01x02 - It's Just Begun

[bunniefuu]

(woman) Previously on "The Breaks"...

Fouray manufactures receipts
when he's on tour,

and he pockets the cash
when he's reimbursed.

You're gonna trust
this ho over your boy?

What the f*ck you talking about?

I have this fantasy that
we would cut the album,

and it saves hip hop from going pop.

Our audience is not interested
in the noise you call hip-hop.

Hey, Bernard, this the kid
I was telling you about.

Played that PE at WPPS.

Let me know if you're ever
really ready to talk.

Otherwise...

Hands against the car.

- Wait...
- What'd I do?

You can't arrest him! Deevee!

Mr. Van Putten is my client.

You call f*cking Juggy to get
our friend out of jail.

I'm supposed to just
let him sit in a cell

because you got daddy issues?

So you the middle-man?

No, I negotiate

with the label on behalf of the artist.

Thanks for your time, huh?

(Fouray) Gonna start my own label.

Better come on, boy.

He might be snitching, kid's gotta go.

(rhythmic pounding)

(door opening)

How long am I supposed to be in here?

You got somewhere to be?

Nah, I...

I mean, yeah, I'd like to go home,

take a shower and whatnot.

They got a shower at the precinct.

Didn't you shower over there?

Look, I... I mean, nah...

nah, um, I... they didn't let me.

- What they let you do?
- Nothing.

- What'd you tell 'em?
- Nothing.

You sure?

Yes, I'm... I'm positive.

So we gonna work together.

Most definitely.

A'ight.

Let's work.

♪♪

(Nikki moaning)

(panting)

We should fight more often.

- Mm-hmm.
- (chuckles)

Oh... what about in, like, ten minutes?

Stop being so stupid.

(sighing)

Hey, should we try Deevee again?

Where? He's not at his dad's.

Oh, you don't think he went
back to Juggy's, do you?

Last thing I need is my best friend

and my girlfriend hanging out
with Juggy all the time.

David, it was an emergency.

I got it, I got it,
I'm... look, I'm glad

that Deevee is not in jail,

and I am glad that Juggy was at home.

- Me, too.
- Good.

- Can you come back to bed now?
- (giggling)

Stop, I gotta go.

You know if I'm on the ground floor

of Barry's new label,
then I'm part of the foundation.

Yeah, but didn't you start,
like, yesterday?

Let him feel you out and... just, like,
bring you along at his own pace.

If I'd've done that, I'd've never
gotten the job in the first place.

♪♪

♪ Every door I open ♪

♪ Wherever I... ♪

(music continues)

I hear congratulations are in order.

(chuckling)

You shouldn't have.

Little Mattie Taylor.

Head of black music.

From promo assistant
to big office with a view.

Not that I was ever
invited to the last one, but...

Well, clearly you don't
wait for an invitation.

Well, I guess that's
the thing about foresight.

Where would we be if we
waited for what we wanted?

So, black music.

That's not where I left it,
that's for sure.

But you got a solid roster here, right?

You got Keith Sweat, Tay Six.

Don't forget Al B...
with that face and that voice,

women all over this country are
gonna be wet with anticipation.

Well, not every woman.

What brings you by, Juggy?

I heard you might be

adding the hip hop to your repertoire.

My chairman says there's gold
in them-there hills.

But he said that about disco too, so.

This might be different.

My son David, he's crazy about it.

He thinks radio's gonna
catch on eventually.

What do you say you and me,
we get out in front of this?

Huh?

Kids, what do they know, right?

(sighing) I don't know.

You want me to work
some records for you?

Be just like the old days,

you know, but this time,
you call all the sh*ts.

That's really gracious of you, Juggy.

- Hmm.
- Are you also going to allow me to choose

which markets I wanna push my acts in,

or do you still owe
Cap Reynolds a favor for Tulsa?

Oh, my, Mattie.

No one's supposed to know about that.

Nobody does.

About Cap...

Never in a million years.

You don't wanna hear me out?

Juggy, it was nice to see you.

(chuckles)

♪♪

♪ I remember when I first
heard Rakim spit ♪

You heard the man, he likes this.

He's not even giving him another song.

Well, Tommy Boy is going to drop him

if he doesn't deliver the song,

which means that he won't be able

to finish the new album, which means...

Okay, that means that
we take a different approach.

- With D Rome?
- With everybody, with everything.

We let Tommy Boy drop D Rome.

What?

We're gonna let Tommy Boy drop D Rome.

- and we're gonna sign him.
- To what?

Fouray Records.

Barry, we don't have
the money for a label...

I didn't have the money
when I started this company.

- You ever had a check that bounced?
- Actually...

I just need a way to show him
that we're all about D Rome.

You know, some way to show him
that he should believe in us.

Something that Tommy Boy won't do,

something that Gordy can't do,

so that m*therf*cker stop
putting sh*t in D Rome head.

The Ride concert.

It's tonight. Keith
Sweat is the headliner.

Maybe we can get Keith to let D Rome
spit his verses on that song.

Live, in front of
thousands of screaming fans.

- That's insane.
- That's a great idea, yeah.

That's insane, that's exactly
why we need to do it.

That's perfect, that's a perfect idea.

I love it, I love it,
I love it, Ms. Unreasonable.

That's great, very...

Ahh-ahh-ahh, where you going?
No, no-no-no.

I need you to chill out here
and work on that business plan

for the record label,
we need it perfect.

- Come on, Barry...
- Stop, I don't even wanna hear it.

Come on, come on.

(funk music playing)

(clippers buzzing)

- Hey, what's up, D?
- What's happening, man?

King!

What up, man, you making love

to some lucky woman
on-stage tonight? Huh?

Ha-ha, Fouray. What's up, baby?

I know you ain't here for a cut.

Ah, man, no-no-no-no, come on, come on.

- Stop, please, I mean...
- He's good.

Recognize me, man.

I ain't the one with sharp objects.

Keith, I need to holler
at you for one second

about D Rome, though,
you got a hot second?

Your boy is hot. He k*lled the remix.

That's what I'm saying,
so let's see if we can, like,

work it out he perform
with you tonight on the stage?

Hey, that's not
the blade you used last time.

Remember how you sculpted
right above my ear?

Do that again, baby, come on now.

So, what's up? What you think?

I mean, I guess so.
Is it cool with Bernard?

Bernard? I don't need
to talk to Bernard,

bring up the past, for what?

He only really care that
you headlining his show

and not Sampson's show, like, for what?

Listen, you take
Anita Baker on the stage,

Y'all do "Make It Last Forever."

Do you need Bernard's permission?

(laughing)

All right, baby, you got it.

Hey, bring your man side of stage.

I'll pass him the mic before I'm done.

Aah! That's what's up.

We're out of credentials.

Man, my name is my pass.

(clippers buzzing)

All right, hey, I'll see you later, man.

I'mma go get D Rome, you go get Josie

and meet me backstage.

Look, make sure that he look right

and y'all are on time, you got that?

- I got it, Barry.
- Good.

That'll give me some time
to... to work Mattie Taylor.

Listen, Nikki, good idea.

Very, very good idea, I like that.

(engine starts)

(car drives away)

Oh sh*t, Barry!

I need credentials.

♪♪

♪ Yo, the A, the H, the M ♪

♪ Nobody replacing him,
got what it takes to win ♪

♪ Shout to my n*gg*s doing eight to ten ♪

♪ Walk straight, don't scrape the Timb ♪

♪ I ain't a corner boy,
dressed in no corduroys ♪

♪ I'm a carnivore,
raised in the art of w*r ♪

♪ Quarter back the track
and make it call an audible ♪

♪ So call all your boys,
pick up all the pieces ♪

♪ I'mma show y'all
just what a masterpiece is ♪

♪ My g*n go off, quick to wreck ♪

♪ Any out-to-get-a-rep crews ♪

♪ Plus I lay nephews and nieces ♪

♪ I ain't here to politic,
I ain't here to hardy-harr ♪

♪ I just came... the body, arms ♪

♪ The embodiment of low-down, rotten ♪

♪ Picking cotton for your cotton... ♪

(sighing)

(door opens)

(clearing throat)

Have you ever tried to do,
like, a... like, a hook?

What?

You know, like, a hook,

like something that goes
in between everything

so it doesn't sound like you just...

going on and on and on?

I mean, people like to sing along.

I ain't singing.

I know you're not singing, but just...

You think my sh*t 's whack?

No, no, no, man, not at all.

Then what the f*ck is it?
You just a f*cking producer?

You don't know what the f*ck
you're doing, huh?

- I know what I'm doing.
- What?

I can't hear you.

I... I... I just said

I know what I'm...
I know what I'm doing.

So you can make it work
without the hook.

Then make it work.

(distant car horn)

(announcer) . , the Ride.

Show some New York City pride.

Name this Brooklyn band
and this old-school jam and win

two tickets to the Keith Sweat's
concert tonight.

- Man, Sampson'll hate that.
- Will he?

Yeah, he thinks he owns that account.

(laughs)

Boy, I wish I could've been there
when you played that record.

- (chuckling)
- Let me ask you something.

You knew he'd can you, why'd you do it?

Because I showed him
research that proved

he could b*at you by playing hip hop,

and he told me to stick
to getting his coffee.

- (laughing)
- (phone ringing)

Yes?

I need your help.

What's wrong? Is Deevee okay?

No, it's nothing like that.

Barry got Keith Sweat
to let D Rome perform

his verse on the remix tonight, and...

but they don't have any credentials,
and I need to get in.

What?

- Barry got Keith Sweat...
- No-no-no, I got that,

but I'm confused why you're here.

- I need a credential.
- Nikki...

artists who are scheduled to perform
can't even get passes, so...

You don't understand,
David, I need to get in.

You don't understand, I can't
give out any more passes.

Okay, so just turn
your head away for a sec

and get us an order.

I can't do that, Nikki.

David, it's me.

I'm sorry.

You know, you're too good.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

It's not, it's sweet.

- Nikki, I...
- No-no, it's okay, it's cool.

I'll see you tonight?

(phone ringing)

♪ So call all your boys,
pick up all the pieces ♪

♪ I'mma show you all
just what a masterpiece is ♪

♪ My g*n go off, quick to wreck
any out-to-get-a-rep crews ♪

♪ Plus I lay nephews and niece... ♪
f*ck!

Yo, yo, cut it!

(sighing)

Say something.

You're just not breathing.

Uh, like, you're not...

you need to find pockets to breathe in.

Like, think of, I don't know,

like, every S-word
or something like that.

Or if you don't wanna do that,
then we can just, you know,

go line-for-line and punch in.

Punch? What you talking about?

Punch in.

"Punch in" means, like, to record,

like, line right after
another line, like...

(knocking on door)

(car horn honking)

Yo, we need to talk.

Yo, get the f*ck out the hallway.

Bounce!

- What happened?
- Yo, Geronimo's crew

called Bug over there about
Kennedy's men on some wild sh*t.

- What you mean?
- They chopped the n*gga up, man,

on some Freddy Krueger sh*t, dog.

What happened to you?

Had to get his body off the street.

I ain't no f*cking see him that way.

- Go clean up.
- All right.

Hey, you heard me, man?
n*gga, move right now.

That's exactly what Bruce
expecting us to do.

Push now, we gonna have
half of Brooklyn on our ass.

We gotta square it with Bug's people.

No doubt.

Prep School.

Not gonna work out.

Call Scooter.

Word.

(door closes)

♪♪

Thanks so much for this again.

Hey, no problem, we'll get you in.

Hey... put this on.

Oh, yeah, take... Yeah.

Hey, Nikki.

Power up, dab some on.

Yeah, you're good.

Follow my lead.

Hey, there, Josie Cho,
sh**ting the concert

for Ebony Magazine. This is my editor...

actually, the editor of Ebony Magazine.

Ms. Monica Cole.

Look, her flight got delayed,
and her luggage got lost.

The luggage containing her credentials.

Look, I don't care if you're
the Margaret Thatcher,

you ain't getting in here
without a pass.

Wilkinson... what's your first name?

- George.
- Nice to meet you, George Wilkinson.

Can you direct me to the
nearest pay phone?

Why?

Oh, Bernard Masters is my
neighbor and personal friend.

I just wanted to let him know
what a fine job his security was doing.

Right this way, Miss.

- He's here.
- That was great.

Reminds me of sneaking
in to CBGB's when I was .

? Damn, girl, you didn't
look a little young?

Power ahead, worked then, works now.

What're you doing here?

I told you I was coming.

Barry got you a pass.

Mm-mm, David, meet Josie, my new friend.

Josie, meet David, he's my boyfriend.

Oh, nice to meet you.

Nikki, I'll see you
in the dressing room?

Yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah, thanks.

So your girl got you a pass.

- No.
- Then who?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Yeah, we do, it's usually pretty hard
to get into a Ride concert.

But, hey, you are a hustler.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

It's not, it's, uh, sweet.

(laughing) Look,

I'll find out how you got in later,

but I gotta get this stuff upstairs.

I'm feeling good about tonight, baby.

I... we making a deal,
and I know... I know

Mattie Taylor's around here
somewhere, I can smell it.

Really? And what're you gonna tell
Mattie Taylor when you find her?

I'm gonna tell her the time is
now to get with Fouray Records.

- We about to blow up.
- Prematurely.

Dude, you are like the f*cking Grinch.

We are not ready to meet with Mattie.

She know I got my ear to the streets.

She might not admit it,

but she know I'm what she missing.

- We talking about the same Mattie Taylor?
- Yes!

Yeah, the one and only Mattie Taylor.

That's who we're talking about, Grinch.

Look, let's just talk to her

once we've got some talent locked down.

- I hear you...
- And some production money.

Please, this is the only sh*t
we get business with her.

Okay, I'm gonna make
the sh*t count, I promise.

It's gonna count.

♪♪

Hey, no doubt.

Not even a wristband.

Okay.

Mr. Keith goes on exactly : ,
and we're closing with "Make You Sweat."

Have you go out there at : ,
can you do that?

- Yes.
- Let me guess.

- The boss loaned his lanyard.
- Nope.

Yeah, well, you need an ID.

So you couldn't get in
on the guest list.

And you are not the type
to flirt your way in.

You posing as somebody.

Left some poor guard shook.

You could've just
given me the credential.

Yeah, but where's the fun in that?

You clearly don't need one.

See you later.

(beeper)

Damn it!

(phone ringing)

- Hello?
- It's me, I got your page, what's up?

Nikki, oh, it's you,
I gotta talk to you.

- Yeah, what's up, what?
- Yes, no, in person, okay?

Um, where are you at?

♪♪ (boy singing)

You hear this kid? I'm telling you,

this kid is the next Michael Jackson.

Orson, you remember
when you used to tell me

that Little Foster Silvers

was gonna be the next Michael Jackson?

(all laughing)

I remember when he said Jermaine Jackson

would be the next Michael Jackson.

(all laughing)

You know what,
now that we're on the topic

of great ' s music, Orson,

you really oughta license
my Bob James masters.

You got his late ' s albums, right?
I got all the early ones.

We could put out a greatest hits CD.

A million flat.

(chuckling)

Exactly what're you
doing these days, Juggy?

Little of this, little of that.

(chuckling)

I'm working records for Mattie Taylor,

that's what I'm doing these days.

I'm gonna call your bet.

And I'm gonna raise you a G.

(chuckling)

Mattie hiring you, what for?

She's got a national staff now.

She likes my personality.

I knew you were bluffing.

You cleaned me out here,
I gotta get back in the game.

K for the masters.

You didn't pay more than
grand for those masters.

(laughing)

Okay, , .

That's a tidy sum for a day's work.

What else you wanna get rid of?

Nothing.

I thought you were cashing out.

Why would you think that?

No reason.

♪♪

You got me looking like I'm
going to church or something.

I'd love to got to that church.

Chill out, man, you dope.

The ladies gonna go crazy
when you step on the stage.

Word up... fresh, man.

Yeah, you could definitely catch it.

- For real?
- Yeah...

(speaking foreign language)

I don't know, babe, got me feeling like

I gotta sing or something.

I'm looking like a real herb right now.

(laughing) You right about that.

Come on, kid, car's outside.

You ain't performing
with no Keith Sweat, f*ck that.

All right, next band is gonna have you

in some phony rayon shirt,
polka-dot pants like you Kwamé.

Uh-uh, hells no, let's go.

No, we ain't going nowhere
but on that stage.

♪♪

Our headliner was born
right here in Harlem, U.S.A.

Although he's been known on
the nightclub circuit for years,

he made his living on Wall Street.

How's that sound?

You wanna do it again?

Yo, you had that security guard shook
like that white girl in Rita's.

Whatever, man, where have you been?

One of Ahm's guys
picks me up last night.

I've been holed up with him.

He picked you up to do what?

Make music.

(applause)

(announcer) Ladies and
gentlemen, please welcome

Bernard Masters from The Ride, New York.

(man) As the voice of the people

of New York City...

I take great pride when
one of our own takes the stage.

(cheering and applause)

(woman) I love you!

Whoo, I love you, too.

(laughing)

I'd've been happy
to watch from the wings,

but when my brother
called me personally,

and he said, "Sampson,

"the beautiful ladies in the house

"need your special type of smooth

to introduce my groove,"

I had to come out.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored

to give you the crooner, the lover,

the one that makes you
feel like no other.

Give it up for Mr. Keith Sweat.

(cheering and applause)

♪♪

(cheering, shrieking)

- I thought Sampson worked with PPS.
- He does.

That research you did for Sampson,

you still got it?

Yeah.

Meet me in my office,
first thing tomorrow morning.

You're leaving?

If I don't leave right now,

I'll k*ll him.

You ain't learned sh*t

from the last time you tried
to pimp this man out

for some New York swing bullshit, man.

- Strategies...
- Yo, yo, hold on, I found my man, D...

- You ain't find...
- You're trying to ruin this man's image...

- You found him?
- That's right, I found D.

You couldn't find your own ass

if you was wearing it on your damn face.

What've you done for your man, D?

The same sh*t I did for your
black ass back in the day...

Oh, you steal his money?
You stole his money?

I ain't steal no f*cking money.
What, you got some proof?

- You're a thief!
- Damita?

- Yo, what's up?
- You tell me.

What is going on with Barry and Gordy?

Girl, nothing, they're just business
partners. You know, they're passionate...

Yeah, I do, cut the bullshit, Nikki.

You know I know you.

Okay, okay, but it's off-record.

The hell it is, if Barry Fouray

and Gordy Charlton are fighting,
that's a story.

What if I can give you
an even bigger story?

- I'm listening.
- Fouray is about to be a label.

I could hook you up with
an interview with Barry.

- That's it?
- That's a big deal.

He won't meet with just anyone.

All-access, behind the scenes.

I'll do the best I can.

Okay.

But... you gotta sing the song.

What? Are... you're kidding.

- Come on.
- Guess I have a story

about Barry Fouray and Gordy Charlton.

Wait... wait, wait, wait.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

(chuckling)

♪ She's your queen to be ♪

♪ A queen to be forever ♪

♪ To do whatever ♪

♪ His Highness desires ♪

Higher.

♪ She's your queen to be ♪

♪ A vision of perfection ♪

Girl, you can do better than that.

- Hop on the leg.
- ♪ ...affection ♪

♪ To quench your royal fire ♪

I'm sorry.

I'd like to meet her.

I'd like that, too.

- Ten minutes.
- Mm-hmm.

Damn.

Right?

(rustling, dripping)

(door opening)

What's up?

Smoke usually did this.

Oh.

All right, so Bug have four corners

and three years to .

The way I think,

Smoke started doing
after they knifed Disco.

thou.

Hold up, hold up.

Could've made it to .

I'm gonna pull the truck around.

(door opening, closing)

(Keith Sweat)
♪ Give it to me now, girl ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Can't nobody give it out ♪

♪ For me and you ♪

♪ Yeah, girl ♪

♪ I wanna pull down
the shades and the lights ♪

♪ And do what I wanna do ♪

♪ To hear it, girl ♪

♪ Tell me now, baby ♪

R&B still bores you, huh?

Oh!

Damita!

(both laughing)

Damit... Damita Alonzo.

Yo, you look good.

You too, except for
a little sleep in your eye.

Oh, oh, I'm sorry.

I'm f*cking with you.

Hah, funny, funny.

I thought I heard somebody say
you were in New York.

Yeah, I'm working at the Village Voice.

Oh, no sh*t? Oh, that's dope.

I mean, we could never get you
out of that hatchet office

at G-Dub, so, you know.

Maybe you didn't try hard enough.

(laughing)

So I guess I missed my sh*t, huh?

You said it, I didn't.

(chuckling)

Yeah, yeah, wait till I tell
Bernard about your little plan.

Oh, should've known
you'd brought your ho.

You're acting like
a real d*ck right now.

Where were you?

Huh? You'll try anything
to make me look wrong, huh?

- Whatever.
- You a sucka.

I didn't even know
you was that kind of sucka...

What are you doing?
You're supposed to be

on the side of the stage
in, like, two minutes.

You hear those two?

I could be in the studio right now.

Yo, you hear that crowd?

You gonna let a jacket
stop the guy from doing

what he was put on this Earth to do?

(distant music, cheering)

Hell nah, sister.

Good.

'Cause you ain't wearing
that corny sh*t anyway.

(distant music, cheering)

(music growing in volume)

♪♪

♪ Listen, yo ♪

♪ Everybody in the party get to moving ♪

♪ Get to grooving your body
and your heads to the music ♪

♪ The guy too smooth,
you're not able to refuse him ♪

♪ Ugh, all of the girls
wanna amuse him ♪

♪ Listen, I'm representing, defy ♪

♪ You losing your mind
when Rome using the mic ♪

♪ He be the slick, the swift,
the different brother ♪

♪ When I walk in the room,
you ditch the other ♪

♪ I know it, honey,
you find thee adoring ♪

♪ I know he boring
and his dialogue corny ♪

♪ You love my voice
when the rap do flow ♪

♪ Your girl run the both
of her hands through the fro ♪

♪ Ugh, I rock the stage show ♪

♪ Love making sun,
rain, sleet, nor snow ♪

♪ Ugh, D Rome and Keith Sweat ♪

♪ Leaving every woman
in the audience wet ♪

♪♪

♪ Don't tell me now ♪

Yes! Yeah, boy!

What'd I tell you? What'd I tell you?
What'd I tell you?

I told you, I told you, I told you.

You k*lled it.

♪ Yes, give it to me, girl ♪

(women screaming, cheering)

♪ You know that ♪

♪ And I fell for you ♪

♪ Girl ♪

Thank you so much, New York, I love you.
It's good to be home.

(cheering and applause)

Keith, that's what's up, man, word.

Hey, good-lookin', Keith.

Oh, y'all taking my man?
Y'all taking my man?

You good, I'mma see you at Rita's.

I'm gonna host a concert
for one of my artists,

all you have to do is call.

Well, here I am. Ringing in your ear.

How about the Tonys, Labor Day Weekend?

How about the Garden?

Barry's personal assistant.

Haha, hey now, don't worry.

I'm a gentleman,

even when being face to face

- with a Judas... Security!
- Hey, stop.

Hey! She don't even have credentials.

- Get her up outta here.
- Time to go, let's go, come on.

Hey!

She's with me.

With you, Ms. Taylor?

D Rome.

That was a nice touch.

- What's your name?
- Nikki Jones.

Mattie Taylor.

Would you like to join me
for a cocktail?

So, what is it that you wanna do, Nikki?

I wanna be in A&R.

Oh, really, that's surprising.

Mattie Taylor,

it's very nice to see you here.

And I see that you met my sl*ve.

Good to see you too, Barry.

Listen, I wonder
if me and you could build

on distribution for my new label.

Oh, right, hip hop.

Yeah, of course, what else?

- What you got?
- I got what you need

to get on board for distribution.

All right, call my office on Monday,
we'll schedule something.

That's great, I'll set it up, let's go.

- Come on, come on.
- Barry.

I need to use the ladies' room,
can I just meet you downstairs?

Uh, no... no-no, meet us at Rita's.

- We out of here.
- Got it.

Ms. Taylor.

It's Mattie.

Mattie.

About A&R, what was
so surprising about that?

I don't know, just something about you.

I don't get the sense
that you're the type

to aim for the middle.

Oh, I'm not.

Hip hop is gonna take over
the music business.

Fouray Records is gonna be a force.

Loyal, aren't you?

I try to be.

That's good.

It'll carry you far.

As long as you have the right partners.

Donald, meet Nikki Jones.

It's nice to meet you.

(distant drumming)

(drumming)

Man, you gonna do it?

(sighing)

(drumming continues)

(knocking on door)

Hey.

Yo, we're here about Bug.

This is for you.

I'm sorry about your loss.

(drumming)

♪ I really love you ♪

♪♪

♪ You know I... ♪

(door opening)

♪ I really love you ♪

Okay, cool your jets, Batman.

I'm bad at that.

(bat clatters)

♪♪

When'd you get home?

Just a minute ago.

What're you doing down here?

I'm... I'mma clean up.

What you know about Banks and Hampton?

Baby Phee.

(chuckling)

Boy, you don't know nothing
about no Jack Ashford.

(chuckling)

Man, this takes me back.

You know, we used to be
up on Marcy Av, blazing.

They had a little hole in the wall,

right under the train.

All the fine women, mm.

That sounds dope.

Yeah, it was that same club,
matter of fact,

when I was dancing with
this fine, young lady.

What was her name?

Eh, don't make me lie.

(both laughing)

But I do remember her boyfriend's name.

- Reggie.
- Reggie?

Reggie. (laughing)

Yeah, man, that was...

that was the first time
I ever saw a g*n.

And it was pointed right at my face.

- What... What happened?
- Huh?

- What happened?
- Oh, I got sh*t at.

- What?!
- Yeah.

b*llet missed me by less than an inch.

Hit the wall behind me.

And all I could think about was you.

Me?

When was this?

A couple of months after you were born.

Your mother was already gone.

You could barely lift
that big-ass head of yours.

(chuckling)

And you...

were gonna need your daddy.

Look, son, I get it.

You wanna be young,
do the music and all that.

But you can't do nothing if you're dead.

Junior... go down south.

Got to your Aunt Adona's house.

♪♪

Couldn't find you after the show.

Did you get my page?

You know, you shouldn't
take the train back

this late at night by yourself.

I took a car.

Okay.

Why are the lights off?

I need to talk to you.

With the lights off?

I wanted to see what it felt like.

To sit in the dark?

To be you.

Sitting here alone,

waiting for me to come home
so you could ask me about

something or something I did or said

that you don't think is right.

What're we talking about, Nikki?

Juggy wasn't home yesterday.

(sighing)

I know.

You know?

Which means you called him
at his office phone.

Which begs the question,

how did you get his office number?

And you're not gonna ask?

No.

If I ask, you're gonna think
that I didn't believe you

when you assured me
that you hadn't told Juggy

that Sampson fired me.

You're also probably gonna think that

I concocted some theory
that you actually had

talked to Juggy, that you actually had

told him Sampson fired me,
and that he then gave you

his number so you guys could talk
without me finding out about it.

(chuckles)

Some theory.

The truth is, he's listed.

You probably just...

looked him up in the phone book.

Look, I know that we're different.

You bend the rules a little.

I write 'em.

I hate my father.

You admire him.

And yeah, there is
a part of me that is worried

that there is a part of you
that is like him.

But you're not, I know you're not.

You would've told me if you were.

(chuckles)

I might be more like him
than you realize.

So, then... you are.

I'm not judging you anymore,
Nikki, I love you.

I can't change that.

I love you, too.

(sighing)

Now, when you're ready,

I am prepared to pretend
we had the loudest,

longest, nastiest fight
we have ever had.

(both laughing)

Okay?

But before then,

I need to take a shower.

I am so funky, I swear...

staff at Ride has taken

some kind of revenge on my white ass...

they're working me like a dog.

Wait.

I'm sorry, David.

But I need you to put
your shirt back on.