I went up there today, to the jail, to see Shalamar.
And?
I wanted to tell him in person.
You know, I thought he'd--
thought he'd be happy.
But he didn't care.
Didn't care that he shot me.
He was happy he shot me.
Now I feel like a dummy.
Union's mad at me.
Day's mad at me.
Everybody's mad at me for not just keeping my mouth shut
and taking the money.
And they right.
If it wasn't me, he would have shot someone else.
He'd probably get out and do it again.
So, fuck him then.
What?
You didn't get the result you wanted, right?
Fuck him then.
Keep the money.
Let him rot.
You know that's not what I meant.
Oh, OK.
What did you mean?
Like, I'm saying, it's like some people
just don't want to be saved.
And who are you to judge that?
Because you've got a badge?
You cop, judge, and jury now?
You get to decide someone's worth based off the way
they respond to yours?
I didn't come here for all this.
No.
You came here for a cookie, but I'm fresh out.
You know why most people drown?
It's because to the person standing on the shore
it looks like they're having fun.
I know this neighborhood, too.
I know that kid because I was that kid.
Yeah, I know you from here.
But you ain't here.
You been gone a long time.
Not everybody had a Glo or a Day to keep them straight.
For some people, the cards were stacked against them
from the start, and he just played the hand
he was dealt, the hand that told him poor Black
niggas like him ain't shit.
And his daddy proved it.
And his teachers proved it.
And the shift supervisor proved it.
And the state proved it.
And now you want to make a case to him, too.
And he knew it as soon as you walked into that visiting room,
and that's why he talked to you like that.
You weren't there to make him feel good.
You were there to make you feel good.
And how you think he felt about that?
It's-- this is all a real horse show.
No, it ain't.
Locking somebody up and throwing away the key
is the easiest thing to do.
What's hard is the time and process it takes to do
the shit right the first time.
What's hard is establishing a community of his peers
to assess the situation and come up with a restorative justice
measure that will hold him accountable
and rehabilitate his spirit.
But that's the world he deserves to live in.
We all do.
[SCOFFS] But y'all want to take the easy
way out and lock a nigga up.
No, I don't.
That's why I became a cop.
I'm the good guy.
Oh, yeah?
Why are you the one who come every time Elijah call?
Because--
Because if you don't, someone else will.
And they liable to get locked up or dead for existing.
And you know it.
Dang.
How you get so smart?
Hmm.
You should try it sometime.
OK.
So loan me one.
Oh, no.
Uh-uh.
I don't loan out my books.
I never get 'em back.
I'll bring 'em back.
I promise.
Give me an excuse to come back.
Oh.
But you need an excuse, though?
She's right in front of me, actually.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]