01x19 - Love & w*r

[bunniefuu]

RADIO ANNOUNCER: And as the w*r
in Vietnam continues on,

American casualties have now
surpassed , over...

♪

[Chuckles] Mama, more treats?

They were able to save my arm,

but all this sugar's gonna make
them cut off my foot. [Laughter]

ADULT DEAN: Don't stare at his arm.

Yo, Dean, come over here
and gimme some skin!

Okay, you got this. Don't act weird.

Don't act weird. Don...
Ugh. You acted weird.

Oh, don't worry. We'll get it.

How's it looking, Doc?

Well, the good news is we
removed % of the shrapnel

in the arm without any nerve damage.

You should be able to live
just fine with what's left.

BILL: Can he come home soon?

He should be able to go home
in a day or two.

But he needs to take it
very slowly for a month or so.

I'll make sure he does.
Can you still play baseball?

Oh, still the best you ever saw.

- Thank you, doctor.
- DOCTOR: Mm-hmm.

There's some cupcakes waiting for you

on the nurse's station.

Then I am done here. [Chuckles]

Thanks, Doc.

So, how'd you get hurt? What happened?

Um, it's a boring story.

Baby, I got off work early
and I just thought I would...

Oh, hey, the whole family is here!

Mr. Williams, Dean, Kim,

and you must be Mrs. Williams.

I am. And you are?

Oh, M-Mom, Dad, this is Tammy.

Hello. [Chuckles]
How do you two know each other?

Oh, well, um, i-it's a funny story.

Tammy wrote letters to me
every day in Vietnam

through this program at her church.

Come to find out, we went to
the same high school.

[Chuckles] Well, I was there
a lot earlier than you.

Tammy's been visiting me
every day while you're at work.

Well, I'm glad Bruce has a good friend.

[Scoffs] Catch up, Mama.
She's his girlfriend.

Be cool, Kim.

Um, well, I made some of
your favorite butter cookies

like I used to.

[Laughs] Well, oatmeal raisin
is his favorite.

Mama's right. They... used to be.

Used to be?

I guess you've been over there
tasting everybody's cookies.

Um...

♪

Nope. I wasn't about to end up
in the hospital, too.

Bruce had had plenty of
girlfriends before.

I couldn't figure out why
this one bothered Mama so much.

So, um, does your friend, Tammy,

cook anything else for you
besides cookies?

Nothing as good as you.

I was old enough to know

it wasn't really about the cookies.

My guess was it was the fact that Tammy

was closer to Mama's age
than to Bruce's.

By the way, I, uh, washed out
that cookie tin

so you can take it back to her.

And if Bruce dated an older woman

with her own cookie tins,

he didn't need Mama's anymore.

Who took my newspaper?

You better use your good arm
and fold it back.

[Chuckles] Sorry. I was just
checking the want ads for a job.

Don't rush it, son.

The doctor told you to take it easy.

Yeah, I know. I know.

I'm just ready to get my life
going again.

And, Dad, I thought you'd be happy

to have one less dependent.

[Chuckles]

Does your friend, Tammy, work?

Yes, she does, Mama.

Does she know about the disability check

you're getting from the army?

She is not after me for my money,

just my good looks.

Hey, Dean, ready to go to
the park and practice your swing?

Yes, I am.

I want you to teach me
how to hit a home run.

You can't teach "Be somebody else."

[Chuckles]

♪ All I know ♪

♪ Ohhh, through the highs and the lows ♪

Baby, you didn't have to come all
the way over here to drop this off.

Oh, it's no problem.

I'm taking Dean to the park,
and you were on my way.

In spite of Mama's concerns,
Tammy seemed nice to me.

And if Bruce was happy,
we should be happy.

The park?

Maybe you could take Joey?

Uh, sure, sure, yeah.

Hey, Joey, get over here!

Who the [bleep] is this?

What's up, Joey?

Dean, this is my son, Joey.

I thought he was at your mama's
for the weekend.

He was supposed to be,

but she drank a little too much
corn juice last night.

- Mm.
- I could smell it over the phone.

Hey, Joey, do you want to go to
the park with Bruce

- and his brother?
- Yeah!

All right, well, get on in there.

I'll be over to help you get ready.

All right, Joey.

Thank you so much.

And maybe this could help you
guys bond a little better.

It will.

I'm starting to understand
how Mama felt.

Didn't these people know that
not only did Bruce

have a cookie tin at home,

he had a perfectly good
little brother at home, too?

So, uh, did you know she had a kid?

Of course.

I just didn't want to let
Mom and Dad know yet.

You know, I want to kind of
ease them into it.

You know how they can get.

Yeah. [Chuckles]
Like when they found out

- your last girlfriend was a Lutheran?
- [Laughs]

Look, I know this wasn't a part
of our plan, Dean,

but I think you could
really help me out with Joey.

You can relate to him more than I can.

Maybe be kind of a big brother to him.

You think you can do that?

Oh, I get it.

He wants me to handle
the big brother duties

so he doesn't have to.

Okay. Maybe I could be
this kid's "Bruce."

BRUCE: That's all right. Whoo!

Aah. Whoo!

Aah.

Whoo! [Laughs]

You are a natural!

I'm starting not to like this kid.

- Are you gonna get that?
- Yeah, it's official.

I don't like this kid.

She's got a son?

- This changes everything.
- Don't worry.

It's not like Joey knows about
my disability checks.

He means should we assume
she was married before?

Or is she divorced? Or is she a widow?

Okay, okay, I get that you both
have a lot of questions,

and I probably should've
handled it better.

So why don't we invite Tammy and
Joey over for dinner one night,

then you can ask her all these things.

You miss combat that bad, huh?

- That's a good idea, son.
- Mm.

It would be nice
to get to know her better.

Yeah, she can bring her cookies.

Damn it, Lillian, nobody likes
oatmeal and raisins.

♪

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

What are your intentions with our son?

Hm?

To get him strung out on cookies.

How many children do you have, Tammy?

Oh, I forget. [Gasps]

LILLIAN: Is Tammy even your real name?

Who's Tammy?

♪

Why, hello, Tammy!

And this must be little Joey...
Aren't you adorable...

Please come inside...

I can't wait to get to know you better.

Ooh, whenever Mama didn't use periods,

I knew things were about to get good.

What would you like to drink, Tammy?

I'll have a glass of wine. Thank you.

Uh, I-I'll take a ginger ale, please.

Hey, Dean, why don't you take
Joey to your room

and show him all your cool stuff?

I bet he'd love that.

Go ahead.

Take your snack, too. [Chuckles]

Why do you have all
of this baseball stuff?

You're not very good.

Shh! I'm trying to listen here.

So, Bruce tells me that you work.

What do you do?

Oh, I'm... I'm a receptionist

at a doctor's office.

And the hours are really flexible,

so that helps a lot with Joey.

- So, are you widow?
- [Chuckles] I wish.

Uh, just divorced.

I see.

Well, does Joey's father live nearby?

[Scoffs] Mom.

It's okay. I-I don't mind it.

I would have a lot of questions,
too, if I were them.

He, uh, moved to Birmingham
with his mother,

so Joey goes up to visit
during school breaks.

Does he... help out?

[Scoffs] I mean,
he taught Joey how to accept

a collect call, so that's something.

Mm-hmm.

I'm surprised you all

haven't mentioned
the age difference yet.

Well, there is that.

Well, Mama, you and Dad
aren't the same age, either.

Son, three years apart
is different than...

More than three years.

You know, a lady never tells her age.

[Laughs] I'm .

You?

- JOEY: Ooh, cool!
- [Paper rustles]

No. Don't touch that!

It's supposed to stay in the plastic.

You got fingerprints on it.

Okay. That kid just took my "Daredevil"

from mint to near mint.

I can only imagine what you all
must think of me...

Older and divorced?

I'm certain that's not what
you had in mind for your son.

And if I'm being honest,

I made a mistake marrying
my high-school sweetheart.

And by the time I realized it
was a mistake,

I was already pregnant.

Uh-huh, knew it! Joey was a mistake.

And as much as I love Joey,
it is definitely not easy.

Lillian, i-if I'm being honest,

I-I would love to pick your brain

about how you are able to work,

raise a family, and keep a marriage.

[Chuckles] Thank you.

That's very nice of you.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's happening?

I guess it all comes down
to prioritizing.

[Clears throat]

And, of course, I have Bill.

Oh.

Speaking of, Bill, Bruce told me

that you are an amazing musician.

And... And I'll be honest, I-I
wasn't familiar with your music

until I bought your .

Your vocals reminded me
of a-an early William Smith.

[Chuckles] You know about Smitty?

Uh-huh! Sure do.

Y'all sing from the same place.

- The soul?
- Mm, I was gonna say the knees.

All that begging and pleading.

[Laughter]

Well, it was a blues cover.

You clearly have good taste.

How you end up with this clown?

Oh. [Chuckles]

[Sighs]

♪

And that's when I caught him
stealing from Bruce.

I knew I should've stopped him,

told him to put it back in the drawer,

maybe offered him something
he could play with.

This was my moment of truth.

Bruce asked me to be like
an older sibling to this kid,

but was I going to be a Bruce or a Kim?

LILLIAN: Boys, time for dinner.

I chose v*olence.

It had been over an hour since
Joey stole from Bruce's desk,

and the kid hadn't cracked.

That little grifter had ice water

running through his veins.

I was kind of impressed.

Well [sighs] I hate to break
this party up,

but we should probably get going.

It is a school night.

Yeah, and I've got a couple job
interviews in the morning.

I don't know why you are in such
a rush to get back to work.

I mean, you're not even
fully healed yet.

- Mm-hmm.
- LILLIAN: Thank you, Tammy.

That's what we've been telling him.

- I feel fine.
- I was running out of time.

The kid was about to get away with it.

I had to come up with
a subtle way to expose him.

Why don't we get going?

- Oh!
- [Gasps]

Dean! What has gotten into you?!

[Clears throat] I-I'm sorry.

Just... a little accident.

What's this?

What is this?

That's a Bronze Star.

Hm, that's weird.

He must've stolen it
from Bruce's dresser.

Joseph. Explain yourself.

I-I was gonna give it back,

but I just wanted to bring it
to school for show-and-tell.

So you stole it?

No, no, i-it... it's okay.
Um, I don't mind.

No, it's not okay. Give it back now.

And when we get home,
you are gonna get it.

Oh, I'm sure there's a belt here
you could use.

I'm so sorry, guys. I don't... [Sighs]

I don't know what's gotten into him.

He's not usually like this.

More importantly, when were you
planning on telling us

you were awarded the Bronze Star?

It's, uh... It's not a big deal.

It's a huge deal.

They only give it out
for heroic action in combat.

They do a write-up about it
and everything.

What's it doing inside
your drawer in your room?

Heroic action?
Was that from when you got hurt?

[Scoffs] Mama, they pass
those things out all the time.

The hell they do.
Why you downplaying it?

'Cause it's getting late, and
Tammy needs to take Joey home.

W-Wait. Wait. So no one's gonna
whoop this kid?

Dean, go to bed.

[Scoffs]

BRUCE: All right, Dean.

Turns out Joey was grounded,

which felt a pretty
weak punishment to me.

But at least I was finally able
to get some one-on-one time

with my brother.

Here it comes. Here it comes!

[Grunts] Which clearly I needed.

All right, listen, that's okay.
I got an idea.

He had the time to teach me how
to drop a perfect bunt

and then he had to rush to get ready

for this big loan interview he had.

I served in the m*llitary for two years.

I receive monthly disability checks

which cover most of my expenses,

and I found a promising lead
on a new job

which will allow me to repay
my loan in less than a year.

You should know better than to
ask your father for a loan.

He's gonna gouge you
on the interest rates.

He's a credit risk.
We have to protect ourselves.

What's this you say about a job?

Remember when I came home for Christmas,

and they offered me a job at the bank?

- Mm-hmm.
- Well, I took it.

The janitor position?

It's only temporary.

I just want to have some cash coming in

while I look for something else.

Son, this is a very physical job.

The doctor said you should heal

before you do anything too strenuous.

And you have that disability
money coming in,

so what's the rush?

As you can see, I'm looking to
rent a new apartment.

I need first and last, plus a deposit.

Well, that's a lot for a bachelor pad.

Well, I want a two-bedroom...

so Joey can have his own room.

Have you lost your mind?!

You and Tammy cannot live together!

[Scoffs] You are not married!

Mama, it is . Get with it.

Kim, if you don't hush with
all that me... Mm.

Now is not the time.

How can I show my face in church?

You are gonna have
to tell your grandmother.

Both of them.

I'm a grown man.
I make my own decisions.

Not so grown that you don't
need my money.

Son, what is going on with you?

Ever since you got back, you've
been going a mile a minute.

Why are you in such a hurry?

Me and Tammy care about each
other a lot,

and this is something that I want to do.

I'll admit, my initial
suspicions about Tammy

were wrong, but you two barely
know each other.

Let's just face it, she's
an older woman with a kid.

Who nobody likes.

You don't want to waste
her time playing house.

You know what?
Don't worry about the money.

I'll figure it out on my own.

[Sighs]

What are we gonna do about this?

I don't know. I don't know.

I know this is the last thing
you want to hear right now,

but you're running the risk of Bruce

doing exactly what
you don't want him to do

by insisting he does things your way.

Speaking from experience.

♪

[Crowd cheering]
At the game the next day,

I was excited to put Bruce's
coaching to use

and finally end my slump.

♪

We're down by one.

All right, man, it'd be really great

if you bring that runner in from third.

Don't worry, Coach. I got this.

Of course, of course.

Now, if you want to lean
way over the plate.

What?

Nothing, nothing. Y-You got it.

[Exhales sharply]

[Cheers and applause]

♪

There it is! There it is!

I knew you could do it, buddy!

[Crowd cheering]

UMPIRE: Safe!

[Cheering continues]

MAN: Hey, good job, good job!

He missed my moment of triumph!
This was too much.

First the brat steals
my brother's medal,

now he's trying to steal my brother.

I could not let this stand.

UMPIRE: You're out!

[Crowd shouting] Oh, come on, man!

Bruce took Joey home after the game,

and I didn't have a chance to
give him a piece of my mind.

So I rode my bike over to
Tammy's to do it there.

♪

♪

The only thing worse
than getting rejected

is getting rejected
in front of an audience...

Something I have a little
experience with.

So I did what any mature person
would do.

I got the hell out of there.

Bruce asked Tammy to marry him?

He had a ring and everything.
He was down on one knee.

I hate to be the one to say it...

- Then don't.
- Fine.

[Clears throat] I told you so.

[Door opens]

Nobody say anything to Bruce
about what Dean saw.

Let him tell us when he's ready.

We missed you at dinner.

Um, but I left something for you
on the stove.

That's okay. I'm not really hungry.

I have something that
I want to tell you.

Really? Uh, 'cause we have
no idea what that could be.

Dean, stop being a weirdo.

I didn't envy Bruce.

How do you tell your family

you just got your heart broken
by the woman

they warned you about
in the first place?

I did something earlier today,

but I realize there's something

that I probably should've told
you guys before.

Whatever it is, you can tell us now.

It was late, pitch black.

We were on patrol, ready to head back,

when out of nowhere,
we started taking fire.

We were pinned down.

I called for retreat and started
pulling my men off the line.

I could see that we had
three men down already,

so my friend Brian and I
went back to get them.

And we were able to pull them
back to safety,

but we were still under fire,

and I guess that's when I got hit.

♪

I called out to see if Brian
was okay, but he didn't respond.

I was hurt,

and I couldn't stay there...

I couldn't stay there and put
my men in any more danger.

On the b*ttlefield,
you only have a second

to make a decision.

Sounds like you really earned
that Bronze Star.

That's what they, uh, say in the
write-up that you asked about.

They call me some hero.

I can't even finish reading it.

I should've been able to save my friend.

We all wanted to tell him that
he did the right thing

and he could've d*ed,

but none of us could come up
with the words

that would make him feel better.

And I guess, in some way...

I was rushing things with Tammy,

because after everything that
happened over there, I...

Brian...

he won't get a chance to get married.

He won't get a chance to have kids.

I'm so sorry about your friend, son.

Those medals, they're not for us.

They're for everybody else.

Son...

you didn't get that star
for what you did over there.

You got it for who you were
before you went.

We always said that if anything
ever happened to one of us,

we would write
to the other one's family.

But... I don't know.

I felt so guilty, I couldn't
even bring myself to do it.

Try.

If the situation were reversed,
I'd want to hear from Brian.

I have a confession to make, too.

I know you saw me at Tammy's.

You barely cleared the hill

by the time I came out the front door.

Now that we worked on your bunting,

next is teaching you to pedal faster.

[Laughter]

- Come on, Dean.
- [Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful" plays]

Bruce actually paid attention
at my next game

and cheered me on from the stands.

And he wasn't alone.

He and Tammy decided not to
move in together,

but they were gonna keep dating.

♪ Baby, that's my name now ♪

Unfortunately, Joey was still her son.

♪ Call me Mr. Pitiful ♪

♪ That's how I got my fame ♪

Bruce's coaching made me
the best bunter on the team.

♪ But people just don't
understand, now ♪

♪

But the other team caught on to me.

[Crowd groans]

♪

♪ And I want to tell you everything ♪

♪ Everything that's going
through my mind ♪

♪ Sing, and I want to sing this song ♪

After sharing his experience with us,

it seemed like Bruce was
finally getting back

to being himself.

Is this your friend Brian?

Yeah, that's him and his little sister.

He always kept it in his pocket,

just like I kept a picture
of me, you, and Kim.

I'm sending these things over
to his folks.

Looking at that picture of
Brian and his sister,

I felt a connection to them, too.

She's very pretty. What's her name?

Gwendolyn.

But he called her Winnie.

♪