Malcolm's Echo: The Legacy of Malcolm X Page #3

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- You were just here

inside of the house?

So how-how come I saw you out

by that door?

What were you doing

at that door?

- Hey, you want to play

a real piano?

- You weren't there?

- Come on.

Why don't we make some music

on a real piano?

[door slams]

I remember when I couldn't even

reach the pedals,

but I bet you can.

Stay right there.

One second.

[man shouting]

[random piano tones]

smack!

- What are you doing?

Don't you dare try

to do that again!

[quiet piano tones]

[woman and man shouting]

[woman crying]

- This is crazy.

[woman whimpers]

Stay right there.

He's never going to hurt you

or your mother again.

All right?

- Don't you dare do that!

Why do you keep lying to me

all the time?

[man shouting]

[phone trilling]

You weren't there?

Where were you?

- No, I didn't say that.

- Well, what the hell were you

doing there?

[crashing]

- 911.

What's your emergency?

- Yeah, I'm-I'm at 20 Avenue E,

apartment 519.

The guy next door

is beating on his wife.

- Do you understand?

- Can you repeat the location,

please?

- 20 Avenue E.

- When I tell you to stay in,

you stay in!

- Sir, is anyone hurt?

- Yeah, I don't know.

Well, just send-

you can't just send somebody?

- Sir, I need to confirm

if someone's hurt.

[door slams]

[pounding on the door]

Hey!

I can hear you in there.

[pounding on door]

- [crying]

- Hug me once, okay?

- Open the goddamn door!

- Domestic officers arrived.

- 1026?

- Yeah, right down here.

- You know the tenants?

- No.

They fight a lot.

It got pretty bad tonight.

- You see anything?

No, but there's a-

there's a little girl,

and I didn't want

to take chances.

The guy is a cop.

- Please stand back, sir.

[knocking at door]

NYPD.

Anybody inside in need

of assistance?

[knocking at door]

Open up!

- Roger that.

[door creaks]

What is this, a joke?

- Where are they?

- Are you sure this is

the apartment?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

I-I just heard them.

- It doesn't look like anyone's

lived here in a very long time.

You been drinking tonight?

- No.

No!

The daughter was just

at my apartment.

- What's her name?

- l-I don't know.

And the wife,

the one that was beaten,

do you know her name?

- She never told me.

- Most people know a lot more

about their imaginary friends

than that, pal.

You got yourself one hell

of a vivid imagination.

- 10-4.

- They were just here!

- Look, you know what?

Next time, just don't call us.

Let's go.

Wasting my time, man.

[knocking at door]

- Yeah?

- Who lives in the apartment

next to mine?

- Why?

- Because I just called

the cops on them,

and they showed up,

and there was nobody there.

So what the hell is going on?

- You called the police on who?

- On the guy in the apartment

next to mine.

He's a cop.

- Look, I don't know

what you're talking about.

That apartment's been empty

ever since I started

working here.

- Yeah-no.

There's-there's a girl.

There's a kid and her mom,

and the dad is abusing them

all day long.

Everybody in the place

can hear it.

- Yeah, not everyone.

- I've-

I've seen them.

Look, I've walked each and every

hall in this building.

I know every tenant

that lives here.

I've never seen a girl

or a family in 517.

Just you and that guy in 512

live there.

Now, let me sleep.

[door slams]

[locks clicking]

[melancholy piano music]

[muffled rock music]

- What?

- You're killing me.

- Sorry.

[girl crying]

We still have two more chapters.

- I got to go.

- What?

Why?

Wait.

[people chattering]

Are you okay?

- It was my fault.

- What was?

- Bobby went to jail

because of me.

- What do you mean?

We were at that bar

on Rivington.

Some guy followed me

into the bathroom.

He pushed me

up against the wall,

and put his hand over my mouth.

- What?

- Next thing I know, Bobby,

he hit him so hard that I heard

the bones in his face crack.

And he didn't stop.

The more I cried,

the more Bobby hit him.

- Al, he killed someone.

- I don't know what to do.

I mean, he did all that time.

- Maybe he'll hurt you some day.

- It's-it's not him.

It never was.

He was only trying to help.

- I just want you

to be careful, okay?

- Yeah.

[tool whirring]

- [exhales hard]

[footsteps pattering]

[loud grinding]

[panting]

- What the hell's your problem,

man?

- [heavy breathing]

- You all right, bro?

- Uh, I got blood coming out

of my ears.

- How the hell did you

do that, man?

- I don't know.

- Go see a doctor.

- I got to finish my shift, man.

- Go see a doctor.

Blood coming out of your ears

ain't normal.

Are you sick or something?

You doing okay?

- How do you mean?

- I'm not gonna pretend like

I know you,

but you been falling apart

since you took this job.

- Um, if I try to explain it,

it's not gonna sound right.

- When I came out of recovery,

I started over too.

I had a sponsor to talk to

when things got out of hand.

You know what I'm saying?

You need someone to talk to,

or you're gonna fall apart.

Go home.

I'll lock up.

- All right.

[horns honking]

I'm leaving the city.

I can't stay here.

- Why?

- I think whatever's-

whatever happened to my mother

is happening to me.

And l-I just-

I just got to make it stop.

- What?

What?

- I'm hear-I'm hearing sounds,

and I am seeing people

who aren't there.

- Bobby,

your mother was sick.

- She wasn't crazy.

Something made her crazy.

- Maybe you leaving

did make her depressed.

You deserted her,

Iike you deserted a lot

of people in your life.

- You got tables.

- I got to go.

[old-fashioned music]

[girl whimpering]

[gasps]

[breathing heavily]

[screaming]

[knocking at door]

- Open the door.

Open the door, please!

I know you're in there!

[screeching]

- [screams]

[cries out]

[grunts]

- [screaming]

- [panting]

[crashing]

- What do you want?

- What do you want?

[knocking at door]

- Good morning, sir.

- Yeah.

- Do you know a Joseph Wright?

He lives down the hall from you.

- I just moved in.

- Heard anything

out of the ordinary?

Seen anyone suspicious?

- No.

- The neighbors told us

you just got out of Rikers.

Is that true?

- What's this about?

- Were you home all evening?

- No, I was with a friend.

- I may be back

with more questions.

[door slams]

- No, no.

- You didn't see anything?

- Rick, you want to give me

a hand with this?

- Yo, Bobby!

You're an hour late.

- Sorry, man, there's something

going on in my building today.

- We need to talk.

- Yeah.

- You come by the shop

last night?

- No.

- You sure you didn't come by

the shop

last night after closing?

- Yeah.

- There was a 300 that came in

for a tire balance.

You remember it?

- It wasn't mine.

I didn't do a balance yesterday.

- It's gone.

I came in this morning,

it was off the lot.

I called up the owner,

she hasn't picked it up yet.

- You got something you want

to ask me, man?

- Look, my other guys have been

with me for years, Bobby.

All I got on you

is your history.

But I have a situation

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