Truth Be Told (2015) s02e09 Episode Script

- [HEART MONITOR BEEPING]
- [FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
[BREATHING DEEPLY]
[ROSE GASPS, BREATHES SHAKILY]
What do you want, Micah?
I want this to stop.
Then tell the truth.
We don't have to be at odds.
We loved each other once.
And you inspired me.
I'm willing to say that.
That you were the inspiration
behind Discard.
[SCOFFS]
Rose, tell Poppy you were mistaken.
Lie.
That's what you mean, right? Lie.
- Is it though?
- Yes.
You've told the story so many times,
you might feel like it's your life,
but it's not. It was mine.
Not all of it.
The attack in the club,
that didn't happen to you.
It happened to me.
You said he attacked you
because you were an outsider.
He attacked me because I'm Black.
- You can't erase that.
- That story was about vulnerability.
Coming home from school and finding
that your foster parents have
moved and left you behind.
No warning.
Whose story was that?
- Rose, listen
- Whose?
Tell me the truth if
you can't tell yourself.
The truth is bigger than both of us.
I have thousands of girls who need me.
You took advantage of me.
Exploited Holt's devotion.
- That's not true.
- It's not a lie.
Holt's DNA changed when
he fell in love with you.
Broken boy meets broken girl.
Her jagged edges cut him to shreds.
You remember that loft
we squatted in on Minna?
[KEYS JINGLE]
Well, you can live a life there.
It's yours.
If I do what?
[POPPY] Be careful.
Okay, I'll be careful.
- All right. Right about here.
- Ooh. Okay.
[POPPY] There?
- [CYDIE] Have faith. There we go.
- We got it?
Yeah. I don't know if it's
crooked or not. Let me see.
Mm-hmm.
- [CYDIE] That's nice.
- Yeah.
James Baldwin once wrote that to
accept one's past, one's history,
is not the same thing as drowning in it.
It's learning how to use it.
But an invented past can never be used.
It cracks and crumbles
under the pressures of life
like clay in a season of drought.
[POPPY] The drought has
officially begun for Micah Keith.
A seismic reckoning for
decades of deception.
[POPPY] The question
is, what happens now?
[POPPY] Micah's deception
was emotional criminality.
She took advantage of the
most vulnerable amongst us
and exploited the pain
for her own profit.
And almost everyone she touched
has felt the repercussions.
[CHATTERING]
My own reckoning looms as well.
For the choices I've made
the people I've hurt in the process.
This story has forced me to be
honest about my own mistakes.
My own reporting.
I didn't set out to expose Micah.
My only goal was to solve
the murders of Joshua Keith
and his son, Drew Turney.
[PHONE BUZZING]
[SIGHS] All right.
[POPPY] Oh. It's Rose.
- Hello?
- [ROSE]The hospital discharged me.
Don't leave. Don't leave.
I I'll be right there.
Why are you the one to get Rose?
[SIGHS] I don't have a choice.
She doesn't have a place to go.
Why do you need to see her so badly?
I listened to my interview
with her last night,
and she said Josh was threatened
because of his documentary.
We knew that.
- But how did she know that?
- I don't know. Maybe Josh told her.
Maybe she knows more than she thinks.
Is this about Micah?
Why are you still protecting her
after the way she betrayed you?
I want Micah held accountable.
I don't want her dead.
Understood.
[SHAE] Customer service can
help with any product returns.
I'll transfer you now.
You've reached Shelter.
How may we enhance you?
Leave the phone off the
hook. What happened?
When we got here this morning,
there were people out front.
Angry people. They They pushed in,
- grabbing products.
- Shh. Take a deep breath.
Okay, as long as no one was
hurt, it doesn't matter.
Where's Ivy?
She just finished up with the board.
There was no board
meeting on my calendar.
Ivy asked me to remove it.
[MICAH] Hmm.
[IVY] I understand,
but people are canceling subscriptions
by the thousands. Okay.
Give me five minutes to handle this.
I'll meet you in your office.
No, because Nordstrom
and Bloomingdale's both
dropped the skin care line.
I don't know. That's what I said. Mmm.
No, no, no. I'm I need
to call you back, okay?
How do you want to play this?
The board is moving to replace you.
With who?
The board approached me.
You want to try to replace
me from my own company?
You didn't leave me a choice.
Okay.
Let's test this out then.
Let's see who people are
more loyal to. You or me.
You know, this doesn't
have to be a fight.
Oh
it won't be.
Sorry.
Hey, Rose.
I'm glad you called me.
They needed my bed, so off I go.
Well, I brought you a couple of things.
Clothes, shoes, hygiene products,
a little money to get you started.
Thank you.
Can you, uh, help me with
a couple of questions?
You said Josh was threatened
because of his documentary.
What did you mean by that?
I went to his screening
a few months ago,
and I saw him get into an argument.
The guy got in his face
and threatened to kill him.
- Did you get his name, by chance?
- Mm-mmm.
But he looked like one
of those high-steppers.
[WHISPERS] High-steppers?
Any of these look familiar?
That's him. That's him right there.
Send that to Aames.
See if he knows who it is.
- You sure he threatened Josh?
- Yeah, I saw him.
He didn't see me.
Micah was here.
She, um, offered me a place
to live for my silence.
I'm not gonna lie about my life.
It's the only thing I have. Good or bad.
If you need a place to go,
I can help you.
How?
My sister looked into
a couple of shelters.
There's one in Albany,
- one in El Cerrito.
- [CHUCKLES]
I can take you to either one.
Help you get settled in.
You can just wipe your hands of me, hmm?
That's not my intention.
I just want to help.
Both facilities are nice, clean.
Where you going?
[SIGHS, SCOFFS]
Micah came here to shut me up.
- You came here to use me.
- That's not true.
Better off looking out for myself.
Okay. I heard back from Aames.
The guy Rose identified
is Martin Haywood.
And until a couple of weeks
ago, he was SFPD.
- Are you serious?
- Yes.
Aames wants to meet us in the morning.
[POPPY] Okay. Follow up with
him, and I'll connect later.
Hey, Daddy. It's me. I'm on my way.
I want to share the whole
story about Miss Shirley.
Not just what I told on the podcast.
[MISS SHIRLEY] If your
daddy really loved you,
he wouldn't be in jail.
[SIZZLES]
She never did things
that people could see.
She made me feel unwanted, a burden.
Then it was words.
She was real good at
cutting me with those.
The more she got to know me,
the more creative she was
about what would hurt me.
I had been there a month,
waiting to hear from Daddy, wondering
why he hadn't written to me,
when I saw a letter on the table.
She wouldn't let me read it,
open it or touch it.
I begged. I pleaded. I cried.
She just laughed at me.
It sat there for about a week.
Finally grabbed it and ran.
When she caught me, I was
screaming at the top of my lungs.
Even though she wasn't touching me,
I just I just kept screaming.
She, um
She grabbed it and threw
it in the fireplace.
And as soon as the flames
caught the edges of that letter,
I couldn't utter a sound.
It was like it ripped my
voice right out of my chest.
For good.
I never spoke another word after that.
What You've been holding
this in all this time?
Why didn't you say anything?
[YOUNGER SHREVE]
Remember, you gotta stay strong.
Don't cry.
Nobody cares about a
little Black girl's tears.
You did what you had to do to survive.
I'm sorry.
For what?
All the times I diminished
what you went through.
[POPPY] No, that's not your fault.
Then whose fault is it?
Daddy.
I'll go talk to him.
[SIGHS]
[DOORBELL RINGS]
What are you doing here?
Your father gave me his key,
but I decided to be respectable.
- And you decided not to get shot.
- [CHUCKLES] Yeah, that too.
- Would you like a drink?
- Yes, please.
Whiskey?
Ah, the nectar of the gods.
Sounds yummy.
- [LIQUID POURS]
- [GLASS CLINKS]
[POPPY] So?
So, tell me something. Do you hate me?
That's gotta be rhetorical.
And I ask because you're about
to go on trial over your behavior
as it pertains to the
death of Owen Cave.
A death that happened in that room.
And now you tell the world
that you let someone else die.
What do you want me to
do? It's out there now.
There's a world where we lean
into Miss Shirley's abuse of you.
Create sympathy.
But we're gonna have to get in deep,
and I gotta know if you can do it.
Do I have a choice?
We all have choices, but not
if you want to keep the house.
One of my neighbors wants to buy it.
I've been shipping Ingram's things.
This isn't home anymore.
It hasn't been since Owen Cave
killed himself here.
You've been through a lot.
But you are a formidable woman.
And you do a lot of good in the
world, even through your pain.
That's worth something.
Who the hell are you?
[CHUCKLES] Well, funny you ask.
I, uh Couple of years ago,
I did some of those,
uh, ancestry researches.
- I wanted to find out about my history.
- Mmm.
- Who's responsible for all this glory?
- [CHUCKLES]
Martin Haywood is a true
believer in the Sons of Ivar.
I planted him undercover
a few years back,
and the snake took to the swamp.
I'm assuming this has to do with
why he's no longer with the force?
Uh, there's more than that. I fired him.
Holy shit.
[AAMES] Yeah. He was able to
play both sides for a while,
but it caught up with him.
He's been using a, uh an alias
on Parler to champion Ivar.
He's even made some financial
contributions to the National Chapter.
That's what got IA onto him.
How'd that happen?
Usual bullshit.
Bitter divorce. The wife took the kids.
It's the same with a lot of these men.
Yeah. He hated Josh 'cause
Josh disavowed the Sons.
So Haywood had motive.
That's not enough for
the DA. It's a start.
We need evidence or an eyewitness.
Okay, just tell me this. Do you
think he could be our killer?
It's hard to say. He's got an alibi.
He was with SOI at an
initiation ceremony
the night that Joshua
and Drew were murdered.
He's got sworn statements.
Could be lying.
You think you could find
out who was initiated
or supposed to be initiated that night?
That could be the road for us.
You don't make off the books very easy,
but I will see what I can do.
You guys be careful, both of you.
Haywood has come loose at
the seams. I don't trust him.
So if he used police resources
to cover his tracks,
maybe he left a trail.
So, stick my head all the
way in the lion's mouth?
Welcome to my life.
- All right.
- Thank you, brother.
- [R & B PLAYING ON SPEAKERS]
- [SIGHS] How am I dating a cop?
I mean, a fine cop, but
it's not usually my style.
Top you off with another one?
- Eh, why not, right?
- Yeah.
[MOTORCYCLES REVVING]
- Markus Killebrew.
- Desiree. What's happening?
[REVVING CONTINUES, LOUDER]
Markus.
Hey.
- I'm glad you're here.
- I got your message.
Where the Capstones at?
Elk. Fellas, what's happening? You
[DESIREE] Drea?
[DESIREE] Sweetheart, are you okay?
Nando, call the police
and the paramedics.
Desiree, can you take her outta
here, away from the eyes?
[FERNANDO] Yeah. Could I get
some officers at The Knock?
Shattuck Avenue and 54th.
- Drea. Hi, I'm Desiree. This is Markus.
- Hey, sweetheart.
We're friends with your mother.
So, um, why don't we go
upstairs and wait for her
while Markus tries to reach her? Okay?
- [MARKUS] It's okay.
- Come on, baby. It's okay.
It's this way.
[SIGHS]
Come holla at me outside.
[DOG BARKING]
- [GRUNTS]
- [THUDS]
So this is the guy who was
supposed to be initiated
the night of Josh's murder.
Let's see if he'll back
up Haywood's alibi.
[AX THUDS]
[POPPY] Kyle Richter?
My name's Poppy. I'm a
reporter working on a story.
Was hoping you'd have a minute to talk.
About?
The Sons of Ivar.
Nothing to say.
I really don't have anything
to do with that group anymore.
Uh, I'm sorry, is that an M40A5?
Once upon a time in Texas,
I had a a rat problem.
That was the best way to deal
with it. And the most fun.
What else have you got
back there? Can I?
This is a Marlin 336A
and a a Remington 540XR.
Not bad.
Is that your father?
Military man?
Saw his name on the mailbox.
He's dead.
[NOA] Oh, I, um I'm sorry.
Yeah, that must've been hard.
You should go.
[NOA] My dad was a Texas
Ranger and military. Vietnam.
I can only imagine what it must
have been like as a guy.
What happened the night of your
initiation with Martin Haywood?
- Does he know you're here?
- No.
And he never needs to know.
What happened that night?
Martin was a no-show.
He missed the whole thing.
So Martin Haywood doesn't have an alibi.
[NOA] Nope. Lied.
Have all the people at the
initiation to back it up.
Just got an email blast from Shelter.
Looks like your friend's attempting
to rise from the ashes.
The accusations lodged
against you have
Well, attacked the very core of
everything I've tried to accomplish
and build here at Shelter.
We are about empowerment, female
empowerment, from our inception.
For another woman to be the
architect of this damaging campaign.
And w-what's being lost in
all this is the work I do.
I didn't ask for this position.
I wrote a book.
And it struck a chord.
It gave me a platform
to be able to show others how
to turn adversity into strength.
And I say it because I believe it.
- [SUSAN LAURA] What's next?
- [MICAH] Getting back to the core.
Which is why I'm very
much looking forward
to my weekend wellness seminar
at, uh, Tilden Regional Park.
Which I hope anyone watching and
everyone watching can make it.
[BLOW LANDS SOFTLY]
Baby? You ready?
You know, traffic is a beast on
the bridge at this time of day,
so we need to head out.
I'm not going.
I'm not trying to hear any of
that, Shreve. Now, let's go.
I mean what I said.
Elk told me where they found Drea
and what they saw when they
went in there to pull her out.
How could shit like this
happen in my neighborhood
and I have no idea about it?
Used to be nobody made a move
unless the Capstones gave a nod.
This isn't your fault, Shreve.
These appointments have been
nothing but distractions.
Now, don't use that.
You know that's disrespectful.
I'm not going. Ever.
Baby, I know that you're
upset about being sick.
But what you're really
upset about is Poppy
and what she told the family.
You two are so much alike.
She's more like you than
the other two combined.
Share your pain with her so
she can share hers with you.
[NOA] Martin Haywood. Stop number
two on our creepy man tour.
Well, we've been scarier places
and interviewed scarier men.
[SCOFFS] Yeah, but then we had
the might of the Times behind us.
Now
I just wanna interview him.
Ask him a some questions.
Shit. All right, let's do it.
[NOA SCOFFS] Is Haywood
running a meth lab back here?
This place is giving me the creeps.
Let's just Let's go.
- [SIGHS] Okay.
- Come on.
[POPPY] Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's he doing with
boxes of Shelter products?
[NOA WHISPERS] What?
[CHATTERING, LAUGHING]
- Hi.
- [IVY] Hey.
Um, this is not a good idea.
Why not?
Because it is dangerous.
None of the attendees
have been fully vetted.
These people love me.
I called, and they came.
[CHUCKLES]
You keep doing this, you're
going to destroy Shelter.
[MICAH] Can I get your
attention, everyone?
- Hi. Welcome.
- [ATTENDEES] Hi, Micah.
So, we have a new speaker this evening,
Ivy Abbott.
And she's gonna start us off today.
Go ahead. The floor is yours.
Why don't you lead us
in the burning ceremony?
[CHUCKLES]
That's a great idea.
[CHUCKLES] Thank you.
If I can ask you to take out whatever
item you brought here today.
A burning ceremony signifies
a cleanse.
There is fire in renewal.
Take a moment and think about
what your item represents to you.
How is it holding you back?
How does it represent your pain?
Your limitations?
Your failures and your disappointments?
Close your eyes.
Go ahead, close your eyes.
I really want you to focus
on whatever item it is that
you have in your hand.
We all get trapped in unhealthy
jobs, relationships, lives.
But we always, always have a choice.
An inner strength.
And that inner strength, it burns
inside of us just like this fire.
All it needs is just a little
little breath to ignite.
Who would like to be
the first to come up?
We want Micah.
[ATTENDEES] Yeah, Micah. Micah.
[IVY] Right.
Thank you, Ivy.
Thank you.
[SIGHS]
This is hate mail.
All of it.
Death threats,
simply because I have the
courage to use my voice.
It's time to release it all.
Any
and everything
that holds us back.
[MARKUS LAUGHS] Ah.
You remember my regular?
- [POPPY] Mmm.
- [CHUCKLES]
Thanks for letting me come see you.
[POPPY SIGHS] I think about
what happened to you every day.
Just replays in my mind.
Mine too. But it's not your fault.
Mmm.
You remember that young girl,
Drea Spivey, who went missing?
Yeah.
Yeah, well, the Capstones,
they found her.
And, uh [EXHALES]
it's fucking with me.
What good am I doing, Pop?
I mean, when I was on the
force, I had a purpose.
It felt like I was doing good
for the world every day.
But here I am
guarding some celebrity
while shit like this happens.
Young girls like Drea getting exploited.
So you need to put your cape back on.
Well, something like that.
[SIGHS]
Well, since we are baring our souls
Ingram and I are getting a divorce.
- You knew?
- [SIPS, SIGHS]
Zarina told me.
- How does Zarina know?
- Micah.
[POPPY SIGHS]
That's right.
Oh.
Well, I shouldn't be surprised, but
sorry I drew you into all of this.
Please. I'm a grown-ass man.
I could've said no.
Did she ever fool you?
No. No.
But you see, I didn't trust Micah
because her reactions never were
in line with the way I saw things.
But I never suspected her of anything.
I just wasn't buying the
bullshit she was selling.
[SIGHS]
You know why I've always
felt a connection with you?
Because you know what it's like to
be terrified to ever stop running.
Because if you did, that
demon could catch you.
Put you right back in that bottle.
[GROANS] This goddamn lawsuit is
You know, it's drying
up my whole business.
I'm obviously not working at Shelter.
And the few security gigs I do have
pay for my men but not much else.
Trini, she's going off to college.
I got a new baby on the way.
- Markus, why don't you let me help you?
- [SCOFFS]
Since I dragged you into all of this.
I'll get at you if I need
your help, okay?
To help me find another job.
So, uh, talk to Micah lately?
[SIGHS] No, but I need to.
- So, what? You need some backup?
- [CHUCKLES]
And risk your wife beating me
to death with her tennis racket?
- No. [LAUGHING]
- [MARKUS LAUGHS]
Hormones and all that. [LAUGHS]
That ain't hormones.
That's "your ex-girlfriend
gets on my nerves"
and all that. [CHUCKLES]
[LAUGHS]
[MICAH] It'd be easier
if I was a bad guy.
A villain.
Did I embellish my story?
Yes. I did.
Did I get more than 300 unhoused
kids off the street and into homes?
Did I build housing in San Francisco,
one of the most expensive
cities in the country,
and put 80 unhoused families in homes?
I betrayed my friend.
I wasn't truthful about all
four corners of my heart.
What woman is?
But I loved my husband.
I deeply loved him, and
I miss him every day.
And somehow that real
loss is just forgotten.
[ATTENDEE 1 GASPS, WHISPERS] It's Poppy.
- Poppy Parnell.
- [ATTENDEES MURMURING]
We're all imperfect humans.
[ATTENDEE 2] What's she doing here?
[ATTENDEE 1 WHISPERING]
That podcast on Micah.
[ATTENDEE 2] You're not welcome here.
- It's okay.
- [ATTENDEE 1] You should leave.
It's okay.
[ATTENDEES WHISPERING]
Did you come to join us?
No.
I came to make sure no one gets hurt.
Hmm.
They're all here 'cause they
wanna be. I didn't force them.
But you forced me
to reveal one of the most
painful moments of my life.
And my pain means what?
I have no idea.
Because I don't know if you're
capable of feeling anything.
What makes you the judge of that?
Did you team up with Martin
Haywood to kill Josh?
Of course not.
You don't have a single ally left.
No one who knew you before
all this is left in your life.
Where's the safety in that?
[WHISPERING CONTINUES]
Do you believe in me?
Yes.
- Do you believe in me?
- [ATTENDEE 3] Yes.
[MICAH] Thank you.
- Do you believe in me?
- Yes.
I believe in you, Micah.
[ALL] I believe in you.
- I believe in you.
- I believe in you.
- I believe in you.
- I believe in you.
[VOICES OVERLAPPING]
- [ATTENDEE 4] I believe in you, Micah.
- [CONTINUES]
Hey, Daddy.
Hey, baby girl. I'm glad you came.
- You ready to talk to me?
- [CHUCKLES]
I just didn't want to talk to myself.
I hated every word that you had to say.
I failed you. The girls.
In so many ways.
That's not why I told you any of that.
Before she died, Miss Shirley
told me you weren't my father.
One night she had been drinking,
and I overheard her talking
with one of her callers.
She caught me eavesdropping.
And then she told me that Mama was
already pregnant when she met you.
Do you believe I'm your father?
Have I been your father?
That's why you stopped
talking, baby girl?
Really?
What was she to you? Miss Shirley?
Just a woman I ran with
before I met Elinor.
Took me a long time to realize
that she loved me like
I loved your mother.
She never forgave me when I left her.
That why she took all
her rage out on me?
She never showed that to me.
Not once, ever.
She was neighborhood.
She still came to the bar,
the card parties me and
your mother used to throw.
She only showed me one face.
I never would've left you with
her if I knew anything else.
Do you believe me?
Look here.
[POPPY GASPS, CHUCKLES]
I've never seen this one
of you and Mama before.
You look just like her.
I love you so much, sweetheart.
I'm so proud of you. So goddamn
proud of how strong you are
and how you've made your own way.
Your mother would be
too, but not surprised.
She called you "Milky Way"
when you were a baby.
[CHUCKLES] She didn't.
Oh, she did.
Everybody thought the candy
bar or your pretty brown skin.
It was because you were
her whole constellation.
Her galaxy. Her little Milky Way.
- I never knew that.
- [CHUCKLES]
I used to tease her about it,
but I loved to hear it too.
You are our daughter.
You are Elinor's daughter.
You are my daughter.
[SIGHING] Yeah.
[GUNSHOT ECHOES]
[EXHALES SHAKILY]
[LINE RINGS]
Mitri, it's it's me.
[DEMETRIUS] A late-night call.
I'm intrigued. What's happening?
I don't want to go to trial.
And I want to retire in Fiji.
What's wrong? You getting cold feet?
No.
Clarity.
Settle the lawsuit.
Meet the terms of
Alana's demands in full.
Were you smacked on the head again?
I'm serious.
Not everyone deserves
peace and closure, but
she does.
- [CYDIE] Poppy! You home?
- I'm in here.
I told Mitri to settle the lawsuit.
I'm selling the house.
Well, where we going next?
- You staying with me?
- Until I can't.
[LAUGHS]
How was your talk with Daddy?
It was really nice.
Well, I'm glad.
Miss Shirley told me
he wasn't my father.
That Mama was already
pregnant when they met.
- What in all fuck?
- [CHUCKLES]
Well, what'd he say?
That I was his daughter.
Good.
Running Mama name through the
gutter like that, "already pregnant."
Mmm.
I bet Daddy stomped on that lie.
[ECHOING] Do you
believe I'm your father?
[CYDIE] Where you going?
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[POPPY] Daddy?
Daddy, you here?
[DOOR OPENS, SLAMS]
You stay the fuck back.
[MARTIN] It's time you stop running
your mouth on your podcast.
Tearing every one of us down.
Now, if you don't
I can make sure that
your father goes to jail
- for the rest of his life.
- You can't make sure of shit,
'cause you ain't a cop anymore.
And I said stay the fuck back!
- [POPPY GRUNTING]
- Hey. [GRUNTS]
- Come on. Hey.
- Somebody help me!
- Shut up.
- [CHOKES, SHRIEKS] Somebody help me!
- [KNIFE STABS]
- [POPPY GASPS]
[GASPING]
- [MARTIN GRUNTING]
- [PANTING]
Get your motherfucking
hands off my daughter.
[MARTIN GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
[THUDS]
[GASPING AND CHOKING]
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
It's all right. I'm here.
They gonna send you back to jail,
and it's gonna be my fault.
It's okay. It's okay.
- He's dead, Daddy.
- Don't worry.
- You can't go back to jail.
- I ain't going back anywhere.
I promise.
- It's okay. Come on.
- Okay.
Come on, it's okay.
- [POPPY SOBS]
- It's okay.