01x07 - Brenda's Story

[bunniefuu]

(SIRENS WAILING IN THE DISTANCE)

(EXHALES)

(PANTING)

(WOMAN): Brenda?

(KNOCKING)

It's time.

- You okay?
- Yeah.

We don't want to
keep this judge waiting.

And what if we... just get outta here?

Went all Thelma and
Louise on their asses.

I get that you're scared,

but save the jokes for when
you're back on stage, okay?

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Only men name things after themselves.

There are no woman junior's.
There are no woman the second.

Men have to do it. It's
like a compulsion for us.

Hi, I'm Zeke Thompson and meet
my lovely son, Zeke Thompson Jr.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Ladies and gentlemen, that's all I got.

You're terrific.

Zeke Thompson.

Thank you.

In case you didn't know, I'm Joyce
Golden, the owner of this dump.

He started on this stage

and now he's playing packed
arenas around the country.

Alright, go have a drink.
We'll be back in a few.

I don't know why you don't
just ask Zeke yourself.

I hear he's throwing an
afterparty at his new place.

Yeah. You can show
him your new material.

Will you guys come with me?

No way.

Yeah, uh,
I wasn't suggesting that we go.

C'mon. Bren, we haven't heard
from Zeke since he blew up.

And seeing all the things
that he has that I don't

- will send me off the deep end.
- Uh-huh.

We can stay for minutes, max.

- Not me.
- (BRENDA SCOFFS)

- What's up, boys.
- What's up, Fletch?

You again. Oh, hello. Missed you.

Oh! Tease...

Now see, if I grabbed a
woman's ass like that...

Come to this party with me and
you can grab my ass all you want.

- Okay.
- Go. I dare ya.

I can confirm it's a great ass.

No, you missed your chance.

I was on NyQuil the entire
college tour, he didn't even try.

Didn't even try.

- True. True.
- Insulting.

Please, Chadwick?

- Please, please.
- Uh-uh. No way.

Please. Fifteen minutes.

I said no, bish.

(LOUD MUSIC)

Talk about a come up.

Yeah, now I gotta go
home and k*ll myself.

What?

It's still warm.

I hate him.

- Hey, hey, check it out.
- What?

- Chris Rock, ten o'clock.
- Where?

There he is. There's Zeke.

- Zeke!
- Zeke!

Zeke!

What are you doing here?

(LAUGHING) Come here.

You gotta meet my friends. Oh, my God.

Ahhh!

- My guy.
- Hey.

You guys have to meet my Scott.

This is the Scott that I have.

He manages me and like...
half the people in this room.

Scott, these are my friends.
I came up with these people.

(BRENDA): Yeah.

Oh, you guys remember writing
jokes, listen at Tupac all night?

- Eating Bottom Ramen.
- Ha ha!

Those were the days, man.

Those are still the days for us, bro.

So...

Hey, will you snap us really quick?

Yes. Photo.

Family photo. Come here.

So stupid.

Oh, that's terrible.

Are you gonna post it?

Could you tag me?

Yo, so whatever happened
to grumpy ass Aaron?

Oh, you know, Aaron.

Brenda wants to talk
to you about something.

I was just gonna ask you
something if you had a second?

(SCOTT): We need to say hi to Sarah.

Can you give us just
hang out for a little bit?

- Yes. Yes.
- Okay, drink up!

There's so many drinks and they
need to be drunk, so please.

- I'm sorry. I owe you.
- Yup.

Please, he's blind and he
gets nervous when I'm gone.

- I have to call the cops.
- Don't call the cops.

I'm on my way.

My dog's barking like a
maniac again so I gotta go.

Bren.

Fine.

Just one second.

Uh, excuse me.

Excuse me.

Where do you guys think you're goin'?

Gotta skate, bro.

Bren, didn't you wanna talk to me?

Yeah, you're busy. It's fine.

No, Scott is like prancing me
around like a little show pony.

I am all yours now.

- I could just take the train.
- My driver will take you home.

- Okay, alright.
- Driver.

Hey, if it couldn't be
me, I'm glad it's you.

- God, I love you.
- I know.

Love ya. See ya.

Um, I, I wanted to
show you my new material

that I've been working on.

Um, I sent a link to your
manager but I don't think he...

You have the link?

Yeah, but it's too loud in here.

It's quiet upstairs.

You can't leave your own party!

I can do whatever I want.

C'mon.

I grew up in foster
care, I don't mean to brag.

Um... and because of that,

everyone always wants to know if
I want to meet my dad and I don't.

I... at all,

but I what I do want to know on
some level that he would want me

so what I wanna do is find out his name,

What?

Find him on a dating app,
match with him,

DM him a naked photo of myself,

and be like, Do you wanna be my daddy?

And he's gonna be like "Yeah".

And I'm gonna be like,
"Good, 'cause you are".

And then... and then I will ghost him...

You know what? That's pretty good.

Because the apple doesn't
fall far from the tree.

- Damn, this is really good.
- Thank you.

Yeah, Bren, when did you write this?

Ages... like, I've been
working on this for a while.

I was just thinking
like, what if like I...

what if I went on tour with you?

What?

Is that why you showed up tonight?

You show up tonight so you
could pitch yourself to me?

Shut up. No, I just...

you know I, I,

I know it took me a second
to, like, figure out my thing,

but if I just had a,
like, a sh*t, you know,

I would k*ll it.

Okay.

Okay, what?

Okay. You can host.

Are you serious?

Yeah, you can host and then, after
a couple of cities, you can feature?

Oh my God, really?

Yeah, you're talented.

- You're great, you're funny.
- Thank you.

Oh my... can I... I
have to go tell Chad.

Excuse me?

I think we should go
back to your fancy party.

I'm so tired of talking.

I know, I, listen...
I actually don't want to.

I don't want to.

Why not? Why not?

You know what? Hey, hey, hey. No.

It's not like we
haven't done this before.

Like, you remember the last
time, it was super freaky.

- Ow!
- Yeah, you remember last time?

- Just relax.
- Argh!

- Just, just...
- (GROANING)

Relax. (PANTING)

(BRENDA GROANING)

I just want this to be over.

What if we just...

take the plea offer?

They only offered the plea
because they want you to go away.

I know it's hard...

but this all started because
Zeke Thompson r*ped you.

(THEME MUSIC)

(BEEPING)

(WATER POURING)

(GULPS LOUDLY)

(TREMBLING BREATH)

(PANTING, SNIFFLING)

(PANTING)

All I'm just sayin' is,

Black Twitter could be a
little more inclusive, right?

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Hey, look who's too
smancy to return my calls!

I have to hear it from other people

that you're hosting
Zeke Thompson's tour.

Joyce, uh...

Zeke... he, uh...

he, um...

had sex with me and I didn't want to.

Are you saying he...

Yeah.

But how? I mean, there must've
been a million people around.

Oh, my God...

Joyce! He r*ped me!

Joyce.

I heard you, I'm just trying to...

- To what?!
- To process!

I called you for help
and you're just not gonna.

- Oh my God, forget it.
- Brenda, wait.

You and your damn temper,

will you just listen?

I believe you and I want to help you.

You want me to tell you the truth
or pull from the MeToo handbook?

Truth.

Okay, here it is.

You've been working
your ass off for years

and you finally hit pay dirt.

This is the big time, Brenda.

How can I possible
work with him after this?

Can you imagine how many
times I had to lie down

and take it from some dirt
bag I was workin' with?

You just wiped the stink off
and got on with your life.

It makes me wanna k*ll God.

If He existed.

Oh, Brenda, what are we talkin' here?

One, maybe two minutes of hell

in exchange for the
opportunity of a lifetime?

Be smart, honey.

I care about you.

Nobody is gonna tell
you the truth like me.

I care about ya and I believe in you.

That's why I stuck with
you all these years.

I know.

I want you to go to bed

and call me in the morning.

Brenda, promise,

you won't do anything without
calling me first, okay?

Okay.

Okay. Bye.

(NERVOUS BREATHING)

(HORN TOOTING, SIRENS WAILING)

(PHONE BUZZING)

_

(MUFFLED SOUNDSCAPE)

(TREMBLING BREATH)

(PHONE KEYS CLICKING)

(LINE RINGING)

Hello, New Hope Center,
Queens. Can I help you?

I've been assaulted and
I need to know what to do.

This is my hand, okay?

I'm inserting the speculum.

Almost there, Ms. Kramer, hang in there.

(SNIFFLING AND SOBBING)

(DOOR OPENING)

I called Joyce.

She told me to let it go.

Take the tour.

Joyce is about Joyce.

Zeke's her golden goose.

That bitch is savage.

You know I heard she,
uh... reached out to Cosby.

Too soon?

Do you think that he lured them in

with his Fat Albert impression?

(LAUGHING)

(WEIRD VOICE): Hey, hey,
hey, gimme that boo...

(LAUGHING)

You're gonna get through this,
you hear me?

I know. I know.

You're a damn warrior.

Chad?

Hey, your coffee's just horrible.

- So is my life.
- Ha-ha!

What?

Here.

_

You reported it yesterday.

At least they didn't print my name.

No, but...

your name's out there.

Lying... lying whore?

Ain't no one gonna b*at that busted...

I hit it. Okay, my boy hit
it, the neighborhood dog.

She's thirsty. (LAUGHS)

- She's thirsty.
- Okay. Those are...

Hey, hey. Look at me. Look
at me. Those are just trolls.

(PHONE BUZZING)

Don't answer it.

- What do I do?
- I have no idea

but I'm here, okay? Okay?

_

_

(BUZZING, PHONE CLACKING ON THE TABLE)

I'm calling the cops.

Bren, please, don't hang up, okay?

Just hear me out.

Listen, um...

if you go through with this,

you will ruin both of our lives.

Bren, um, look, I'm sorry, okay?

I'm sorry if I misread some signals.

Misread the signals?

What about any of that made
you think I wanted to have sex?

What are you, what
are you talking about?

Brenda, we have had sex on your
floor, twice, and it was rough.

That's how we liked it.

- I said I didn't want to.
- Why didn't you fight back?

I did.

- Why didn't you just leave?
- I tried. You held me down.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

- Relax.
- You think 'cause you're famous now,

you can just treat people like this?

I'm a person.

Zeke, I'm...

I may be crap but I am a person.

You're gonna go through with
this? Is that what you're saying?

You're just gonna do it again.

Great.

Say whatever you want, Bren,

everybody knows you're crazy.

(PHONE BEEPING)

_

(BRENDA SIGHS)

_

_

Ms. Kramer.

I'm sorry to keep you
waiting. I'm ADA Lavigne.

- I'll be in charge of your case.
- Thank you.

We're just in here.

Okay, just a few more
questions about that night.

Can I leave out the part
where I was r*ped? (CHUCKLES)

It was a joke.

Right.

So in your statement, you mention
that you entered the room willingly.

Why?

Zeke was about to go on
the road, um, for a tour,

and I wanted to pitch
myself to open for him.

It's not out of the ordinary
to 'pitch yourself' in a bedroom?

Well, it was just really
loud in there and I...

I had the link on my phone and I just,

I didn't want to play
it in front of everyone

so we just, like, went
in... like, a room.

Was Zeke sober?

Didn't have my breathalyzer on me.

What about you?

- What about me?
- Were you sober?

Sober enough to know I was...

being r*ped.

You should commend yourself.

Most victims of sexual
assaults never even report it.

I can't let him ruin
someone else's life.

Are there more questions or...

Uh, no, I think we're good for now.

- Thank you.
- Okay.

Uh, just one more thing actually.

Um...

you waited a day to report this, why?

Because...

this is a nightmare.

Is there something else I should know?

Anything about your
relationship with Mr. Thompson?

No.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

Please tell the court in what
context you met the defendant.

I was the ADA in charge of
investigating Ms. Kramer's alleged r*pe.

And as your investigation progressed,

did Brenda Kramer's behavior change?

She got angrier,
obsessive and disturbed.

Can we refrain from
pathologizing my client?

Jury will disregard
Mr. Lavigne's last statement.

Mr. Lavigne, it's too early
in the morning for this.

I'll rephrase, Your Honor.

Mr. Lavigne, how would you describe
Ms. Kramer's state of mind?

She was upset, understandably.

Be calm.

Calm. Ten years.

Fired me over text. Be calm?

Hold, hold up, Brenda. Hold up.

- What do you mean hold up?
- I'm just gonna talk to her.

- She doesn't wanna talk to you.
- Oh, my God.

Hey. Tell her to get her shriveled
ass out here before I make a scene.

Oh, okay. That's calm?

- What are you doing?
- Y'all trying to get me fired.

Chad, you got a set in .
And you don't work here anymore.

I thought you cared about me.

I told you to call me
before you did anything.

So you could talk me out of it?

I am done trying, Brenda.

You had a chance and you blew it.

You only fired me 'cause
Zeke is your meal ticket.

I fired you because you can't
get out of your own way.

You'd never miss an opportunity
to miss an opportunity.

Look, just take this check

and get out of my club
before I call the cops.

Oh, my God.

You know I can't get a job anywhere.

Where am I gonna go?
No one's gonna hire me.

Brenda, it's over.

I'm done.

One minute or you lose your spot.

- I'm quitting.
- Don't be stupid.

We can form a buddy act,
we could take it on the road.

Go. Get on stage.

- Go.
- I'll come by after.

I saw that.

- She's wrong.
- Oh...

That's show business.

How disappointing
because I came to see you.

You look familiar. Do I know you?

RDG's Cape, from online.

Oh, my God.

RBG's Cape. You know, you are funny.

Thanks, that's a high
compliment coming from you.

I'm Tess.

- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.

Well, I'm sorry I'm
not going on tonight.

And I am no longer
supporting this establishment.

There's a Thai restaurant
a few blocks down.

I'm buying.

- I'm starving.
- (CHUCKLES)

And they always make the
woman out to be the crazy one.

Do you remember that movie,
uh, Fatal Attraction?

- Yes!
- When Glenn Close's character,

really successful, independent,

goes crazy after sleeping
with a guy one time?!

- Loses her mind.
- (LAUGHING)

Um!

And I personally feel like
Michael Douglas sucked at sex.

Oh, Chadwick!

Whoa. Okay, you're jolly.

Tess, this is my best
friend, his name's Chad.

- Chad, nice to meet you. I'm Tess.
- Nice to meet ya.

Have a seat.

I'll get you some wine.

- How'd it go tonight?
- Yeah, it was uh, dead.

So Tess, uh, what do you do?

I'm an associate at a law firm.

Contracts. Boring stuff.

- (LOUD CLANGING)
- Are you okay?

(BRENDA GROANS)

Oh... lemme...

Okay, let's uh, let's get you to bed.

- No.
- Yeah. Come on.

You're okay. Okay.

You know, just... Get to bed.

You know what? I'll
hold onto this for you.

- Okay?
- Okay, you can have it.

You are just so soft.

I'll clean up.

She passed out as soon
as her head hit the pillow.

It's gonna take her some time, Chad.

I'm sorry.
You been here like five minutes,

how do you know what she needs?

Did you know that one in three women
are subjected to sexual v*olence?

It's a club no one wants to belong to,

but it has the largest membership.

It's gonna be rough for her for a while.

So like I said, give her some time.

I grew up in foster care,
I don't mean to brag.

Um, and because of that,

everyone always wants to know if
I want to meet my dad and I don't.

I, at all,

but what I do want to know on
some level that he would want me

so what I wanna do is find out his name,

find him on a dating app,
match with him,

DM him a naked photo of myself,

and be like, Do you wanna be my daddy?

And he's gonna be like, "Yeah".

And I'm gonna be like
"Good, 'cause you are."

And then... and then, I will ghost him

because the apple doesn't
fall far from the tree.

(SIGHS)

Ms. Kramer's sense of humor,

would you describe her comedy as
reflecting her off-stage personality?

Oh yeah. Definitely.

Would you go so far as to describe
her behavior as promiscuous?

Well, if sleeping with everyone at
the club is promiscuous, then yeah.

(CHUCKLES)

So just to confirm,

you told Brenda Kramer she could
open for you before the alleged r*pe?

- Yeah. Mm-hmm.
- So there was no quid pro quo,

no coercion of sexual favors
in exchange for a job offer.

Absolutely not.

Do you know why she would
invent a story that she knew

would cost her the biggest
professional opportunity of her career?

Brenda is the poster-child
for self-sabotage,

she always has been.

Alright, let's get back to that night.

Um, so she played you her
material, you hired her...

We were laughing, you know,
we're having a good time

and uh, then we started kissing,

and you know, one
thing leads to another.

And no part of you ever thought that

Brenda Kramer did not want to have sex?

We both wanted it.

I mean, it's not like we
hadn't done it before.

You're saying that prior to that night,

- you and Ms. Kramer...?
- Had sex?

Yeah. Twice.

Can you repeat the question?

Do you have any knowledge
of previous sexual relations

between Brenda Kramer and Zeke Thompson?

(SIGHS)

You can answer the
question here or in court.

Yes, they had sex before.

And who told you?

Brenda.

So do you know why
Lavigne wants to see you?

He probably has more questions.

Thanks for the clothes.

I don't even want to
know how much they cost.

I wouldn't tell you anyway.

I never had a real like, female friend.

The girls in my business will cut ya!

(PHONE BUZZING)

- You okay?
- Yeah.

I just always think it's him.

And I just hate being scared.

- Embarrassing.
- I know what you mean.

You never told me about what
happened to you which is...

no pressure, of course.

Sophomore year,

I was on my way back to the dorm
and he r*ped me on the grass.

Just out in the open.
How brazen is that?

He was captain of the rugby team

and our parents traveled
in the same circle.

So they got together and worked it out.

You know... and his parents
were very embarrassed.

The thing is...

I wouldn't have reported it anyway.

I'm not brave, like you.

- You annihilate people online.
- That's different.

Don't you ever...

think about him raping other women?

Of course. But I was just a kid.

I mean...

You have to stop letting him
get away with it at some point.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Open up, bish!

- Hey, uh...
- Hi.

Okay, you two need to stop acting
like b*tches and just be civil.

He's the one who has the problem.

Ah, no, I just don't like you.

- Can I talk to you privately, please?
- Sorry.

- That woman is...
- Don't start.

Hey, hey,
I saw the heads in the ashtray.

Of the photos of you
and Zeke from the wall.

We were just playing around and if
you came here to bitch about Tess...

No, um, the prosecutor called me in.

He said he would... talk to people.

Yeah well, uh, he asked if
you and Zeke had sex before.

What did you say?

Before I recommend whether
to bring your case to trial,

I have to weigh the
likelihood of a conviction.

Right.

Based on witness interviews, on the fact

that you had consensual
sex with Mr. Thompson

prior to the allegation,
which you withheld from me.

So sorry, I just... what
are you implying exactly?

I'm not bringing charges.

Uh, is this because he's famous, or...?

No. You would be
eviscerated on the stand.

Mm-hmm.

Between the provocations
on social media,

the drinking and the promiscuity.

Got it.

There it is.

I'm a drunk and I'm a slut

so I deserved it.

- Okay, look.
- Cool.

If you're interested, I can refer
you to a mental health professional.

You know what? I'm actually good.

Um... (CLATTERING)

I sincerely...

hope that you go to hell, sir.

Now is not a good
time for you to be here.

Brenda, I am so, so sorry.

C'mon, c'mon.

Can you stop being mad at me and
just let me... be here for you?

Be here. Be here for me

like the way you were here
for me with that douchebag DA?

Zeke's performing at Goldie's tonight,

kicking off his tour
before moving up to arenas

where he will help himself
to a buffet of female fans.

Look, the DA screwed up big time, okay.

But... but... um, it's over now

and... and maybe you
have a chance to move on.

What a ridiculous little man you are.

- And you're a pathetic...
- Don't.

- Lonely...
- Okay.

Seriously?

- Okay Chad, just, just go, just go.
- Me?

She's... don't you see that she's
messing with your head, Brenda?

I'd like to report an intruder.

He's not leaving and
he's getting violent.

Oh, you're gonna pull that, huh?
Are you co-signing this behavior?

He's leaving, hang up.

Hang up.

Please just go. I...

- Sorry.
- I'm out.

He doesn't understand. He can't.

I saw what you posted on
the r*pist's Instagram.

The only way you'll understand the
burning shame of what you did to me

is if someone pours gasoline
on you and lights a match.

_

That was the wine talking.

In vino veritas.

In wine, truth, Brenda.

The only way you'll understand

the burning shame of what you did to me

is if someone pours gasoline on you

and lights a match.

Do you know who wrote
that, Ms. Richards?

Brenda posted it

the night before Zeke Thompson
performed at Goldie's.

And you attended this
performance in person.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Yeah!

Y'all can't k*ll me!!

Ah-ha!

Woohoo!

Alright, thank you for the
love. Thank you everyone.

Uh, I don't want to start heavy

but the last two weeks
have been a little rough.

I was accused of doing
something that I did not do.

He did do it and they let him go.

No one did anything about it.

Except for you.

Hey, break a leg.

I'm never gonna forget your loyalty.

Hey, I got it, man. No worries.

- Zeke Thompson.
- Yeah.

Jesus. God!

What is wrong with you... Aaah!

Zeke!

- Somebody call the cops.
- (ZEKE SHOUTING IN PAIN)

I had to stop him before
he hurt other women.

r*pe is a heinous crime,
I'm not denying that.

But we have a legal
system, imperfect as it is.

The legal system did nothing!

Brenda Kramer may not have

explicitly instructed you to
light Zeke Thompson on fire,

but she planted the idea in your head

and encouraged you,
however indirectly, to act on it.

The fact is, you wouldn't
have done what you did

if Brenda Kramer hadn't
posted on social media.

I did it for you, Bren.

(DOOR OPENS)

- r*pist!
- You should leave.

They should have k*lled you.

Order. Order.

- (GAVEL BANGING)
- I'll have order.

I'll have order or you'll
be removed from the court.

I'm a comedian.

We say things. We say crazy things.

We say things that make
people laugh and shock people.

Immature and childish maybe,

but it's... we're not, our intent
is never to cause v*olence.

There's...

what happened to Zeke was not my intent.

It wasn't?

v*olence wasn't your intent.

No.

Look at him.

You did this.

- Your Honor!
- Counsellor.

- Pick up. Pick up.
- (LINE RINGING)

Who is this and how
did you get my number?

It's me.

I know you probably never
wanna talk to me again

but I just wanted to let you know
that I've been, um... (SNIFFLING)

going back to meetings.

And if there is anyone

that I need to make amends
with, it... it's you.

Um, I don't assume you're
following my legal situation.

And um...

today the verdict comes in

and I know this is a lot to ask,

especially with...

how badly I treated you,

but I was just wondering if there is
any way that you can come up here?

I just don't wanna stand
up there alone, you know.

Uh...

you were a good friend to me.

(SOFT MUSIC)

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant please rise?

To the count of the
indictment, aggravated mayhem,

how does the jury find?

- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- Oh, God.

The jury is dismissed and
we thank you for your service.

- Thank you for everything.
- The court is adjourned.

- Take care of yourself.
- All rise.

Bren, aren't you relieved?

Not really.

Zeke...

I did not mean for this to happen.

Yeah, well, it did.

I did not know that Tess was unstable.

I had no idea.

I couldn't... I missed the
signs and she was there for me.

Apologize.

You r*ped her!

- Move, please.
- Tess should've k*lled you!

Oh my God, please let him go. Please.

I know you're mad

but hurting them is not the answer.

What are we supposed to do?

I don't know.

Let's go home.