LA Nights

The year is 1973 in Los Angeles, California. Dizzy Brown, 32, a town socialite, arrives at Sweet Melody’s Cinnabons, which sells cinnamon rolls by day and moonlights as a trendy after-hours nightclub at night. Sweet Melody’s has a dance floor, three craps tables, two blackjack tables, two roulette tables, a bar, sitting tables, booths, and stairs leading upstairs to a brothel with a six-bedroom layout. Vernest Brown, aka Quick, 62, wearing a tailor-made suit and tie, is well respected in West Los Angeles. Quick runs the number one after-hours spot with his wife, Melody, 59; his righthand man, Freeman, 48; Baby Doll, 28, a gorgeous cocktail waitress; Bennie Jr., 42, craps dealer and the son of the late Bennie "Snake Eyes” Wilson, and the Madame of the upstairs brothel, Pearl, 55. Things are going well until Quick’s southside rival, Fats, the owner of his nightspot, feels the pinch of losing patrons to Sweet Melody’s. Fats again makes Quick an offer to purchase Sweet Melody’s. Quick turns down the final proposed offer to sell his business. Fats’ niece, Cheryl, 29, is seeing Quick’s son Dizzy, and he sets a meeting with her and Dizzy, offering them the opportunity to run his nightspot, Fats, at a hefty pay raise. Cheryl is intrigued at the prospect of operating Fats, but Dizzy declines the offer, stating that he will one day own Sweet Melody’s, which would be a conflict of interest. Fats notes that Quick and the late Sugar Ray showed up in Los Angeles 35 years ago, claiming to be from Chicago. Fat's connection dug into Quick past, and can't find anything about him being from Chicago, California, Las Vegas, or the Pacific Northwest. Fats instructs his connect to put the word out on Quick in New Jersey and New York.

Quick meets up with his old friend, the former heavyweight champ Jack Jenkins, 70, who, like many athletes, didn't invest his money. Jack has high hopes for his son Levi Jenkins, 22, a boxer turning professional in the cruiserweight division. Jack asks Quick for money to back Levi and open a new gym, promising Quick ten percent of each of Levi's fights. However, Levi gets knocked out in a sparring match, and Quick declines the offer.

Fats’ connect informs him that Quick is originally from Harlem, and a detective has spent years searching for him. The detective travels to Los Angeles with two thugs from his neighborhood and confronts Quick about the carnage he and Sugar Ray left in Harlem 35 years ago. The detective threatens Quick, Dizzy, and Melody's lives unless he is paid three million dollars and tells Quick that a loose cannon from Harlem has also spent years searching for him. Quick meets with Melody, Dizzy, Bennie Jr., Freeman, Pearl, and Baby Doll, informing them of his past discretions. He tells them it would be best to leave Los Angeles because their lives are in danger. Quick tells them of a plan for one last score that will net each of them $250,000 before leaving town for good, and they all agree.

Quick meets with Sugar Ray's widow, Annie, and tells her it's time to leave Los Angeles. Annie tells Quick she is an old woman and Los Angeles is her home. The loose cannon shows up from Harlem with a crew of gangsters. Quick and Dizzy go to war with them and prevail. Quick and Jack set up a fight for Levi Jenkins to fight the third-ranked cruiserweight in the world, putting $1,500,000 on him and running the money through Fats' numbers house. Fat's matches quicks $1,500,000, believing Quick has the inside scoop on Levi. Quick disguises himself as Jericho Hostetler, a 65-year-old, high-rolling maverick from Austin, Texas, and places another $2,000,000 on Levi.

During the fight where Levi is knocked out cold, Quick and his band of misfits robs Fats' gambling house, cleaning him out. A highly upset Fats rounds up his crew and the detective to search for Quick. He strong-arms his niece, Cheryl, and she tells them that Dizzy, Quick, and his crew could be at the harbor on Quick's newly purchased yacht, the Harlem Night. Fat's crew, the detective, and his two goons go to the Harlem Night in search of Quick. Realizing it's a setup, the men attempt to flee the yacht to no avail.