This is Us (2016) s04e07 Episode Script
The Dinner and the Date
Previously on This Is Us Randall, I don't look at you and see color.
Then you don't see me, Dad.
Mr.
Lawrence.
Would you and your wife like to come to the house this weekend for dinner? Mr.
Pearson, I have a daughter.
Six months old.
Got full custody, and my-my parents help out with her sometimes.
She is 14.
She is not seeing a boy who puts babies in people.
We are in lockstep.
Deja, you are telling me that you took a baseball bat to his Mercedes? Oh, my God.
I'm I'm s-I'm sorry.
I-I would've given you back.
I'm serious.
I mean, I thought they would have, too.
What you doing after school? Um, I got drill practice until 7:00.
Why? Want to come with me to Max's? Who's Max? Are you for real right now? You don't know about Max's Steaks? Oh, my God.
Y'all and these cheesesteaks.
I swear, it's only bread and meat.
Deja, how have you been living in Philly for this long and you've never been to Max's Steaks? Well, Randall only takes us to touristy places.
So, I've been to the Liberty Bell, I've been to the Rocky Statue and the Franklin Institute about three times already.
Come on.
That's not Philly.
I mean, it's-it's Philly, but not Philly Philly.
I told you I came here before, right? With my mom and my grandma, when I was, like, four or five? Nah.
Nah.
Where'd you go? I think we were visiting my uncle.
And all I remember was being in the car and-and there were these Christmas lights, but it was warm out.
That was weird.
Oh, and-and the water.
The-the lights were reflecting off the water.
That's-that's about it.
Dang, I hate that.
Hate what? Not remembering things from when my grandma was alive.
Hey, do you have any tests today? What if we, uh, what if we skip school? I'm-I'm serious.
I could show you my Philly.
Uh, I-I don't know.
I mean, I want to Then go with that.
You're really not getting off? Ladies, cancel your dinner plans.
Councilman Gomez brought tamales to work, and I may or may not have taken a few too many.
What's wrong? Principal Herbert called.
Deja and Malik skipped school today.
What? You're not even supposed to be seeing that boy.
He goes to my school.
You want to ban me from school, too? - Excuse me? - Did she just She did.
Well, go to your room.
Now.
And you're grounded for - A decade.
- A decade.
I hope your day was worth it.
Philly! You sure are getting dressed up for this dinner.
I don't think I've ever seen you wear a sports coat on the weekend.
What are you talking about? I always wear a sports coat.
Okay.
What? Rebecca Pearson, I've known you for 19 years.
Your "okay" is never just "okay".
I just think it's interesting that Kevin's asked us to invite Ms.
Applebaum over for dinner for ages and we've always said no.
But then, out of the blue, you decide to invite Randall's teacher over for dinner? First of all, Ms.
Applebaum she's not a teacher, all right? She is the school nurse.
And the only reason Kevin wants her over here is because he has a crush.
- Mm.
- I mean, Randall talks about Mr.
Lawrence constantly.
- You're not the least bit curious about him? - Sure.
But I can also wait for parent/ teacher conferences in a month.
- Bec.
- Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey, babe, help me out.
In the Mecca by Gwendolyn Brooks or The Weary Blues by the one and only Mr.
Langston Hughes? You've read both of those.
- Help me with this, please? - Yeah.
Mmm.
You smell good.
Book's not for me, though.
- No? - It's for Randall.
I did a poetry series in class.
He really seemed to dig it.
You a troublemaker, Korey.
Or should I say, Korey X? Wait, what? Me? Oh, don't go acting all innocent.
Y-You're talking about black consciousness poets an hour before we go to have dinner with your only black student and his white parents.
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to crack this case.
Look, Mr.
Pearson asked me to dinner.
I didn't invite myself.
You could've just said, "Sorry, can't".
"I'm taking my incredibly sexy wife to see Sister Act for the third time".
Trish, it's just dinner, okay? Okay.
So, when you talked to Malik's mom yesterday Uh, V-neck or crew? Uh, feels like a V-neck kind of night.
Well, what was her vibe? You get a sense of what kind of people they are? Rastafarian vegans who love outdoor sports.
- Really? - Nope.
'Cause I just invited them to for dinner.
So we don't even know if they're on board with our plan? What plan? Come on, Beth.
There's a boat.
You and I are in the boat.
The plan is to get Malik's parents to join us in said boat.
Destination: Splitsville Dejik.
It's Deja and Malik Dejik.
Oh, please don't give them a ship name.
- Maleja.
- Listen, this is not a recruitment dinner, okay? This is for us to get to know Malik's parents better.
Feel them out, see if they're good people.
Maybe we won't even have to keep the kids apart.
He's too mature for her and he got her to skip school.
- Deja lied to us.
- I know.
But keeping the kids apart didn't work out too well for Romeo and Juliet's parents, so Hey.
Look at my feet.
What do you see? - A couple hundred dollars on the Amex.
- Mm-mmm.
Open toe shoes for an open mind.
See, the only way we're gonna get through this is to have an open mind.
And red wine.
Lots of red wine.
I'm gonna go check on the food.
If she just opened a dance studio and he's working all kinds of hours, - who's watching those kids? - They probably have hired help.
- Do they? - I don't know.
- They do pretty well for themselves, though.
- Hmm.
You know Randall's brother was the Manny? His brother is Morris Chestnut? No, the-the white Manny.
His brother is white? Why aren't you more upset that your son is out here skipping school and gallivanting with his little fast girlfriend? Mom.
Deja's not like that.
Okay? It was-it was my idea.
After everything, you still have the nerve to have these dumb ideas? Kel, the boy's only missed one day of school in three years.
It ain't the end of the world.
Hmm.
I can't believe we're doing this.
- Well, thanks to you, we are.
- Food's almost ready.
Why don't you go upstairs and get your sisters? Look, I know you're mad at me, but can you please not take it out on Malik? I'm not mad at you, I'm disappointed.
All right.
Can we not do this now? Uhp.
They're here.
Hey.
Open minds.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- Welcome to our home.
Come on.
- Thank you.
Thanks.
Hey, kids, everyone.
Hey, Mr.
Lawrence.
Hey.
Randall, my man.
This is Mrs.
Lawrence.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hey.
Glad you guys could - Shh.
Baby's sleeping.
First stop on our Philly tour: Max's Steaks.
All right.
Let's go.
Yo, yo.
What's up? - Hey.
- What up? What's up, man? - Hey, what's up, Leek? - What's up? - What up, Jamar? - Ain't nothing.
- Uh, this is my friend Deja.
- What's up? - Let me get two Virgils.
- Two Virgils.
Deja, everything on this menu is fire, but that Virgil that's hands down the best cheesesteak in all of Philly.
Aw, he just putting sauce on it 'cause Chuck the owner named it after his grandpa.
Yo, let me go put those orders in for y'all.
Your granddad has a cheesesteak named after him? Yeah.
Yeah, uh, him and Mr.
Chuck were real cool.
God.
You're lucky.
Why? You got all these connections.
We literally walked up in here and everybody said hi.
That's so dope.
I've moved around so much.
I was never anywhere long enough to be a regular.
Come with me.
- Just come on.
- Hey.
Hey, where y'all going? - I'm about to be done with your food.
- Hold on a second.
Yo, yo, yo, everybody.
Everybody.
Um, this is my friend Deja.
She's never been to Max's before, but it's not her fault.
Y'all please say hi to her? - Hey, Deja.
- How you doing? Now you're a regular.
- Hey, Mr.
Pearson.
- Malik.
Kelly, Darnell.
It's nice to meet you guys.
These are our girls, Tess and Annie.
And you know Deja.
Actually, I don't.
You're a beautiful young lady.
Thank you.
It's crazy that you have a baby.
So, dinner isn't quite ready yet, but we do have wine, lots of wine.
Anybody care for some wine? - No, thank you.
- I don't drink.
All right.
Um, Kelly, why don't you and I - put the pie in the kitchen, all right? - Yep.
Ladies, why don't you help Malik get Janell situated.
Right this way.
Dinner on a weeknight must be a pain.
Sorry about that.
Just thought it was important that we get together and talk through what to do about the kids sneaking around.
Nah, it's cool.
Plus, it gave me an excuse to come down here.
I used to trick or treat in this neighborhood - when Malik was a baby.
- Really? Yeah.
I always wondered what the inside of these houses looked like.
- You must have broke the bank on this one.
- No.
Or not.
Good for you, Councilman.
Oh, no, it's just Randall.
You know, Randall is fine.
Hi.
I think Darnell just implied that we're bougie.
- We are kind of bougie.
- Yeah, okay.
But I don't want him to think that.
Open-toed shoes, open minds.
I'm not sure how I feel about your mantra.
How about a tour? Well, this is my room.
Ignore that side of the room.
That's my brother.
He's a bit of a slob.
Some of the brightest people are.
I don't think that theory applies here.
- Uh, Randall.
- Sorry.
So this must be where the books in the house live.
Yeah.
The library sponsored a summer read-a-thon, and I got so many new books, my dad had to buy this for me.
Build.
I didn't buy that, I-I built that.
- It's real oak.
- Wow.
I was-I was thinking about maple, but it's less porous.
Makes a huge, huge difference.
Really, you-you could have used birch, uh, pine Hey, Jack, you can stop naming types of wood.
Yeah.
It looks sturdy.
- Thanks.
- Hey, can we eat already? - I'm hungry.
- Yeah, we're gonna.
And stop fussing with your clothes.
I see what you did there, Randall.
I knew you'd notice.
Mm, but you made one little mistake.
'76.
- Bridge to Terabithia '77.
- Oh.
I'm sorry, am I missing something? Mm-hmm.
I organize the books in my class by year of publication.
But I should have trademarked my process.
Seems we have a copycat over here.
Holy crap, he's like a grown-up Randall.
- Kevin.
- Kev.
What? You don't see it? - Excuse us a second.
- Um should we eat? - Definitely.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- Dinner's ready, so we can, um, - trudge back downstairs.
- Great.
Her face is a whole mood.
We got murals like this all over the city.
Kind of hard to believe people used to call Philly Killadelphia.
It's beautiful.
What? Um well, I was-I was about to say something real cheesy, like "No, you're beautiful".
Does that actually work on other girls? I don't know.
Never really tried it before.
This is it, the magic garden.
Crazy, right? Are you okay? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm good.
Okay.
It's good, right? - It's, like, real good.
- It's good.
Let the tour commence.
Commence the tour! What is this place? I used to stay near here with my grandparents when I was a kid.
This is, um just kind of like my backyard.
You know, I take Janell here sometimes.
This might be my favorite spot in the city, actually.
Nah, actually this is my favorite spot.
We could share it if you want.
Thanks.
I I ca-I can't I don't want to be here anymore.
Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have I'm going now.
That was my I think the food is done.
Oh, shoot.
Shoot.
Ah Let me give you a hand.
Thanks.
We want it baked, not burnt.
That's all right, I kind of like my chicken cremated.
I, uh, I spoke with the kids' principal.
They're only getting one day's detention.
The punishment could have been much worse.
It was my boy's doing.
Guess he thought playing hooky was smooth or something.
The kid's a damn romantic.
He gets it from me, God help him.
But he said he's sorry, and it won't happen again.
And when he says something won't happen again, it won't.
When he says someone's special, she is.
One day you're their biggest idol, next day, someone else comes along and becomes their whole world.
It's terrifying.
Yeah.
It's nice, because the girls get their own rooms.
When we have guests, they double up.
Can I ask you something? How long have you had Deja? She's lived with us for about two years.
But we officially adopted her about a year ago.
Must be hard raising someone else's child.
No, because she's our daughter.
Of course.
Of course.
I just meant She had a whole life before she came into your family.
Malik said her mother was a drug addict, she lived in a car.
That's a lot of baggage.
Yeah, she's been through a lot.
But, uh, so have you, right? I mean, having to raise your child's child and all.
Dinner's ready.
- Randall? - Yes.
Can I get your help with the chips and the dip in the pantry? We're not having chips and dip You hide wine in the pantry? I got three kids, okay? Give me a break.
Randal? Hmm? This woman's about to make me come out my spirit.
For real? 'Cause Darnell seems like a nice guy.
Oh.
I thought we were all about getting people in boats and going to Dejik Splitsville.
I still am, I was just trying to be all open-toed shoes and open mind.
I was wrong, okay? I don't want them in our boat.
Kelly is trying to pin this whole thing on our girl? This dinner is about to get awkward as hell.
It doesn't have to be okay.
Ah.
It's going really good.
You know, Mrs.
Weber actually let us pick out the ones we want to study for science class.
Hm.
Theropods or sauropods? Theropods, duh.
- This is the most boring dinner in history.
- Kevin.
Don't be rude.
What? Ms.
Applebaum wouldn't be talking about dinosaurs at dinner.
She's way too cool for that.
You're so obsessed with her.
She's got big boobs.
- Hey, Kevin.
- Excuse me.
- Sorry.
- No.
It's my fault.
'Cause when Randall and I start talking prehistoric reptiles It gets really crazy.
it's hard for us stop.
Didn't know you taught dinosaurs.
- Trish.
- Mm? I have to tell you, I've been admiring your earrings all night.
- Where did you get those? - Thanks, Rebecca.
I-I actually got them from Taste of Afro-soul.
What's that? It's-it's a cultural festival.
Yeah, a bunch of black artists, they get together, - and there's-there's food, there's music, - Yeah.
there's art, jewelry, there's some poetry.
Like the ones you're teaching us in class? Uh-huh, some, yeah.
Is it new the, um, the festival? - Uh - Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's been around for a few years now.
- They hold it once a month.
- Mm.
Hey, if you don't mind, Mr.
Lawrence, can I come with you and Mrs.
Lawrence next time you guys go? Randall, I don't think that you should impose on them.
- That's not fair to just ask.
- Oh, no, no, that would not be - an imposition at all.
What? - Korey.
Hey, you know, bud, we'll, uh, go together as a family.
That way, when Mr.
Lawrence, when he has a family, he can take them to that.
Absolutely.
You know, I-I actually think it'll be good for you to all go together.
Oh, we will.
- Good.
- Good.
This is way better than dinosaurs.
Deja.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Deja, Deja.
Deja, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Look, I-I-I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't trying to do anything.
- I know, I know.
- Then what's wrong? Look Malik, I've never liked anybody before.
You give me butterflies.
And the way you look at me, I mean, I never thought anybody could look at me like that.
And the crazy things you say to me, I mean, are they for real? I mean, the men that my mom dated lied to her.
I only know one man who doesn't lie, and now maybe I know two.
But you've done this before.
You've had girlfriends.
You have a baby.
I don't know if I can trust you.
I-I don't know if every time you tell me I'm beautiful, you just running game.
I don't know.
All I know is I got plans for my life.
Real plans, and this is all too scary.
I never should've skipped school.
Just please take me back.
We'll, uh, we'll be right back with dessert.
Hey, Bec, do you want to get the pie and I'll get the ice cream and the bowls? What is going on with you? What? - Jack.
- What? If you're competing with Korey for your son, you're gonna win.
I mean, that man in there, he could be, uh, Albert Einstein and you would still win.
'Cause our son is always gonna choose you.
Always.
But if you do that if you make him choose then Randall's gonna miss out on something really special.
Something something he really needs.
And then where would that leave him? Who's up for some pie? I'm sorry, would you mind if we said a quick grace? - Mom, is that really necessary? - No, it's fine.
We usually say grace ourselves.
We never say grace.
We haven't even been to church since your campaign.
No, that's only 'cause, you know, Sundays can be, uh Different families have different traditions.
Some people say grace and go to church, and some people know that God knows what's in their hearts.
All right.
Uh, Kelly, you want to do the honors? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this food.
May it nourish our bodies.
And, Lord, though we may not all worship you consistently, we thank you for blessing us anyway.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you for that, um Let's-let's dig in.
Can you pass the chicken, please? So, Darnell, how's business? Got a body shop, right? Yeah, yeah, we do repairs and custom work.
Business is, uh, pretty good.
Appreciate you asking.
Well, if there's ever anything I can do for you as your Friendly Neighborhood Councilman, you let me know.
What? You didn't vote for me, did you? What, you're a Sol Brown man? Oh, no, no, no.
I just, uh, I just don't mess with politics.
I'll take care of mines and whatever I could do to bless the block, I do.
That's about it.
She's probably hungry.
Get the bottle.
Come on, come on.
Good girl.
It's okay.
Can I help with her? Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, baby.
No, it's fine, it's fine.
She, uh, she likes making new friends.
It's okay, it's okay.
Come on.
- It's okay, it's okay.
- Hi.
Oh, I want one.
No, you don't, not till you're 50.
Since Janelle is your daughter and Deja's your girlfriend, that kind of makes Deja her stepmom.
- Oh, my God, Annie.
- No, - certainly does not.
- Not anybody's stepmom.
Okay, um, I-I think that a-a walk will calm her down.
I'll just, I'll be back.
- I'll go with him.
- No.
You know what, girls, upstairs.
- But why? Dinner isn't over yet.
- Yes, it is.
- What about Malik? - Upstairs, now, please.
Come on.
All right.
I think it's time for some real talk.
I'll go first.
I don't think that Malik and Deja - should be dating.
- We can agree on that.
They're just kids.
If it's about the school, you know, kids skip school sometimes, right? Didn't you? No.
Uh, but that's only because Hanes Academy had a very strict attendance policy.
Every school does.
And that's not the point.
What is the point? Do I have to be the one to announce the elephant in the room here? I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an elephant.
Please announce it.
Your son has a daughter.
Okay, but you knew that when you let Deja go to the movies with him last week.
- What movies? - Deja didn't go to any movies last week.
Yes, she did.
She Malik told me.
She went to the movies with him and his friends.
Are you kidding me? So she's sneaking around now? Mm.
Not surprised.
Okay, you know what, you tried it with me earlier, Kelly.
I'm-a need you to not make it a habit.
Your problem is not with me, okay? Your problem is upstairs.
No, our problem is that Malik is too experienced for Deja.
She never lied to us before she met your son.
And my son never cut school before he met your daughter.
All right, so can we all just agree that the two of them are not good together and leave it at that? I don't think anyone here wants an unplanned pregnancy.
Oh, plea Malik is not having sex with Deja.
And you know that how, hmm? Because he told you? Did he tell you that about Janelle's mother, too? Hey, Beth.
Come on.
All right.
Look, obviously, you're not catching us at our best - Mm.
- but Deja came from a tough situation, and we brought her out of it.
And, frankly, we're a little concerned that her spending time with your son will take her right back there.
Where's that? Nothing.
- Forget it.
- Uh-uh.
No.
- You were saying something.
Finish up.
- Yeah.
I mean Our son's gonna drag her right back where? The hood? That's not what I was trying to say, all right.
What are you doing? I saw you eyeballing my tats earlier.
These ain't decorations, bro.
I earned each and every one of these living that life for real.
But that's all behind me now.
Look, you can choose to see me and only see my mistakes, or you can choose to see something different.
Just like you can choose to see our son as a kid from North Philly, teenage father.
Or you could choose to see a straight-A student, a sweet boy that loves to make his mother and daughter smile.
But what you not gonna do is write him off.
I ain't having that.
I'm sorry.
Randall, Beth, I'm-I'm sorry I lied.
I'm sorry for skipping school yesterday.
I'm-I'm sorry I disappointed you.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Hodges, I'm sorry for skipping school with Malik, but I am not sorry for liking your son.
And I'm not sorry for yesterday, because that was the best day of my life.
- Hey, wait-wait-wait-wait-wait.
- Malik.
No, just, just hear me out, okay? Deja, I don't have game.
I don't.
Janelle's mom was my first girlfriend.
I still don't why she liked me.
I mean, we got football players at our school, I'm, like, this big.
But I get how you see me.
A lot of people see me like that.
I remember when I first told my parents I got Jennifer pregnant.
The look on my dad's face.
You know how long my parents been together? 22 years.
My grandparents were together for 60.
Hell, I bet my ancestors in Africa were even booed up.
And I let them all down.
I like you, Deja.
That's the truth.
And when I tell you you're beautiful, that's the truth, too.
Look, if you really want to go back to school, that's okay.
I understand.
But, uh I-I did have one more place I wanted to show you.
Show me.
Thank you for coming over.
Thank you.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Korey.
Can I have a word? I'll wait for you in the car.
Hey.
Um Tonight was, um Look, Jack, we don't have to tiptoe around it.
Tonight was awkward.
It wasn't my finest.
Yeah, mine either.
Ever since Randall met you All right.
If I'm being honest, ever since Randall could talk, he would ask me questions.
"Why is everybody staring at us, Dad?" "Wh-why don't we have any black neighbors?" He-he would ask questions, and I always had an answer for him.
I-I don't know how good the answers were, but I had them.
And lately, his questions have gotten very complicated.
And I feel like I'm letting him down.
That kid is my whole world.
And I I'm out of my depth here.
You know, I only applied to Hanes 'cause it's the best, and I wanted to teach at the best.
But I knew I'd be the only one there.
So I guess when I met Randall I understood him.
And then when I saw that he was searching, I just, I felt like I could help him with all that.
- Well, you can.
- No.
I get him from 8:00 to 3:00, five days a week.
I mean, if I'm lucky, one day, he'll remember me as someone who was vaguely important to him once.
But you're his father.
Yeah, you're gonna be a grandfather to his children.
You're gonna be with him forever.
Korey, I-I can't teach my son how to be black.
Oh, no.
No, don't, don't do that.
Okay? 'Cause you-you, you can't do that.
All right, hold on, one, one second.
Just hold on.
One second.
This is The Weary Blues.
By one of the baddest scribes ever to live, Langston Hughes.
I was gonna give this to Randall, but my wife told me to leave it in the car.
Randall is he's really into his work.
- Thanks.
- Yeah.
Well, um I'll see you at the parent-teacher meeting.
- See you there.
- Yeah.
Hey.
Hi.
So Mr.
Lawrence.
He's a pretty cool guy.
I can see why you like him.
He's okay.
No, he's, um he's pretty cool.
Yeah, he, he, he gave me this.
He said that you liked it a lot.
I'm planning on reading it, too.
- You are? - Mm-hm.
This is a book of poetry, Dad.
What, I like poetry.
Sure you do.
Okay, I'll take that back, then.
You're grounded for a week for lying to us.
It cannot happen again.
Randall and I talked, and we agreed that you can see Malik.
- Seriously? - But supervised.
All right? Either in this house when Beth and I are home, or at Malik's house, when his parents are home.
We didn't really get to know Malik tonight but we'd like to.
Mind telling us about him? - Can I look now? - Hold on, just wait a second.
Well, he's obsessed with cheesesteaks.
He's very confident.
Not cocky.
And he's the type of guy that walks into a room - and everyone notices.
- Now.
G.
G.
, it's sticky.
Yeah.
And you're getting it everywhere, baby girl.
- Dayje? - Yeah, Mama? Look outside, tater-tot.
You see the lights? They're pretty, right? Mm-hmm.
The thing about Malik is, he makes me feel like myself.
Like I have a piece of home.
Oh, damn, did I mess up again? No, you didn't mess up at all.
You know, I actually memorized my favorite one.
You did? Can I hear it? "I, Too".
"I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen, when company comes.
But I laugh, and I eat well, and I grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table.
When company comes, nobody'll dare say to me, 'eat in the kitchen', then.
Besides, they'll see how beautiful we are, and be ashamed.
I, too, am America".
We could read that together.
If you want.
I would like that very much.
Then you don't see me, Dad.
Mr.
Lawrence.
Would you and your wife like to come to the house this weekend for dinner? Mr.
Pearson, I have a daughter.
Six months old.
Got full custody, and my-my parents help out with her sometimes.
She is 14.
She is not seeing a boy who puts babies in people.
We are in lockstep.
Deja, you are telling me that you took a baseball bat to his Mercedes? Oh, my God.
I'm I'm s-I'm sorry.
I-I would've given you back.
I'm serious.
I mean, I thought they would have, too.
What you doing after school? Um, I got drill practice until 7:00.
Why? Want to come with me to Max's? Who's Max? Are you for real right now? You don't know about Max's Steaks? Oh, my God.
Y'all and these cheesesteaks.
I swear, it's only bread and meat.
Deja, how have you been living in Philly for this long and you've never been to Max's Steaks? Well, Randall only takes us to touristy places.
So, I've been to the Liberty Bell, I've been to the Rocky Statue and the Franklin Institute about three times already.
Come on.
That's not Philly.
I mean, it's-it's Philly, but not Philly Philly.
I told you I came here before, right? With my mom and my grandma, when I was, like, four or five? Nah.
Nah.
Where'd you go? I think we were visiting my uncle.
And all I remember was being in the car and-and there were these Christmas lights, but it was warm out.
That was weird.
Oh, and-and the water.
The-the lights were reflecting off the water.
That's-that's about it.
Dang, I hate that.
Hate what? Not remembering things from when my grandma was alive.
Hey, do you have any tests today? What if we, uh, what if we skip school? I'm-I'm serious.
I could show you my Philly.
Uh, I-I don't know.
I mean, I want to Then go with that.
You're really not getting off? Ladies, cancel your dinner plans.
Councilman Gomez brought tamales to work, and I may or may not have taken a few too many.
What's wrong? Principal Herbert called.
Deja and Malik skipped school today.
What? You're not even supposed to be seeing that boy.
He goes to my school.
You want to ban me from school, too? - Excuse me? - Did she just She did.
Well, go to your room.
Now.
And you're grounded for - A decade.
- A decade.
I hope your day was worth it.
Philly! You sure are getting dressed up for this dinner.
I don't think I've ever seen you wear a sports coat on the weekend.
What are you talking about? I always wear a sports coat.
Okay.
What? Rebecca Pearson, I've known you for 19 years.
Your "okay" is never just "okay".
I just think it's interesting that Kevin's asked us to invite Ms.
Applebaum over for dinner for ages and we've always said no.
But then, out of the blue, you decide to invite Randall's teacher over for dinner? First of all, Ms.
Applebaum she's not a teacher, all right? She is the school nurse.
And the only reason Kevin wants her over here is because he has a crush.
- Mm.
- I mean, Randall talks about Mr.
Lawrence constantly.
- You're not the least bit curious about him? - Sure.
But I can also wait for parent/ teacher conferences in a month.
- Bec.
- Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey, babe, help me out.
In the Mecca by Gwendolyn Brooks or The Weary Blues by the one and only Mr.
Langston Hughes? You've read both of those.
- Help me with this, please? - Yeah.
Mmm.
You smell good.
Book's not for me, though.
- No? - It's for Randall.
I did a poetry series in class.
He really seemed to dig it.
You a troublemaker, Korey.
Or should I say, Korey X? Wait, what? Me? Oh, don't go acting all innocent.
Y-You're talking about black consciousness poets an hour before we go to have dinner with your only black student and his white parents.
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to crack this case.
Look, Mr.
Pearson asked me to dinner.
I didn't invite myself.
You could've just said, "Sorry, can't".
"I'm taking my incredibly sexy wife to see Sister Act for the third time".
Trish, it's just dinner, okay? Okay.
So, when you talked to Malik's mom yesterday Uh, V-neck or crew? Uh, feels like a V-neck kind of night.
Well, what was her vibe? You get a sense of what kind of people they are? Rastafarian vegans who love outdoor sports.
- Really? - Nope.
'Cause I just invited them to for dinner.
So we don't even know if they're on board with our plan? What plan? Come on, Beth.
There's a boat.
You and I are in the boat.
The plan is to get Malik's parents to join us in said boat.
Destination: Splitsville Dejik.
It's Deja and Malik Dejik.
Oh, please don't give them a ship name.
- Maleja.
- Listen, this is not a recruitment dinner, okay? This is for us to get to know Malik's parents better.
Feel them out, see if they're good people.
Maybe we won't even have to keep the kids apart.
He's too mature for her and he got her to skip school.
- Deja lied to us.
- I know.
But keeping the kids apart didn't work out too well for Romeo and Juliet's parents, so Hey.
Look at my feet.
What do you see? - A couple hundred dollars on the Amex.
- Mm-mmm.
Open toe shoes for an open mind.
See, the only way we're gonna get through this is to have an open mind.
And red wine.
Lots of red wine.
I'm gonna go check on the food.
If she just opened a dance studio and he's working all kinds of hours, - who's watching those kids? - They probably have hired help.
- Do they? - I don't know.
- They do pretty well for themselves, though.
- Hmm.
You know Randall's brother was the Manny? His brother is Morris Chestnut? No, the-the white Manny.
His brother is white? Why aren't you more upset that your son is out here skipping school and gallivanting with his little fast girlfriend? Mom.
Deja's not like that.
Okay? It was-it was my idea.
After everything, you still have the nerve to have these dumb ideas? Kel, the boy's only missed one day of school in three years.
It ain't the end of the world.
Hmm.
I can't believe we're doing this.
- Well, thanks to you, we are.
- Food's almost ready.
Why don't you go upstairs and get your sisters? Look, I know you're mad at me, but can you please not take it out on Malik? I'm not mad at you, I'm disappointed.
All right.
Can we not do this now? Uhp.
They're here.
Hey.
Open minds.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- Welcome to our home.
Come on.
- Thank you.
Thanks.
Hey, kids, everyone.
Hey, Mr.
Lawrence.
Hey.
Randall, my man.
This is Mrs.
Lawrence.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hey.
Glad you guys could - Shh.
Baby's sleeping.
First stop on our Philly tour: Max's Steaks.
All right.
Let's go.
Yo, yo.
What's up? - Hey.
- What up? What's up, man? - Hey, what's up, Leek? - What's up? - What up, Jamar? - Ain't nothing.
- Uh, this is my friend Deja.
- What's up? - Let me get two Virgils.
- Two Virgils.
Deja, everything on this menu is fire, but that Virgil that's hands down the best cheesesteak in all of Philly.
Aw, he just putting sauce on it 'cause Chuck the owner named it after his grandpa.
Yo, let me go put those orders in for y'all.
Your granddad has a cheesesteak named after him? Yeah.
Yeah, uh, him and Mr.
Chuck were real cool.
God.
You're lucky.
Why? You got all these connections.
We literally walked up in here and everybody said hi.
That's so dope.
I've moved around so much.
I was never anywhere long enough to be a regular.
Come with me.
- Just come on.
- Hey.
Hey, where y'all going? - I'm about to be done with your food.
- Hold on a second.
Yo, yo, yo, everybody.
Everybody.
Um, this is my friend Deja.
She's never been to Max's before, but it's not her fault.
Y'all please say hi to her? - Hey, Deja.
- How you doing? Now you're a regular.
- Hey, Mr.
Pearson.
- Malik.
Kelly, Darnell.
It's nice to meet you guys.
These are our girls, Tess and Annie.
And you know Deja.
Actually, I don't.
You're a beautiful young lady.
Thank you.
It's crazy that you have a baby.
So, dinner isn't quite ready yet, but we do have wine, lots of wine.
Anybody care for some wine? - No, thank you.
- I don't drink.
All right.
Um, Kelly, why don't you and I - put the pie in the kitchen, all right? - Yep.
Ladies, why don't you help Malik get Janell situated.
Right this way.
Dinner on a weeknight must be a pain.
Sorry about that.
Just thought it was important that we get together and talk through what to do about the kids sneaking around.
Nah, it's cool.
Plus, it gave me an excuse to come down here.
I used to trick or treat in this neighborhood - when Malik was a baby.
- Really? Yeah.
I always wondered what the inside of these houses looked like.
- You must have broke the bank on this one.
- No.
Or not.
Good for you, Councilman.
Oh, no, it's just Randall.
You know, Randall is fine.
Hi.
I think Darnell just implied that we're bougie.
- We are kind of bougie.
- Yeah, okay.
But I don't want him to think that.
Open-toed shoes, open minds.
I'm not sure how I feel about your mantra.
How about a tour? Well, this is my room.
Ignore that side of the room.
That's my brother.
He's a bit of a slob.
Some of the brightest people are.
I don't think that theory applies here.
- Uh, Randall.
- Sorry.
So this must be where the books in the house live.
Yeah.
The library sponsored a summer read-a-thon, and I got so many new books, my dad had to buy this for me.
Build.
I didn't buy that, I-I built that.
- It's real oak.
- Wow.
I was-I was thinking about maple, but it's less porous.
Makes a huge, huge difference.
Really, you-you could have used birch, uh, pine Hey, Jack, you can stop naming types of wood.
Yeah.
It looks sturdy.
- Thanks.
- Hey, can we eat already? - I'm hungry.
- Yeah, we're gonna.
And stop fussing with your clothes.
I see what you did there, Randall.
I knew you'd notice.
Mm, but you made one little mistake.
'76.
- Bridge to Terabithia '77.
- Oh.
I'm sorry, am I missing something? Mm-hmm.
I organize the books in my class by year of publication.
But I should have trademarked my process.
Seems we have a copycat over here.
Holy crap, he's like a grown-up Randall.
- Kevin.
- Kev.
What? You don't see it? - Excuse us a second.
- Um should we eat? - Definitely.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- Dinner's ready, so we can, um, - trudge back downstairs.
- Great.
Her face is a whole mood.
We got murals like this all over the city.
Kind of hard to believe people used to call Philly Killadelphia.
It's beautiful.
What? Um well, I was-I was about to say something real cheesy, like "No, you're beautiful".
Does that actually work on other girls? I don't know.
Never really tried it before.
This is it, the magic garden.
Crazy, right? Are you okay? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm good.
Okay.
It's good, right? - It's, like, real good.
- It's good.
Let the tour commence.
Commence the tour! What is this place? I used to stay near here with my grandparents when I was a kid.
This is, um just kind of like my backyard.
You know, I take Janell here sometimes.
This might be my favorite spot in the city, actually.
Nah, actually this is my favorite spot.
We could share it if you want.
Thanks.
I I ca-I can't I don't want to be here anymore.
Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have I'm going now.
That was my I think the food is done.
Oh, shoot.
Shoot.
Ah Let me give you a hand.
Thanks.
We want it baked, not burnt.
That's all right, I kind of like my chicken cremated.
I, uh, I spoke with the kids' principal.
They're only getting one day's detention.
The punishment could have been much worse.
It was my boy's doing.
Guess he thought playing hooky was smooth or something.
The kid's a damn romantic.
He gets it from me, God help him.
But he said he's sorry, and it won't happen again.
And when he says something won't happen again, it won't.
When he says someone's special, she is.
One day you're their biggest idol, next day, someone else comes along and becomes their whole world.
It's terrifying.
Yeah.
It's nice, because the girls get their own rooms.
When we have guests, they double up.
Can I ask you something? How long have you had Deja? She's lived with us for about two years.
But we officially adopted her about a year ago.
Must be hard raising someone else's child.
No, because she's our daughter.
Of course.
Of course.
I just meant She had a whole life before she came into your family.
Malik said her mother was a drug addict, she lived in a car.
That's a lot of baggage.
Yeah, she's been through a lot.
But, uh, so have you, right? I mean, having to raise your child's child and all.
Dinner's ready.
- Randall? - Yes.
Can I get your help with the chips and the dip in the pantry? We're not having chips and dip You hide wine in the pantry? I got three kids, okay? Give me a break.
Randal? Hmm? This woman's about to make me come out my spirit.
For real? 'Cause Darnell seems like a nice guy.
Oh.
I thought we were all about getting people in boats and going to Dejik Splitsville.
I still am, I was just trying to be all open-toed shoes and open mind.
I was wrong, okay? I don't want them in our boat.
Kelly is trying to pin this whole thing on our girl? This dinner is about to get awkward as hell.
It doesn't have to be okay.
Ah.
It's going really good.
You know, Mrs.
Weber actually let us pick out the ones we want to study for science class.
Hm.
Theropods or sauropods? Theropods, duh.
- This is the most boring dinner in history.
- Kevin.
Don't be rude.
What? Ms.
Applebaum wouldn't be talking about dinosaurs at dinner.
She's way too cool for that.
You're so obsessed with her.
She's got big boobs.
- Hey, Kevin.
- Excuse me.
- Sorry.
- No.
It's my fault.
'Cause when Randall and I start talking prehistoric reptiles It gets really crazy.
it's hard for us stop.
Didn't know you taught dinosaurs.
- Trish.
- Mm? I have to tell you, I've been admiring your earrings all night.
- Where did you get those? - Thanks, Rebecca.
I-I actually got them from Taste of Afro-soul.
What's that? It's-it's a cultural festival.
Yeah, a bunch of black artists, they get together, - and there's-there's food, there's music, - Yeah.
there's art, jewelry, there's some poetry.
Like the ones you're teaching us in class? Uh-huh, some, yeah.
Is it new the, um, the festival? - Uh - Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's been around for a few years now.
- They hold it once a month.
- Mm.
Hey, if you don't mind, Mr.
Lawrence, can I come with you and Mrs.
Lawrence next time you guys go? Randall, I don't think that you should impose on them.
- That's not fair to just ask.
- Oh, no, no, that would not be - an imposition at all.
What? - Korey.
Hey, you know, bud, we'll, uh, go together as a family.
That way, when Mr.
Lawrence, when he has a family, he can take them to that.
Absolutely.
You know, I-I actually think it'll be good for you to all go together.
Oh, we will.
- Good.
- Good.
This is way better than dinosaurs.
Deja.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Deja, Deja.
Deja, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Look, I-I-I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't trying to do anything.
- I know, I know.
- Then what's wrong? Look Malik, I've never liked anybody before.
You give me butterflies.
And the way you look at me, I mean, I never thought anybody could look at me like that.
And the crazy things you say to me, I mean, are they for real? I mean, the men that my mom dated lied to her.
I only know one man who doesn't lie, and now maybe I know two.
But you've done this before.
You've had girlfriends.
You have a baby.
I don't know if I can trust you.
I-I don't know if every time you tell me I'm beautiful, you just running game.
I don't know.
All I know is I got plans for my life.
Real plans, and this is all too scary.
I never should've skipped school.
Just please take me back.
We'll, uh, we'll be right back with dessert.
Hey, Bec, do you want to get the pie and I'll get the ice cream and the bowls? What is going on with you? What? - Jack.
- What? If you're competing with Korey for your son, you're gonna win.
I mean, that man in there, he could be, uh, Albert Einstein and you would still win.
'Cause our son is always gonna choose you.
Always.
But if you do that if you make him choose then Randall's gonna miss out on something really special.
Something something he really needs.
And then where would that leave him? Who's up for some pie? I'm sorry, would you mind if we said a quick grace? - Mom, is that really necessary? - No, it's fine.
We usually say grace ourselves.
We never say grace.
We haven't even been to church since your campaign.
No, that's only 'cause, you know, Sundays can be, uh Different families have different traditions.
Some people say grace and go to church, and some people know that God knows what's in their hearts.
All right.
Uh, Kelly, you want to do the honors? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this food.
May it nourish our bodies.
And, Lord, though we may not all worship you consistently, we thank you for blessing us anyway.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you for that, um Let's-let's dig in.
Can you pass the chicken, please? So, Darnell, how's business? Got a body shop, right? Yeah, yeah, we do repairs and custom work.
Business is, uh, pretty good.
Appreciate you asking.
Well, if there's ever anything I can do for you as your Friendly Neighborhood Councilman, you let me know.
What? You didn't vote for me, did you? What, you're a Sol Brown man? Oh, no, no, no.
I just, uh, I just don't mess with politics.
I'll take care of mines and whatever I could do to bless the block, I do.
That's about it.
She's probably hungry.
Get the bottle.
Come on, come on.
Good girl.
It's okay.
Can I help with her? Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, baby.
No, it's fine, it's fine.
She, uh, she likes making new friends.
It's okay, it's okay.
Come on.
- It's okay, it's okay.
- Hi.
Oh, I want one.
No, you don't, not till you're 50.
Since Janelle is your daughter and Deja's your girlfriend, that kind of makes Deja her stepmom.
- Oh, my God, Annie.
- No, - certainly does not.
- Not anybody's stepmom.
Okay, um, I-I think that a-a walk will calm her down.
I'll just, I'll be back.
- I'll go with him.
- No.
You know what, girls, upstairs.
- But why? Dinner isn't over yet.
- Yes, it is.
- What about Malik? - Upstairs, now, please.
Come on.
All right.
I think it's time for some real talk.
I'll go first.
I don't think that Malik and Deja - should be dating.
- We can agree on that.
They're just kids.
If it's about the school, you know, kids skip school sometimes, right? Didn't you? No.
Uh, but that's only because Hanes Academy had a very strict attendance policy.
Every school does.
And that's not the point.
What is the point? Do I have to be the one to announce the elephant in the room here? I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an elephant.
Please announce it.
Your son has a daughter.
Okay, but you knew that when you let Deja go to the movies with him last week.
- What movies? - Deja didn't go to any movies last week.
Yes, she did.
She Malik told me.
She went to the movies with him and his friends.
Are you kidding me? So she's sneaking around now? Mm.
Not surprised.
Okay, you know what, you tried it with me earlier, Kelly.
I'm-a need you to not make it a habit.
Your problem is not with me, okay? Your problem is upstairs.
No, our problem is that Malik is too experienced for Deja.
She never lied to us before she met your son.
And my son never cut school before he met your daughter.
All right, so can we all just agree that the two of them are not good together and leave it at that? I don't think anyone here wants an unplanned pregnancy.
Oh, plea Malik is not having sex with Deja.
And you know that how, hmm? Because he told you? Did he tell you that about Janelle's mother, too? Hey, Beth.
Come on.
All right.
Look, obviously, you're not catching us at our best - Mm.
- but Deja came from a tough situation, and we brought her out of it.
And, frankly, we're a little concerned that her spending time with your son will take her right back there.
Where's that? Nothing.
- Forget it.
- Uh-uh.
No.
- You were saying something.
Finish up.
- Yeah.
I mean Our son's gonna drag her right back where? The hood? That's not what I was trying to say, all right.
What are you doing? I saw you eyeballing my tats earlier.
These ain't decorations, bro.
I earned each and every one of these living that life for real.
But that's all behind me now.
Look, you can choose to see me and only see my mistakes, or you can choose to see something different.
Just like you can choose to see our son as a kid from North Philly, teenage father.
Or you could choose to see a straight-A student, a sweet boy that loves to make his mother and daughter smile.
But what you not gonna do is write him off.
I ain't having that.
I'm sorry.
Randall, Beth, I'm-I'm sorry I lied.
I'm sorry for skipping school yesterday.
I'm-I'm sorry I disappointed you.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Hodges, I'm sorry for skipping school with Malik, but I am not sorry for liking your son.
And I'm not sorry for yesterday, because that was the best day of my life.
- Hey, wait-wait-wait-wait-wait.
- Malik.
No, just, just hear me out, okay? Deja, I don't have game.
I don't.
Janelle's mom was my first girlfriend.
I still don't why she liked me.
I mean, we got football players at our school, I'm, like, this big.
But I get how you see me.
A lot of people see me like that.
I remember when I first told my parents I got Jennifer pregnant.
The look on my dad's face.
You know how long my parents been together? 22 years.
My grandparents were together for 60.
Hell, I bet my ancestors in Africa were even booed up.
And I let them all down.
I like you, Deja.
That's the truth.
And when I tell you you're beautiful, that's the truth, too.
Look, if you really want to go back to school, that's okay.
I understand.
But, uh I-I did have one more place I wanted to show you.
Show me.
Thank you for coming over.
Thank you.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Korey.
Can I have a word? I'll wait for you in the car.
Hey.
Um Tonight was, um Look, Jack, we don't have to tiptoe around it.
Tonight was awkward.
It wasn't my finest.
Yeah, mine either.
Ever since Randall met you All right.
If I'm being honest, ever since Randall could talk, he would ask me questions.
"Why is everybody staring at us, Dad?" "Wh-why don't we have any black neighbors?" He-he would ask questions, and I always had an answer for him.
I-I don't know how good the answers were, but I had them.
And lately, his questions have gotten very complicated.
And I feel like I'm letting him down.
That kid is my whole world.
And I I'm out of my depth here.
You know, I only applied to Hanes 'cause it's the best, and I wanted to teach at the best.
But I knew I'd be the only one there.
So I guess when I met Randall I understood him.
And then when I saw that he was searching, I just, I felt like I could help him with all that.
- Well, you can.
- No.
I get him from 8:00 to 3:00, five days a week.
I mean, if I'm lucky, one day, he'll remember me as someone who was vaguely important to him once.
But you're his father.
Yeah, you're gonna be a grandfather to his children.
You're gonna be with him forever.
Korey, I-I can't teach my son how to be black.
Oh, no.
No, don't, don't do that.
Okay? 'Cause you-you, you can't do that.
All right, hold on, one, one second.
Just hold on.
One second.
This is The Weary Blues.
By one of the baddest scribes ever to live, Langston Hughes.
I was gonna give this to Randall, but my wife told me to leave it in the car.
Randall is he's really into his work.
- Thanks.
- Yeah.
Well, um I'll see you at the parent-teacher meeting.
- See you there.
- Yeah.
Hey.
Hi.
So Mr.
Lawrence.
He's a pretty cool guy.
I can see why you like him.
He's okay.
No, he's, um he's pretty cool.
Yeah, he, he, he gave me this.
He said that you liked it a lot.
I'm planning on reading it, too.
- You are? - Mm-hm.
This is a book of poetry, Dad.
What, I like poetry.
Sure you do.
Okay, I'll take that back, then.
You're grounded for a week for lying to us.
It cannot happen again.
Randall and I talked, and we agreed that you can see Malik.
- Seriously? - But supervised.
All right? Either in this house when Beth and I are home, or at Malik's house, when his parents are home.
We didn't really get to know Malik tonight but we'd like to.
Mind telling us about him? - Can I look now? - Hold on, just wait a second.
Well, he's obsessed with cheesesteaks.
He's very confident.
Not cocky.
And he's the type of guy that walks into a room - and everyone notices.
- Now.
G.
G.
, it's sticky.
Yeah.
And you're getting it everywhere, baby girl.
- Dayje? - Yeah, Mama? Look outside, tater-tot.
You see the lights? They're pretty, right? Mm-hmm.
The thing about Malik is, he makes me feel like myself.
Like I have a piece of home.
Oh, damn, did I mess up again? No, you didn't mess up at all.
You know, I actually memorized my favorite one.
You did? Can I hear it? "I, Too".
"I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen, when company comes.
But I laugh, and I eat well, and I grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table.
When company comes, nobody'll dare say to me, 'eat in the kitchen', then.
Besides, they'll see how beautiful we are, and be ashamed.
I, too, am America".
We could read that together.
If you want.
I would like that very much.