

but we took his territory,

and he was losing a lot
of money.

[distant sirens wailing]

♪ ♪

Our neighborhood is small.

So if- if the beef ain't
about drugs,

it's about a woman.

[Scott]
In addition to butting heads

with Layton Simon
over the drug game,

Demetrius and Layton
were romancing

some of the same women,

and this began to play
a- a big role

in the rivalry.

♪ ♪

[Roland] One night,
Layton and his brother Elvis

come into the club.

He talking to Meech.

"Yeah, young motherfucker,

you think you doing something
fucking with my ho."

This and that
and that and that.

You know, Meech don't want
to hear that shit.

"Man, fuck you, man."

Then now it's a problem

because a young guy
told a OG, fuck him.

You can't do that,
but Meech didn't give a fuck.

So they got into it.

[indistinct shouting]

[Scott]
And then all of a sudden,

someone in the crowd shoots

Layton's brother Elvis,

and then Layton himself
was shot.

Everybody ran out of there.

Elvis was the only person
laying on the ground.

♪ ♪

And Elvis end up dying.

♪ ♪

And Layton got shot
in the groin

to where he had to have-
where now, he had to wear a bag.

[gun cocks, fires]

Layton didn't
take that kindly.

[producer] Layton lost his
brother and was shot as well.

Mm-hmm.

[producer]
Do you feel comfortable

-talking about that?
-No.

[producer] Okay.

I- I don't speak on that.
I plead the fifth on that.

♪ ♪

[producer] Layton's brother
gets shot, right?

He gets shot at some point.

Yeah, yeah. Yes he- yes he did.

[producer]
Were you there for that?

No, I wasn't there for that.

♪ ♪

[automated voice] This call
is from a federal prison.

After that happened, you know,

it became all-out vengeance
from that point forward.

After his brother got shot,
you know,

then he, uh, I guess,
turned up the heat

to, you know, avenge
his brother.

♪ ♪

It began a two-year war

between Layton Simon
and the Flenory brothers.

[Troy]
From the outside looking in,

it looked like it mainly was
towards Demetrius.

T seemed to still move
pretty freely

without,
you know what I'm saying,

the threat of what Layton
would do to him.

But, you know,
Meech had his guard up

at all times once,
you know what I'm saying,

that happened.

[solemn music plays]

♪ ♪

By 1988,
you had a pretty big void

that needed to be filled
in the Detroit drug game.

[reporter] Whenever police
raid a crack house,

they say they're also bound
to find some heavy firepower.

[Scott] Almost every
major drug organization

had been dismantled
by federal prosecutions

or internal warfare.

[reporter] Drugs and guns
are a deadly mixture,

and together,
they've given Detroit

the highest murder rate
of any American city.

[Scott] You had bodies
littering the streets

tied to drug violence.

[reporter]
More than 500 shootings

reported in two months.

This is a war.
This is a epidemic.

I- I've been to Vietnam,
but this is a war right here.

This is our Vietnam.

The first
"corporate" drug gang,

the Young Boys Incorporated,
fell apart

and went to war
with each other.

Another kingpin,
Demetrius Holloway,

was gunned down
at the Broadway

in downtown Detroit
buying a pair of socks.

[gunshot]

His right-hand man,
Maserati Rick Carter,

was murdered
in his hospital bed.

It was the end of one era
but the beginning of another,

and this provides
Demetrius and Terry

an opportunity to take over.

Demetrius and Terry saw
brighter futures

for themselves on the horizon
by graduating, let's say,

from the retail game, uh,
into the wholesale game.

[Roland] Demetrius' dream
was getting money.

Meech would come home

maybe, like, one o'clock
or two o'clock.

He always would call me
and say,

"Ro, come on out, man.

Smoke this joint
before I go to bed."

So I'd come outside
in my pajamas,

and we'd sit on the step
or sit in his car.

We'd smoke, and he'd tell me
how his night went.

He would tell me
before he'd go in,

"Man, Roley,
I'm gonna be rich, man.

"I might go to jail,
but I damn sure

ain't gonna die broke."

[E.D.] They said, "Well,
do you mind if we got weight

on our own
and did our own thing?"

I said, "Look, man,
I knew this time was coming

"sooner or later 'cause
I raised y'all to be bosses,

"and, look, y'all-
y'all bosses now,

and you want to do
your own thing."

Edrick didn't take it too hard

because he had
two other suckers

to uh, take over after we left
him.

I gave them, you know,
all the respect, and I said,

"Man, look,
do what you do, man.

"That's what you- that- that's
what you was raised to do in
this game,

"be a boss,
and I see you ready for it.

Go forward."

[Roland]
And we went our separate ways,

and that's
when everything changed.

You know,
that was the turning point.

[funky music plays]

[Alexander] I had always been
around the game

because my father
and mother was in the game.

I started selling nickel rocks
on the corner

and just graduated from there.

We got to be really,
really big in the drug trade.

I introduced
my brother Lawrence

to T and Meech around 1989.

[Roland] After E.D.,
we started messing around

with Lawrence.

Everything changed for us
when we met Lawrence.

[Alexander]
Lawrence could be a nice guy,

but you mess his money up,
you gonna have a problem.

My brother was dealing
with the Colombians.

You had to be very lucky
to get a Colombian plug--

very lucky.

[Rick] Getting a drug plug
in Colombia

was like hitting
the lottery ticket overnight.

You know, like,
it was like hitting lotto.

Miami was the pipeline.

In the '80s, it was definitely
theScarface era.

Pablo Escobar,
the Medellín Cartel,

they had direct lines
to Miami,

and Miami was flooded.

At one time,

when a kilo was $36,000
in Detroit,

it was $18,000 in Miami.

So do the math.

If you can get 'em
from Miami to Detroit,

you were doing pretty well.

[Alexander] When Terry
and Meech met my brother,

the sky was the limit.

Whatever you wanted,
he gave it to 'em.

They jumped up to, like, a key
or two keys,

but when they got with him,
it was 10, 20, 30...

whatever.

[upbeat music plays]

[Roland] We would wholesale it
to people in the neighborhood,

other guys who was hustling.

We would sell it
to them cheaper

than what
they was getting it for.

That's how we got it.

We had more quality
and better prices.

When Lawrence came along,
the money came.

[Troy] Demetrius was
the first one I saw

that had the cell phone...

with the big rope chain.

I was like, man, yeah.

♪ Here we, here we go
Fiends on the corner ♪

♪ And the drugs gonna flow ♪

♪ Mo' money, money, money
Money, money, mo' ♪

[Troy]
Everybody dressed fly.

We emulated everything
that we saw onYo! MTV Raps

and all of that.

So whatever Run wore, we wore.

♪ Stop by the cop
Five-O, here we go ♪

[rapping indistinctly]

[Troy] Whatever Big Daddy Kane
and Rakim wore,

we wore.

People would say,
"Money changed you,"

but you'd be in denial.

"Money ain't changed me.
It ain't changed me."

But you can't see yourself.

Thinking back, I did change,

because it gives you
a sense of power.

I can do anything
I want to do.

I can go where I want to go.

I can have any woman
I want to have.

[tense music plays]

All the women loved us.

So we would go to a party
and be dancing--

you know, like, they say

dope men don't dance
or whatever?

We'd gangster boogie.
We did it all.

I mean, we was the life
of the party, you know?

[Roland] Me and Demetrius
would spend $100 every day

just on a bottle of champagne,

just to ride around in the car,
smoke weed,

but Terry would only
just save his money.

He didn't mess with no girls,
no weed, no drugs,

no liquor, nothing.

T and Meech personality
is like night and day.

T was always the man who took
care of the business part.

Meech was just like
a front man.

They opposite from each other.

One like to have fun,
one don't.

One take work easy, one don't.

You know,
they love each other,

but they bicker
with each other,

argue with each other.

Meech was the one
that- that want to shine.

He even made a statement--

"If they don't know about me,
it ain't worth doing it."

Meech never wanted to stop.

He always wanted more.

When you a addict,
you can't stop.

That green paper is
the same way.

[Roland] Really, all the beef
with Layton,

it's all about jealousy.

Demetrius knew Layton was
out for blood.

[distant sirens wailing]

[Alexander]
The more money you get,

the more problems
you gonna have.

The more you gonna have.

It's just that simple,

'cause people gonna try you.

And if you show any signs
of weakness, any,

the wolves are coming.

[suspenseful music plays]

They don't know
how they gonna come,

but they coming...

especially when you get
to that level.

You gonna get tested.

♪ ♪

[Roland] One night,
me and Demetrius was

at the Coney Island.

[Roland] To me,
it was, like, a eerie night

'cause it was only me
and Demetrius,

and I'm saying, "Damn, for one,
where everybody at, you know?"

Then Layton ride past...

and I say, "Meech,
you think we ought to leave?"

Meech say, "No, I'm tired
of running from him.

Fuck him."

Next thing you know,

Layton done pulled in
the Coney Island parking lot.

He said, "Man, I ought
to ram this motherfucker."

I'm saying to myself,

"Man, this little car
ain't gonna do shit."

Next thing you know,
his window come down.

♪ ♪

And I ain't seen
a gun that big.

It was a big motherfucker.

All you see is fire.

And he tearing Demetrius up.

You know, wherever
Demetrius move, he gets shot.

I'm in there--ain't no bullets
come on my side.

All them bullets hit Demetrius.

While he gets shot,
I'm hearing...

[grunts]

At this time,
there's nothing you can do.

I don't have a gun.
He don't have a gun.

You know what I'm saying?

So I don't want to get out
and run

'cause I-I don't want
to leave him.

But he end up pushing me
out the car and took off.

[tires squealing]

♪ ♪

[sirens wailing]

And that's when
the police came.

[Roland] Demetrius got out
the car drenched in blood

from his neck to his shoulder.

♪ ♪

[Lucille]
It was shocking, you know?

If any of your children
are harmed,

you know that-
that's a nightmare.

I always turned to my faith
every time a hospital

or someone call me and said
my child was harmed.

I would immediately turn
to my faith and ask God,

"Please, you know,

take- take care of my child
and don't take him."

[somber music plays]

[Nicole] There was pain,
and we shed tears,

a lot of tears.

But again, our faith,
being Christians,

we prayed a lot, and um...

we endured,
and we got through it.

We got through it.

[Lucille]
What parent goes through

to receive that phone call,

no parent wants
to go through that.

You know, that's a nightmare
no parent wants to experience.

And I always told them
that God forgives,

but sometimes
it's hard for man to forgive.

You know?

And we could only, you know,
just hold up and pray

that they would be granted
a second chance,

that they can go
down the straight road--

straight and narrow,

and they can obtain

and be blessed just the same.

I heard that he had got shot
at- at Coney Island in the neck,

but amazingly,
like, maybe a day or two later,

I see him coming down the block
in a Suzuki...

with two bandages on his neck.

If it fazed him,
he sure didn't show it.

And I'm like,
"Man, dude, you good?"

And he's like, "Yeah, man,
you know, I'm good."

[Roland]
Police wanted Demetrius

to come to the police station,
press changes.

Demetrius told them,

"Man, I ain't pressing
no motherfucking charges

against him, man."

Demetrius like,
"I don't give a fuck.

He ain't do shit to me."

You know, and they like,

"All right, when your ass
get killed, young motherfucker,

that's- that's on you."

[tense music plays]

[Derick] Once Meech got shot,
everywhere you go,

you got to have--like, okay,
if I went to the bathroom,

I had to have a weapon.

If I went to the restaurant,
I got to have a weapon.

You know,
if I jumped out the car,

I got to have a weapon,

because there's always,
like, a price on your life.

Everybody got a machine gun
or, you know, whatever.

The stress level--

I'm surprised more drug dealers
don't die from heart attacks.

It- it's just...

it's stressful, man.

Even when you go on vacation,

you're not really relaxing

because you're
always wondering,

"They coming to get me?"

You're worried
about the police.

You're worried
about stickup kids.

You're worried about haters.

You're worried
about everything.

[Scott] The year
that Demetrius was shot,

he saw that he was either gonna
be murdered or arrested.

Demetrius saw the only way

to put an end to this
was to leave town.

You know, kitchen got too hot,
so he bolted.

Demetrius was worried about
the mama and daddy and sister

because, you know,
Layton wasn't gonna stop.

[Nicole]
At times, it was very scary,

especially
when Demetrius got shot.

You know, he was like, "Hide."

They always assumed
that a person would know

where we lived.

So it was just like,

hide away for a moment

until the storm is over.

I- I don't believe this rumor
or- or whatever they say--

he left Detroit
running from Layton.

That's bullshit.
Meech ain't ran from nobody.

He wasn't no gangster,
but he wasn't no bitch.

♪ ♪

1989 was the last time
Demetrius lived full-time

in the city of Detroit.

♪ ♪

Terry, on the other hand,
stayed behind,

and he was one
of the biggest wholesalers

in Detroit,

preparing with Meech
to take the next step together

as drug bosses.

♪ ♪

[Roland]
They threw a big party,

a going-away party.

You know, they had pounds
of weed you could smoke,

liquor, champagne.

They just set it out
for everybody.

[Derick] And that was
the last time I seen him,

and we sat there for two hours

and had the best time
of our life.

So I love you, Big Meech.

[ominous music plays]

[Roland]
He told me to do him a favor

and look after his mama.

You know, and that's a honor

for somebody to tell you
to look after they mama,

'cause they trust you,
you know?

And I was like, I told him,
"I'ma do that anyway."

You know,
that's my mama, too, so...

[Lucille] Family means a lot,
lot to me, you know?

It's hard to just explain.

It's hard to explain.

It was sad
to see him leave Detroit,

but, I mean,
what could I say to my child?

Demetrius was more ambitious.

[somber music plays]

[Scott] The Flenory brothers
had made money

and were living

bigger and better
than they were

before they entered
the drug game,

but now they were on the radar
of law enforcement.

[tense music plays]

[Rick] The first time I heard
about Meech and Terry,

I think I was
in federal prison,

and their names
started ringing.

"Meech and Terry,
Meech and Terry, 50 Boyz."

When your name starts
ringing like that

on a federal prison system
telephone line,

people take those phone calls,
and they give them to DEA,

or they give them
to a prosecutor.

♪ ♪

[Scott] Everybody had heard
about Jack Harvey.

He's this legend, this hero...

a badass federal agent.

If somebody came to me
and said,

"Hey, Jack Harvey
is investigating you,"

I'd have shot myself.

♪ ♪

He's never going
to let you go.

You don't fuck
with Jack Harvey.

♪ ♪