Carlito Brigante his way up to being the heroin kingpin of the neighborhood. Around 1970, Brigante (at the age of 40) is arrested during a drug bust and is sentenced to 30 years in prison. This marks the end of the novel, "Carlito's Way". "After Hours", which is the source for the film version of "Carlito's Way", begins with Brigante beating his prison sentence thanks to his lawyer David Kleinfeld. During "After Hours", Carlito tries to leave his life of crime behind and retire in the Bahamas with his girlfriend Gail. Circumstances conspire against him when Carlito innocuously accompanies his young cousin
Carlito's Way with a hot-headed young gangster from the Bronx named Benny Blanco. Carlito also rekindles his romance with his former girlfriend Gail (who calls him “Charlie”), a ballet dancer who moonlights as a stripper. Kleinfeld develops a love interest with Benny's girlfriend, Steffie, a waitress at the club. Benny's frustration with Carlito's constant rejections boils over and he confronts Carlito one night at his table. Carlito publicly humiliates Benny, who reacts by manhandling Steffie. Fueled by his now-extensive use of alcohol and cocaine, Kleinfeld brazenly pulls out a gun and threatens to kill Benny, but Carlito intervenes. Despite being personally threatened