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 k*ll 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. h*--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 c*ck.
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 sh*t?
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 f*ck?
Come on, what
do you want from me, kid?
You know she's a cr*pple.
Hold on, hold on.
She ain't even a cr*pple.
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 cr*pple.
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, sh*t, 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 sh*t.
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' ret*rds.
We're not ret*rds. You are.
And you're a bully, too.
Ah, sh*t.
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.
b*tch, I should just slap you.
She doesn't know
what she's talkin' about.
Ah!
Oh, snap.
-Yeah.
-Look at you.
b*tch, 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 sh*t
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 k*lling 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 sh*t, 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, n*gga?
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.
b*tch, get your a*s 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, sh*t 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, b*tch?
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 k*lled that n*gga.
He was snitchin'.
Gettin' his clients busted
when they couldn't pay up.
And Goji sent you.
He sent your stupid a*s,
so I know you a rat
just like him.
I'm not.
You got any
last words, b*tch?
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, b*tch?
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 k*ll your stupid a*s.
The f*ck 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.
A*DS, Papi?
Yes.
I...
Mami is right, I have A*DS.
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.
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Brownsville Bred (2025)
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