[Max is on the radio dispatch with his boss, Lenny]
Yeah, Lenny, what's up? It's me.
L Lenny
Just got off the phone with the cops. Desk sergeant called to check if you brought the cab in?
L Lenny
So, aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed the goddamn cab?
No, no, I got crashed into. I didn't...
L Lenny
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.
[to Max]
It was an accident. You're not liable.
It was an accident. I'm not liable.
L Lenny
Bullshit. I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your goddamn pocket.
[to Max]
You tell him to stick this cab up his fat ass.
I can't do that, that's my boss.
L Lenny
Still there? I'm talking to you. Max. Max!
[over the radio]
He's not paying you a damn thing.
L Lenny
Who the hell is this?
Albert Ricardo, Assistant U.S. Attorney, a passenger in this cab, and I'm reporting you to the D.M.V.
L Lenny
Let's not, oh, let's not get excited.
Not get excited? How am I supposed to not get excited? Listen, you try to extort a working man. You know goddamn well your collision policy and general liability umbrella will cover the damages. And what are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?
L Lenny
Look, I was just trying to...
Tell it to him. [to Max] Tell him he's an asshole. Go ahead.
[to Lenny]
You're an asshole.
Tell him he pulls this shit again, you're gonna stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.
[to Lenny]
And, and next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna... I'm gonna have to stick this yellow cab up... up your fat ass.
Because I say so. (ties up Max's hands to the steering wheel with zip tie)
L Lenny
Max, Max! You out there you son of a bitch?!
That's Lenny. It's just dispatch.
L Lenny
Max, I know you're out there. Answer the goddamn call.
What happens if you don't?
He just keeps calling me.
Yeah, Lenny, what's up? It's me.
L Lenny
Just got off the phone with the cops. Desk sergeant called to check if you brought the cab in?
L Lenny
So, aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed the goddamn cab?
No, no, I got crashed into. I didn't...
L Lenny
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.
[to Max]
It was an accident. You're not liable.
It was an accident. I'm not liable.
L Lenny
Bullshit. I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your goddamn pocket.
[to Max]
You tell him to stick this cab up his fat ass.
I can't do that, that's my boss.
L Lenny
Still there? I'm talking to you. Max. Max!
[over the radio]
He's not paying you a damn thing.
L Lenny
Who the hell is this?
Albert Ricardo, Assistant U.S. Attorney, a passenger in this cab, and I'm reporting you to the DMV.
L Lenny
Let's not, oh, let's not get excited.
Not get excited? How am I supposed to not get excited? Listen, you try to extort a working man. You know goddamn well your collision policy and general liability umbrella will cover the damages. And what are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?
L Lenny
Look, I was just trying to...
Tell it to him. [to Max] Tell him he's an asshole. Go ahead.
[to Lenny]
You're an asshole.
Tell him he pulls this shit again, you're gonna stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.
[to Lenny]
And, and next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna... I'm gonna have to stick this yellow cab up... up your fat ass.
DB Daniel Baker
No, now, see, I was about 19, bussing tables right here. The money wasn't shit, but that wasn't the point. It was about being around the music. And I was. I mean, take this one night. July 22nd, 1964. Who you think walks through that door? Miles Davis. That's right. I'm talking about, through those doors, the coolest man on the planet. Anyway, he had been at a recording session up at Columbia, up on Vine. So Miles comes through that door. Before you know it, he's up on the bandstand, jamming with the band.
DB Daniel Baker
I mean, the dude was so focused, man. Plus, he was kind of a scary cat anyway, man. I mean, everybody and their mama knew that you don't just come up and talk to Miles Davis. I mean, he may have looked like he was chilling, but he was absorbed. This one young, hip couple, one of them tried to shake his hand one day. And the guy says, "Hi, my name is..." Miles said, "Get the **** out of my face, you jive mother****er. Take your silly bitch with you." You know? That's... That was Miles, man. That's the way he was when he was in his musical headspace. Fierce.
But did you get to talk to him?
DB Daniel Baker
Better than that. I played for about 20 minutes.
DB Daniel Baker
How'd I do? Well, you really ain't shit when you're playing next to Miles Davis. But he carried my ass.
DB Daniel Baker
He said one word, "Cool."
DB Daniel Baker
Yeah. That meant, "Good, but not ready." It meant, "Look me up when you are."
DB Daniel Baker
No. I got drafted and got into some other things. And by the time I got back to music, the season had passed. But, you know, I was born in 1945, but that night was the moment of my conception. Right here in this room.
[notices a waitress leaving]
Crowd's not here now.
DB Daniel Baker
Well, jazz ain't the draw that it used to be.
What a great story. I got to tell the people in Culiacán and Cartagena that story.
DB Daniel Baker
[stops]
You know the folks in Culiacán and Cartagena?
DB Daniel Baker
Just when I thought you were a cool guy.
I am a cool guy...with a job that I'm contracted to do.
Come on, Vincent. Give the dude a pass.
You the one talking about improvisation. You like the guy, you like how he plays. Let's just play a little Jazz, come on.
Improvise. That's funny coming from you. [to Daniel] How's this? I'll ask a question.
DB Daniel Baker
What question?
A jazz question. Now, you get it right, we roll. You disappear tonight.
DB Daniel Baker
If I walk out of here tonight, I will go so far away, it'll be just like I was dead. And one more thing: These people and their rep here, Felix. Well, you tell them I'm sorry. You tell them I had to. They laid a grant of immunity on me. I was compelled. It was either play ball or go back inside. And I'm not going back inside.
DB Daniel Baker
Lay it on me.
Where did Miles learn music?
DB Daniel Baker
I know everything there is to know about Miles.
Music school. [to Daniel] He got it in music school, right?
DB Daniel Baker
His father was a dentist, East St. Louis. Invested in agriculture, made plenty of money. He sent Miles to Juilliard School of Music, New York, 1945. [Vincent shoots Daniel three times in the head with a silenced pistol, frightening Max. Vincent catches Daniel's chin mid air and gently lays his head down on the table and puts his hand up to make it look like he passed out drunk]
Dropped out of Juilliard after less than a year. Tracked down Charlie Parker on 52nd street, who mentored him for the next 3 years. [Vincent follows a frightened Max outside the Jazz club] Hey.
No. No, I'm done. Find you another cab.
Leave me alone. I'm collateral anyway. [Vincent punches Max three times in the chest, grabs him by his neck and pins him against his taxi]
You played him, man. He got the answer right, would you have let him go?
L Lenny
[on the radio]
This is 102. This is 102. Max?
What is it with this guy? [talks to Lenny] You hassling my driver again?
The same guy you talked to last time.
L Lenny
Max's mother is driving me crazy. Put him on the line, please.
L Lenny
Your mother's calling every ten minutes. Why didn't you show? Are you alright? Where are you?
Tell her I can't make it tonight.
L Lenny
I'm not related to her. You tell her yourself.
You visit her every night?
Yeah. What difference does it make?
You don't show up, it breaks routine.
So people start looking for you, this cab. That's not good.
I'm not taking you to see my mother.
Since when was any of this negotiable?
