TONY: That Peace Treaty I signed with the Dragons ain't good enough. They willin' not to jump on us 'cause they got trouble with the niggers…but they won't do nothin' to help us out if the Barons fuck with us, see? And we can't even hold the debs this way…no women, no power, not even a fuckin' clubhouse 'cause we afraid of a raid!
RIX: We got to do somethin', make 'em see we got lotta heart, make 'em know we alive.
TONY: For once you right, man. We got to make it like the Dragons think it good policy to let us join. Okay, so I don't be President and you don't be Warlord and shit…but we be safe…and mebbe we move up inside the organization…you know, play it cool and stick together even when we inside. And I know just what we can do to put us on the map.
BILLY: Tell me what it is, Tony. Tell me what it is and I do it for us.
TONY: You a good man, Billy. The fuckin' best! But this is somethin' for the whole club…for all of us together. We gonna take off that fat fuckin' cop who thinks he's a social worker. Anderson the cop, man. We gonna burn him right in this alley and burn him so the whole fuckin' neighborhood knows the Counts have the most heart of anyone out here.
POET: You fuckin' crazy, man? Burn a cop and we don't even got a real gun…just a couple of lousy zips what don't even work and not even a bullet for them!
PRINCE: It's a good idea, Tony, but the Poet–man is right. How we gonna do somethin' like that and not go down behind it ourselves?
TONY: Manny, you said you put one of the niggers on the other side down for good one time, right? When we went to the institution?
MANNY: (As if expecting a challenge) That's right!
TONY: That's the answer right there. Manny's blade and Billy and Prince for the pipes. Rix can use the one good zip—I got a bullet from The Dealer yesterday.
RIX: You mean just burn him when he walks by the alley at night?
TONY: No good, man. That's nothin' but a fuckin' ambush and that means we still ain't nothin'. Just a Jap outfit. No good. We gonna do this before it gets dark. Face to face. I want to watch that cocksucker die.
BILLY: What if we get caught?
TONY: I never lie to you, right, Billy? And I swear we don't get caught if we stick together and do like I say.
BILLY: Okay.
TONY: Listen. I got a plan worked out in my mind and I tell you and then we take a vote….
CHORUS: Let's fuckin' hear it. Run it, man.
TONY: You know how the alley makes a kinda T? Dead–end on three sides? Okay, we set up there like usual and Poet brings his portable radio. We put it on top of one of those old packing crates. Pile 'em up real high at the back of the alley. Now Anderson usually rolls up around nine, right? So we set up back in the alley, just jivin' around, and we keep turning the radio up real loud so people scream down at us to cool it. So they all get the idea we gonna be doing this all night and don't get surprised when the radio gets real loud again. Manny and Billy and Prince all lay up in the back.
Me and Rix be up in the front and we get Anderson rappin' about how we wished we had us a Youth Board worker all our own instead of that faggot Bernstein who only comes 'round once in a while. Then we act like we scared…like we boosted something too big for us to fence and we wanna turn it into him so's we don't get in no trouble, see? Rix has the zip. We walk Anderson to the back. Prince turns up the radio. Loud. And we walk past the big crate. Manny shanks him in the back and Billy smashes his fuckin' head with the pipe. And then Rix…burns him.
Nobody hear the zip over the radio and if they do they don't do nothin' anyway. We shove him under the crate and then we split. Poet is all the time watchin' the front and he yells back to cool it if anyone rolls up. Then we walk out the front like nothin' happen and the zip goes through the window into the basement here. Then the word gets around fast! The Counts burned a fuckin' headbreaker.
See, first we use a couple a days…spread the word around school that Anderson is fuckin' with us…messing in our business you know? Then, when he goes down, the Counts go up. We have a rep. A name. The Dragons fuckin' beg us to join them. We be the first in the neighborhood to burn a cop. Nobody sees, but everybody knows. Now I say we vote.
RIX: It's still pretty dangerous…
MANNY: Pussy!
RIX: I got as much heart as you, spic!
MANNY: I guess so—you willin' to die for your mouth. (Reaching in his jacket pocket).
TONY: Manny, no! Come on, brother. We all need each other right now. Rix didn't mean nothin'. We don't stick together, we get stuck. Now, vote, motherfuckers!
MANNY: I'm in.
RIX: Yeah, me too. I was only…
BILLY: If you say so, I do it, Tony.
POET: All right.
PRINCE: I go with the President.
TONY: (Looking around) Okay that's it. Now we go to school tomorrow. All of us. And we spread the word, cool. Cool, Rix! But we let the Dragons know that the Counts be ready to make their big move real soon.
Three nights later. The boys have been in the alley since seven P.M. Waiting.
POET: What if he don't show?
TONY: He'll show. The stinkin' headbreaker never miss his chance to be a motherfucking preacher.
RIX: I'm ready. The whole street knows he's gonna die. I hope nobody tip him off.
TONY: You crazy? 'Round here, even the niggers want a cop to die.
PATROLMAN ANDERSON approaches the alley, swinging his nightstick. He is tall and confident with a hearty manner too old for his years.
ANDERSON: How's things, men?
TONY: How they suppose to be? You want to do us a favor, give us some police cannons so's we can protect ourselves from the Black Barons.
ANDERSON: (Snide) There hasn't been any trouble between the big clubs for a long time now.
TONY: Yeah, we know we ain't no big club, man. And we got nothin' goin' for us when the niggers make they move.
ANDERSON: Maybe you boys want to join up with the Golden Dragons? They got a full–time Youth Board worker now and a clubhouse. They don't even bop so much anymore. They got a basketball team, they put on dances and everything.
(POET'S eyes flash hope. It dies when RIX speaks.)
RIX: Oh yeah, man. Where do we get an application?
ANDERSON: (Seriously) I can speak with Lacey. He's even getting a salary now from the anti–poverty people and I think he'd let you all join…except maybe Manny.
RIX: What's wrong with Manny? He's got heart, man.
ANDERSON: All he's got is a switchblade. Take that away from him and he's a punk without an ounce of guts to his name.
TONY: Yeah, well, listen, Anderson. We got other troubles, man. The boys copped something and we don't know what to do with it. I mean, we can't just peddle this stuff, you know what I mean?
ANDERSON: (Interested) Where is it?
TONY: We got it stashed behind a crate in the back, man. Come on, I'll show you.
PERSON: (Confidently) I'm sure we can work this out.
(They walk toward the back: TONY leading the way, ANDERSON following, RIX close behind. POET stays at the alley's mouth. TONY whirls to face ANDERSON.)
TONY: Okay, cop. Here's somethin' I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to shout it out up front.
ANDERSON: (Impatiently) Well, what is it?
(The radio is turned up full blast. MANNY steps from behind the crates and rams his blade into ANDERSON's back as BILLY brings his lead pipe down on the cop's skull ANDERSON goes down without a sound. PRINCE drops to his knees, holding his own lead pipe in two hands, dubbing ANDERSON across the chest. RIX's hands are shaking—shoves the zip gun into ANDERSON's mouth and jerks the trigger. There is a soft pop! and ANDERSON's head jerks in a final spasm. BILLY and ex grab the cop's legs and drag him deeper into the alley as MAMMY tips over the largest crate. They shove him underneath. RIX is still holding the bloody zip gun. Tom grabs it from his hands and throws it through the opened basement window. The radio blasts. The killing–sounds remain trapped in the alley. TONY runs to the front, calling to POET.)