- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You like my Biggie photo? Me, too. You know what draws your eye when you look at that? The crown. Wanna know why? Huh? 'Cause everybody wants to be the king.
- [slaps Shameek]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: I slapped you like a little bitch. I'm not the kind of man to use a closed fist on a woman. Where's my money?
- Shameek Smith: I, I didn't...
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Uh-uh. Only thing worse than a thief is a damn liar. Where's my money? Hmm?... You left Dante alive. He called Tone, and with his dying words, gave up you and your homeboy. We got your money. Now you're gonna tell us where Chico is so we can get the rest.
- [Shameek spits in Stokes' face]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [laughs] Thank you. Now I can hit you like a man.
- Misty Knight: You know Benjamin Franklin said that the only way that three people can keep a secret is if two of them are dead. First Dante, now Shameek. Chico's the last man standing.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Benjamin Franklin? Didn't he electrocute himself flying a kite in a rainstorm? I wouldn't base any theories on that fool.
- Misty Knight: Benjamin Franklin is on the $100 bill sir.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: So? He wasn't a president!
- Misty Knight: That's even more impressive! Come on, give the man some credit.
- Misty Knight: [the morning after sleeping together] The job is calling me in.
- Luke Cage: Can I call you later?
- Misty Knight: You'd need my phone number for that. I know where you work. I'll find you.
- Luke Cage: What is it you do again?
- Misty Knight: [gesturing for help zipping up her dress] I'm an auditor.
- Luke Cage: What's that?
- Misty Knight: Basically, I look at the financial books. Make sure everything's on the up and up.
- Luke Cage: And you need a short dress for that?
- Misty Knight: Sometimes you got to blend in.
- Luke Cage: Impossible. You stand out in any room you're in.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: You said your rebound chick took a shotgun at point-blank range pointed it under your chin, and pulled the trigger.
- Luke Cage: I still get the occasional headache.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Not a problem for you, Power Man.
- Connie Lin: We want to hire you.
- Luke Cage: I'm not for hire. But you have my word, ma'am. I've got you.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Take my advice, brother. The past is the past. And the only direction in life that matters is forward. Never backwards.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Colon's Gym is ready to make a sizable donation to my pocket and your real estate project. Sometimes you need a face-to-face.
- Mariah Dillard: Colon's Gym"? Is that what that two-bit drug dealer is puttin' on his tax returns? Why do you even waste time with him? Politics is where the power is, Cornell.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: All that "keep Harlem black" rack-a-bully-ack might get you re-elected...
- Mariah Dillard: Damn skippy.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: ...But when the smoke clears it's niggas like me that let you hold on to what you got.
- Mariah Dillard: You know I despise that word.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: I know. It's easy to underestimate a nigga. They never see you coming.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: Dante was one of my kids. So was Chico. And Shameek, too. Just like those kids playing over there. You know, that's how you get 'em on your side. Sweepin' up hair. Runnin' errands. Lettin' 'em hang out, play video games. Anything is better than what's waiting for them out there on the street. They want a way out but they have too much pride to ask for help. So you gotta Jedi mind-trick them into something.
- Luke Cage: Everyone has a gun. No one has a father.
- Connie Lin: Ten days late, Mr. Cage. I need my rent money.
- Luke Cage: [taking a wad of cash out of his pocket] Here.
- Connie Lin: I count $300. Not enough.
- Luke Cage: Let me go to work and get the rest.
- Connie Lin: Tonight.
- Misty Knight: Hey, Bailey. How you doing?
- Detective Mark Bailey: It's another beautiful day at the office. What's not to love?
- Misty Knight: Don't you start singing show tunes on me.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: So, you think Chico did this to Shameek?
- Misty Knight: Chico is what, a buck 50 soaking wet? But we won't know for sure until we find him.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: You said Dante wasn't bartendin' the night you were at the club.
- Misty Knight: No.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Well, did you talk to the guy that replaced him that night?
- Misty Knight: I barely talked to the guy. I mean... all I did was order drinks.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: Well, maybe there's some pattern, something we're missing. We need to go talk to that guy.
- Misty Knight: That sounds like a complete waste of time.
- Detective Rafael Scarfe: That's entirely possible. But it's worth a shot.
- Oliver: Hey, Luke.
- Luke Cage: Every time.
- Oliver: It's the bleach. I can smell it from around the corner. Pop has got you washing towels again, huh? Yeah, I took a "New Yorker" off the top for you. Can't tell you what's on the cover, though. Hey, I hope you got Connie's rent money. She's on the warpath.
- Dante Chapman: Yo, you wasn't supposed to kill nobody, man!
- Shameek Smith: I had to make a move, Dante. Shit went left. My bad.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: [feeling sick] Oh, my god. Oh, fuck. God.
- Shameek Smith: Shut up, Chico, before I gag you with your panties. Yo, you see all this money, B? Yo, this shit is like some Hollywood shit for real.
- Dante Chapman: Shameek, what am I gonna do? They're gonna know it was me.
- Shameek Smith: B, there's, like, a million dollars right here.
- Dante Chapman: Cottonmouth always lookin' down at me at the bar. He's gonna know I'm gone. They gonna know it was an inside job.
- Shameek Smith: You right.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: [Shameek shoots Dante] What'd you do?
- Shameek Smith: Yo, shit works. Yo, this shit works, Chico. Dante would have snitched. You see... you see how shook he was? Come on, man. I ain't... ain't no way I'm splitting that shit three ways no how, man.
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Dante was crew, B. That's Dante!
- Shameek Smith: Yo, I made a decision. I'm gonna be rich. Let's go.
- Koko: You've been in this country for how long? And you still... can't speak English?
- Jin Lin: My English is just fine.
- Sugar: Show Mariah Dillard some love. Contribute and we'll go away. It's a family thing.
- Jin Lin: I own this restaurant. My father owned this building. Tell Mariah Dillard I am not contributing to her complex. We voted for her and gave her money before. And I respect Mr. Stokes. But no. No more. I can't.
- Zip: Give us... the money.
- Luke Cage: Yo. I don't like your tone.
- Zip: Excuse me?
- Luke Cage: You're being disrespectful. It's unnecessary.
- Koko: [lauging with the others] You need to step off, Mayweather. I mean, what you think you gonna do, man?
- Sugar: I think he thinks he gonna bring it.
- Luke Cage: I can. Not the way I want to. I'd kill you.
- Mariah Dillard: I need the money you promised me ASAP.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Now you want the money?
- Mariah Dillard: I used federal grant and tax-deductible donation money to complete construction on your club and to facilitate that meticulous deal that just fell apart. I don't get the money, I'm facing an audit. We all go to jail.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: It'll be there.
- Mariah Dillard: What happened at the junkyard last night? And who's the dude in the sunglasses behind you? Is he after the money, too?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Either you want the details, cuz, or you don't.
- [Mariah leaves without another word]
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: That's what I thought.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You're a big one, eh?
- Mariah Dillard: He's wearing a little jacket.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Haven't seen you behind the bar. Where's Dante?
- Luke Cage: Called in sick, I guess.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: You want a job? I can find something more suitable for a man your size. Better paying, too. You ever carried a gun?
- Luke Cage: No. I'm good. Thanks.
- Nate: I need a favor. Short one bartender. Dante's sick.
- Luke Cage: You got the cash you promised me?
- Nate: End of the week.
- Luke Cage: Come on, Nate.
- Nate: You can keep all your tips out there, okay? When was the last time you made drinks?
- Luke Cage: I know the drill.
- Nate: Okay, okay. Clean up. Put a shirt and jacket on. Mr. Stokes has standards.
- Luke Cage: Though you can't tell by what he pays.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [to Tone, after beating Shameek to death] Get his ass out of here. And go fetch my money.
- Mariah Dillard: You shouldn't be here. We don't need to be photographed together.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Why? You ashamed of me? That hurts, Mariah.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Shades. When'd you come home?
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: Ooh, a while ago. Seagate wasn't shit.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Hmm. So... what can I do for you?
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: It's the other way around. Y'all got hit last night. That expensive, exclusive, hard-to-get hardware that Diamondback gave you is in a police evidence lock-up. And the money... that Domingo and his crew were supposed to give you... is gone. I'm with Diamondback now. You knew that, right?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Well, tell Diamondback, it's about time...
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: Uh-uh. Diamondback tells you.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: [laughing in amusement] I'm his number-one seller.
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: I ain't here to spank you. But I do need to look you in your eyes...
- [taking off his sunglasses]
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: Was it an inside job?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: No. Hell no. I needed that money, too. It took forever to build up that kind of trust.
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: We're here to get you back on your feet. Whatever you need.
- Tone: Yo, who is "we," you fake-ass Ray Charles?
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: I got your back, B. Just like back in the day.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Forget about back in the day. Why is this feeling like a takeover?
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: It's not. If it was... you would never even see Diamondback comin'. He wants you to win. How can I help?
- Luke Cage: Lookin' for something?
- Misty Knight: No. Saadiq's still got it. "Stone Rollin'" was a dope album.
- Luke Cage: Album? Now I know you're an old head.
- Misty Knight: You ain't no spring chicken neither, sucker.
- Luke Cage: Touché.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What's the word?
- Tone: Confirmation of what Dante told us while he was dying. His friends, the ones that play on your summer league team at the Rucker, jacked your shit. Shameek and Chico.
- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez: Any bites yet?
- Tone: No.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Double down. Twenty large to find those fools.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What I sell is pure. This is the kind of shit that could blow a hole in a battleship. But it's light enough to hold in your hand. Trust me, Domingo. You can brighten somebody's day permanently with this shit. Top of the line. The crème de la crème. This is that grade-A, military, Justin Hammer-level shit. A hundred large per case. Ten cases, a cool mil. Wholesale. Brand-spanking new. No serial numbers; because my connect is nice like that.
- Domingo Colon: Who's your connect?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: He's real and his inventory runs deep.
- Domingo Colon: So that's it?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: That's it. Easy-peasy.
- Mariah Dillard: Nothing's ever that easy.
- Domingo Colon: So what happens after they call to confirm?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: Everyone walks away happy.
- Domingo Colon: So, let me get this straight. I give your cousin a contribution and it's like a get out of jail free card for me, right?
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: That's something to celebrate.
- Mariah Dillard: No. I don't do that.
- Domingo Colon: See, me... I celebrate when things are finished. Not when it's just starting.
- Mariah Dillard: Listen to him. This is nothing to celebrate. You saw what happened to Fisk. You two shouldn't even be seen together, let alone having me all up in the Kool-Aid.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: But you're here anyway. Something must be right about it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have fronted me if you didn't agree.
- Mariah Dillard: I have no illusions about our family's legacy. But you are now turning legitimate money illegal all over again.
- Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes: What's illegal about it? Our product is protected by the Constitution. But you came to me because you trust me, Domingo. In your business, people need my product like a fish needs water.
- Luke Cage: What's the gun for, Chico?
- Wilfredo 'Chico' Diaz: Is your name Wilfredo Diaz? 'Cause he walked out on me and moms when I was nine. I ain't need a daddy then and I don't need one now.
- Luke Cage: So, are you a benchwarmer or did you miss the cut?
- Misty Knight: Excuse me?
- Luke Cage: I just figured you were... one of his.
- Misty Knight: One of Cottonmouth's?
- Luke Cage: I hear he hates that name. Mr. Stokes'...
- Misty Knight: Cottonmouth's...
- Luke Cage: Models.
- Misty Knight: What makes you assume that?
- Luke Cage: You're beautiful. But...
- Misty Knight: But what?
- Luke Cage: You're a little older than he usually likes them.
- Misty Knight: Yeah, you're definitely not getting a tip tonight.
- Reva: Loneliness never goes away, especially in places like Seagate. If you don't make attempts to befriend someone loneliness is guaranteed to eat you alive.
- Henry 'Pop' Hunter: There you go again. I shook everything else after I got out. Cigarettes, paranoia But the pacing? I do it, too. Reva again?
- Luke Cage: Reva always.
- Kid: Hey, yo, my man, my man. All HD.Got it right here. Blu-ray, too, 'cause I'm nice like that. Tony Stark, the big blonde dude with the hammer, the old dude with the shield, the green monster, and I don't mean Fenway. You can't get better raw footage of the incident anywhere else than right here.