Parenthood s04e04 Episode Script
The Talk
There was a vending machine in the school last year, but they took it out.
I'm running for student council president I'm going to win.
I'm going to get the school board to bring back the vending machine.
- Kristina's sick.
- What do you mean, sick? I can't give you all the details, and you're the first person I'm telling, so Sorry some of this stuff is gonna fall on you, but I'm gonna keep asking you to do some of these things for me because I'm gonna need your help.
Mrs.
Braverman, a lumpectomy, performed sooner rather than later, offers the best chance of remission.
I have an opening Friday the 26th at 8:00 A.
M.
Okay.
Any second now.
- I'm going back to bed.
- No, no, wait, wait.
You're gonna miss it.
You're gonna miss it.
It's gonna come, I swear to God.
Come on, it'll be It'll be here.
I'm going back to bed.
Oh! Look! There.
Shh! Now, listen.
You hear that? No.
No.
It sounds fine to me.
- Oh - Zeek, really.
Camille, it's not fine.
There's like an air sound, you know? - Hey.
- Uh-huh? You need a hobby.
Sports.
They're an incredible way to make friends.
- Great way.
- I'm still in touch with a number of girls from my swim team.
In fact, just the other day, one of them sent me a message on Facebook.
- Oh! - And sports are fun! - Super fun.
- Video games are fun.
I know you like watching baseball with me, you know.
That might be something you could do.
That was my sport growing up.
I loved it.
Or you could try one of the sports that I did swimming Swimming's great.
- Soccer.
- Good for your heart.
Volleyball, tennis.
I was briefly competitive in gymnastics before my growth spurt.
Anyway - probably not.
Yeah.
- It's your call here.
Your choice.
Sweet.
Then I choose nothing.
Nothing Is not an option.
But you just said it was my choice.
You're not gonna sit on this couch every afternoon playing video games.
You either Pick a sport or you learn to play the violin.
Fine.
Baseball.
Excuse me.
Fine.
Baseball.
So we just wanted to discuss the surgery date.
Is there a conflict with the 26th? - No, my wife just has - Well, kind of, yes.
A question about whether we can move it.
My son is running for president of student council, and he has Asperger's.
He just started at a new school, and I need to be there.
I'm the room mom that day.
I realize that might sound kind of asinine in the greater scheme of things - It's really not - When's my next available? You have an opening the 12th of next month.
Does that work for you, Mrs.
Braverman? That would be great.
I could buy more time, and, you know, work with the class but that's three weeks.
Is that too long to push it? Look, I've already advised you to have the surgery as soon as possible, but if the 12th is the soonest possible date for you, then we will do it on the 12th.
I feel like you're saying sooner's better than later.
I just want to do the right thing here, honey.
All right, Mrs.
Braverman, you know, pushing surgery back a few weeks is not the end of the world, but I have a sense that you're the type of person who puts your family first and yourself last.
- That's true.
- Well, I mean, sort of you have one job this year, Mrs.
Braverman, and that is to focus on getting healthy.
That is the most important thing for you and for your family.
Okay.
So The 12th.
If that's what you want.
The 12th.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Check, check, check.
Yeah.
This ain't no trap music No illusion Co-sign abusing Force accusing They innocent, never dust up a fingerprint This that dark set, no lights Killing it Life membership Revokin' with my penmanship Hey, buddy.
Hey.
That angelou sinking that boat of hardship Exhibit attitude, Los Angeles latitude, longitude Jesus and my Jews for my religion Bogart a Lane, and they gotta move I'm in Acura, pimptacular Vernacular, chase after that What's pimptacular mean? Uh Means, uh, super-awesome.
Buddy, maybe you shouldn't have those on.
Like seeing sasquatch foot, no half-step in Nigga Yeah.
What's a nigga? Okay.
May God bless and keep you always And may your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung And may you stay Forever young May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong And may you stay Forever young May you stay Forever young - Hey, good morning! - Hey.
I made waffles.
Look, I need to talk to you about yesterday.
You got a second? I know, I know, I'm sorry.
Rehearsals ran late again last night.
It's the last time this week.
I swear.
Not not not for you.
Something that Waffles! - Yeah.
Some blueberry syrup.
- Pimptacular! It's about that.
Would you just for one second, can I talk to you? There's some blueberries over there too.
- Okay.
- Okay.
What's up? First of all, I'm so sorry.
I should have seen it coming, and I didn't.
But it happened, and I couldn't stop it.
We were in the recording session together, and he overheard some words that he shouldn't have heard.
What, like pimptacular? - Among other things.
- Like what? Byotch and, um, ho.
- Ho? - Ho bag.
- That's not actually better.
- And, um Nigga.
What do you mean, like with like a "a" or "er"? - I think every iteration of - Yeah.
It just doesn't even matter.
I think, though, I explained it to him.
I said, you know, it's a terrible, terrible word like Voldemort, you know, from Harry Potter.
He who shall not be named Yeah, I know, and that word is nothing like Voldemort.
No, no, worse.
I said it was worse.
Like way worse.
All right, so you You think you handled it? Yeah.
Maybe not entirely.
He was still confused because double D said it, and he wanted to know why he was allowed to say it.
- And what'd you say? - Well, I got kinda flustered and I said, you know, he's allowed to say it 'cause he's black, and then Jabbar said, "I'm black.
" I said no.
He said why? And then I said Voldemort again.
- I-I just got flustered.
- Right.
- I'm sorry.
You don't have to be sorry.
I mean, of course you wouldn't know how to handle this.
I need to talk to him.
I need to have the "talk" with him.
You will have the talk with him.
- Yes, I will.
- Mommy, can I have some juice? Yeah.
It's on the counter.
All right? So I'll deal with it.
- Okay? - Okay.
All right.
Team Peeta or team Gale? Just wondering.
Ha.
Frankly, I'm team Gale.
Some people consider it controversial.
I'm okay with that.
You've read this? - Of course you've read this.
- What do you mean, of course? You know what? Actually, this is perfect.
You tell me what this whole thing's about.
Give me like a book report about this, and then you can go home early.
Why do you need a book report onthe hunger games? Because it's my daughter's favorite book.
- Really? - Yeah.
That's right.
I'm reading the hunger games for my kid.
She used to be easy to talk to, and now she's not.
I guess I'm trying to relate.
No, I get it.
I spent many hours playing halotrying to relate.
I didn't know you had a daughter.
- Yes, I do.
- What's she like? What do you she's impossible to summarize.
So'sthe hunger games trilogy.
Fine! She's great.
Great kid.
Very smart Oh, my God, that's like the generic parent answer.
Tell me some details.
I didn't even know you had a daughter.
Fine, uh She used to be shy, and now she's kind of grown into herself, I guess, which is great, but it also scares me.
I remember when she used to need me for everything, and She was this just Like a big pile of love that wouldn't leave my side.
Drew was like that at that age.
Anyway, so Her mom Makes it kind of tough.
She only lets her come up from L.
A.
once a month, and even that's a fight.
Look, I know it's sad and pathetic that I'm reading the hunger games, but, uh She is at that age where I don't know, maybe it's just 'cause I'm her dad, but I Please stop torturing me.
Just tell me what Why should I be team Gale? Okay No.
I can't do this here.
Oh, my God.
Okay.
Mom.
I need you to go to the store.
I need pens and poster board Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- For the campaign.
- Where's dad, buddy? I'm just trying to finish He dropped me off.
Grandpa had an emergency.
What's wrong with grandpa? Is he okay? I don't know, mom.
Did you hear me? Yeah, I'm listening, Max.
Hold on a second let me finish two things, okay? One, two.
Done.
Okay, listen, we'll make a list.
How about that? What do you need, pens, paper? I need pens, and I need poster board for my campaign for president.
Also you need to get those 25 signatures for that petition.
- I got them.
- Otherwise, you're not gonna be able to I got them.
- You got all 25 signatures? - Yeah, I got all 25.
But I had to ask 29 people, because 4 said no.
- You walked up to 29 people - Yes, I did.
I walked up to them, and I stuck my hand out, and I said, "hi.
I'm Max Braverman, "and I need your signature to run for student council president," and then I looked them in the eye, and I smiled.
I am so incredibly proud of you.
- I didn't like that part.
- I'm sure you didn't, Max.
High five.
That is amazing! Can I see that? Yeah.
But I have to turn it in to the student activities.
- What am I listening for? - You hear that? I hear a sprinkler.
Dad, you called me and you said you had an emergency.
- You don't hear that? - This is not an emergency.
An emergency would be a flood.
I think there's air in the system.
- Adam? What are you doing here? - I have absolutely no idea.
Shh! Just pipe down, would you? Is he trying to get you involved with this sprinkler thing? Yeah.
'Cause there's nothing wrong with the sprinklers.
- Clearly.
- They're absolutely fine.
He's bored.
That's what the problem is.
Hey, you know something, Camille? I'm standing right here.
I can hear you.
- Oh, can you? - Yeah.
- Oh, really? - Uh-huh.
'Cause I've been asking you for a couple of weeks now to go down to the V.
A.
They have a volunteer program down there he would be so great for the program.
They could really use someone like him.
And it would make him feel needed, and he wouldn't be so focused on the damn sprinkler system.
Don't put Adam in the middle of this.
He doesn't care about the V.
A.
I don't care about the sprinklers either.
I don't even know why I'm still standing here.
They're fine! - Adam.
- What? - I need your help.
- You don't need my help.
The sprinklers are working fine.
The plants are all getting water.
Why don't you listen to mom and go volunteer at the V.
A.
? Don't listen to your mother! I'd rather listen to the air in the system Thank you, sweetie.
In the sprinklers! All right, go ahead, go! Go! They're gurgling! - Everybody's got a cup, right? - Yep.
I didn't even tell you the best part, buddy.
Your sponsor for the team is a pizza place.
Know what that means? Win or lose, pizza party.
Just 15 minutes, right? Yeah, just meet the coach and then get your uniform.
But I have a feeling after you get that glove in your hand, you're not gonna want to leave.
Uh, hi.
Sorry we're late.
It's totally my fault.
- Hey, no worries.
- Joel Graham.
Coach fulton.
All right, go gear up with coach Tony.
Hustle! You must be Victor? Yeah.
Welcome to the panthers, Victor.
Ow! That's some grip you got.
Can't wait to see that arm on the field.
Okay, see that nice man there with the blue hat? He's gonna get you hooked up with a mitt and a partner for a little bit of catch.
Okay.
- Sound like fun? - Sure.
- Okay.
- Just, uh First day jitters, I guess.
You or him? Okay.
Well, I have a feeling Hugh Jass, Seymour butts, and Ree Tard didn't sign anybody else's petition.
I know.
That's the one that kills me, the Ree Tard one.
It's so mean.
I can't believe how mean little school kids can be.
If they knew how hard it was for him to walk up to them and ask them to sign the petition, they're mean kids, but this can be fixed.
We have to ask Max not to run for president.
That's what we have to do.
Honey No, I can handle this.
That-I can't let him do this, honey.
- Kids are mean.
- Student council is for the popular kids, and he doesn't get that, and we are setting him up for failure.
Adam, he walked up to each and every one of those kids and asked them to sign the petition, okay? That was a huge effort on his part.
He should not be punished for that.
I get it I'm trying to protect him, honey.
This is gonna end badly, okay? And I think that he could regress, and everything we've worked for could just disappear.
I don't want you to have to deal with this right now.
I'm fine.
So what are you saying, we shouldn't let him run? Is that what you're saying? Yeah.
I think that we have to tell him that he can't run for president.
He's gonna completely freak out.
He's gonna freak out.
Yeah, it's gonna freak out.
And he'll get over it.
That's life.
You know, you were really quiet in Dr.
Bedsloe's office yesterday when I rescheduled my surgery.
Just It's your decision.
Huh, pal? Got our little nipper here, little Otis, and Haddie went off to college.
You started at a new school.
That's a big change.
Mmhmm.
You have a new schedule, you have four new teachers instead of one.
You have to switch classrooms, which is a little hectic.
- That's a new thing.
- That's a lot to handle, and you're doing such a good job at it.
And the school is much, much bigger.
A lot of kids.
Oh, it's so much bigger.
So Your mother and I feel that we should just embrace all this new change.
Max, can you look at me for a second? We don't wanna overdo it, so we think that it's probably best to wait until next year to run for president.
No.
The vending machine is gone now, and as president, I'll bring it back.
- Right, but - Okay, listen to mom now.
You did such a great job getting that petition signed by all those kids.
Amazing job, and you know what? As a reward, we can get you those skittles.
We'll buy you a ton of skittles, and the vending machine thing won't even be an issue.
It's still an issue.
It's an issue because it's unfair.
I know that it's unfair, Max, but our mother and I want to do what's best for you, and all we're saying is that we should wait until next year for you to run for president.
No.
No.
We don't want to see you get distracted to become the president of the United States of America, you have to be 35 years old and a natural-born citizen.
To become student council president at cedar knoll middle school, you have to be a student in good academic standing who has collected 25 signatures.
I am both of those things.
Yep, you are.
You're right, but we don't want to see schoolwork get disrupted by this.
No.
You can't tell me not to run.
That's fascist! You're both fascists! - We're definitely not fascists.
- We're not fascists.
You know, it's an assault to my freedom.
I'm reporting you both to the house un-American activities commission.
Okay.
All right, do that.
You might have a tough time getting in touch with them, 'cause the house un-American activities community's been disbanded for being un-American! I didn't even want to go in the first place.
All right, tell me what you do wanna do.
I really don't care.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Ruby, this is my new assistant Sarah.
Hi! It's so nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
- I heard so much about you.
- Yeah? - Yeah! Yeah.
Cool.
So What happened to mini golf? Uh, apparently mini golf is not cool any more.
- Oh.
Right.
- Yep.
So I I'm team Gale.
I heard you're team Peeta.
We're gonna be sworn mortal enemies.
Yeah.
I guess so.
Apparently,hunger games isn't cool any more either, so Really? The only thing I really know about the vfw is you can get $2 whiskey shots.
Yeah, there's that.
But we also provide services to veterans.
Like what, checkers? And career counseling.
Financial planning.
We have a lot of need for volunteers in the front office, if that interests you.
You'd be answering phone responding to emails.
Well, yeah, okay, why don't we just cut to the chase here? You see, my wife wants me away from the house for like three hours, so what do you got that kinda fills that time? The refreshment table's looking a little thin.
How are you at making coffee? Are you sure that we have to do this right now? I just feel like maybe we're gonna shatter his innocence, and he's so young.
Yeah.
I'm not thrilled about it either, but Has to happen.
Because you said it needs to.
No, because it needs to happen.
I feel like you're pulling rank a little bit because You know.
You know? Because I'm black? Because you're black.
Yeah.
I feel like you pulled rank.
Baby, you have to respect the fact that I have an understanding on the subject that you don't.
And the fact is, that word means something different to Jabbar because he's black.
All right, that's fair.
But he's also half-white.
Right.
Which, you know, he can use his white card when he gets pulled over by the cops for driving while black.
He can just say, "I'm actually half-white.
" Okay.
He's eight years old, and we live in Berkeley, so I don't think that's gonna be happening anytime soon.
I know you're not that naive.
Look, there are things in the world that aren't pretty, and eventually, he's gonna hear something he shouldn't.
Like what happened.
And I would just rather him hear the truth from me before that happens.
Okay.
I wanna be there, though.
Okay.
- Hi, mom, hi, dad.
- Hey, buddy.
You ready for some ants on a log? - Dad! - What? Ants in your pants? Oh, my I didn't know what it means to believe Oh, my Oh! Mm.
This coffee sucks.
- Really? - It's awful.
Well, I just made that coffee that you insulted.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm I'm probably just spoiled.
We got the gourmet stuff in Afghanistan.
Oh.
Yeah.
Well, I think we drank fecal matter in 'nam.
Yeah, well, that's how Americans show their love now buy a bag of beans: Support the troops.
Thank you, coffee bean & tea leaf.
Gee, you make me wanna re-enlist.
Zeek Braverman.
Ryan York.
I'm sorry.
Sure.
You mind if I sit down? Sure.
So how long you been home, Ryan York? Oh, this isn't home.
My mom wanted me to go back to Wyoming, but I need a fresh start, you know? You mean home from Afghanistan.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, well, still counting that in days.
Even though I I guess it's been months.
Right.
Yeah, that happens for a while.
You here for the checkers? Career center.
Just met the counselor.
Apparently, two tours as an army irrigation specialist can get me an interview unloading boxes at a shipping center, so Tch.
That is awesome.
Irrigation specialist.
Is that like, uh, sprinklers? Uh, not exactly.
More like Wells and stuff like that.
Yeah, but sprinklers wouldn't be outside of your range of knowledge, would they? I guess not.
Right.
Yeah.
Well.
That a boy, Jack! Nice swing! He keeps doing this thing with his elbow.
At least he's making contact.
See, Dylan spent a whole summer playing Xbox and now he's shocked that he's rusty.
Victor loves the Xbox.
My boy Victor.
Sorry, that was a terrible segue.
He's new and I'm new.
I'm Joel.
- How you doing? I'm Mike.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hey, how are you? - So, uh What position does he play? You know, we're still trying to figure that out, but, uh, he's, uh You know, I was a pitcher.
Oh.
You too? - Oh, cool.
- Yeah.
Yeah, there he is.
My boy.
All right, Victor.
You got this, buddy.
- He's a big kid.
- Yeah.
That's a nice try.
Hey, choke up for me, Vic.
Just move your grip up like this.
Nice and easy, okay? You'll get the next one.
You got this.
- That's all right.
- Maybe he's more of a pitcher.
Like you.
Just let the bat do the work.
Relax, buddy.
He'll get it.
Hey! You don't throw bats on my field! That's two laps.
Screw this and screw you.
- Hey - Why did you and Julia make me do that? Buddy, it's your first at bat.
You got plenty of time.
Come on! - I'm not going back.
- Yes, you are.
- You can't make me! - Victor you're not my real dad! Come on, it's sea otters.
Why can't I just stay here? Look, I really I thought this would be something that you would enjoy.
I don't want to go, okay? Fine.
All right.
Fine.
Look, sorry.
Sorry that I let you down again.
But I have a job to do, so please get in the car.
Why are you being so difficult about this? I'm 11.
I'll just stay here.
No, you won't stay here.
You can't stay here by yourself.
I'm not by myself! She's here.
Um, she can stay with me.
Okay, great.
Only be a couple hours.
But my opinion is not being given any weight, and, you know, I think it's because I'm white, which is - yeah.
- It's weird.
No, it's it's hard being a white man in this country.
Hmm.
Look, I know the world's not a perfect place, but Jabbar's world is perfect, okay? I don't know if you think that sycamore playground is a hotbed of racial tension But it's not, okay? I've been there.
- Whoa.
I gotta go.
I gotta go.
- Are you listening to me? Hold on.
What are you where are you going? You see that? Busy, I guess.
For what it's worth, I sympathize.
I mean, it seems like there's no easy answer.
You guys both have good points.
And what did what did she say? She agreed, and she thought it would be a bad idea.
She thought it would be a huge struggle for a kid like Max.
Okay, good.
She kept saying, "a kid like Max.
A kid like Max.
" I wanted to choke her.
All right, I know.
I know.
But at least we're all on the same page here.
We're not on the same page, Adam.
I think that we should let him run.
Kristina, we talked about this.
I think we're not admitting this, but the real reason that we're not letting him run is because of me.
- No, it's not.
- It is, and I'm I'm not I can't accept that.
I'm sorry.
Well, when he gets creamed, and not a single kid votes for him, what then? He learns to lose.
Well, or he could go into a big regression, and you're and I'm what? Nothing.
I'm not gonna make a decision based on what I might feel like two months from now.
I'm I'm just not gonna do that.
Look, we'll talk about it when I get home, okay? Okay.
Oh, pbbt.
Do you have any idea what you're doing? You know, I don't.
I really don't.
Do you have any? Um, well, you don't want to aim the light directly at it.
It should come from the side.
Oh.
Huh.
Like how? - I mean, like here? - Wherever.
Would you mind showing me? I'm just kind of, I'm very new.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I know you're busy, but I think I'd get it, if you could show it to me.
- Sure.
- Yeah? Thanks.
- Mm-hmm.
- Ok.
Where should I be? - Uh, just sit there.
- Okay.
This goes Around over there.
A little more.
- Oh, over there? - Yeah.
Oh, my God.
How easy you make this look.
How do you do it? Well, I've been helping my dad out in the studio since I was like five.
Oh yeah, he told me that.
He told me.
He's very proud of you, you know.
He thinks you're very smart.
I guess.
He brags about you a lot.
Yeah.
You know, your dad, like, mostly, since I've known him, he seems mainly a little bit mopey to me.
The most excited I ever see him get is when he talks about you.
He gets really excited.
Hmm.
Oh, go ahead.
Thank you.
Mmhmm.
Anything exciting going on? Aubrey Peterson is, like, the most popular girl in school.
Mm.
And she's hosting a co-ed pool party.
- Oh.
- I've never exactly been invited to one of her parties before.
And it's today, so - Ah.
- I can't make it.
- Oh, man.
- Yep.
Yep.
And my friends, they all keep texting me about it, and it's completely epic, and it just sucks not being there.
- God.
- So yeah.
You know what I think? You think I'm being shallow? Oh, my God, no.
It's an epic co-ed pool party.
I to I understand.
I bet it's really hard when you have to transition up here, drop everything in L.
A.
once a month.
It's just gotta be tough.
And your dad thinks about it too, you know.
These big, exciting weekends, or what he thinks is exciting.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
But it's like, my friends, they text me about it, and they ask what I'm up to, and it's like, what am I supposed to text back? That I'm at the aquarium playing with sea otters? - - No.
Mm-mm.
- No.
Tell them you're at a photo shoot.
Okay? You're at a photo shoot with Justin Bieber.
Wait, seriously? That's awesome.
Thanks! So I want to talk to you about that word you heard at the studio.
I know you have some questions.
Well, daddy said black people sometimes say it, but I'm not allowed to.
Yeah.
I know it's really confusing, so let's back up.
I'm gonna tell you where that word comes from.
That word comes from the word "nigger".
It's a very mean word that white people use to call black people, and it means that we're not as good or as smart or as human as them.
Why would people say that? The clouds are creeping Well, a really, really long time ago, white people owned black people as slaves.
And we've come a long, long way.
You know how we celebrate Martin Luther King day? Mmhmm.
Well, he helped to make things equal.
And legally they are, but sometimes it doesn't feel like they are.
So do you have any questions yet? Can people call me that word? They better not.
They might.
I remember I was your age when my mom talked to me about all this.
And it was really comforting when she said that the world was better than when she was a little girl.
And now I'm sitting here with you, having the same talk.
And it's even better.
You know, my mom used to dream about the day when we would have a black president.
And now we do.
Obama.
That's right.
We live in pretty good times now.
And I don't want you to worry or be scared about any of this.
I'm still not here Mm, mm, mm, mm Crosby, is there anything you'd like to add? No, that that was perfect.
Okay, so you know where that word comes from.
Hey.
Hey.
You okay? Yeah.
Just thinking what a Good job you did with him last night.
Heh! You were really amazing.
You were right to handle it.
Thanks.
I think he understood most of it.
Oh, he totally understood it.
I mean, even I understood it in a way I never really had.
I was watching you two, like the connection, and Felt a little irrelevant.
No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like that.
No, no, not no, no, you didn't do anything.
I just, you know, I hate thinking that there's things he's gonna experience that I just I can't relate.
You're right, I can't.
You know.
Yeah.
But there's gonna be other times when you can relate and I can't.
He's a boy, so he's gonna go through all sorts of things that I won't understand.
Nor do I want to.
Yeah, I think it's different, though.
Has that ever happened to you? You know, where you were made to feel less than? Yeah, a few times.
I'm sorry.
We're still far If that ever happened to him, it would kill me.
Still far Looks really real, too.
Hey, can you put his arm around me? - No, he's not - No? Putting his Bieber paws Just casual, like their friends.
- Yeah, just casual.
- No, this is good enough.
- It's harmless, come on.
- Right there.
We're gonna just keep it just like this.
He's got that distant look.
- Okay.
- Yeah, freak out.
Oh, hey, can you shorten my skirt? Both: No! No.
That would be cool, though.
This is so cool.
- What you doing? - Not playing baseball.
You want to talk about what happened? Nope.
Okay, I'm gonna talk about what happened.
And you can listen.
I need you to.
.
Shut that down.
I was incredibly proud of you.
No, you weren't.
I struck out and I threw a bat.
Well, I didn't love the throwing the bat part, or the yelling at the coach part, but right up until then, you went out there and you tried something you never done before with a bunch of kids you never met.
That's brave.
That's so incredibly brave.
Are you scared? I'd have been.
You know, buddy, I get so excited about you being a part of this family that I just I forget, you know, that everything is so new.
And I guess I forgot what it was like to be the new kid.
I'm still figuring this out.
How to be your dad.
But I love baseball, and I, from what I can tell, I think you'd Really like it too.
I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't wanna do.
I'm not gonna force you to go back.
But if you take some time, you decide it's something you'd like to do, then you just come tell me, because I'd like to help you with it, okay? Okay.
Okay.
Hey, pal, what's up? Mom said I could run.
Uh, listen, Max, we're gonna talk about it, okay? She already said I could run, so I'm running.
I need to talk to your mother, okay? I'll be right back.
I'm running.
And piggy says, "oink oink oink oink oink oink oink.
" Mommy loves her girl.
Her girl.
Christina? Hey, so, honey - Adam - We said we would discuss this.
I know that we did.
But I didn't think it was fair to Max, okay? Uhhuh? Well, thanks for including me.
I'm sorry.
Look, I just think that this will be a great thing.
I think that I can help him write his speech.
I think, you know, making the posters will be a great distraction for me I want you to move the surgery back to where it was.
I know you want to control all this.
I know Dr.
Bedsloe said that you could wait until the 12th, but I want this thing out of you.
I don't want to wait.
I'm scared to wait.
I'm sorry.
I'm really sorry for doing this to you.
No, honey, honey, don't ever say that.
Don't ever say that.
I just want this out.
I just want to attack this and get it over with.
I do too.
Okay, I'll con I call Dr.
Bedsloe's office and move the surgery back.
Yeah.
Nora.
How are you doing? What's in your bottle? You having some milk.
You are a snacker.
Do you hear that? It going "choo choo choo.
" Yeah, no, I hear it, yeah.
- You do? - Yeah.
See, I knew it.
That's air in the lines, right? Sounds like water hammer.
Was your water shut off recently? Yeah, well, I shut it off when I re-did the toilet downstairs.
That'll do it.
When you shut it off, it creates a build up.
And I can probably just adjust, you know, the pressure at the control box.
Really? Well, that's in the barn.
- Great.
- I gotta tell you, kid, you are a genius.
I don't know I don't know what is happening at the V.
A.
, but they should be standing in line to hire you.
Yeah, well, maybe it's for the best.
I mean, being back's been Kind of weird.
Well, it takes a while to feel normal again.
How long? How long? Heck, I don't know.
I don't remember exactly.
I just feel like I could handle it better if I knew it wasn't gonna be forever.
Well, I know that, uh, when I went to Vietnam, I was a kid.
And when I got back, I didn't know who the hell I was.
I sure as hell wasn't normal, if you know what I mean.
That's what's scaring the hell out of me.
But you give it time, and you become something different, something new, you know? I think maybe it started for me when I got back.
You know, at the airport, there was all these protesters and signs of a lot of hate.
I never forgot that, so You guys came back, and it's different.
People are proud of you.
I don't know about that.
I mean At least people saw you.
At least people acknowledge that you were a part of this thing, this this life-altering thing.
And for us I just feel like sometimes We're invisible.
You're not invisible to me.
Smile.
You know, you have to light it lower she's gonna be shorter than me.
Mrs.
Franklin is also not as Italian as you.
She's quite pale, so I'm going to light accordingly.
I don't know why you have to bring race into it 'Cause she's not dark like you.
Hold on.
She's pale.
I think that's nice, though.
Ah.
It's Ruby.
Apparently, I'm awesome.
Well, at least one person thinks so.
Listen, I really want to be a good assistant today, so let's practice.
All right, tell me what to do and I'll do it.
All right, well, we need a warming gel for this.
Okay.
First of all, do you know what that is? Of course, I know what it is, I know where it is, and I even sort of know how to use it.
I'll believe that when I see it.
How do you spell "Bieber?" "Ie.
" What is this? Yeah, that's the gels are in the other drawer.
Behind you.
They're not in that drawer.
This yours? Yeah, what's what gave that away? My name in the corner? Hank, this is beautiful.
If you can do this, why are we shooting.
Mrs.
Franklin and sea otters? Yeah, that was a lifetime ago.
I haven't done stuff like that in about a decade.
Did you stop when Ruby was born? You did the math there.
That's impressive.
Yeah, see that? I can count all the way to ten.
Yes.
Yeah, I did.
Seth said he would stop touring when Amber was born, but He didn't.
Well, it's kind of hard to be a good dad when you're chasing stories all over the world, so Seriously, we should hang some of these.
Huh? They're kind of hard for me to look at.
The gels.
You gonna impress me or not.
Come on.
- Though my shoes are not for winter Hey, hey, D.
- Zeek! - Yeah.
Didn't expect to see you here again.
Your wife send you back? Oh, yeah, well, that's funny.
That's real funny.
No, listen, um, if you need somebody to make the coffee and arrange the cookies, then I'm your man.
But listen, hey, D, I think I think I got a lot more to offer.
Well, deal the cards.
Right.
The piano has been waiting For some lonely man to play a note - Hey.
- Hey.
Um, you want to have a game of catch? Put your hand where you can feel me Now when you throw it, just step in a little bit with your other foot.
Hey, good! Oh, nice! All right, pop fly.
Good, buddy.
Ground ball.
Nice.
So we need to make buttons and stickers.
And we need to finish these posters up, and also you need to make cupcakes with my name in frosting.
I think I'm gonna let the bakery handle the cupcakes.
Why? I like your cupcakes.
I know, but I just think that we have a lot on our plate, so we're gonna what does that mean, "a lot on our plate?" It means that we have a lot to get finished.
We still have all these posters to do.
We have to write your speech.
That has nothing to do with plates.
Okay.
Well, even though you couldn't get Bob little elected, you're still an okay campaign manager.
Thank you, Max.
Understand All right, how can I help? Well Let's get this campaign moving.
What do you think about this one? "Max is the braver man!" I like that.
"Braver" could be bigger.
I'm running for student council president I'm going to win.
I'm going to get the school board to bring back the vending machine.
- Kristina's sick.
- What do you mean, sick? I can't give you all the details, and you're the first person I'm telling, so Sorry some of this stuff is gonna fall on you, but I'm gonna keep asking you to do some of these things for me because I'm gonna need your help.
Mrs.
Braverman, a lumpectomy, performed sooner rather than later, offers the best chance of remission.
I have an opening Friday the 26th at 8:00 A.
M.
Okay.
Any second now.
- I'm going back to bed.
- No, no, wait, wait.
You're gonna miss it.
You're gonna miss it.
It's gonna come, I swear to God.
Come on, it'll be It'll be here.
I'm going back to bed.
Oh! Look! There.
Shh! Now, listen.
You hear that? No.
No.
It sounds fine to me.
- Oh - Zeek, really.
Camille, it's not fine.
There's like an air sound, you know? - Hey.
- Uh-huh? You need a hobby.
Sports.
They're an incredible way to make friends.
- Great way.
- I'm still in touch with a number of girls from my swim team.
In fact, just the other day, one of them sent me a message on Facebook.
- Oh! - And sports are fun! - Super fun.
- Video games are fun.
I know you like watching baseball with me, you know.
That might be something you could do.
That was my sport growing up.
I loved it.
Or you could try one of the sports that I did swimming Swimming's great.
- Soccer.
- Good for your heart.
Volleyball, tennis.
I was briefly competitive in gymnastics before my growth spurt.
Anyway - probably not.
Yeah.
- It's your call here.
Your choice.
Sweet.
Then I choose nothing.
Nothing Is not an option.
But you just said it was my choice.
You're not gonna sit on this couch every afternoon playing video games.
You either Pick a sport or you learn to play the violin.
Fine.
Baseball.
Excuse me.
Fine.
Baseball.
So we just wanted to discuss the surgery date.
Is there a conflict with the 26th? - No, my wife just has - Well, kind of, yes.
A question about whether we can move it.
My son is running for president of student council, and he has Asperger's.
He just started at a new school, and I need to be there.
I'm the room mom that day.
I realize that might sound kind of asinine in the greater scheme of things - It's really not - When's my next available? You have an opening the 12th of next month.
Does that work for you, Mrs.
Braverman? That would be great.
I could buy more time, and, you know, work with the class but that's three weeks.
Is that too long to push it? Look, I've already advised you to have the surgery as soon as possible, but if the 12th is the soonest possible date for you, then we will do it on the 12th.
I feel like you're saying sooner's better than later.
I just want to do the right thing here, honey.
All right, Mrs.
Braverman, you know, pushing surgery back a few weeks is not the end of the world, but I have a sense that you're the type of person who puts your family first and yourself last.
- That's true.
- Well, I mean, sort of you have one job this year, Mrs.
Braverman, and that is to focus on getting healthy.
That is the most important thing for you and for your family.
Okay.
So The 12th.
If that's what you want.
The 12th.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Check, check, check.
Yeah.
This ain't no trap music No illusion Co-sign abusing Force accusing They innocent, never dust up a fingerprint This that dark set, no lights Killing it Life membership Revokin' with my penmanship Hey, buddy.
Hey.
That angelou sinking that boat of hardship Exhibit attitude, Los Angeles latitude, longitude Jesus and my Jews for my religion Bogart a Lane, and they gotta move I'm in Acura, pimptacular Vernacular, chase after that What's pimptacular mean? Uh Means, uh, super-awesome.
Buddy, maybe you shouldn't have those on.
Like seeing sasquatch foot, no half-step in Nigga Yeah.
What's a nigga? Okay.
May God bless and keep you always And may your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung And may you stay Forever young May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong And may you stay Forever young May you stay Forever young - Hey, good morning! - Hey.
I made waffles.
Look, I need to talk to you about yesterday.
You got a second? I know, I know, I'm sorry.
Rehearsals ran late again last night.
It's the last time this week.
I swear.
Not not not for you.
Something that Waffles! - Yeah.
Some blueberry syrup.
- Pimptacular! It's about that.
Would you just for one second, can I talk to you? There's some blueberries over there too.
- Okay.
- Okay.
What's up? First of all, I'm so sorry.
I should have seen it coming, and I didn't.
But it happened, and I couldn't stop it.
We were in the recording session together, and he overheard some words that he shouldn't have heard.
What, like pimptacular? - Among other things.
- Like what? Byotch and, um, ho.
- Ho? - Ho bag.
- That's not actually better.
- And, um Nigga.
What do you mean, like with like a "a" or "er"? - I think every iteration of - Yeah.
It just doesn't even matter.
I think, though, I explained it to him.
I said, you know, it's a terrible, terrible word like Voldemort, you know, from Harry Potter.
He who shall not be named Yeah, I know, and that word is nothing like Voldemort.
No, no, worse.
I said it was worse.
Like way worse.
All right, so you You think you handled it? Yeah.
Maybe not entirely.
He was still confused because double D said it, and he wanted to know why he was allowed to say it.
- And what'd you say? - Well, I got kinda flustered and I said, you know, he's allowed to say it 'cause he's black, and then Jabbar said, "I'm black.
" I said no.
He said why? And then I said Voldemort again.
- I-I just got flustered.
- Right.
- I'm sorry.
You don't have to be sorry.
I mean, of course you wouldn't know how to handle this.
I need to talk to him.
I need to have the "talk" with him.
You will have the talk with him.
- Yes, I will.
- Mommy, can I have some juice? Yeah.
It's on the counter.
All right? So I'll deal with it.
- Okay? - Okay.
All right.
Team Peeta or team Gale? Just wondering.
Ha.
Frankly, I'm team Gale.
Some people consider it controversial.
I'm okay with that.
You've read this? - Of course you've read this.
- What do you mean, of course? You know what? Actually, this is perfect.
You tell me what this whole thing's about.
Give me like a book report about this, and then you can go home early.
Why do you need a book report onthe hunger games? Because it's my daughter's favorite book.
- Really? - Yeah.
That's right.
I'm reading the hunger games for my kid.
She used to be easy to talk to, and now she's not.
I guess I'm trying to relate.
No, I get it.
I spent many hours playing halotrying to relate.
I didn't know you had a daughter.
- Yes, I do.
- What's she like? What do you she's impossible to summarize.
So'sthe hunger games trilogy.
Fine! She's great.
Great kid.
Very smart Oh, my God, that's like the generic parent answer.
Tell me some details.
I didn't even know you had a daughter.
Fine, uh She used to be shy, and now she's kind of grown into herself, I guess, which is great, but it also scares me.
I remember when she used to need me for everything, and She was this just Like a big pile of love that wouldn't leave my side.
Drew was like that at that age.
Anyway, so Her mom Makes it kind of tough.
She only lets her come up from L.
A.
once a month, and even that's a fight.
Look, I know it's sad and pathetic that I'm reading the hunger games, but, uh She is at that age where I don't know, maybe it's just 'cause I'm her dad, but I Please stop torturing me.
Just tell me what Why should I be team Gale? Okay No.
I can't do this here.
Oh, my God.
Okay.
Mom.
I need you to go to the store.
I need pens and poster board Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- For the campaign.
- Where's dad, buddy? I'm just trying to finish He dropped me off.
Grandpa had an emergency.
What's wrong with grandpa? Is he okay? I don't know, mom.
Did you hear me? Yeah, I'm listening, Max.
Hold on a second let me finish two things, okay? One, two.
Done.
Okay, listen, we'll make a list.
How about that? What do you need, pens, paper? I need pens, and I need poster board for my campaign for president.
Also you need to get those 25 signatures for that petition.
- I got them.
- Otherwise, you're not gonna be able to I got them.
- You got all 25 signatures? - Yeah, I got all 25.
But I had to ask 29 people, because 4 said no.
- You walked up to 29 people - Yes, I did.
I walked up to them, and I stuck my hand out, and I said, "hi.
I'm Max Braverman, "and I need your signature to run for student council president," and then I looked them in the eye, and I smiled.
I am so incredibly proud of you.
- I didn't like that part.
- I'm sure you didn't, Max.
High five.
That is amazing! Can I see that? Yeah.
But I have to turn it in to the student activities.
- What am I listening for? - You hear that? I hear a sprinkler.
Dad, you called me and you said you had an emergency.
- You don't hear that? - This is not an emergency.
An emergency would be a flood.
I think there's air in the system.
- Adam? What are you doing here? - I have absolutely no idea.
Shh! Just pipe down, would you? Is he trying to get you involved with this sprinkler thing? Yeah.
'Cause there's nothing wrong with the sprinklers.
- Clearly.
- They're absolutely fine.
He's bored.
That's what the problem is.
Hey, you know something, Camille? I'm standing right here.
I can hear you.
- Oh, can you? - Yeah.
- Oh, really? - Uh-huh.
'Cause I've been asking you for a couple of weeks now to go down to the V.
A.
They have a volunteer program down there he would be so great for the program.
They could really use someone like him.
And it would make him feel needed, and he wouldn't be so focused on the damn sprinkler system.
Don't put Adam in the middle of this.
He doesn't care about the V.
A.
I don't care about the sprinklers either.
I don't even know why I'm still standing here.
They're fine! - Adam.
- What? - I need your help.
- You don't need my help.
The sprinklers are working fine.
The plants are all getting water.
Why don't you listen to mom and go volunteer at the V.
A.
? Don't listen to your mother! I'd rather listen to the air in the system Thank you, sweetie.
In the sprinklers! All right, go ahead, go! Go! They're gurgling! - Everybody's got a cup, right? - Yep.
I didn't even tell you the best part, buddy.
Your sponsor for the team is a pizza place.
Know what that means? Win or lose, pizza party.
Just 15 minutes, right? Yeah, just meet the coach and then get your uniform.
But I have a feeling after you get that glove in your hand, you're not gonna want to leave.
Uh, hi.
Sorry we're late.
It's totally my fault.
- Hey, no worries.
- Joel Graham.
Coach fulton.
All right, go gear up with coach Tony.
Hustle! You must be Victor? Yeah.
Welcome to the panthers, Victor.
Ow! That's some grip you got.
Can't wait to see that arm on the field.
Okay, see that nice man there with the blue hat? He's gonna get you hooked up with a mitt and a partner for a little bit of catch.
Okay.
- Sound like fun? - Sure.
- Okay.
- Just, uh First day jitters, I guess.
You or him? Okay.
Well, I have a feeling Hugh Jass, Seymour butts, and Ree Tard didn't sign anybody else's petition.
I know.
That's the one that kills me, the Ree Tard one.
It's so mean.
I can't believe how mean little school kids can be.
If they knew how hard it was for him to walk up to them and ask them to sign the petition, they're mean kids, but this can be fixed.
We have to ask Max not to run for president.
That's what we have to do.
Honey No, I can handle this.
That-I can't let him do this, honey.
- Kids are mean.
- Student council is for the popular kids, and he doesn't get that, and we are setting him up for failure.
Adam, he walked up to each and every one of those kids and asked them to sign the petition, okay? That was a huge effort on his part.
He should not be punished for that.
I get it I'm trying to protect him, honey.
This is gonna end badly, okay? And I think that he could regress, and everything we've worked for could just disappear.
I don't want you to have to deal with this right now.
I'm fine.
So what are you saying, we shouldn't let him run? Is that what you're saying? Yeah.
I think that we have to tell him that he can't run for president.
He's gonna completely freak out.
He's gonna freak out.
Yeah, it's gonna freak out.
And he'll get over it.
That's life.
You know, you were really quiet in Dr.
Bedsloe's office yesterday when I rescheduled my surgery.
Just It's your decision.
Huh, pal? Got our little nipper here, little Otis, and Haddie went off to college.
You started at a new school.
That's a big change.
Mmhmm.
You have a new schedule, you have four new teachers instead of one.
You have to switch classrooms, which is a little hectic.
- That's a new thing.
- That's a lot to handle, and you're doing such a good job at it.
And the school is much, much bigger.
A lot of kids.
Oh, it's so much bigger.
So Your mother and I feel that we should just embrace all this new change.
Max, can you look at me for a second? We don't wanna overdo it, so we think that it's probably best to wait until next year to run for president.
No.
The vending machine is gone now, and as president, I'll bring it back.
- Right, but - Okay, listen to mom now.
You did such a great job getting that petition signed by all those kids.
Amazing job, and you know what? As a reward, we can get you those skittles.
We'll buy you a ton of skittles, and the vending machine thing won't even be an issue.
It's still an issue.
It's an issue because it's unfair.
I know that it's unfair, Max, but our mother and I want to do what's best for you, and all we're saying is that we should wait until next year for you to run for president.
No.
No.
We don't want to see you get distracted to become the president of the United States of America, you have to be 35 years old and a natural-born citizen.
To become student council president at cedar knoll middle school, you have to be a student in good academic standing who has collected 25 signatures.
I am both of those things.
Yep, you are.
You're right, but we don't want to see schoolwork get disrupted by this.
No.
You can't tell me not to run.
That's fascist! You're both fascists! - We're definitely not fascists.
- We're not fascists.
You know, it's an assault to my freedom.
I'm reporting you both to the house un-American activities commission.
Okay.
All right, do that.
You might have a tough time getting in touch with them, 'cause the house un-American activities community's been disbanded for being un-American! I didn't even want to go in the first place.
All right, tell me what you do wanna do.
I really don't care.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Ruby, this is my new assistant Sarah.
Hi! It's so nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
- I heard so much about you.
- Yeah? - Yeah! Yeah.
Cool.
So What happened to mini golf? Uh, apparently mini golf is not cool any more.
- Oh.
Right.
- Yep.
So I I'm team Gale.
I heard you're team Peeta.
We're gonna be sworn mortal enemies.
Yeah.
I guess so.
Apparently,hunger games isn't cool any more either, so Really? The only thing I really know about the vfw is you can get $2 whiskey shots.
Yeah, there's that.
But we also provide services to veterans.
Like what, checkers? And career counseling.
Financial planning.
We have a lot of need for volunteers in the front office, if that interests you.
You'd be answering phone responding to emails.
Well, yeah, okay, why don't we just cut to the chase here? You see, my wife wants me away from the house for like three hours, so what do you got that kinda fills that time? The refreshment table's looking a little thin.
How are you at making coffee? Are you sure that we have to do this right now? I just feel like maybe we're gonna shatter his innocence, and he's so young.
Yeah.
I'm not thrilled about it either, but Has to happen.
Because you said it needs to.
No, because it needs to happen.
I feel like you're pulling rank a little bit because You know.
You know? Because I'm black? Because you're black.
Yeah.
I feel like you pulled rank.
Baby, you have to respect the fact that I have an understanding on the subject that you don't.
And the fact is, that word means something different to Jabbar because he's black.
All right, that's fair.
But he's also half-white.
Right.
Which, you know, he can use his white card when he gets pulled over by the cops for driving while black.
He can just say, "I'm actually half-white.
" Okay.
He's eight years old, and we live in Berkeley, so I don't think that's gonna be happening anytime soon.
I know you're not that naive.
Look, there are things in the world that aren't pretty, and eventually, he's gonna hear something he shouldn't.
Like what happened.
And I would just rather him hear the truth from me before that happens.
Okay.
I wanna be there, though.
Okay.
- Hi, mom, hi, dad.
- Hey, buddy.
You ready for some ants on a log? - Dad! - What? Ants in your pants? Oh, my I didn't know what it means to believe Oh, my Oh! Mm.
This coffee sucks.
- Really? - It's awful.
Well, I just made that coffee that you insulted.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm I'm probably just spoiled.
We got the gourmet stuff in Afghanistan.
Oh.
Yeah.
Well, I think we drank fecal matter in 'nam.
Yeah, well, that's how Americans show their love now buy a bag of beans: Support the troops.
Thank you, coffee bean & tea leaf.
Gee, you make me wanna re-enlist.
Zeek Braverman.
Ryan York.
I'm sorry.
Sure.
You mind if I sit down? Sure.
So how long you been home, Ryan York? Oh, this isn't home.
My mom wanted me to go back to Wyoming, but I need a fresh start, you know? You mean home from Afghanistan.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, well, still counting that in days.
Even though I I guess it's been months.
Right.
Yeah, that happens for a while.
You here for the checkers? Career center.
Just met the counselor.
Apparently, two tours as an army irrigation specialist can get me an interview unloading boxes at a shipping center, so Tch.
That is awesome.
Irrigation specialist.
Is that like, uh, sprinklers? Uh, not exactly.
More like Wells and stuff like that.
Yeah, but sprinklers wouldn't be outside of your range of knowledge, would they? I guess not.
Right.
Yeah.
Well.
That a boy, Jack! Nice swing! He keeps doing this thing with his elbow.
At least he's making contact.
See, Dylan spent a whole summer playing Xbox and now he's shocked that he's rusty.
Victor loves the Xbox.
My boy Victor.
Sorry, that was a terrible segue.
He's new and I'm new.
I'm Joel.
- How you doing? I'm Mike.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hey, how are you? - So, uh What position does he play? You know, we're still trying to figure that out, but, uh, he's, uh You know, I was a pitcher.
Oh.
You too? - Oh, cool.
- Yeah.
Yeah, there he is.
My boy.
All right, Victor.
You got this, buddy.
- He's a big kid.
- Yeah.
That's a nice try.
Hey, choke up for me, Vic.
Just move your grip up like this.
Nice and easy, okay? You'll get the next one.
You got this.
- That's all right.
- Maybe he's more of a pitcher.
Like you.
Just let the bat do the work.
Relax, buddy.
He'll get it.
Hey! You don't throw bats on my field! That's two laps.
Screw this and screw you.
- Hey - Why did you and Julia make me do that? Buddy, it's your first at bat.
You got plenty of time.
Come on! - I'm not going back.
- Yes, you are.
- You can't make me! - Victor you're not my real dad! Come on, it's sea otters.
Why can't I just stay here? Look, I really I thought this would be something that you would enjoy.
I don't want to go, okay? Fine.
All right.
Fine.
Look, sorry.
Sorry that I let you down again.
But I have a job to do, so please get in the car.
Why are you being so difficult about this? I'm 11.
I'll just stay here.
No, you won't stay here.
You can't stay here by yourself.
I'm not by myself! She's here.
Um, she can stay with me.
Okay, great.
Only be a couple hours.
But my opinion is not being given any weight, and, you know, I think it's because I'm white, which is - yeah.
- It's weird.
No, it's it's hard being a white man in this country.
Hmm.
Look, I know the world's not a perfect place, but Jabbar's world is perfect, okay? I don't know if you think that sycamore playground is a hotbed of racial tension But it's not, okay? I've been there.
- Whoa.
I gotta go.
I gotta go.
- Are you listening to me? Hold on.
What are you where are you going? You see that? Busy, I guess.
For what it's worth, I sympathize.
I mean, it seems like there's no easy answer.
You guys both have good points.
And what did what did she say? She agreed, and she thought it would be a bad idea.
She thought it would be a huge struggle for a kid like Max.
Okay, good.
She kept saying, "a kid like Max.
A kid like Max.
" I wanted to choke her.
All right, I know.
I know.
But at least we're all on the same page here.
We're not on the same page, Adam.
I think that we should let him run.
Kristina, we talked about this.
I think we're not admitting this, but the real reason that we're not letting him run is because of me.
- No, it's not.
- It is, and I'm I'm not I can't accept that.
I'm sorry.
Well, when he gets creamed, and not a single kid votes for him, what then? He learns to lose.
Well, or he could go into a big regression, and you're and I'm what? Nothing.
I'm not gonna make a decision based on what I might feel like two months from now.
I'm I'm just not gonna do that.
Look, we'll talk about it when I get home, okay? Okay.
Oh, pbbt.
Do you have any idea what you're doing? You know, I don't.
I really don't.
Do you have any? Um, well, you don't want to aim the light directly at it.
It should come from the side.
Oh.
Huh.
Like how? - I mean, like here? - Wherever.
Would you mind showing me? I'm just kind of, I'm very new.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I know you're busy, but I think I'd get it, if you could show it to me.
- Sure.
- Yeah? Thanks.
- Mm-hmm.
- Ok.
Where should I be? - Uh, just sit there.
- Okay.
This goes Around over there.
A little more.
- Oh, over there? - Yeah.
Oh, my God.
How easy you make this look.
How do you do it? Well, I've been helping my dad out in the studio since I was like five.
Oh yeah, he told me that.
He told me.
He's very proud of you, you know.
He thinks you're very smart.
I guess.
He brags about you a lot.
Yeah.
You know, your dad, like, mostly, since I've known him, he seems mainly a little bit mopey to me.
The most excited I ever see him get is when he talks about you.
He gets really excited.
Hmm.
Oh, go ahead.
Thank you.
Mmhmm.
Anything exciting going on? Aubrey Peterson is, like, the most popular girl in school.
Mm.
And she's hosting a co-ed pool party.
- Oh.
- I've never exactly been invited to one of her parties before.
And it's today, so - Ah.
- I can't make it.
- Oh, man.
- Yep.
Yep.
And my friends, they all keep texting me about it, and it's completely epic, and it just sucks not being there.
- God.
- So yeah.
You know what I think? You think I'm being shallow? Oh, my God, no.
It's an epic co-ed pool party.
I to I understand.
I bet it's really hard when you have to transition up here, drop everything in L.
A.
once a month.
It's just gotta be tough.
And your dad thinks about it too, you know.
These big, exciting weekends, or what he thinks is exciting.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
But it's like, my friends, they text me about it, and they ask what I'm up to, and it's like, what am I supposed to text back? That I'm at the aquarium playing with sea otters? - - No.
Mm-mm.
- No.
Tell them you're at a photo shoot.
Okay? You're at a photo shoot with Justin Bieber.
Wait, seriously? That's awesome.
Thanks! So I want to talk to you about that word you heard at the studio.
I know you have some questions.
Well, daddy said black people sometimes say it, but I'm not allowed to.
Yeah.
I know it's really confusing, so let's back up.
I'm gonna tell you where that word comes from.
That word comes from the word "nigger".
It's a very mean word that white people use to call black people, and it means that we're not as good or as smart or as human as them.
Why would people say that? The clouds are creeping Well, a really, really long time ago, white people owned black people as slaves.
And we've come a long, long way.
You know how we celebrate Martin Luther King day? Mmhmm.
Well, he helped to make things equal.
And legally they are, but sometimes it doesn't feel like they are.
So do you have any questions yet? Can people call me that word? They better not.
They might.
I remember I was your age when my mom talked to me about all this.
And it was really comforting when she said that the world was better than when she was a little girl.
And now I'm sitting here with you, having the same talk.
And it's even better.
You know, my mom used to dream about the day when we would have a black president.
And now we do.
Obama.
That's right.
We live in pretty good times now.
And I don't want you to worry or be scared about any of this.
I'm still not here Mm, mm, mm, mm Crosby, is there anything you'd like to add? No, that that was perfect.
Okay, so you know where that word comes from.
Hey.
Hey.
You okay? Yeah.
Just thinking what a Good job you did with him last night.
Heh! You were really amazing.
You were right to handle it.
Thanks.
I think he understood most of it.
Oh, he totally understood it.
I mean, even I understood it in a way I never really had.
I was watching you two, like the connection, and Felt a little irrelevant.
No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like that.
No, no, not no, no, you didn't do anything.
I just, you know, I hate thinking that there's things he's gonna experience that I just I can't relate.
You're right, I can't.
You know.
Yeah.
But there's gonna be other times when you can relate and I can't.
He's a boy, so he's gonna go through all sorts of things that I won't understand.
Nor do I want to.
Yeah, I think it's different, though.
Has that ever happened to you? You know, where you were made to feel less than? Yeah, a few times.
I'm sorry.
We're still far If that ever happened to him, it would kill me.
Still far Looks really real, too.
Hey, can you put his arm around me? - No, he's not - No? Putting his Bieber paws Just casual, like their friends.
- Yeah, just casual.
- No, this is good enough.
- It's harmless, come on.
- Right there.
We're gonna just keep it just like this.
He's got that distant look.
- Okay.
- Yeah, freak out.
Oh, hey, can you shorten my skirt? Both: No! No.
That would be cool, though.
This is so cool.
- What you doing? - Not playing baseball.
You want to talk about what happened? Nope.
Okay, I'm gonna talk about what happened.
And you can listen.
I need you to.
.
Shut that down.
I was incredibly proud of you.
No, you weren't.
I struck out and I threw a bat.
Well, I didn't love the throwing the bat part, or the yelling at the coach part, but right up until then, you went out there and you tried something you never done before with a bunch of kids you never met.
That's brave.
That's so incredibly brave.
Are you scared? I'd have been.
You know, buddy, I get so excited about you being a part of this family that I just I forget, you know, that everything is so new.
And I guess I forgot what it was like to be the new kid.
I'm still figuring this out.
How to be your dad.
But I love baseball, and I, from what I can tell, I think you'd Really like it too.
I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't wanna do.
I'm not gonna force you to go back.
But if you take some time, you decide it's something you'd like to do, then you just come tell me, because I'd like to help you with it, okay? Okay.
Okay.
Hey, pal, what's up? Mom said I could run.
Uh, listen, Max, we're gonna talk about it, okay? She already said I could run, so I'm running.
I need to talk to your mother, okay? I'll be right back.
I'm running.
And piggy says, "oink oink oink oink oink oink oink.
" Mommy loves her girl.
Her girl.
Christina? Hey, so, honey - Adam - We said we would discuss this.
I know that we did.
But I didn't think it was fair to Max, okay? Uhhuh? Well, thanks for including me.
I'm sorry.
Look, I just think that this will be a great thing.
I think that I can help him write his speech.
I think, you know, making the posters will be a great distraction for me I want you to move the surgery back to where it was.
I know you want to control all this.
I know Dr.
Bedsloe said that you could wait until the 12th, but I want this thing out of you.
I don't want to wait.
I'm scared to wait.
I'm sorry.
I'm really sorry for doing this to you.
No, honey, honey, don't ever say that.
Don't ever say that.
I just want this out.
I just want to attack this and get it over with.
I do too.
Okay, I'll con I call Dr.
Bedsloe's office and move the surgery back.
Yeah.
Nora.
How are you doing? What's in your bottle? You having some milk.
You are a snacker.
Do you hear that? It going "choo choo choo.
" Yeah, no, I hear it, yeah.
- You do? - Yeah.
See, I knew it.
That's air in the lines, right? Sounds like water hammer.
Was your water shut off recently? Yeah, well, I shut it off when I re-did the toilet downstairs.
That'll do it.
When you shut it off, it creates a build up.
And I can probably just adjust, you know, the pressure at the control box.
Really? Well, that's in the barn.
- Great.
- I gotta tell you, kid, you are a genius.
I don't know I don't know what is happening at the V.
A.
, but they should be standing in line to hire you.
Yeah, well, maybe it's for the best.
I mean, being back's been Kind of weird.
Well, it takes a while to feel normal again.
How long? How long? Heck, I don't know.
I don't remember exactly.
I just feel like I could handle it better if I knew it wasn't gonna be forever.
Well, I know that, uh, when I went to Vietnam, I was a kid.
And when I got back, I didn't know who the hell I was.
I sure as hell wasn't normal, if you know what I mean.
That's what's scaring the hell out of me.
But you give it time, and you become something different, something new, you know? I think maybe it started for me when I got back.
You know, at the airport, there was all these protesters and signs of a lot of hate.
I never forgot that, so You guys came back, and it's different.
People are proud of you.
I don't know about that.
I mean At least people saw you.
At least people acknowledge that you were a part of this thing, this this life-altering thing.
And for us I just feel like sometimes We're invisible.
You're not invisible to me.
Smile.
You know, you have to light it lower she's gonna be shorter than me.
Mrs.
Franklin is also not as Italian as you.
She's quite pale, so I'm going to light accordingly.
I don't know why you have to bring race into it 'Cause she's not dark like you.
Hold on.
She's pale.
I think that's nice, though.
Ah.
It's Ruby.
Apparently, I'm awesome.
Well, at least one person thinks so.
Listen, I really want to be a good assistant today, so let's practice.
All right, tell me what to do and I'll do it.
All right, well, we need a warming gel for this.
Okay.
First of all, do you know what that is? Of course, I know what it is, I know where it is, and I even sort of know how to use it.
I'll believe that when I see it.
How do you spell "Bieber?" "Ie.
" What is this? Yeah, that's the gels are in the other drawer.
Behind you.
They're not in that drawer.
This yours? Yeah, what's what gave that away? My name in the corner? Hank, this is beautiful.
If you can do this, why are we shooting.
Mrs.
Franklin and sea otters? Yeah, that was a lifetime ago.
I haven't done stuff like that in about a decade.
Did you stop when Ruby was born? You did the math there.
That's impressive.
Yeah, see that? I can count all the way to ten.
Yes.
Yeah, I did.
Seth said he would stop touring when Amber was born, but He didn't.
Well, it's kind of hard to be a good dad when you're chasing stories all over the world, so Seriously, we should hang some of these.
Huh? They're kind of hard for me to look at.
The gels.
You gonna impress me or not.
Come on.
- Though my shoes are not for winter Hey, hey, D.
- Zeek! - Yeah.
Didn't expect to see you here again.
Your wife send you back? Oh, yeah, well, that's funny.
That's real funny.
No, listen, um, if you need somebody to make the coffee and arrange the cookies, then I'm your man.
But listen, hey, D, I think I think I got a lot more to offer.
Well, deal the cards.
Right.
The piano has been waiting For some lonely man to play a note - Hey.
- Hey.
Um, you want to have a game of catch? Put your hand where you can feel me Now when you throw it, just step in a little bit with your other foot.
Hey, good! Oh, nice! All right, pop fly.
Good, buddy.
Ground ball.
Nice.
So we need to make buttons and stickers.
And we need to finish these posters up, and also you need to make cupcakes with my name in frosting.
I think I'm gonna let the bakery handle the cupcakes.
Why? I like your cupcakes.
I know, but I just think that we have a lot on our plate, so we're gonna what does that mean, "a lot on our plate?" It means that we have a lot to get finished.
We still have all these posters to do.
We have to write your speech.
That has nothing to do with plates.
Okay.
Well, even though you couldn't get Bob little elected, you're still an okay campaign manager.
Thank you, Max.
Understand All right, how can I help? Well Let's get this campaign moving.
What do you think about this one? "Max is the braver man!" I like that.
"Braver" could be bigger.