Kima Greggs quotes from The Wire

Kima

How complex a code can it be if these knuckleheads are usin' it? Then again, what does it say about us if we can't break it?

Kima

[to Daniels, about joining the new detail] I'll tell your wife if you tell mine.

Kima

Fighting the war on drugs... one brutality case at a time.

Carver

Girl, you can't even think of calling this shit a war.

Herc

Why not?

Carver

Wars end.

Carver

What he means to say is that we are an effective deterrent in the war on drugs when we are on the street.

Herc

Fucking motherfuckers up.

Carver

Indeed.

Herc

Fuck the paperwork. Collect bodies, split heads.

Carver

Split 'em wide.

Herc

The Western District way.

Carver

A'ight.

Kima

You rogue motherfuckers kill me. Fighting the war on drugs... one brutality case at a time.

Carver

Girl, you can't even think of calling this shit a war.

Herc

Why not?

Carver

Wars end.

Kima

You saw the murder?

Omar

Yeah.

Kima

You can ID this man Bird as the shooter of William Gant? And you ain't afraid to go into court downtown and testify against one of Barksdale's people?

Omar

Omar don't scare.

Kima

You worried about being seen?

Omar

Well if anybody got a problem with me spending time with y'all, I'd be much obliged to stick my gun straight in they mouth.

Shakima, she's just talking like that 'cause I had her when she was good.

Greggs

Shiiit, you the ugly-ass motherfucker that turned me the other way.

Herc

How about you come on the raids tomorrow? Take a few doors for ol' time sake.

Kima

You takin' doors?

Herc

Yeah. Two houses an' a bar on Kane Street. C'mon Kima, mount up wit' us. I know you miss it.

Kima

I'm done rollin' around the gutter. I am inside now.

Herc

Oh, you're a house cat now, huh?

Kima

I made a promise.

Herc

I gotta say Kima, if you were a guy, and actually in some ways you're better than most of the guys I know. But if you were a guy, friends would buy you a beer and let you know.

Kima

Let me know what?

Herc

You're fuckin' whipped.

Kima

Whipped?

Herc

Pussy whipped within an inch of your life. I kid you not.

Herc

Fucking white boys, I love 'em. I fucking love 'em.

Kima

Yeah?

Herc

Dumb as a box of rocks.

Kima

Who?

Herc

White boys. Talking about the brain-deads in my Kane Street case. I call him up, I tell him I wanna buy some drugs. You know what he says? Says "Okay, I'll sell you the drugs. How much drugs do you want?" I swear to God, Kima, they don't code it, they don't ask for a meet, nothin'. And then when you make the deal, there's no runner, no bullshit. It's the guy himself walking up to you in the parking lot, saying: "I brought the drugs. Did you bring the money?" [Kima chuckles] I'm not kidding. I have much respect for black people after working with these idiots for two weeks. Seriously, white boys wanna sell drugs in Baltimore, they'll have to make different laws for it. Like even it out for them.

Kima

Affirmative action.

Herc

Leave no white man behind.

Kima

Cool Lester Smooth... hey, what's happenin'?

Lester

Same fuck-ups in the same shit detail, workin' out of the same shithouse kind of office. You people lack for personal growth, you know that?

Kima

[to McNulty] How come they know you're police when they hook up with you. And they know you're police when they move in. And they know you're police when they decide to start a family with you. And all that shit is just fine until one day it ain't no more. One day, it's 'You should have a regular job.' and 'You need to be home at five o'clock'.

McNulty

"You need to stop fucking waitresses."

Bubbles

This pay how much?

Kima

Let's treat it like a real job. Say $5 an hour, $30 on a day, max.

Bubbles

That's less than minimum wage.

McNulty

But there's no withholding, Bubs. It's tax-free.

McNulty

I feel like I don't even belong to any world that even fucking matters.

Kima

'Cause you're a cop?

McNulty

Nah, it's not just that. It's like, I went to meet her once; she was in a hotel room on the top floor. I punched the button on the elevator and it doesn't even go there. You gotta have some kind of special key to even get to that special fucking floor. So I go to the front desk, some sneering fuck calls upstairs, gives me permission to go and get laid. I listen to the shit she talks about and it's the first time in my life I feel like a fucking doormat. Like anyone else with any smarts would do something else with his life, you know? Earn money, or ... get elected. Like I'm just a breathing machine for my fucking dick. I'm serious; I'm the smartest asshole in three districts and she looks at me like I'm some stupid fuck playing some stupid game for stupid penny-ante stakes. She fucking looks through me, Kima.

You know what we use the polygraph for? Leverage. To get them in here and fuck with them.

Kima

No wonder this shit's inadmissible.

Kima

Bubs got some problems, but insincerity ain't one of them.

Walon

Shame is some tricky shit, ain't it? Makes you feel like you want to change, and then beats you back down when you think you can't.