THE MIDDLE S01E02 - HOMECOMING - TRANSCRIPT



Frankie's dream of being Axl's escort for the homecoming football game is shattered when Sue's cross-country meet is scheduled for the same day. Meanwhile, Brick attempts to rake the leaves in the backyard.





Frankie: Out here in the middle, fall means a lot of things. Crunchy leaves, hay rides, and most importantly, homecoming. It's the one day of the year the whole town stops watching football inside and starts watching it outside. And this year promised to be extra special.

Mike: Axl made varsity. How about this kid?

Frankie: Oh my gosh, Axl! I'm so proud of you!

Axl: Gross! You know the rules. Christmas and birthdays only.

Frankie: Fine, I'll hug your dad.

Axl: Still gross.

Frankie: Truth is, I wasn't just happy for Axl. You see, when your son's on varsity, you get to escort him onto the field before the big homecoming game. And it makes all the other crap you go through worthwhile. Because no matter how smart-mouthy and horrible your kid is every other day of the year, for one shining moment you've got everyone watching you wondering, ‘what did she do right’? And you're the only one who knows. Nothing.

Axl: Look, just try not to embarrass me, okay?

Frankie: Yep, more mother-son moments with Axl were few and far between these days. And I was sure as hell going to enjoy this one.

Frankie: Okay, I need your vote. Which one should I wear to homecoming?

Mike: Which one's cheaper?

Frankie: Mike, this is homecoming. I'm not going to worry about money. I'll tuck the price tag in and return it the next day.

Mike: Atta girl. I can't tell. Until it's filled up, it's just clothes. Besides, it's not going to matter what you decide to wear anyway, because all eyes are going to be on this.

Frankie: Oh, is that right?

Mike: Afraid so.

Frankie: Well, it may be competing with cleavage, so good luck.

Mike: Look at that. I've got to get somebody out there with a rake.

Frankie: Well, Axl's at football and Sue's at cross-country. Oh, but I heard Molly Donnie who has a little leaf-raking business going.

Mike: Why would I pay someone else's kid when I've got a perfectly good free one over there sitting under our roof, eating our food, using our last name? Have you met Brick?

Frankie: He's not ready for leaf raking. He can't even blow his nose.

Frankie: No. You're sucking in. Out. Out. Blow out. Quick. Close your mouth. Gotta get some pressure going there.

Mike: This is nuts. When I was eight, my dad had me driving a tractor, towering a roof, trimming a tree with a chainsaw.

Frankie: And remember, we were going to try and do better.

Mike: I'm just saying, Brick's been playing the baby card for a little too long. Chores are part of being a man.

Mike: Brick, congratulations. You've been called up. You're going to the show.

Brick: Because I don't know what that means, I'm gonna assume it's some kind of sports expression.

Mike: I got a job for you, son. I want you to go out there and rake all the leaves in the backyard. 

Brick: Oh... I don't think I'm ready for leaf-raking, but thanks for your confidence. [Confidence!] 

Mike: Come on. Let's go. All right. Rake works better if you flip it around. There ya go. He's got it. 

Sue: Look what I got at practice today… My cross-country phone tree, my cross-country schedule, and my cross-country sportsmanship agreement, which I have to sign and return. Wow. There's so many papers to sign when you're on a sport.

Frankie: You just stick that schedule up on the cupboard, girl.

Sue: I finally have something to put on the cupboard besides my braces tightening schedule. I guess I'll just have to move Axl's football schedule over. After all, we do have two athletes in the family now. First meet is on the 2nd.

Frankie: How can Sue's first meet be on the same day as Homecoming?

Mike: What kind of team schedules something the same day as Homecoming? It doesn't make any sense.

Frankie: Right? I mean, come on. Axl finally makes varsity. Sue finally makes... Anything! And they're both at the same time? Why does the universe do this to us?

Mike: The universe took a look at all this and had to take us down a peg.

Frankie: Yeah, well... We got two events, two parents. We'll just have to divide and conquer, I guess.

Mike: Ugh. All right. I'll take football.

Frankie: Wh... No way. Why do you get football?

Mike: I'm a guy.

Frankie: Oh, come on. Cross-country's a sport, too.

Mike: Is it? They run into the woods and come out two hours later. Lost dogs do the same thing. 

Frankie: I want Homecoming! It's a huge deal. I bought a new dress and everything.

Mike: Well, technically you didn't.

Frankie: Oh, no way, Mike. No way. Let's shoot for it. Rock, paper, scissors. Come on. Rock... 

Mike: I'm not gonna shoot you for it.

Frankie: Rock, paper, scissors. Ready? Rock, paper, scissors. Come... Wrong. Rock, paper, scissors. No. All right. Hold on.

Mike: Come on. We're being silly. Homecoming is the bigger deal. We're expected to walk Axl out on the field. We have a job. That's our job. Sue has a whole season of meets we can go to. She'll be fine.

Frankie: And it's her first meet. I don't want to miss her first meet. This is the first thing she's made since the clean plate club.

Mike: Well, then I guess we have our answer.

Frankie: No, we do not have our answer. I want to walk Axl out on the field. Ohh. I want to do both. Oh, God. I feel sick.

Mike: Okay, stop beatin' yourself up. Sue! She's a big girl. She'll understand. Sue!

Sue: Yeah?

Mike: I'm sorry, but your first meet is at the same time as the big Homecoming game, so.. .

Sue: Oh. That's okay. You don't have to come to my meet. I mean... Mom'll be there.

Mike: Brick. Use the rake. The rake, Brick.

Frankie: So while Mike was dealing with Brick, I was trying to forget about Homecoming, which, for some reason, was not easy.

Mr Ehlert: How do I look, Bob?

Bob: Actually, sir, I think you're supposed to drive, and the Homecoming queen sits back there.

Mr Ehlert: Does the Homecoming queen own a car dealership and two pawnshops? I'm the big dog around here! I can sit wherever I want.

Frankie: Wow. Homecoming, huh? It's a pretty big deal.

Sue: I know. Huge.

Frankie: Yeah. I'm a little worried about Axl, though, you know? I mean, this is a big deal for him, and I'll be with you instead.

Sue: Oh, don't worry about Axl, Mom. He understands things are different now that I'm on cross-country. I mean, you've gone to hundreds of his events, and you've never gone to a single one of mine ever… And now you get to. Aah!

Frankie: That is so true! Aah!

Sue: Mom, it means a lot to me that I can finally be the one to make you proud. Are those tears of joy in your eyes?

Frankie: Tears are tears. We don't have to define them.

Frankie: So, listen, I'm really sorry I'm gonna have to miss Homecoming.

Axl: Whatevs...

Frankie: Are you okay? 'Cause if you're upset about this, maybe you should tell Sue. Just, you know, tell her how you wanted me to walk you onto that field your whole life and you'll be really disappointed if you have to go out there without me.

Axl: Okay. Well, first of all, maybe you're right that I'll be disappointed, but I don't think so, and, second of all, no.

Frankie: Well, why don't you just get up off the couch and yell something, like, ‘My, God, Mom! It would break my heart that my very own mother won't be at the biggest day of my life!’ Then storm into your room, and I'll do the rest.

Axl: Ugh.

Frankie: Okay, you don't have to say ‘disappointed’. You can put it in your own words. ‘Crushed’, ‘bogus’, ‘lame-o’... Whatever feels comfortable.

Frankie: What's that smirk about?

Mike: I got you an early birthday gift.

Frankie: Well, you didn't get me anything last year, so technically it's late, but what do you got? 

Mike: I took care of it. I talked to Sue's coach and got him to move cross-country a half-hour earlier so you can do both. You're welcome.

Frankie: Oh, my God! Mike! How?

Mike: There's not much you can't accomplish in this town with a case of beer and a wheel of cheese.

Frankie: Oh, seriously? I can do both? I can really do both? Oh! You are a hero.

Mike: That's the word I was gonna use. See, I'm a doer, Frankie. While you talk, talk, talk, I get it done. Talker. Doer. Just like this thing with Brick. I put him outside and told him to work. That out there is a man in the making.

Frankie: Yeah, well, your man in the making just climbed into a trash bag.

Mike: Jeez. Brick! Come on. Get out of there. Attaboy. He's out. 

Frankie: And so Brick continued to rake the leaves day after day after day. He organized them by color. He made sure he got every one.

Brick: It's almost ready!

Frankie: He did his job with extraordinary attention to detail.

Brick: This one doesn't match any of our trees. I'll return it to the neighbors.

Frankie: And just when Mike had about given up...

Brick: I finished. 

Mike: Really?

Brick: Yep. 

Mike: Oh. You did it. Took you 11 days to do a job that should take an hour, but you did it. All by yourself. Doesn't it feel good?

Brick: It really does.

Mike: You're growing up fast, Brick. Really fast.

Brick: I know. Can you tie my shoe?

Frankie: At last, the big day arrived. Homecoming was our super bowl. Actually, the super bowl was our super bowl, but Homecoming was a close second.

Mr Ehlert: Ah, ya flooded it, you dizzy broad. Now we're screwed. Well, don't just sit there. Get out and push.

Bob: Hey! Mike. Brickster.

Mike: Oh, Bob. Ah. You found us. Great game, huh? Yeah, we're gonna crush them to smithereens. 

Bob: Orson rules! Yeah! Ah-ooh-gah! Ow! Ow! Yeah, baby! Whoo!

Mike: You're really going to town there, huh?

Bob: Oh. Sorry about that.

Mike: That's okay.

Bob: Yeah, you know, big weekend for an alum. Gettin' fired up. Gettin' psyched. Ah! Oh, the times I had here.

Mike: You didn't go here.

Bob: No. I was home schooled. Where's Frankie?

Mike: Um...

Frankie: Where was I? I was at a place that people from the Boonies refer to as the Sticks.

Coach: Runners, on your mark.

Frankie: Go, Sue! Whoo! Go, Sue! Yeah! Go, Sue!

Man: Have you ever seen such pageantry? And the Thundering Hens drill rifle-ettes are up next, as soon as we get the stalled car moved off the field. Uh, yeah, sorry... The stalled car from Ehlert motors! So when you think of quality, think Ehlert motors!

Bob: Yeah! Go, Thundering Hens! Whoo!

Brick: Bob, when they say ‘yards rushing’, what does that mean?

Bob: Well, football's a really fascinating game, Brick. It's hard to explain all the particular nuances. 

Brick: You don't know, do you?

Bob: I just cheer when everyone else does.

Brick: Dad, then can I ask you a question?

Mike: Kinda wondering why you didn't.

Brick: Okay. Where do the leaves go, you know, after the raking?

Mike: You ask Bob about football and I get leaves?

Brick: Well?

Mike: we'll take them down to the dump and they'll put them in the incinerator.

Brick: What? You never said they were going to burn them.

Mike: Well, what did you think was going to happen?

Brick: I thought maybe we'd take them into the forest and set them free.

Mike: Okay. Look, Brick, I don't have time to talk to you about this now. They're calling the parents down onto the field. Hey, Bob, keep an eye on him until I get back.

Bob: No problem, Mike. He's safe with me. I'm going for a corndog. Save my seat.

Man: In just a short time, we'll begin the parade of the Orson Varsity families. I think it's safe to assume at least some of these parents and sons expressly for this purpose.

Frankie: Hi, I'm Sue Heck's mom, and she hasn't come in yet.

Coach: Who?

Frankie: Never mind. I was just wondering if you know when this will be wrapping up, because I need to get to homecoming. It's kind of a big deal, because my son's on varsity.

Coach: Ah, football. Everyone loves the sports with the balls. Look, everyone else is in, so I guess it'll be over when your daughter crosses over the finish line.

Frankie: Where is she?

Sue: I don't see anyone in front of me. I think I'm first!

Frankie: Hey, Sue. Looking good.

Sue: Mom, what are you doing here? How's my time? Am I winning?

Frankie: Oh, not exactly. The other runners have all come in.

Sue: Oh, really? Well, I lost some time in the woods. An angry raccoon wouldn't let me stay on the path, and I fell into a pricker bush, and it took a while to get out. Then I threw up a little, but I think I'm on a runner's high now.

Frankie: Hey, listen, Sue. Why don't you hop in? I'll drive you to the finish line.

Sue: What? I can't do that. That's cheating.

Frankie: It's not cheating. You still got last place. You just get it sooner.

Sue: It's time, Mom. They record your time.

Frankie: No, honey, but see, the timekeeper left. She went to homecoming. They all went to homecoming.

Sue: I'm sorry, but I want to cross that finish line. Sue Heck does not give up.

Frankie: And that is what I love about you. I really do. Just not when I have 15 minutes to get to homecoming and walk your brother out onto that field.

Sue: I knew it. I knew you'd rather be at Axl's Thing than with me.

Frankie: Okay, you know what, Sue? You got me. Yes, I want to go to Axl's Thing. I want to wear a pretty returnable dress and walk your brother down the field. But not because I don't want to be here with you, because I do. And I was. It's just that I get no affection from Axl. I mean, you're a girl, and you still have to hug and cuddle with me. But your brother is just this miserable, smart-mouthed pain in the butt who won't let me anywhere near him. And if I could have one moment where he'll let me walk arm in arm with him out onto that field and kiss him on the cheek and he can't wipe it off, then yes, I wanted to do that.

Sue: Okay, let's go get your moment.

Frankie: You've got to love daughters. We even found a way for Sue to cross the finish line.

Mike: I can't get hold of her.

Frankie: I'm here.

Axl: You've got them all. I was afraid you weren't going to make it.

Frankie: Yeah, here's what really happened.

Man: And now, each boy will pin his mother with a traditional homecoming corsage. The corsages were donated by Val's Hardware, your discount snow shovel destination. Val's Hardware, where the sale never ends. Sale ends Friday.

Axl: Here.

Mike: Yeah, okay.

Frankie: And so that was it. I had missed the big moment. I missed it all. The pageantry, the walk, the corsage. But then, almost as if Axel wanted to make it up to me, he pulled off the greatest play of the year.

Brick: What’s happening?

Bob: I don’t know!

Man: We have a time out on the field with number 32 down the 11-yard line.

Mike: He's okay. He just got the wind knocked out of him.

Mike: Frankie? Frankie, noooo! Axl’s teammates: Dude, your mom's here. Good evening, Mrs. Heck. Lovely dress.

Frankie: Axl, sweetie, are you okay?

Axl: Please tell me I'm dead. God, I can't believe she just did that.

Frankie: The good news is, I did get to walk arm-in-arm on the field with my son, but it wasn't exactly how I had pictured it.

Axl: Well, if you wanted to wait 16 years until the perfect moment to completely destroy my life so I can never show my face outside this house again, congratulations, Mom! Your evil plan worked!

Frankie: Axl! Hey, I'm sorry. I still don't understand. Where is it written that a mother cannot run out onto a football field if she thinks her son is injured?

Mike: Not written anywhere, Frankie. Because everyone in the world agreed it was too obvious to write down.

Sue: Well, I think Axl's being a baby. Embarrassment is an important part of sports. My coach told me that.

Brick: Dad?

Mike: What, Brick?

Brick: If we can't set the leaves free, can I at least keep them in my room? They won't take up much space. [Space!]

Mike: No, Brick. You're not setting them free, you're not keeping them in your room, and you're not reading to them. They're not your friends, Brick. They're leaves. Dead leaves. You got it? I just don't get it. When is that kid going to grow up?

Frankie: Why are you in such a hurry for him to grow up, so he can quick be a teenager like Axl and have nothing to do with us?

Frankie: Don't wish the time away, Mike.

Frankie: Hey. Brought you an ice pack for your shoulder. Just keep it there for 20 minutes. But don't fall asleep with it on, because... I'm sorry. Sorry. It's just hard to stop being a mom. Listen, I know you're growing up and you want me out of your life. And I'm trying, Axl. I really am. It's just that it's gone so darn fast. You know? Like warp speed. A minute ago you were hanging on my leg, begging me not to leave you in preschool. And now I realize I shouldn't have. I should have just snatched you and ran. And, you know, all I'm trying to say is that if I embarrassed you by running out onto that football field, which I still don't see why it's so wrong, but I… Then… I'm sorry. Good night.

Axl: Don't have to stop.

Frankie: What?

Axl: I mean… I-I mean, he hit me really hard, you know. It kinda hurts.

Frankie: I guess that's the thing about being a mom. You never really have to stop. You just have to start learning to do it in private. But that's okay. In the end, it's not about those big public moments. It's the little moments, the ones that sneak up on you. Those are the ones you remember. This is harder than I thought.

Everybody Hates Chris S01 Pilot -Everybody Hates Pilot

1982.
That was the year I turned 13.
Before I was a comedian, I thought the coolest thing that would happen to me
was being a teenager.
I was gonna have women, money, stay out late. = don't go to bed
I thought it was gonna be the bomb. =success
'sup?


Chris! Chris! Chris!
Boy, was I wrong! Boy! = an exclamation of surprise, pleasure, contempt, etc was I wrong = I was wrong (inversion is used to make the statement more dramatic)


Chris!
Get in the bathroom and wipe the pee off the toilet seat!
Disgusting!
When I was 13, my mother convinced my father to move us out of the Project.
She always said Project is just another word for experiment.
In a lab, the government gives rats cheese.
In the Projects, the government gives people cheese.


Dad, can we stop at McDonald's?
You guys have MacDonald's money?
Julius, the kids have to eat.
They ain't got to eat MacDonald's.
We got some bologna in the back, 
= bologna is a type of sausage
I'll pull over. pull over =  stop at the side of the road

My father Julius always kept bologna handy just in case. = keep smth handy = keep smth  close at hand; easily reached; just in case = to protect against something bad that could happen: I'll take my umbrella too, just in case
We get one combo meal.
Drew gets the burger, Tonya gets the fries, Chris you can have the drink.
One time I just got ice.


We moved to an apartment in BedStuy, Brookyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant (/ˈbɛdfərdˈstaɪvəsənt/), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
Now had we known that BedStuy would be the center of a crack epidemic, crack = illegal drug (cocaine)
I guess we'd have picked some place else.
BedStuy even had its own mottomotto =  a short statement that expresses something such as a principle or an aim, often used as a statement of belief by an organization or individual

"BedStuy, do or die"  


Look at that! Look at that!
Those were some of the guys that were gonna die.
If I ever catch any of y'all spray painting on anybody's wall,
I'm gonna put my foot so far up your behind, you'll have toes for teeth.
Get inside.


That's my mother Rochelle.
She had a hundred recipes for whooping ass. whoop = beat


Boy, I will slap the caps off your knees.
I will knock you into last night.
I will slap your name out the phonebook and call my Bell and tell I didn't.


That's my younger brother Drew.
There's nothing worse than having a little brother that's bigger than you.


My sister Tonya was the youngest and would do anything to get me in trouble.


Chris, clean that mess up.
- Tonya did it. - Huh-uh!
Did I ask you that?


Since I was the oldest, I had to be the emergency adult.


If you smell smoke,
and you think the house is gonna catch fire,
get your brother and your sister and get out of here.
If you smell gas and you think the house is gonna blow up,
get your brother and your sister and get out of here.
If you smell smoke,
and your brother catches on fire,
get your sister and get out of here.
Fortunately, the house never caught fire...
and neither did my brother.


Mom, why is it that Drew and Tonya get to go to school in our own neighborhood get to do smth = have the opportunity do do smth
but I have to go all way out to Brooklyn Beach?
Brooklyn Beach was a poor Italian neighborhood on the other side of town.
It was just like BedStuy,
take away the gangs, add the mob.
Because the junior high school around here is like a
hoodlum factory. hoodlum = violent criminal or troublemaker; a hooligan or gangster
And those white kids, they get an education.
Not a Harvard type education,
just a not-sticking-up-a-liquor-store type education. stick up = rob


Hey, dad.
Hey, baby.
What's up, dad?
Hey, daddy.
Hey, baby.


Tonya was my father's favorite.


What's wrong with your oatmeal? oatmeal = porridge made from oatmeal or rolled oats
Chris made it too lumpy. lump = a solid piece of something that does not have a regular shape
And she knew it.
You don't have to eat it
I know you're not gonna throw that away.
Eat that.
That's 30 cent worth of oatmeal.


My father always knew what everything costs.
That's a dollar 9 cent in the trash.
That's 2 dollars on fire.
That's 49 cent of spilled milk dripping all over my table.
Somebody's gonna drink this milk.
Baby did you see this?
I've paid this.
- It says you paid half. - I know.
I gave you all the money how come you only paid half the bill.
I cannot even believe that you'd ask me that.
Just asking you a question. I'm trying to find out what's going on around here.
No, you're not. You're questioning my judgement.
You act like there's not a big red bill sitting on the table.
Okay, fine.
You do it then.
- I will. - Okay.
- I am. - Good.
- Fine. - Fine.
My parents taught me love is never having to say "kiss my ass".
Where the stamps at?
I was never cool growing up.
The coolest thing about me was this pair of white sneakers I had.
No, no, no, no.
Boy, you're not going to school in no sneakers.
Believe it or not, there was a time where you couldn't wear sneakers everywhere.
Why? Everybody else wears sneakers.
Because you look raggity.
Plus, you have an assembly today.
Boy, you're gonna lose your mind.
My mother hated raggity.
She always said it's better to be poor and neat than rich and raggity.
I think she said that because we were poor.
Here.
Wear Drew's good shoes.
I hate these shoes.
And everybody will make fun of me at school.
You've only been going there for a week.
You don't know everybody.
I was the only black kid at the school.
They know me.
This is so embarrassing.
How come he's wearing my shoes?
Because you only have one pair of feet.
but, Chris, don't fool around after school.
I need you to be here to let Drew and Tonya in, okay?
You won't be here?
No, I gotta work today.
But you know the drill.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.
Daddy's gonna be asleep and don't wake him up 'til 5 o'clock.
That's right.
Chris!
You got your bus pass?
Yeah, um...
- Somewhere around here... - Hmm-hm.
You keep on. You lose this bus pass and your behind is gonna be walking to school.
Oh.
- Here's 2 dollars for lunch. - Thanks.
All right, now be good.
- Bye, mom. - Bye, mommy.
Bye, baby.
Hold your sister's hand.
Now go in the street.
Keisha was the girl next door.
At 13, I didn't know a lot about sex.
But I knew she had something to do with it.
Hey, Drew!
Drew?
What's up, Keisha?
You know her?
Yeah.
Drew was so cool he got girls at 10 that I couldn't get until I was 30.
Listen, when y'all get to the house,
don't ring the bell or knock on the door.
Just wait, okay?
Whatever.
What if I have to go to the bathroom?
Go at school.
That bathroom is so nasty.
Listen...
You wake up daddy, he's gonna punch me square in the face,
and if he does that, I'm gonna punch you in the face
and then he's gonna kill me and wind up in jail.
Now do you want daddy to go to jail?
No.
No?
Alright then.
Even when my mother got mad, she still made my dad's dinner.
...on my mind.
Vegetables, potatoes and its favorite:
a big piece of chicken.

I had to take two buses to school everyday.
Was the junior high school across the street really that bad?
Like rock'n'roll, school shootings were also invented by blacks
and stolen by the white man.
My first bus was the 26.
I read the newspaper every single day.
I learnt more in the way to school than I learnt at school.
My next bus was the 44.
I was the only black person on the bus.
And nobody was sitting next to me.
I mean nobody.
If you think she's mad now, wait 'til her daughter brings home O.J.
My mother thought going to a white school meant I would get a better education
and I would be safer.
Wrong!

That's Joey Caruso.
A little thug with a big chip on his shoulder.
You know I manage to avoid him before I wore these shoes.
Nice shoes, Bojangles.
Bojangles?
That's not what your mother call me when I was tap dancing with her draws last night.
I know you think I'm crazy.
But if I let him get away with that, he'd be doing it all year.
Now I couldn't beat him,
but I thought maybe I could outblack him.
- What? - Did I stutter?
You know who I am?
You step on my shoe again and I'm gonna tell you who I am.
I don't play that.
I'm from Bed-Stuy, boy.
I'll bring half a Marcy up in here.
I will beat your butt so bad. You're gonna need crutches in your sleep.
Hey, this might work.
You know what else I'm gonna do?

What's your name?
Chris.
I'm Dr. Raymond, your new principle.
Now get off my feet.
That's funny?
That's not funny.
What's your name, son?
Caruso.
Fix yourself up next time you come to my school.
See those shoes?
They say something.
They say I'm a student,
I want to learn.
I want more of that.
And less of this.
Don't bump into me again.
Even though Caruso was messing with me,
getting embarrassed made him even madder.
So you know what's coming next...
This isn't over, nigger!
He got away with calling me nigger that day.
The later in life he said it at a DMX concert
and almost got stomped to death.
You're really from "Bed-Stuy do or die"?
Yeah.
You've ever been shot?
No.
At least not yet.
- I'm Greg. - I'm Chris.
Greg wasn't my first choice for a friend.
But mutual ass kicking seem to bring people together.
- Cool shoes. - Thanks.
If that was the new principle,
who was the old one?

I didn't touch her!
I don't know what you're talking about.
Mr. Palmer was accused of doing something that we can't tell you about
because of the network censors.
The school settled the lawsuit out of court
and he's not allowed to teach anymore.
If he moves to your neighborhood, you'll get a warning.

Back at home, my father should have been in bed.
But he'd rather lose sleep than money.
What are you doing?
I'm paying the bills.
See, it says 40 dollars,
I'm paying 40 dollars.
And that's exactly why I don't let you pay the bills.
- Where are you going? - To work!
Is Chris gonna be home in time to wake me up?
Can I see in the future?
What's wrong with you?
Probably can see in the future!

By lunch time, I was starving.
I'm gonna go get a hotdog.
I'm gonna get a slice of pizza.
Give me back my bus pass.
You want it, take it you little...
After school, Satchmo.

After school, I had a plan.
This is crazy!
Man, it's a school fight. School fights only last a minute
because somebody always comes and breaks them up.
All I have to do is get in the first punch.
Somebody will stop it.
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
What are you waiting for...
Cornbread!
This should be over any minute!
Somebody's gonna stop this!

Wait! Wait! Wait!
Wait for me!
Thank you! Thank you! Yeah...
Come on, 'mam! Come on! I've got a schedule.
Wait! Hold on, please!
There's a kid trying to catch you.
Yeah, I know. I see.
Wait! Wait! Wait!
I bet you don't get me tomorrow.
I bet I do.
You do? I gotta close now.
Cut that out, you bunch of hoots!
Back off!

I was still hungry but I was almost home.
What could go wrong now?
Dad!
Dad!
Dad!
That girl is trying to get me killed.
Dad!
Da...
Girl, you want daddy to go to jail?
I told her to quit.
I have to go to the bathroom.
I told you to go at school.
That bathroom is nasty.
Listen, we're going in.
But once we get in, I don't wanna hear any noise.
None. Do you understand?
Yes.

My father always slept in his uniform.
That way when he woke up,
he'd be ready to go.
...gonna pay bills. I'll pay the bills.
You may not think messing up a pair of 40 dollars shoes is such a big deal,
but you have to realize that my father's car only cost 65 dollars.
I had to get those shoes clean.
For the first time that day, things were going alight.
All I had to do now was keep everybody quiet 'til 5 o'clock.
Dad. Dad.
Time to get up.
It's 5 o'clock?
Yep.
It's not 4:59?
Nope.
Which job am I going to?
You're driving a truck.

Hello.
Hey, baby. It's mommy.
Is your father up?
- Yep. - Good, good, good.
Take his plate out of the refrigerator and put it in the oven for him.
What plate?
The one with the big piece of chicken.

Haven't I told you "do not eat the big piece of chicken"?
But I was still hungry.
My mother wasn't really mad at me, she was looking out for my father.
You see how big he is.
She didn't want him to go to work hungry.
Because if he goes to work hungry then he'll be grouchy.
And if he's grouchy, he might call his boss Cracker.
And if he calls his boss Cracker
then we'll live in the Projects again.
But do not eat the biggest piece of chicken.
Do you understand?
At least, you didn't mess up these school shoes.
Come over here and give me some sugar.
Now go to bed.

- Rochelle. - What?
Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do.
But I'm working hard trying to pay for this place, you know that.
Julius, just because you make money doesn't mean you know how to spend it.
You gotta know how to work the system.
- What system? - The debt system.
run this house like they run the country...
on a deficit.
Rent is due on the 3rd,
I don't pay 'til the 9th because you don't get your check 'til the 7th.
If you pay the light bill now,
I won't have money for the groceries, the rent will be late
and then you'll have to work overtime.
You want to work overtime again, Julius?
No, I don't think so.
If we don't owe people money,
we won't have any money at all.
Um...
why didn't you just say that then?
Because you didn't ask.
Baby...
Don't baby me.
Come here.
I'm sorry, okay?
Who told you to open the mail anyway?
Come here, Pooky.
Last time you said Pooky I got pregnant.
You're my Pooky. You're always my Pooky.
No Pooky.
Okay, little bit of Pooky.
- Love you. - I love you too.

My dad always checked on us in between jobs:
his night job and his late at night job.
Dad?
Hey, man. I thought you were asleep.
I'm sorry I ate the big piece of chicken.
That was 89 cent worth of chicken.
What? You didn't get enough to eat at school?
I was still hungry.
Now I'm still hungry.
Look, next time, eat a little some extra breakfast, okay?
Okay.
Here.
And don't go pulling this money out.
somebody'd try to rob you.
Don't tell your mother about this.
Everything okay at school?

I didn't tell him about the fight.
My dad went to school during the civil rights era.
After hoses, tanks and a dog bites on your ass,
somehow Joey Caruso didn't compare.
Yeah, it was alright.
Okay. I'll see you in the morning.

My father wasn't the type to say "I love you".
He was one of four fathers on the block.
"I'll see you in the morning" mean he was coming home.
Coming home was his way of saying "I love you".
Unplug that clock boy. You can't tell time when you sleep.
That's 2 cents an hour.

What the hell happened to my towel?