Flatbush Misdemeanors (2021) s02e03 Episode Script
and to think i saw it on snyder ave
Quit teaching.
Come work full-time
at the bike shop with me.
Kareem, it's nice you let me
work here for a couple months,
but I do want to teach again.
I mean, I appreciate it,
but I'm not really trying
to go back to New York.
Drew. Yo, what are you doing?
You cannot stay here, man.
There was a cop just in here
looking for you.
I need to get Zayna back in school.
Everybody knows you're an addict.
You need help.
"You have been accepted to interview
for the No Negro
Left Behind Fellowship."
Hi, my name's Dan and I'm an addict.
Mama, I made it.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE]
Kenyans love me.
Huh.
Uh, is somebody else gonna
be joining us?
I got an email from a LaKeisha?
I'd-I'd love to meet her.
Aw. I love LaKeisha.
Yeah, she's our customer service bot.
Representation is super important to us.
Right.
So, we loved your application,
and this interview, it's just a,
it's just a formality.
It's a little way that we can,
uh, get to know each other.
So, uh, can you tell us,
uh, what inspired you to apply
to No Negro Left Behind?
Um, honestly,
I'm-I'm a fan of some of your alumni.
You know, this program has done
great things for artists
- like Nneka Stevenson
- [NANCY] Okay.
That's good enough for me.
Is that good for you, D'Angelo?
Okay. You're in.
Uh
Wait, I'm already in?
Oh, yeah, like I said,
this is just a formality.
We just wanted to make sure
that you were, you know, you.
I mean, believe it or not, we
have been, uh, Black-fished before.
Can't have another Ike and Tina.
[KEVIN] Uh
[NANCY] So you'll want
to read over our syllabus,
and that'll give you an understanding
of the types of projects
you'll be working on.
[KEVIN] Wow. Okay. Cool.
- That's Thank you.
- No, thank you.
And we look forward
to seeing you at orientation.
Oh, and don't forget
to bring your djembe.
[LAUGHING] Just kidding.
- [CHUCKLES]
- [NANCY] I'm just joking.
Just kidding.
- [NANCY CHUCKLING]
- Uh
[HERCULES] Wait a minute.
This isn't my world.
Disappointed!
[SOFT SALSA PLAYING]
Hey, yo, my man.
It's been, like, two hours.
How long do it take
to fix a flat? Goddamn, bro.
You-you got to treat
every flat like it's your first.
Fuck are you talking about?
[DOOR BELLS JINGLE]
[DAN] Uh, oh.
[DAN] Uh, yo. Uh, hang on one second.
A lot of times, tires just need air,
and-and that means space.
So you give it some space.
What's going on?
- What's good? Uh
- How you
what is that?
- Sorry, I just
- I'm just gonna say we did it.
- All right, cool.
- Yeah.
Uh, well, welcome back, man.
When-when'd you get in?
Earlier. I was, uh,
hanging with my sister.
Yeah. When'd you start working here?
Uh, a couple months ago.
Um, yeah, while I was suspended.
Oh, I got my teaching job back.
- Oh, word?
- Yeah.
Congratulations, man. That's what's up.
Thanks, man.
Yeah. Lucky schools are understaffed.
It's bad for the kids,
but it worked out for me.
- Mm-hmm.
- Um, what about you?
You-you got an art thing?
Yeah, I just got into this fellowship.
They just accepted me.
This shit's crazy, bro.
They cover room, board.
They giving me brushes,
all this shit, man. It's nice.
Oh. I still have your
art supplies at my place
if you want me to,
like, bring them back,
or you can pick them up
if you need them.
Don't worry about that, bro.
They're gonna cover all that
in the program, you know.
I actually just came to give you this.
Right here, it's some
of that rent I owe you.
That's not all of it, but when
the stock market stabilizes,
I'm gonna be able to
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah. Um I reached out to you
a couple times to tell you,
um, uh, Drew's back.
- He-he showed up.
- [SMACKS LIPS] Ah, come on, bro.
I'm not trying to talk about Drew, man.
You know, I just wanted
to come here to do my art thing.
No, I, yeah, I know.
No, we don't have to talk about it,
but I just wanted to tell you
that he's back in town.
Yeah, bro, I just
Come on, man. I just said
I don't want to talk about Drew.
Why you still bringing it up?
Okay. Sorry. Yeah. D-do your stuff.
Hey, yo, Luka Doncic,
what's up with my bike?
He probably means me.
Um all right, I got to work,
but I'll-I'll see you.
- All right. Um
- Oh, you want to?
Okay, cool.
- [KEVIN] Next time.
- We'll figure it out.
[KEVIN] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, this customer was tipping me.
Good, 'cause I ain't tipping you shit.
[DESMOND] Look, check this out.
[ZAYNA] You know Kevin Durant and Kyrie?
[DESMOND] No, that shit Photoshopped.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
I mean, that's how I be
selling fake Nets tickets.
That shit booming right now.
White people love Kyrie.
- Love his ass.
- Yo.
I swear, you scamming niggas.
Y'all are mad funny.
Yeah, it wasn't funny when I lost money
out on them Travis Scott
tickets, though.
- Mm-hmm.
- Damn.
That's what your ass get. Shit.
Trying to act like
you been selling crack
since the fifth grade. Boy, bye.
Nigga, I know you still watch Boruto.
[LAUGHING]
Lord, that shit crazy, bro.
That's fucked up.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Hey, but you like it, though.
- No cap.
- Hmm.
But nah, for real though,
I really be outside.
You only know what I tell you.
Oh, word? A'ight.
So then tell me something, killer.
A'ight. [SIGHS]
So the other day, we was on the block,
and this old head just walked up to us.
I think he wanted some work,
but I don't know.
Something about it just gave
a energy that wasn't jacking.
So [SIGHS] keeping out
the details, you feel me,
we just chased him off the block.
Damn. So that's what
happened to your hand?
Nah, I fell off my scooter.
You know, was going too fast.
- Oh, my God.
- You feel me?
- [CHUCKLES]
- I swear, you so corny, bro.
- I can't stand you.
- I'm corny? Look, look, look,
- look, look. I'm corny?
- Yes, you corny.
- Mad corny.
- Look, look, look. Peep, peep,
peep. Look, look, look. Peep.
This corny?
- Yes, it's corny.
- Uh-huh.
[SLOW, SOMBER MUSIC]
[NANCY] Because people don't think
that dogs are the same as children.
My dog is a child.
Hi. I wanted to
So I saw that you had
a blue check mark on Instagram,
and I was wondering if
you could help me get one?
- [WOMAN] Uh-huh. Mm-hmm.
- [NANCY] Okay, thank you.
Hey, Nancy.
- Oh, hi.
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Hey. I'm loving the space.
Oh, thank you.
- It's great.
- Designed it myself.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Yeah, it's-it's very
Us, right?
I was thinking of putting up
a Jill Scott-Heron poster. I love her.
You mean Gil Sco?
You know what, never mind.
Um, where do we get
our art supplies from?
Oh, hmm. Uh have you tried
Family Dollar?
[LAUGHS] That was funny.
Oh, you're serious?
Like, um Wow.
I thought you guys covered all expenses.
Where'd you read that?
I didn't.
- Oh, ooh. [CHUCKLES]
- But yeah.
I don't know. I guess
I just thought you all did,
- 'cause, you know
- Oh.
- the money and everything.
- Money.
Uh, sorry. Um, you know,
No Negro Left Behind cannot
afford to take everyone with us.
But, um, remember,
there's a $50,000 cash pri
- Can I touch you?
- Uh
Uh, there's a $50,000 cash prize,
a chance to exhibit at LACMA in L.A.
Okay. Yeah, I just,
I got to get a job now. So
Oh. Have you seen the dorm rooms?
Um, yeah, actually
I was in there earlier,
but there weren't any empty beds.
- Oh, sorry about that.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that might be, uh
That might be a mistake on-on our part.
I'll check with our administrators
to see what they can do,
but, um, don't worry about it.
In the meantime, just, um
sleep on that couch.
[WHISPERING] Fucking D'Angelo.
So, we don't have
a school nurse anymore,
but if you just go to the gym teacher,
they have different equipment
you could use to heal.
You're gonna be okay.
Oh, deliveries on the other side, man.
Yo, Drew?
What are you, what are you doing here?
Yo. Call me Lucky.
Look
Whatever happened to getting
Zayna back in school?
Lucky, I don't know how you
thought I could do that.
Zayna does not listen to me.
I haven't even seen her
since the hearing.
Hearing? What're you
talking about right now?
Zayna made me pay her
so she would show up
at my teacher reinstatement hearing.
She's a good businesswoman.
You-you should be proud.
A'ight, a'ight. I know how
we gon' do this one.
Whatever you paid Zayna
to show up to your hearing,
you gon' give her that same amount
to get her to go to school.
I paid her $300.
That's what I make in a year.
Yeah, you got on
a turtleneck and peacoat.
You kidding me? You're doing fine.
- I found this on the subway.
- [SMACKS LIPS]
Look, look, I-I don't even
know when I'm gonna see Zayna.
Yeah, you figure all that shit out,
and you gon' report to my mans.
Your man Is your mans
one or two people?
Man, and you gon' let him
know how she doing in class.
Him. One person. Okay.
Uh, I-I don't think I can.
- Right?
- Yeah. S-Sorry. Yeah,
I-I can't do other things,
but I can do that.
Take this and stop playing with me.
And I'm-a see you, Dan.
I ain't going nowhere.
Couldn't you have brought empty boxes?
[GRUNTS]
See you, Lucky. [GRUNTS]
He's a hell of a mailman.
- Delivers on Sundays.
- [CLATTERING]
[JFK] Why, some say, the moon?
Why chose this as our goal?
[WOMAN] What do you think I should do?
[FRANKLIN] Ever since my divorce
I've been trying to fill this void.
I got to tell you,
I'm very excited about this.
I haven't sponsored anyone since Vinnie.
May he rest in peace.
Yeah, no, thanks, Franklin.
Yeah, I actually need your advice.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm here for.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Great.
Um, so, there's this guy who's been,
like, causing a lot of
problems for me lately.
- And, really for, like, a year.
- Oh.
Yeah, he's showing up at my work.
And he's kind of harassing me, honestly.
And-and I-I, you know,
I feel the withdrawal right now,
and I'm, like, trying
to hold it together,
but I just
It's just a lot, and I just
don't know how to cope.
All right, all right, listen.
I'm gonna tell you a story.
It might help you.
This is some real Safdie brothers shit,
- all right?
- Okay.
I go visit my grandmother in Jersey.
- Nursing home, okay?
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
I'm snorting coke right at
the table during a bingo game.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Half of them are fucking deaf,
the other half are blind.
They don't know
what the fuck's going on.
Right, but the other half
can-can hear and see what's going on.
Yeah, but they wouldn't fucking remember
what they saw five minutes ago.
It doesn't matter. They've
all got fucking dementia.
- Okay.
- So
this woman, my grandmother's
friend, Dot
- Yeah.
- all right?
Fucking, you know, ten boards.
She's got the blotter.
She's, like, a fucking bingo savant.
- Okay.
- She calls out, "Bingo."
I look down.
I got fucking bingo.
Right.
You see? So, like, if I were to just
lay back and relaxed,
I would've won the money.
You got to stay clean,
and you got to keep your head
in the bingo game, brother.
Yeah, I-I would love to focus on bingo,
but-but I don't know
what to do in terms of
This guy is constantly
showing up at my work.
He's constantly asking me to do shit.
And I just, I-I can't anymore.
And I can't take action against him.
But then if I do nothing,
more bad shit happens.
Yeah, but sometimes doing
nothing is doing something, Dan.
But I do so much nothing.
Like, I've gone with the flow
and almost lost my job.
This guy shot somebody.
I need some kind of quick fix
- to stop
- No, no, no quick fix.
We take things one day at a time here.
We surrender.
Day by day. Like, look, like,
I'll tell you this.
- Like this, okay?
- Okay.
So you know when you're watching porn
and you got, like, fucking
seven tabs open at the same time
'cause you're looking
for that perfect video?
This is your dick, yeah?
- Well, I'm blessed.
- Okay.
That perfect video
for when you end things.
You know what I mean?
Right, right.
- Well, guess what?
- What?
Doesn't have to be a perfect video.
You just need to release.
Okay. So, I'll just
come to something decent?
Well, nobody said anything
about decent, Dan.
[CHUCKLING] Call me, all right?
Or I'll call you.
Okay.
[WHISPERS] Bye.
Hey. Uh, uh, Sydney, right?
Yeah. What's your name?
Uh, Dan. Oh, sorry,
I should've said that.
I-I liked your share earlier.
I really related to it.
- Oh, you did?
- Mm-hmm.
Was it the, part about
stealing drugs from a vet clinic
or being, uh, you know,
stressed as the only daughter?
Which one kind of got you?
It was being stressed
- as the only daughter.
- It was.
I figured. Uh-huh, mm-hmm.
That part really resonated, yeah.
Um, could I get your advice?
- Mine?
- Yeah, yours. Yeah.
Mmm. You're new, right?
Yeah, how'd you know?
'Cause you're asking me when you should
probably be asking one of these guys.
Oh, I didn't Is that a thing?
I guess it's kind of a thing.
It's like a
it's like an unwritten rule.
Has anyone written down the
unwritten rules, so I-I can learn them?
- What advice do you need?
- Okay.
So I'm having some doubts
about my sponsor.
- Have you ever had that?
- Hmm. Me, no? I love my sponsor.
She showed up to my dad's wedding,
'cause she knows seeing my dad
happy is a big trigger for me.
- [INHALES]
- Hmm.
Uh, but if you don't like yours, switch.
Yeah, but I just don't want
to have that confrontation.
That feels like a
negative confrontation.
What would you do if you wanted
to break up with someone?
I would, I would, I would act distant
until they convince themselves
they should just end things.
That's called "the coward's way."
- Yeah. Uh-huh.
- It works every time. Yeah.
- That's really great. Yeah.
- Really, you should try that.
- Yeah, if you ever want to
- Yeah. Hmm.
Thank you. No, um
Here's my advice.
Talk to a guy or talk to him.
- Okay.
- Okay. Yeah.
Did this go okay, this conversation?
- Yeah, this was perfect.
- Okay.
Mr. Joseph [SMACKS LIPS]
Congrats on your reinstatement.
Thank you, sir. I missed you every day.
You're the new Sex Ed teacher.
W-Why do you have me teaching Sex Ed?
Uh, it's a new city requirement.
I don't take it seriously,
so it seemed like a good match.
That's fair.
So, now that we got that out the way,
a security guard reported seeing you
in a confrontation with a
delivery man yesterday morning.
Who was that?
You just got beef with mailmen now?
No, no, no. I-I have, I have
great respect for mailmen.
Mr. Joseph, we have security
cameras all over this building.
Don't try to play me.
I'm not one of these kids.
No, I-I know. You're-you're an adult.
'Cause we have a responsibility
to report this type of stuff
to the authorities
to protect the students.
Uh, I like to say "If you
see something, say something."
If that quote works for you.
Look, you just got reinstated.
And considering everything
that you've put me through
in the past year, understand
your job can be taken from you
just like that.
I-I understand, and-and you're
I'm gonna make you very proud
teaching sex to kids.
You do not have to worry about me.
I hope I don't, Mr. Joseph.
Because if I find out that
you've been putting our kids
or anyone at this school at risk,
I'll see to it that you don't
get any more second chances.
So I'm gonna ask you again.
Oh, boy.
Who was in your face on school grounds?
So I can do my job.
- You really need a name?
- Do you really need a job?
Okay. Yeah, that was Drew,
Zayna's uncle.
He showed up to encourage me
to keep an eye on Zayna
and-and dropped off some-some packages.
Good. Welcome back.
I'll get the police
on the phone, make a report,
so we can get this all squared away.
Wait, wait, wait.
Are you sure you have to?
That gonna be a problem?
W You wouldn't use my name, right?
What?
You're dismissed, Dan. Get out of here.
Okay.
Um, you'll email me the Sex Ed stuff?
- Leave. Leave, Dan.
- Okay. Okay.
Where I put my insulin?
[TOOL WHIRS]
- [KEVIN] Yo.
- Oh, shit. Kev.
What up?
Damn, man, I thought you was dead.
Why would you think that?
You got dead man energy, man.
- Word. Is Dan here?
- Oh.
Nah, his shift ended a little while ago,
but, uh [GRUNTS]
he told me to give you this, though.
- Oh, shit.
- Your little crayon box.
- Ah.
- Painting all that bullshit
you be painting.
That's keeping you homeless. [GRUNTS]
[KEVIN] You think I could, like,
borrow or rent one of these bikes?
I'm trying do this Uber Eats hustle.
Man, I'd love to help you out,
but sales have been so low,
I had to screw
all these bikes in the ground
so I can start a spin class
for white women.
You know there's a Blink
right across the street.
- You sure that's a good idea?
- Well, that's why I'm doing it.
I'm gonna stand outside
and steal their customers.
- Is that legal?
- Maybe, maybe not. I don't know.
Can I just get one of these
for a couple hours a day?
You know, I'll bring it right back.
[CLICKS TONGUE] I'm sorry, man.
All these bikes need to be fixed, man.
To be honest with you,
I'm overwhelmed, man.
I mean, my pipes are leaking,
my hemorrhoids are swelling,
my bunions are bunion-ing.
I mean, I'm all over the place
in here, man.
You know what? I could actually
help you fix that one right there.
- You can?
- Yeah.
I've been asking Dan
to fix that for weeks.
He just be standing next to it.
But if you can fix it, you can have it.
- A'ight. Good looking out.
- That's what's up.
[GRUNTS] Hold on,
I'm gonna be right back.
- Just a second.
- [SONG PLAYING INDISTINCTLY]
[DOOR BELLS JINGLE]
A cease and desist from Blink?
Oh. Oh, let
You got something right here.
I got you.
Hmm. [CHUCKLES]
[PHONE BUZZES]
- My God.
- What?
Nothing, just my uncle
being mad annoying.
- Yer?
- Nigga, what the fuck!
[DREW] Zayna, who the fuck was?
What?
Zay, Zay, Zayna, no, no.
Zay Oh, I know she ain't
with no nigga.
[DAN] Hey, Franklin.
[FRANKLIN] Oh, Dan the man.
Good meeting, huh?
Oh, yeah, it was dynamite.
Um, hey, could I, could I talk
to you for one sec?
Yeah, all right. These cookies suck.
[DAN] Yeah, I think
those are from last week.
- Yeah, um
- Talk to me.
What's going on?
Um, yeah, I just wanted to
to talk to you about-about
you sponsoring me.
- Hit me, hit me, hit me.
- Okay.
Yeah, um, are are you,
are you sure you want to?
Listen, I'm not sure about a lot, Dan.
But this I'm sure of. I love this shit.
Oh, boy. All right.
I was hoping you'd go
the other way with that.
Okay, look, um
yeah, it's-it's it's not a fit.
It's nothing personal,
I just feel like we're
on different frequencies
as-as people.
- Frequency?
- Yeah.
What, are we working
at a fucking airport?
No. No, we're not.
We're not at a fucking airport.
No, I, like, I just,
I just feel like-like
you were just talking at me
the other day, just, like,
about the slow process
- It is a process.
- No, I know.
Or you're telling me weird stories
that don't apply, and it's just
Dan, I'm giving you shit
that can help you here.
What, the bingo story?
Like, I needed quick help.
It was a pressing problem.
Everyone comes in here,
and they surrender, Dan.
They admit that
they can't get a quick fix.
That shit don't happen overnight.
- Sure.
- But not you, huh, Dan?
- You want it right now.
- No, just
It doesn't happen that way.
I understand, but
Complaining about listening to stories
from a man that has 15 years sober.
- No, I
- You just OD'd.
I remember.
- Just don't s-shout it.
- All right? And-and-and
somehow you're above
listening to stories?
Which, by the way, are
good enough to be movies.
I know. They'd be terrific movies,
and-and I, and I hope
they get off the ground someday.
- [SIGHING]
- No, look.
I'm not saying I'm above anything.
I'm just saying that it's not
that-that we have to not be a thing.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I told you my bingo story, man.
I give and I give and I give!
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SYDNEY] You okay?
No, I'm not. D-Did you hear any of that?
Yeah, I think people in Yonkers did.
- Okay.
- [SIGHS]
I-I, you know, I-I dropped
him as my sponsor.
Why?
Because he was just kind of
talking at me.
He wasn't really listening.
Yeah. I mean, it takes time.
It's like a relationship, you know?
I don't like those, either.
Are you in one?
- Are you?
- Uh
What they say about sponsors is
- No? Uh, okay.
- does he have what you want?
Like, in life or?
I-I don't know. I haven't seen
He has a wife,
but I haven't seen her. So
How many years sober is he?
Oh. 15, he said,
when he was yelling at me.
Okay. Okay.
But it's more than that. It's
not just, like, a numbers thing.
It was, like, like, I was
coming to him with an actual,
- pressing work problem, right?
- Okay.
- Like, I needed help right then.
- Mm-hmm.
And he wasn't even absorbing it.
Okay. Did you tell him how that,
you know, hurt you?
- What do you mean?
- Like, did you say,
"Hey, it bothers me that you're
not really hearing my issue"?
[EXHALES]
I don't know. The way you say that
makes it sound like
I should have done that.
Nothing's overnight.
Just surrender and accept
there's shit you can't control.
That should be a relief, right?
Do you want to sponsor me?
No. But
Are you afraid you won't be good at it?
- Dan.
- Yeah.
If it seems like he cared about you
sounds like he might've been a good fit.
[SIGHS]
That's different than
what you said before.
- No, I know.
- Remember, we talked?
See you at the next meeting,
Dan. Keep coming back.
[DAN] You were like,
"Find a new sponsor."
I fucking hate everyone here.
[MAN] That's the problem
with this world.
There's too many dumb people in it.
[VENESTINE] You know you got to
give her privacy one day, right?
Uh-huh, she can have privacy
when she start paying her own rent.
What are you looking for?
Condoms.
- What?
- Yeah.
Did you know she has a boyfriend?
Would you rather she had a girlfriend?
Absolutely.
You're supposed to be
keeping tabs on her,
and she out here running wild.
You don't pay me to be pussy police
and smack dicks out her hand.
You pay me so she don't wind up
in one of those foster homes
where the kids turn out worse
than when they went in.
[EXHALES] I just feel like
she doing worse now.
She's a 17-year-old girl.
Give her some space.
I'm spending too much bread
for her to have space.
I'm still putting money
on my brother's books.
I got to send money to her mom in Haiti.
I'm paying you for her
to stay in your crib.
I don't even got no bread left
no more for my side bitches.
You have money for your main bitches?
One of them wanted to go to the club.
I had to order bottles to the crib
and flick the lights for two hours,
in between them dumbass commercials
on Spotify every other song.
All right, I get it.
- You're killing my high.
- Fuck outta here.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[SNIFFS, SIGHS]
I'm going back to Philly
to find a new plug tonight.
Nobody out here
fucking with me right now.
I just wanted to let her know
I might not be back for a while.
I can tell her for you if you want.
No, I want to tell her myself.
Okay.
- Well, this is for you.
- Oh.
- Cool.
- It's a little short,
but I'm-a have the rest for you soon.
[CHUCKLES] A little? What's this?
- Oh, my bad. That's for Blue.
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- That's for you.
- Ah. Heavy. Nice.
Yeah.
[SIGHS] Damn, Zay.
Um, sorry to, sorry to
bring up Drew before.
I wasn't trying to upset you with that.
- No, don't worry about it.
- Okay.
Uh, what was up with that, though?
You wanted to say something about him?
Hmm no.
Congrats again on that fellowship.
- Oh, yeah, appreciate it.
- Yeah.
Yo, um, a-actually, you know
that rent money that I gave you?
Yeah, thank you for that, by the way.
Yeah. Yeah, I kind of need that back.
- Oh.
- Yeah. So
- Like, now?
- Yeah.
Okay.
[SONG PLAYING QUIETLY]
[DAN] All right.
Thanks for letting me hold it,
feel what rent would be like.
Oh, man. Fellas.
I just posted an ad
for the shop on TikTok.
Ooh. We about to
be bike shop billionaires.
Soon as these likes come up.
All right, well, I got to head out.
- All right.
- Yeah. Good to see you, Kev.
- Peace.
- Yeah. Appreciate you.
Uh, Kareem. Good luck with the TikTok.
- A'ight. Later, man. Damn, Kev.
- What's up?
You fixed the hell out
of this bike. You want a job?
Working here?
Yeah. 'Cause see, Dan,
he's a nepotism hire.
But you, you might actually
be able to help.
And if it don't work out,
I won't feel bad if I fire your ass.
Come on. Let me show you the passcode.
Check this out. I change it every week.
It's "2453," aka "bike."
Don't forget that, but don't
remember it neither,
'cause I change it every week.
Do you think before you do things,
or you just be doing shit?
[PATRICIA] Hi, I'm Patricia,
and I'm an addict.
I wanted to share with you
all about the wonderful weekend
I had with my niece.
- Hey.
- [SIGHS]
Hey. Uh, Franklin, listen
I am listening, Dan.
I'm listening to Patricia's share, okay?
She had a wonderful weekend
with her niece,
and I'd like to hear the rest of it.
Okay, look, Franklin,
I'm-I'm I'm sorry, man.
I-I want you to sponsor me again.
Oh, what happened? You
did a little shopping around?
Found out Carl's no picnic?
- No, I-I don't like Carl.
- Jimmy's too stupid?
Jimmy's very dumb, yes.
Listen, once you go Franklin,
you never go back.
[PATRICIA] friends and choose
what we ordered for
- to using drugs.
- Oh.
Go back to using drugs.
Sorry. Yeah. You didn't
finish the sentence.
Look, Franklin,
I-I want your help, okay?
I want, I want to confront
what got me here,
and I-I want to hear your stories.
[PATRICIA] helped me get
to this place.
Let's hear your stories.
Okay, fine. What do you want to know?
No, no, not just me.
Share.
What, like, now?
- Or
- Right now.
[DAN] Okay.
Um, hey, I'd-I'd like to share.
No, man, no. We-we about to wrap up.
Oh, okay. You hear that, everybody?
It ends with me.
Um, hi, I'm Dan, and I'm an addict.
[DESMOND AND ZAYNA CHUCKLING]
Oh, hell no. She done lost her mind.
[DAN] Yeah,
I-I've kind of been struggling in-in NA
for a little bit, because
it's such a slow process,
and, um, I'm always kind of
looking for the quick fix,
you know?
Like, I feel stressed, I take pills.
Or, you know, I-I have some problem,
I'll look for, like, a shortcut
or a Band-Aid or something.
I guess when I do that,
everything gets worse.
- Yo, Zay.
- [ZAYNA] Okay.
What the fuck you think you doing?
[ZAYNA CHUCKLING]
- Oh, my God. This nigga.
- [IMITATES CHUCKLE]
Yeah, this nigga. You don't
know what I've been through today.
Got me out here looking crazy. The
whole time you outside with some boy?
Drew, you are wildin' right now.
- This is so embarrassing.
- Yo, ask me if I give a damn.
- Hey, bro, just chill out.
- Yo, back the fuck up, son.
Hold on, what you doing with my niece?
I ain't know y'all was kin, OG.
Wait, what are you talking about?
Like, there was, there was
this guy who was just, like,
like, a constant source of chaos
in my life, you know?
And-and I should've had
the courage to, like,
confront that chaos head-on,
you know, but-but I didn't.
You tell me the fuck
you doing with this nigga?
You know my uncle?
It's the old nigga
I was telling you about.
The one that we ran off the block.
[LAUGHING]
- "Ran off the block"?
- [DESMOND] Yeah, nigga.
Y'all niggas ain't run
nobody off the block.
- You ain't built like that.
- What are you doing this for?
Yo. What are you talk You're
from Park Slopes, my nigga.
Park Slope? Man, you would've
been left outside in Park Slope.
A'ight, well, you know what, then?
- A'ight
- [ZAYNA] Okay. Enough.
We're not really doing this, are we?
This nigga look like a janitor, man
Yeah, and I'm about to clean you up.
My boss wanted to call the cops
on this guy, and I wanted to stop it
but I also, I also kind of didn't.
I-I didn't want to stop him,
because that would be
the quick fix for my problems.
And now I just, I don't know
what's gonna happen to the guy,
and I-I don't know
I just feel worse than ever.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [SIREN APPROACHING]
Flip you like a pizza pie, little nigga.
- A'ight, bro.
- What the fuck are you?
- No salt.
- [SIRENS WAILING]
- [ZAYNA] Oh, shit.
- Fuck. Y'all go inside, man.
- Drew, but
- Damn.
Take her inside, man.
Um, anyway, thank you
for, yeah, listening.
- [APPLAUSE]
- Appreciate you guys. Yeah.
Hell, nah. Man, y'all shut up!
I don't fuck with no snitches!
[DAN] That's not
That's not what I'm trying to
[FRANKLIN] That was good.
And bad. You know,
you're gonna get used to it.
You're gonna A few more.
But maybe apologize to Rodney.
[DISPATCHER TALKING OVER RADIO]
Y'all-y'all know Eric
Adams my cousin, right?
I got a picture in my phone
at the press conference
with five of your mans.
I set the whole thing up.
[OFFICER] Right.
Tell your lawyer. Come on.
[DREW] Man. I'm telling y'all,
don't want to piss off the Adams family.
If I know Eric, he gon' do
some role reversal shit,
and y'all not gonna like that.
I'm telling y'all, you gon' be
right in the cell with me,
and I'm-a be looking at y'all.
- We'll talk about it downtown.
- We'll be doing your paperwork.
Come work full-time
at the bike shop with me.
Kareem, it's nice you let me
work here for a couple months,
but I do want to teach again.
I mean, I appreciate it,
but I'm not really trying
to go back to New York.
Drew. Yo, what are you doing?
You cannot stay here, man.
There was a cop just in here
looking for you.
I need to get Zayna back in school.
Everybody knows you're an addict.
You need help.
"You have been accepted to interview
for the No Negro
Left Behind Fellowship."
Hi, my name's Dan and I'm an addict.
Mama, I made it.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE]
Kenyans love me.
Huh.
Uh, is somebody else gonna
be joining us?
I got an email from a LaKeisha?
I'd-I'd love to meet her.
Aw. I love LaKeisha.
Yeah, she's our customer service bot.
Representation is super important to us.
Right.
So, we loved your application,
and this interview, it's just a,
it's just a formality.
It's a little way that we can,
uh, get to know each other.
So, uh, can you tell us,
uh, what inspired you to apply
to No Negro Left Behind?
Um, honestly,
I'm-I'm a fan of some of your alumni.
You know, this program has done
great things for artists
- like Nneka Stevenson
- [NANCY] Okay.
That's good enough for me.
Is that good for you, D'Angelo?
Okay. You're in.
Uh
Wait, I'm already in?
Oh, yeah, like I said,
this is just a formality.
We just wanted to make sure
that you were, you know, you.
I mean, believe it or not, we
have been, uh, Black-fished before.
Can't have another Ike and Tina.
[KEVIN] Uh
[NANCY] So you'll want
to read over our syllabus,
and that'll give you an understanding
of the types of projects
you'll be working on.
[KEVIN] Wow. Okay. Cool.
- That's Thank you.
- No, thank you.
And we look forward
to seeing you at orientation.
Oh, and don't forget
to bring your djembe.
[LAUGHING] Just kidding.
- [CHUCKLES]
- [NANCY] I'm just joking.
Just kidding.
- [NANCY CHUCKLING]
- Uh
[HERCULES] Wait a minute.
This isn't my world.
Disappointed!
[SOFT SALSA PLAYING]
Hey, yo, my man.
It's been, like, two hours.
How long do it take
to fix a flat? Goddamn, bro.
You-you got to treat
every flat like it's your first.
Fuck are you talking about?
[DOOR BELLS JINGLE]
[DAN] Uh, oh.
[DAN] Uh, yo. Uh, hang on one second.
A lot of times, tires just need air,
and-and that means space.
So you give it some space.
What's going on?
- What's good? Uh
- How you
what is that?
- Sorry, I just
- I'm just gonna say we did it.
- All right, cool.
- Yeah.
Uh, well, welcome back, man.
When-when'd you get in?
Earlier. I was, uh,
hanging with my sister.
Yeah. When'd you start working here?
Uh, a couple months ago.
Um, yeah, while I was suspended.
Oh, I got my teaching job back.
- Oh, word?
- Yeah.
Congratulations, man. That's what's up.
Thanks, man.
Yeah. Lucky schools are understaffed.
It's bad for the kids,
but it worked out for me.
- Mm-hmm.
- Um, what about you?
You-you got an art thing?
Yeah, I just got into this fellowship.
They just accepted me.
This shit's crazy, bro.
They cover room, board.
They giving me brushes,
all this shit, man. It's nice.
Oh. I still have your
art supplies at my place
if you want me to,
like, bring them back,
or you can pick them up
if you need them.
Don't worry about that, bro.
They're gonna cover all that
in the program, you know.
I actually just came to give you this.
Right here, it's some
of that rent I owe you.
That's not all of it, but when
the stock market stabilizes,
I'm gonna be able to
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah. Um I reached out to you
a couple times to tell you,
um, uh, Drew's back.
- He-he showed up.
- [SMACKS LIPS] Ah, come on, bro.
I'm not trying to talk about Drew, man.
You know, I just wanted
to come here to do my art thing.
No, I, yeah, I know.
No, we don't have to talk about it,
but I just wanted to tell you
that he's back in town.
Yeah, bro, I just
Come on, man. I just said
I don't want to talk about Drew.
Why you still bringing it up?
Okay. Sorry. Yeah. D-do your stuff.
Hey, yo, Luka Doncic,
what's up with my bike?
He probably means me.
Um all right, I got to work,
but I'll-I'll see you.
- All right. Um
- Oh, you want to?
Okay, cool.
- [KEVIN] Next time.
- We'll figure it out.
[KEVIN] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, this customer was tipping me.
Good, 'cause I ain't tipping you shit.
[DESMOND] Look, check this out.
[ZAYNA] You know Kevin Durant and Kyrie?
[DESMOND] No, that shit Photoshopped.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
I mean, that's how I be
selling fake Nets tickets.
That shit booming right now.
White people love Kyrie.
- Love his ass.
- Yo.
I swear, you scamming niggas.
Y'all are mad funny.
Yeah, it wasn't funny when I lost money
out on them Travis Scott
tickets, though.
- Mm-hmm.
- Damn.
That's what your ass get. Shit.
Trying to act like
you been selling crack
since the fifth grade. Boy, bye.
Nigga, I know you still watch Boruto.
[LAUGHING]
Lord, that shit crazy, bro.
That's fucked up.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Hey, but you like it, though.
- No cap.
- Hmm.
But nah, for real though,
I really be outside.
You only know what I tell you.
Oh, word? A'ight.
So then tell me something, killer.
A'ight. [SIGHS]
So the other day, we was on the block,
and this old head just walked up to us.
I think he wanted some work,
but I don't know.
Something about it just gave
a energy that wasn't jacking.
So [SIGHS] keeping out
the details, you feel me,
we just chased him off the block.
Damn. So that's what
happened to your hand?
Nah, I fell off my scooter.
You know, was going too fast.
- Oh, my God.
- You feel me?
- [CHUCKLES]
- I swear, you so corny, bro.
- I can't stand you.
- I'm corny? Look, look, look,
- look, look. I'm corny?
- Yes, you corny.
- Mad corny.
- Look, look, look. Peep, peep,
peep. Look, look, look. Peep.
This corny?
- Yes, it's corny.
- Uh-huh.
[SLOW, SOMBER MUSIC]
[NANCY] Because people don't think
that dogs are the same as children.
My dog is a child.
Hi. I wanted to
So I saw that you had
a blue check mark on Instagram,
and I was wondering if
you could help me get one?
- [WOMAN] Uh-huh. Mm-hmm.
- [NANCY] Okay, thank you.
Hey, Nancy.
- Oh, hi.
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Hey. I'm loving the space.
Oh, thank you.
- It's great.
- Designed it myself.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Yeah, it's-it's very
Us, right?
I was thinking of putting up
a Jill Scott-Heron poster. I love her.
You mean Gil Sco?
You know what, never mind.
Um, where do we get
our art supplies from?
Oh, hmm. Uh have you tried
Family Dollar?
[LAUGHS] That was funny.
Oh, you're serious?
Like, um Wow.
I thought you guys covered all expenses.
Where'd you read that?
I didn't.
- Oh, ooh. [CHUCKLES]
- But yeah.
I don't know. I guess
I just thought you all did,
- 'cause, you know
- Oh.
- the money and everything.
- Money.
Uh, sorry. Um, you know,
No Negro Left Behind cannot
afford to take everyone with us.
But, um, remember,
there's a $50,000 cash pri
- Can I touch you?
- Uh
Uh, there's a $50,000 cash prize,
a chance to exhibit at LACMA in L.A.
Okay. Yeah, I just,
I got to get a job now. So
Oh. Have you seen the dorm rooms?
Um, yeah, actually
I was in there earlier,
but there weren't any empty beds.
- Oh, sorry about that.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that might be, uh
That might be a mistake on-on our part.
I'll check with our administrators
to see what they can do,
but, um, don't worry about it.
In the meantime, just, um
sleep on that couch.
[WHISPERING] Fucking D'Angelo.
So, we don't have
a school nurse anymore,
but if you just go to the gym teacher,
they have different equipment
you could use to heal.
You're gonna be okay.
Oh, deliveries on the other side, man.
Yo, Drew?
What are you, what are you doing here?
Yo. Call me Lucky.
Look
Whatever happened to getting
Zayna back in school?
Lucky, I don't know how you
thought I could do that.
Zayna does not listen to me.
I haven't even seen her
since the hearing.
Hearing? What're you
talking about right now?
Zayna made me pay her
so she would show up
at my teacher reinstatement hearing.
She's a good businesswoman.
You-you should be proud.
A'ight, a'ight. I know how
we gon' do this one.
Whatever you paid Zayna
to show up to your hearing,
you gon' give her that same amount
to get her to go to school.
I paid her $300.
That's what I make in a year.
Yeah, you got on
a turtleneck and peacoat.
You kidding me? You're doing fine.
- I found this on the subway.
- [SMACKS LIPS]
Look, look, I-I don't even
know when I'm gonna see Zayna.
Yeah, you figure all that shit out,
and you gon' report to my mans.
Your man Is your mans
one or two people?
Man, and you gon' let him
know how she doing in class.
Him. One person. Okay.
Uh, I-I don't think I can.
- Right?
- Yeah. S-Sorry. Yeah,
I-I can't do other things,
but I can do that.
Take this and stop playing with me.
And I'm-a see you, Dan.
I ain't going nowhere.
Couldn't you have brought empty boxes?
[GRUNTS]
See you, Lucky. [GRUNTS]
He's a hell of a mailman.
- Delivers on Sundays.
- [CLATTERING]
[JFK] Why, some say, the moon?
Why chose this as our goal?
[WOMAN] What do you think I should do?
[FRANKLIN] Ever since my divorce
I've been trying to fill this void.
I got to tell you,
I'm very excited about this.
I haven't sponsored anyone since Vinnie.
May he rest in peace.
Yeah, no, thanks, Franklin.
Yeah, I actually need your advice.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm here for.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Great.
Um, so, there's this guy who's been,
like, causing a lot of
problems for me lately.
- And, really for, like, a year.
- Oh.
Yeah, he's showing up at my work.
And he's kind of harassing me, honestly.
And-and I-I, you know,
I feel the withdrawal right now,
and I'm, like, trying
to hold it together,
but I just
It's just a lot, and I just
don't know how to cope.
All right, all right, listen.
I'm gonna tell you a story.
It might help you.
This is some real Safdie brothers shit,
- all right?
- Okay.
I go visit my grandmother in Jersey.
- Nursing home, okay?
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
I'm snorting coke right at
the table during a bingo game.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Half of them are fucking deaf,
the other half are blind.
They don't know
what the fuck's going on.
Right, but the other half
can-can hear and see what's going on.
Yeah, but they wouldn't fucking remember
what they saw five minutes ago.
It doesn't matter. They've
all got fucking dementia.
- Okay.
- So
this woman, my grandmother's
friend, Dot
- Yeah.
- all right?
Fucking, you know, ten boards.
She's got the blotter.
She's, like, a fucking bingo savant.
- Okay.
- She calls out, "Bingo."
I look down.
I got fucking bingo.
Right.
You see? So, like, if I were to just
lay back and relaxed,
I would've won the money.
You got to stay clean,
and you got to keep your head
in the bingo game, brother.
Yeah, I-I would love to focus on bingo,
but-but I don't know
what to do in terms of
This guy is constantly
showing up at my work.
He's constantly asking me to do shit.
And I just, I-I can't anymore.
And I can't take action against him.
But then if I do nothing,
more bad shit happens.
Yeah, but sometimes doing
nothing is doing something, Dan.
But I do so much nothing.
Like, I've gone with the flow
and almost lost my job.
This guy shot somebody.
I need some kind of quick fix
- to stop
- No, no, no quick fix.
We take things one day at a time here.
We surrender.
Day by day. Like, look, like,
I'll tell you this.
- Like this, okay?
- Okay.
So you know when you're watching porn
and you got, like, fucking
seven tabs open at the same time
'cause you're looking
for that perfect video?
This is your dick, yeah?
- Well, I'm blessed.
- Okay.
That perfect video
for when you end things.
You know what I mean?
Right, right.
- Well, guess what?
- What?
Doesn't have to be a perfect video.
You just need to release.
Okay. So, I'll just
come to something decent?
Well, nobody said anything
about decent, Dan.
[CHUCKLING] Call me, all right?
Or I'll call you.
Okay.
[WHISPERS] Bye.
Hey. Uh, uh, Sydney, right?
Yeah. What's your name?
Uh, Dan. Oh, sorry,
I should've said that.
I-I liked your share earlier.
I really related to it.
- Oh, you did?
- Mm-hmm.
Was it the, part about
stealing drugs from a vet clinic
or being, uh, you know,
stressed as the only daughter?
Which one kind of got you?
It was being stressed
- as the only daughter.
- It was.
I figured. Uh-huh, mm-hmm.
That part really resonated, yeah.
Um, could I get your advice?
- Mine?
- Yeah, yours. Yeah.
Mmm. You're new, right?
Yeah, how'd you know?
'Cause you're asking me when you should
probably be asking one of these guys.
Oh, I didn't Is that a thing?
I guess it's kind of a thing.
It's like a
it's like an unwritten rule.
Has anyone written down the
unwritten rules, so I-I can learn them?
- What advice do you need?
- Okay.
So I'm having some doubts
about my sponsor.
- Have you ever had that?
- Hmm. Me, no? I love my sponsor.
She showed up to my dad's wedding,
'cause she knows seeing my dad
happy is a big trigger for me.
- [INHALES]
- Hmm.
Uh, but if you don't like yours, switch.
Yeah, but I just don't want
to have that confrontation.
That feels like a
negative confrontation.
What would you do if you wanted
to break up with someone?
I would, I would, I would act distant
until they convince themselves
they should just end things.
That's called "the coward's way."
- Yeah. Uh-huh.
- It works every time. Yeah.
- That's really great. Yeah.
- Really, you should try that.
- Yeah, if you ever want to
- Yeah. Hmm.
Thank you. No, um
Here's my advice.
Talk to a guy or talk to him.
- Okay.
- Okay. Yeah.
Did this go okay, this conversation?
- Yeah, this was perfect.
- Okay.
Mr. Joseph [SMACKS LIPS]
Congrats on your reinstatement.
Thank you, sir. I missed you every day.
You're the new Sex Ed teacher.
W-Why do you have me teaching Sex Ed?
Uh, it's a new city requirement.
I don't take it seriously,
so it seemed like a good match.
That's fair.
So, now that we got that out the way,
a security guard reported seeing you
in a confrontation with a
delivery man yesterday morning.
Who was that?
You just got beef with mailmen now?
No, no, no. I-I have, I have
great respect for mailmen.
Mr. Joseph, we have security
cameras all over this building.
Don't try to play me.
I'm not one of these kids.
No, I-I know. You're-you're an adult.
'Cause we have a responsibility
to report this type of stuff
to the authorities
to protect the students.
Uh, I like to say "If you
see something, say something."
If that quote works for you.
Look, you just got reinstated.
And considering everything
that you've put me through
in the past year, understand
your job can be taken from you
just like that.
I-I understand, and-and you're
I'm gonna make you very proud
teaching sex to kids.
You do not have to worry about me.
I hope I don't, Mr. Joseph.
Because if I find out that
you've been putting our kids
or anyone at this school at risk,
I'll see to it that you don't
get any more second chances.
So I'm gonna ask you again.
Oh, boy.
Who was in your face on school grounds?
So I can do my job.
- You really need a name?
- Do you really need a job?
Okay. Yeah, that was Drew,
Zayna's uncle.
He showed up to encourage me
to keep an eye on Zayna
and-and dropped off some-some packages.
Good. Welcome back.
I'll get the police
on the phone, make a report,
so we can get this all squared away.
Wait, wait, wait.
Are you sure you have to?
That gonna be a problem?
W You wouldn't use my name, right?
What?
You're dismissed, Dan. Get out of here.
Okay.
Um, you'll email me the Sex Ed stuff?
- Leave. Leave, Dan.
- Okay. Okay.
Where I put my insulin?
[TOOL WHIRS]
- [KEVIN] Yo.
- Oh, shit. Kev.
What up?
Damn, man, I thought you was dead.
Why would you think that?
You got dead man energy, man.
- Word. Is Dan here?
- Oh.
Nah, his shift ended a little while ago,
but, uh [GRUNTS]
he told me to give you this, though.
- Oh, shit.
- Your little crayon box.
- Ah.
- Painting all that bullshit
you be painting.
That's keeping you homeless. [GRUNTS]
[KEVIN] You think I could, like,
borrow or rent one of these bikes?
I'm trying do this Uber Eats hustle.
Man, I'd love to help you out,
but sales have been so low,
I had to screw
all these bikes in the ground
so I can start a spin class
for white women.
You know there's a Blink
right across the street.
- You sure that's a good idea?
- Well, that's why I'm doing it.
I'm gonna stand outside
and steal their customers.
- Is that legal?
- Maybe, maybe not. I don't know.
Can I just get one of these
for a couple hours a day?
You know, I'll bring it right back.
[CLICKS TONGUE] I'm sorry, man.
All these bikes need to be fixed, man.
To be honest with you,
I'm overwhelmed, man.
I mean, my pipes are leaking,
my hemorrhoids are swelling,
my bunions are bunion-ing.
I mean, I'm all over the place
in here, man.
You know what? I could actually
help you fix that one right there.
- You can?
- Yeah.
I've been asking Dan
to fix that for weeks.
He just be standing next to it.
But if you can fix it, you can have it.
- A'ight. Good looking out.
- That's what's up.
[GRUNTS] Hold on,
I'm gonna be right back.
- Just a second.
- [SONG PLAYING INDISTINCTLY]
[DOOR BELLS JINGLE]
A cease and desist from Blink?
Oh. Oh, let
You got something right here.
I got you.
Hmm. [CHUCKLES]
[PHONE BUZZES]
- My God.
- What?
Nothing, just my uncle
being mad annoying.
- Yer?
- Nigga, what the fuck!
[DREW] Zayna, who the fuck was?
What?
Zay, Zay, Zayna, no, no.
Zay Oh, I know she ain't
with no nigga.
[DAN] Hey, Franklin.
[FRANKLIN] Oh, Dan the man.
Good meeting, huh?
Oh, yeah, it was dynamite.
Um, hey, could I, could I talk
to you for one sec?
Yeah, all right. These cookies suck.
[DAN] Yeah, I think
those are from last week.
- Yeah, um
- Talk to me.
What's going on?
Um, yeah, I just wanted to
to talk to you about-about
you sponsoring me.
- Hit me, hit me, hit me.
- Okay.
Yeah, um, are are you,
are you sure you want to?
Listen, I'm not sure about a lot, Dan.
But this I'm sure of. I love this shit.
Oh, boy. All right.
I was hoping you'd go
the other way with that.
Okay, look, um
yeah, it's-it's it's not a fit.
It's nothing personal,
I just feel like we're
on different frequencies
as-as people.
- Frequency?
- Yeah.
What, are we working
at a fucking airport?
No. No, we're not.
We're not at a fucking airport.
No, I, like, I just,
I just feel like-like
you were just talking at me
the other day, just, like,
about the slow process
- It is a process.
- No, I know.
Or you're telling me weird stories
that don't apply, and it's just
Dan, I'm giving you shit
that can help you here.
What, the bingo story?
Like, I needed quick help.
It was a pressing problem.
Everyone comes in here,
and they surrender, Dan.
They admit that
they can't get a quick fix.
That shit don't happen overnight.
- Sure.
- But not you, huh, Dan?
- You want it right now.
- No, just
It doesn't happen that way.
I understand, but
Complaining about listening to stories
from a man that has 15 years sober.
- No, I
- You just OD'd.
I remember.
- Just don't s-shout it.
- All right? And-and-and
somehow you're above
listening to stories?
Which, by the way, are
good enough to be movies.
I know. They'd be terrific movies,
and-and I, and I hope
they get off the ground someday.
- [SIGHING]
- No, look.
I'm not saying I'm above anything.
I'm just saying that it's not
that-that we have to not be a thing.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I told you my bingo story, man.
I give and I give and I give!
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SYDNEY] You okay?
No, I'm not. D-Did you hear any of that?
Yeah, I think people in Yonkers did.
- Okay.
- [SIGHS]
I-I, you know, I-I dropped
him as my sponsor.
Why?
Because he was just kind of
talking at me.
He wasn't really listening.
Yeah. I mean, it takes time.
It's like a relationship, you know?
I don't like those, either.
Are you in one?
- Are you?
- Uh
What they say about sponsors is
- No? Uh, okay.
- does he have what you want?
Like, in life or?
I-I don't know. I haven't seen
He has a wife,
but I haven't seen her. So
How many years sober is he?
Oh. 15, he said,
when he was yelling at me.
Okay. Okay.
But it's more than that. It's
not just, like, a numbers thing.
It was, like, like, I was
coming to him with an actual,
- pressing work problem, right?
- Okay.
- Like, I needed help right then.
- Mm-hmm.
And he wasn't even absorbing it.
Okay. Did you tell him how that,
you know, hurt you?
- What do you mean?
- Like, did you say,
"Hey, it bothers me that you're
not really hearing my issue"?
[EXHALES]
I don't know. The way you say that
makes it sound like
I should have done that.
Nothing's overnight.
Just surrender and accept
there's shit you can't control.
That should be a relief, right?
Do you want to sponsor me?
No. But
Are you afraid you won't be good at it?
- Dan.
- Yeah.
If it seems like he cared about you
sounds like he might've been a good fit.
[SIGHS]
That's different than
what you said before.
- No, I know.
- Remember, we talked?
See you at the next meeting,
Dan. Keep coming back.
[DAN] You were like,
"Find a new sponsor."
I fucking hate everyone here.
[MAN] That's the problem
with this world.
There's too many dumb people in it.
[VENESTINE] You know you got to
give her privacy one day, right?
Uh-huh, she can have privacy
when she start paying her own rent.
What are you looking for?
Condoms.
- What?
- Yeah.
Did you know she has a boyfriend?
Would you rather she had a girlfriend?
Absolutely.
You're supposed to be
keeping tabs on her,
and she out here running wild.
You don't pay me to be pussy police
and smack dicks out her hand.
You pay me so she don't wind up
in one of those foster homes
where the kids turn out worse
than when they went in.
[EXHALES] I just feel like
she doing worse now.
She's a 17-year-old girl.
Give her some space.
I'm spending too much bread
for her to have space.
I'm still putting money
on my brother's books.
I got to send money to her mom in Haiti.
I'm paying you for her
to stay in your crib.
I don't even got no bread left
no more for my side bitches.
You have money for your main bitches?
One of them wanted to go to the club.
I had to order bottles to the crib
and flick the lights for two hours,
in between them dumbass commercials
on Spotify every other song.
All right, I get it.
- You're killing my high.
- Fuck outta here.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[SNIFFS, SIGHS]
I'm going back to Philly
to find a new plug tonight.
Nobody out here
fucking with me right now.
I just wanted to let her know
I might not be back for a while.
I can tell her for you if you want.
No, I want to tell her myself.
Okay.
- Well, this is for you.
- Oh.
- Cool.
- It's a little short,
but I'm-a have the rest for you soon.
[CHUCKLES] A little? What's this?
- Oh, my bad. That's for Blue.
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- That's for you.
- Ah. Heavy. Nice.
Yeah.
[SIGHS] Damn, Zay.
Um, sorry to, sorry to
bring up Drew before.
I wasn't trying to upset you with that.
- No, don't worry about it.
- Okay.
Uh, what was up with that, though?
You wanted to say something about him?
Hmm no.
Congrats again on that fellowship.
- Oh, yeah, appreciate it.
- Yeah.
Yo, um, a-actually, you know
that rent money that I gave you?
Yeah, thank you for that, by the way.
Yeah. Yeah, I kind of need that back.
- Oh.
- Yeah. So
- Like, now?
- Yeah.
Okay.
[SONG PLAYING QUIETLY]
[DAN] All right.
Thanks for letting me hold it,
feel what rent would be like.
Oh, man. Fellas.
I just posted an ad
for the shop on TikTok.
Ooh. We about to
be bike shop billionaires.
Soon as these likes come up.
All right, well, I got to head out.
- All right.
- Yeah. Good to see you, Kev.
- Peace.
- Yeah. Appreciate you.
Uh, Kareem. Good luck with the TikTok.
- A'ight. Later, man. Damn, Kev.
- What's up?
You fixed the hell out
of this bike. You want a job?
Working here?
Yeah. 'Cause see, Dan,
he's a nepotism hire.
But you, you might actually
be able to help.
And if it don't work out,
I won't feel bad if I fire your ass.
Come on. Let me show you the passcode.
Check this out. I change it every week.
It's "2453," aka "bike."
Don't forget that, but don't
remember it neither,
'cause I change it every week.
Do you think before you do things,
or you just be doing shit?
[PATRICIA] Hi, I'm Patricia,
and I'm an addict.
I wanted to share with you
all about the wonderful weekend
I had with my niece.
- Hey.
- [SIGHS]
Hey. Uh, Franklin, listen
I am listening, Dan.
I'm listening to Patricia's share, okay?
She had a wonderful weekend
with her niece,
and I'd like to hear the rest of it.
Okay, look, Franklin,
I'm-I'm I'm sorry, man.
I-I want you to sponsor me again.
Oh, what happened? You
did a little shopping around?
Found out Carl's no picnic?
- No, I-I don't like Carl.
- Jimmy's too stupid?
Jimmy's very dumb, yes.
Listen, once you go Franklin,
you never go back.
[PATRICIA] friends and choose
what we ordered for
- to using drugs.
- Oh.
Go back to using drugs.
Sorry. Yeah. You didn't
finish the sentence.
Look, Franklin,
I-I want your help, okay?
I want, I want to confront
what got me here,
and I-I want to hear your stories.
[PATRICIA] helped me get
to this place.
Let's hear your stories.
Okay, fine. What do you want to know?
No, no, not just me.
Share.
What, like, now?
- Or
- Right now.
[DAN] Okay.
Um, hey, I'd-I'd like to share.
No, man, no. We-we about to wrap up.
Oh, okay. You hear that, everybody?
It ends with me.
Um, hi, I'm Dan, and I'm an addict.
[DESMOND AND ZAYNA CHUCKLING]
Oh, hell no. She done lost her mind.
[DAN] Yeah,
I-I've kind of been struggling in-in NA
for a little bit, because
it's such a slow process,
and, um, I'm always kind of
looking for the quick fix,
you know?
Like, I feel stressed, I take pills.
Or, you know, I-I have some problem,
I'll look for, like, a shortcut
or a Band-Aid or something.
I guess when I do that,
everything gets worse.
- Yo, Zay.
- [ZAYNA] Okay.
What the fuck you think you doing?
[ZAYNA CHUCKLING]
- Oh, my God. This nigga.
- [IMITATES CHUCKLE]
Yeah, this nigga. You don't
know what I've been through today.
Got me out here looking crazy. The
whole time you outside with some boy?
Drew, you are wildin' right now.
- This is so embarrassing.
- Yo, ask me if I give a damn.
- Hey, bro, just chill out.
- Yo, back the fuck up, son.
Hold on, what you doing with my niece?
I ain't know y'all was kin, OG.
Wait, what are you talking about?
Like, there was, there was
this guy who was just, like,
like, a constant source of chaos
in my life, you know?
And-and I should've had
the courage to, like,
confront that chaos head-on,
you know, but-but I didn't.
You tell me the fuck
you doing with this nigga?
You know my uncle?
It's the old nigga
I was telling you about.
The one that we ran off the block.
[LAUGHING]
- "Ran off the block"?
- [DESMOND] Yeah, nigga.
Y'all niggas ain't run
nobody off the block.
- You ain't built like that.
- What are you doing this for?
Yo. What are you talk You're
from Park Slopes, my nigga.
Park Slope? Man, you would've
been left outside in Park Slope.
A'ight, well, you know what, then?
- A'ight
- [ZAYNA] Okay. Enough.
We're not really doing this, are we?
This nigga look like a janitor, man
Yeah, and I'm about to clean you up.
My boss wanted to call the cops
on this guy, and I wanted to stop it
but I also, I also kind of didn't.
I-I didn't want to stop him,
because that would be
the quick fix for my problems.
And now I just, I don't know
what's gonna happen to the guy,
and I-I don't know
I just feel worse than ever.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [SIREN APPROACHING]
Flip you like a pizza pie, little nigga.
- A'ight, bro.
- What the fuck are you?
- No salt.
- [SIRENS WAILING]
- [ZAYNA] Oh, shit.
- Fuck. Y'all go inside, man.
- Drew, but
- Damn.
Take her inside, man.
Um, anyway, thank you
for, yeah, listening.
- [APPLAUSE]
- Appreciate you guys. Yeah.
Hell, nah. Man, y'all shut up!
I don't fuck with no snitches!
[DAN] That's not
That's not what I'm trying to
[FRANKLIN] That was good.
And bad. You know,
you're gonna get used to it.
You're gonna A few more.
But maybe apologize to Rodney.
[DISPATCHER TALKING OVER RADIO]
Y'all-y'all know Eric
Adams my cousin, right?
I got a picture in my phone
at the press conference
with five of your mans.
I set the whole thing up.
[OFFICER] Right.
Tell your lawyer. Come on.
[DREW] Man. I'm telling y'all,
don't want to piss off the Adams family.
If I know Eric, he gon' do
some role reversal shit,
and y'all not gonna like that.
I'm telling y'all, you gon' be
right in the cell with me,
and I'm-a be looking at y'all.
- We'll talk about it downtown.
- We'll be doing your paperwork.