Smoke My Peace Pipe

Story by Eric Overmyer & David Mills
Teleplay by David Mills & Davis Rogan

Judge John A. Gatling rebukes ADA Renée Dufossat for losing track of Daymo and relying on the confusion after the floods as an excuse. Apologizing to LaDonna Batiste-Williams and Mrs. Brooks who are watching from the gallery, Judge Gatling approves Antoinette "Toni" Bernette's motion and gives the Dept. of Corrections 72 hours to locate Daymo.

With the help of his fellow Mardi Gras Indians, Albert Lambreaux uses bolt cutters to get past the chain link fence around the B.W. Cooper projects. Inside the apartment of Memphis Ronnie's mother, Albert spots dust and mold, but finds it otherwise habitable.

Creighton Bernette stands in front of his classroom reading a passage Lafcadio Hearn wrote in 1880, comparing New Orleans to his native Ohio. Hearn preferred the filth and corruption of old New Orleans to staid Ohio. Noting that the writer preferred a destroyed New Orleans to his native Ohio, he adds that in spite of the city's faults, "... New Orleans also conjures moments of artistic clarity and urban transcendence that are the best that Americans as a people can hope for."

Antoine Batiste and several other unemployed musicians perform in the arrival terminal of the airport. When a woman asks what VIP the band is playing for, he tells the New Orleans native that the music is for her.

Davis McAlary visits a music shop with boxes of his new CD. The manager hands him a check for his cut of the sales: $2500. McAlary promises to not only sign CDs when more come in, but also perform in-store.

Meeting with John Besh to sell off her restaurant equipment, Janette Desautel tells him that her small SBA loan finally came through. She's purchased a trailer equipped with a grill and smoker and plans to "do the guerilla chef thing."

Visiting McAlary at home, Jacques Morial urges Davis to focus the media attention he's getting on key issues. While Morial talks local and federal politics, McAlary struggles to come up with lyrics that rhyme with "infrastructure."

Antoine hands out checks to the musicians at the airport gig. They complain it's not cash -- and that Danny Nelson is getting a cut when he didn't perform. Antoine points out they got the gig because of Danny.

News crews begin arriving at the projects and Albert dials the police. With the cameras on him, he explains his position: Open the projects or arrest him. When two officers arrive to charge him with trespassing, Albert argues through the window that he isn't; the unit belongs to Pearline Cross. The officers correct him: The apartment belongs to the Housing Authority of New Orleans.

Antoine visits a sleeping Nelson in the hospital. Cueing up his iPod, Antoine plays Jelly Roll's "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say," with one earbud in Danny's ear, the other in his own.

Another squatter arrives to take residence in the adjacent project building, draping a bed sheet that says, "My home."

Harley Watt recommends Annie for a three-week tour in Canada with some Cajun musicians. Post-sex, Annie runs the idea by Sonny. Knowing he can't say no, Sonny tells her to take the gig.

Creighton takes his notes for his novel and sets up in the guest house. Finding him working late at night, Toni can't convince him to break for dinner. When she brings him coffee the next morning he complains that his pages are "sh*t" and rebuffs her encouragement.

Sgt. Maurice Thompson of the Community Relations Division arrives to talk to Albert. Thompson reasons there has been no outcry to get the projects open from the people who vote and gives Albert a day to vacate before he's charged with criminal trespass.

Antoine visits Danny's hospital room again and discovers his bed is empty.

After much preparation, Annie still has trouble keeping up with the Cajun musicians at her audition. "It's not about the notes, it's about the feeling," they tell her suggesting she can try again after more practice.

Toni and LaDonna search for Daymo in a database of photographs of OPP detainees - all young black men. After checking the entire catalogue, Toni fears the worst and asks for a list of prisoners who have died in custody.

Judge Bernard Williams invites McAlary to lunch to persuade him to drop out of the election because he is costing Williams' candidate votes. In exchange, the Judge offers McAlary a "get out of jail free card": His number for when Davis inevitably gets into trouble.

Returning from the Portland Jazz Festival, Troy and James Andrews spot Antoine. When Antoine dismisses his humble airport gig, Troy assures him: "People need to hear y'all." The pair join the airport ensemble for a rendition of "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" and a crowd gathers to sing along.

Desautel visits Jacques to show off her new "kitchen" and ask for his help at Bacchanal, but Jacques already has a job working the grill elsewhere.

The police arrive to evict the squatters. Albert refuses to go, but leaves the door unlocked so the cops can enter without force. When he won't kneel to be cuffed, the police draw the blinds and beat him for resisting.

LaDonna can't find Daymo's name on the list of dead inmates, but she locates her cousin's, who is still alive. Toni wonders if Daymo assumed someone else's name, someone without a record, and tells LaDonna they have to go to the morgue.

Having stopped by Desautel's and seen it shuttered, McAlary visits Janette at home, bearing food, wine, and comfort. She invites him in and McAlary gets a look at her house, which still lacks electricity and drywall. When she refers to him as a friend with benefits, McAlary clarifies: "with or without."

Creighton films a new video addressing "Katrina fatigue." Forgiving non-residents who might be suffering from it, Creighton lists everything that remains wrong in the city, proving "we are always our own worst enemy."

Watching the Cajun musicians play at Tipitina's, Annie swears to a skeptical Watt she did her best at the audition.

Sofia and Toni watch Creighton's new video. Realizing it was posted late the previous night, Toni finds Creighton asleep on the couch in the guest house. He tells her the novel is coming along.

At the makeshift morgue - refrigerated trucks filled with corpses - LaDonna hesitates. When the body bag is unzipped and LaDonna recognizes Daymo, she rushes out of the truck. Toni is unsatisfied with the details of the death certificate and questions how a young man could die in custody, and lay in the morgue for months without anyone learning his identity. After gathering herself, LaDonna refuses to make immediate plans for transporting Daymo's body to a funeral home - she doesn't want to break the news to her ailing mother until after Carnival.
 
At Nelson's funeral, his daughter Angela tries to return the expensive trombone to Antoine but he refuses it: "It's the last horn your daddy played. It's supposed to be in the family." He encourages Angela's son to take up the instrument.

Desautel cooks on her own terms at Bacchanal while McAlary mans the register.

LaDonna returns to her mother's. When Mrs. Brooks asks if they found Daymo, she lies, promising to relay any news as soon as she hears.