- Luke Cage: You even know who Crispus Attucks was? A free black man. The first man to die for what became America. He could've acted scared when those Brits raised their guns. Blended in, in the crowd. But he stepped up! He paid with his life. But he started something. That's what Pop did. Not me. I laid in the cut until he stepped up! And it cost him his life, too. I ain't laying back no more! You wanna shoot me? Do it. Pull the trigga, nigga! I ain't got all night!
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What's your name again?
- Luke Cage: Luke
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Luke. Mmm, old school. Biblical. I'm all about the old school. You know that eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth kind of thing. Fire and brimstone. See back then do someone wrong, wasn't no beggin' and pleadin'. Just took care of it. Handled your business.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: What about turning the other cheek?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Jesus saves. I don't.
- Mariah Dillard: You're wasting your gifts, my brother. This gangster life not what our ancestors fought for. Not what our people died for.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: This is exactly what they died for: self-determination, control, power.
- Mariah Dillard: That's not nearly enough.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What?
- Mariah Dillard: It's not enough. I need the rest so I can make the deposit.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Well, I need to find the guy who has it.
- Mariah Dillard: Look... I borrowed from those donations, at your request, so you could refurbish your club. You go and make a gun deal with Domingo. Then you get jacked and we're all exposed. You promised this would be taken care of, but it's not.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You don't give me orders. We're partners. You're not my boss.
- Mariah Dillard: We're family, Cornell. But think about it. Do you really want to go to jail? Do you want to lose your club?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Of course not.
- Mariah Dillard: Then you need to fix this shit right now.
- [glancing at Shades]
- Mariah Dillard: Does your guard dog want a drink of water?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Don't worry about him. You worry about the politics, I worry about my job.
- Mariah Dillard: Your job is to uncomplicate my life.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: And your job is to turn my water into wine. Family first, right?
- Mariah Dillard: Always.
- Luke Cage: Shameek is dead. They have his half of the money. Now they want yours.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Shameek is dead?
- Luke Cage: Yeah.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Well, good. Then you just want my money for yourself, don't you?
- Luke Cage: I couldn't care less. I came here because Pop asked me to come for you.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Pops?
- Luke Cage: For your dad.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Why does everybody bring him up? He was never there for me. I'm sick and tired of hearing about him.
- Luke Cage: Pop thinks he has a way to clear this mess up. I know you didn't kill Dante or Shameek. All you guys wanted was the cash. It was an inside job. Dante's safe idea. Look... I found you in four hours for free. Imagine how fast someone Cottonmouth pays will find you. The only chance you have at survival is if you come with me right now.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Well, I got a half million new chances is the way I see it. Tell Pops... I'm sorry. He was always good to me.
- Luke Cage: He deserves better.
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: Sorry about Pop.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Yeah, so am I.
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: I know what he meant to you.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Believe it or not, there's supposed to be rules to this shit.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Something real about a razor.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: You should let me use my clippers. You gonna bump up.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Nah. Doesn't have the same feel. The clippers are idiot-proof. That's what's missin' nowadays, Pop. Attention to detail. Everyone wants things fast, quick. Me? I like to take my time.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Time is a luxury most... working-class men cannot afford.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: True. Time is precious. Shouldn't be wasted. Mmm. A good razor shave is like a vacation to me. It's incredible how few people take advantage.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: It's a lost art.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Exactly. That's the problem with these youngsters. They want it all. But they don't wanna put in the work. They'll rob... lie, cheat, steal, just to get what they want. Damn shame if you ask me.
- Luke Cage: After what I did at Genghis Connie's for the first time in a long time I felt at peace.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Mmm-hmm.
- Luke Cage: I made a decision when I got back to the crib. I'm done running.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Boys run. Men stand. You're a man.
- Luke Cage: I am who I am. Or maybe I have a chance to find out who I could really be.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You know what people remember besides black martyrdom?
- Mariah Dillard: What?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Black money.
- Mariah Dillard: Don't you ever get sick of people calling you a criminal?... I want something better.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Like what?
- Mariah Dillard: Respect. It's all that ever really matters.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Money outlasts respect. Respect will put your name on the side of a building but the money that put your name up there comes from someplace.
- Mariah Dillard: At what cost, Cornell?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: When you find out you'll tell me.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: OK, Mr. Barrett, Tone promised to pay you for finding Chico, right?
- Turk Barrett: Yeah.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: That right?
- [Tone nods his head yes]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Okay.
- [grabs Tone and throws him off the roof]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You can collect your money from Tone downstairs, Mr. Barrett!
- [straightens his jacket]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: I assume that completes our business.
- Turk Barrett: Y'all Harlem niggas are off the hook. I'm going back to Hell's Kitchen where it's safe.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I didn't have one single skill when I got out. I could've gone back to the streets.
- Luke Cage: But you weren't that guy anymore.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I wasn't and I'm not. And that's what I go through every day. Trying not to be that person.
- Luke Cage: I'm not that guy either.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I thought you was innocent, Shawshank.
- Luke Cage: I ain't guilty. But I ain't innocent either.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Mmm, so you caught him slippin' outside?
- Tone: No, bro, I lit that shit up like the Fourth of July. It was all so Django Candieland shit for real. Lights, camera, action, baby! Somebody call Quentin!
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: I suggested we wait.
- Tone: Wait? Wait for what, Shades? You ain't even down with the clique. You can't give orders. It was loud 'cause it's supposed to be. Niggas need to know you don't rob Cottonmouth!
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: MY NAME IS NOT COTTONMOUTH!
- Turk Barrett: Yo. Where's my money?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: How the hell did you get up here?
- Turk Barrett: I'm Turk Barrett, baby. The door ain't been built yet that can hold me back.
- Mamba: What are you doing here, nigga? I'm not gonna ask you again.
- Luke Cage: Young man I've had a long day. I'm tired. But I'm not tired enough to ever let nobody call me that word. You see a nigga standin' in front of you? Across the street from a building named after one of our greatest heroes?
- Mamba: [Cocking the gun] Yeah, a dead one.
- Misty Knight: There's nothing in Chico's jacket to suggest he was capable of that type of violence. I don't think he has the stomach for it.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Stomach?
- Misty Knight: There was vomit found at the junkyard. Inside it were fibers consistent with that of a winter mask. One of the robbers didn't have the heart to go through with it. My guess, it was babyface Chico.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Uh, he was the last man standing. You mean to tell me Benjamin Franklin was wrong?
- Misty Knight: Well, in this case, it was all about the Benjamins either way.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Always is.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: The whole neighborhood is yapping about how Zip and two goons got the beat down at Genghis Connie's last night.
- Luke Cage: [Attempts nonchalance] Hmm. I heard it was four guys.
- Luke Cage: So that's how it works? Those thugs shake people down? They work for Mariah or Cottonmouth?
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: A little bit of both.
- Luke Cage: They related? Aunt and nephew?
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Cousins. Their grandma was Mama Mabel.
- Luke Cage: Who's Mama Mabel?
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: The devil's ex-wife.
- Turk Barrett: Just 'cause they call you Bobby Fish don't mean you're Bobby Fischer.
- Bobby Fish: And you ain't Turkish neither, Turk. Not last time I checked.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: It's not too late for Chico.
- Luke Cage: Pop, stay out of it. Some people you just gotta let go.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I can't just turn my back on him. You used to find people, right?
- Luke Cage: That was a long time ago.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: It ain't exactly a skill you lose. Look, this place is Switzerland. If we can find him before they do, maybe I can set up a parley with Cottonmouth.
- Luke Cage: I don't think so, man. I'm sorry, Pop. I can't do it.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Hey. Yes. You are sorry. Now, I hadn't seen Reva since she was five. So when she comes home with a convict husband and a shaky-ass story I ain't ask her no questions. And when that same well-read ex-con comes back wanting to be paid in cash and lifting up refrigerators like they're empty cardboard boxes, I just nodded my head again. What did you tell me about keeping your secrets? That I owed you one. Well, time is due. I'm collecting.
- Misty Knight: I'm surprised to see you this far uptown.
- Turk Barrett: I'm mostly Midtown nowadays, you know? Puffy ain't got shit on me, baby. I'm the real bad boy worldwide.
- Misty Knight: Yeah, your rap sheet got so many hits, your record could put out a record.
- Luke Cage: You really think Chico killed his friend? Over money?
- Misty Knight: You are?
- Luke Cage: Luke Cage.
- Misty Knight: Detective Misty Knight.
- Luke Cage: Detective. Looks like you found some better clothes to audit in.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Tell Pop I'll come by the barbershop for a haircut. Same time as before. You understand?
- Luke Cage: I'll tell him.
- [Starts to leave]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: By the way
- [Luke turns]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You're fired.
- Luke Cage: No, I'm not. I quit before I walked in.
- Misty Knight: [after Pop's barbershop is shot up] You didn't get hit?
- Luke Cage: I said I'm okay.
- Misty Knight: What happened?
- Luke Cage: They started firing. The kid, Lonnie, was in the middle of the room. So, once I saw the flash... instincts kicked in. I grabbed him... and I shielded him.
- Misty Knight: You... shielded him? You shielded him with what? Have the paramedics seen you yet?
- Luke Cage: I said I'm good.
- Luke Cage: So you're saying Kenyatta is better than Easy Rawlins?
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I ain't saying all that. I'm just saying Kenyatta's my favorite. He took the fight to the man... in the streets by his self. Just like somebody else could if he wasn't sweeping hair and washing dishes.
- Luke Cage: Don't start, Pop.
- Misty Knight: He must have gotten hit.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: What?
- Misty Knight: Luke. Cage. He shielded the kid. He had bullet holes in his shirt. Blood everywhere, none of it his? How did he not get hit?
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: You're drunk.
- Misty Knight: Not yet.
- Mariah Dillard: I'm coming by the club tonight.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [chuckling] Why? I thought you said you don't want to be seen there.
- Mariah Dillard: I don't. But I like the music. I'm going to be on you until this is resolved.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [turning to leave] It's getting resolved. You best believe that.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: You're doing it again. I hate it when you do that.
- Misty Knight: Hate it when I do what?
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Stare at the photos like they're about to start moving.
- Misty Knight: They are talkin' and movin'. You just have to be still enough to hear what they're sayin'.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Whatever, Horton. A clue is a clue, no matter how small.
- Luke Cage: Eh, I just never got into Donald Goines.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Are you crazy? Donald Goines was a street poet.
- Luke Cage: I didn't say Goines isn't. But Walter Mosley, George Pelecanos?
- [clicking his tongue]
- Luke Cage: Boom.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I bet you're into Richard Price.
- Luke Cage: I dig Price. Dennis Lehane, too.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: What about Chester Himes?
- Luke Cage: Without question. My biggest beef with Donald Goines is that he wrote about criminals and he died like one.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: You don't have to get all Fox News about it. Goines invented Kenyatta, the best black hero this side of Shaft.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Thanks for the shave, Henry. I'm loyal to my people.
- Luke Cage: You're forgetting something, Mr. Stokes.
- [indicating a piece of paper on the wall]
- Luke Cage: Unless your last name is Corleone, Shaft, or Riley... you owe my man $25.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Don't worry about it, Cornell.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Nah, it's all good. Tone, pay the man.
- Luke Cage: They ever come at you sideways?
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: No. This place right here is Switzerland. Everybody knows that. Where you from, Luke?
- Luke Cage: Chicago.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: You ain't from no Chicago. Where are you from, really?
- Luke Cage: Savannah, Georgia.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: All right. Country boy. You know how the wind feels fluffy, like you could stuff it into a pillowcase right before a big thunderstorm?
- Luke Cage: Mm-hmm.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Harlem's the same. Trouble smells a certain way. You can... touch it.
- Luke Cage: Cottonmouth.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: He's gonna fall behind lookin' for Chico. That's the way that works. Ain't no secrets uptown. I mean, you could set a watch by the way that shit will play out.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Thought you already had a job. 'Cause I could use some more ice.
- Luke Cage: I'm here for Pop.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Pop is a grown-ass man. Why ain't he here?
- Luke Cage: He said you wouldn't wanna hear this over the phone. So he sent me.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Ha! The suspense is killing me.
- Luke Cage: Pop wants to set up a parley for Chico. He doesn't want him to end up like Shameek.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: I don't know what you're talking about.
- Luke Cage: Those cuts on your hands say different. All I'm saying is that if you want to talk to Pop about Chico, that can be arranged. All of your goods will be returned. The only thing our mutual friend wants is safe passage. He'll never come back to New York, ever.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: I don't speak Chinese. 'Cause that's what this conversation is to me. If I got something to say to Pop, I say it to him my damn self, you dig?
- Luke Cage: There's history. Pop understands your trouble. He's just asking you to remember your history.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You all right, cuz?
- Mariah Dillard: With what? Extortion? Well... murder, no! I'm not good. Don't expect me to be.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: The money's still green.
- Mariah Dillard: That it is.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You should get outta here. You shouldn't be seen associating with known criminals... Councilwoman. Take the side exit. I got some garbage to clean up downstairs.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: I got caught with a gun and a bag of money. Kept my mouth shut. Went on pause for ten years. My woman was pregnant when I went in. I haven't seen her or my son since he was 13. I have this nightmare that one day, he's gonna come to the shop ask for a cut, sit in my chair and I'm not even gonna know him.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What's wrong, Shades?
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: You should've waited.
- Tone: Waited? Bump that noise. I got the call. It was me.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What happened?
- Tone: Look, Turk calls me. Tells me he saw Chic at the shop, slippin'. I came and ask you if it was important if the nigga was breathing. You seem non-committal... so I make an executive decision.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [laughing] That's what you call it, an executive decision?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What's your name again?
- Luke Cage: Luke
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Luke. Mmm, old school. Biblical. I'm all about the old school. You know that eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth kind of thing. Fire and brimstone. See back then do someone wrong, wasn't no beggin' and pleadin'. Just took care of it. Handled your business.
- Pop: What about turning the other cheek?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Mmm. Jesus saves. I don't.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: You better shoot like Cheryl Miller, not Barney Miller.
- Misty Knight: Sometimes I forget how old you are.