03x06 - Into The Darkness

[bunniefuu]

[UPBEAT HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

[GROWN KANAN]
Previously on Raising Kanan...

Yeah?

I'm Laura Walsh,
the county social worker.

I'm here for your and Kanan's
home visit.

Somebody put that in my bag.
That g*n does not belong to me.

My boy didn't k*ll himself.

Someone put a b*llet in my son's head.

Give me what you got, n*gga!

You ain't gonna do sh*t, Famous.

[g*nshots]

- I'm proud of you, Louis.
- I think I'm proud of me too.

Maintaining. Staying focused.

I mean, there was a f*cking awful m*rder

just the other day.

- You got a name?
- Alumadeen Tippett?

Azumadeen.

Ain't no little n*gga like you

moving that heroin on his own.

Who said sh*t about heroin?

Get up yourself. You know how it's done.

Ain't got funds.

We will make a small investment

in your burgeoning enterprise.

Unique always gonna be my brother.

I thought my husband was
always going to be my husband.

And one day, he was gone.

So it was Raq you're f*cking.
Ronnie told me.

This my life you f*cking with, man.

My world, Ronnie!

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

[BODY THUDDING]

[RILEYY] ♪ I'm a hustler, baby
I'm a hustler, baby ♪

[50 CENT] ♪ Yeah, I know
Heartbreaks, setbacks ♪

♪ Bitch, if I crap out
I'm sure I'ma get back ♪

♪ I been through the ups and
Downs, you know I get around ♪

♪ So to me It's all a part of the game ♪

♪ If I ain't the coke man
Or the dope man ♪

♪ I'm almost for sure, man
I got to take it ♪

♪ No need to say sh*t I'm gon' take it ♪

♪ Robberies turned homicide
It's nothin' to play with ♪

♪ Make money Make, make, make money ♪

♪ When sh*t hit the fan
We'll take money, Southside ♪

♪ Beef with the best of 'em ♪

♪ Done sh*t At the rest of 'em, yeah ♪

♪ Checks, I'm collectin' 'em ♪

♪ Check, boy I'm finessin' 'em ♪

♪ Bag Supreme Boy, you f*ck around ♪

♪ Put a big bag on your head ♪

♪ Before the weather break You're dead ♪

♪ Let's get to it, they
Don't do it like we do it ♪

♪ Nah, cop it, whip it Bag it, flip it ♪

♪ Re-up, we up G'd up, what up? ♪

♪ Runnin' round this bitch
Still not givin' a f*ck, hey ♪

♪ When it come to that paper
There'll be no complications ♪

Ha ha. That's right.

♪ Put a hole in a n*gga
Right in front of you ♪

♪ Your heartbeat pacin' ♪

[RILEYY AND 50 CENT]
♪ And it's all right ♪

[50 CENT] ♪ That's how
We do it on this side ♪

♪ n*gg*s get to it On this side ♪

♪ I know heartbreaks Setbacks ♪

♪ Bitch, if I crap out
I'm sure I'ma get back ♪

♪ I been through the ups and
Downs, you know I get around ♪

♪ So to me It's all a part of the game ♪

♪ If I ain't the coke man
Or the dope man ♪

♪ I'm almost for sure, man
I got to take it ♪

♪ No need to say sh*t I'm gon' take it ♪

♪ Robberies turned homicide
It's nothin' to play with ♪

♪ Hey, hey ♪

[RILEYY VOCALIZING]

[INSECTS DRONING]

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

[GROWN KANAN] Nobody know everything,

but we convince ourselves
we know enough.

We know enough to leave every morning

and come home safe every night.

But we also know

there gon' be that night
when we don't come home.

That sh*t guaranteed for all of us.

Only thing we don't know
is how that night gon' be

or how the sh*t gon' go down.

♪ ♪

So we really don't know sh*t.

And we get scared thinking
tonight could be that night.

But that ain't nothin'
to be scared about.

How you gon' be scared about somethin'

you know gonna happen?

♪ ♪

[POUNDING ON DOOR]

[PERSON] I know you here. Open up.

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

It's Pernessa! I need to talk to you.

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

I know you in there. Open the door!

[PERSISTENT POUNDING]

I know you here. Open the door!

Pernessa, whatever you think happened...

Where is he? Where's 'Nique?

What you do to him?

I don't know what you're talkin' about.

You know exactly what
the f*ck I'm talkin' about.

I don't.

You went to that tailor shop
and you did somethin' to him.

And then you took him.

- [RAQ] Pernessa, I ain't...
- Just tell me...

tell me where the f*ck he is.

Pernessa, I ain't do sh*t to you.

Yes, you did, just like
you did to f*ckin' High Post.

Right? That's what you do?

You bring 'em in, and then you k*ll 'em,

and you take what's theirs?

You talking that sh*t, you better
be willing to pull that trigger.

But you're not built for that.

It's not who you are.

[COCKS p*stol]

You probably f*cked him
so you could take him from me.

You don't love him.

I love him. I've always loved him.

I have f*cking...

♪ ♪

[PERNESSA GROANS]

I said I didn't do nothin' to 'Nique.

And the only reason
you still alive right now

is because I know
he don't want me to hurt you.

[SMOOTH MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

♪ Wakin' up in cold sweats
I can't get no rest ♪

♪ I'm jumpin' in my sleep
I can barely catch my breath ♪

♪ Havin' flashbacks when I put
Them b*ll*ts in his chest ♪

♪ 'Cause now I'm paranoid
And all I see is death ♪

♪ This is... ♪

♪ ♪

[MUSIC STOPS]

f*ck you stop for?

You was right there.

[SNIFFLES] I know.

I... it's... it's a lot.

It's... it feels...

[LOU-LOU] Scary?

If you scared,
that means you in the pocket.

You know that something
is happening that's real

when it hurts, man.

Only way to get that poison
from inside you...

is to spit it out, man.

So spit it out on that mic for me.

[SMOOTH MUSIC STARTS]

Come on.

♪ ♪

♪ Wakin' up in cold sweats
I can't get no rest ♪

♪ I'm jumpin' in my sleep
I can barely catch my breath ♪

♪ Havin' flashbacks when I put
Them b*ll*ts in his chest ♪

So the tailor shop was all f*cked up.

It has blood everywhere.

And nobody can find him.

It's been a week, and me and
Jerome ain't even heard from him.

And he always gonna check up
on his son, no matter what.

[LOW SOMBER MUSIC PLAYS]

[PERNESSA SNIFFLES]

'Nique is dead.

I can feel it.

'Cause somethin' inside of me
is dead now too.

What the police sayin'?

The police don't
give a f*ck about 'Nique.

sh*t, they hopin' that he's gone.

Look, I ain't do sh*t to 'Nique.

You need to know this.

On my own child.

So what happened to him?

Where is he?

♪ ♪

What's Ronnie sayin'?

♪ ♪

Ronnie's not sayin' nothin',
like always.

♪ ♪

N-no.

What? No.

No. There's... there's no way.

Ronnie couldn't do that.

I mean, they have been beefin',
but Ronnie loves 'Nique.

He used to try to b*at down anybody

that even looked at his
little brother the wrong way

when they was comin' up.

Times change. And so do brothers.

No, I don't believe that.

I can't believe it.

Well, whether you believe it or not,

whoever came for 'Nique
is still out there.

Now, you need to keep your eyes up

and your g*n off safety.

[SMOOTH MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ What's the 411? ♪

♪ What's the 411? ♪

♪ I thought the streets was ill
Until I sh*t that g*n ♪

♪ What's the 411? What's the 411? ♪

♪ Thinkin' 'bout Catching bodies ♪

♪ It changed my life, done ♪

♪ ♪

[MUSIC STOPS]

You got somethin', Fame...

somethin' I ain't even know you got.

I don't know if I got it or...

if it got me.

I heard that.

Thing is, that's... that's crazy.

It's like...

I sit to write this sh*t,
and it just writes itself.

I don't even gotta think about
that sh*t, and it's just there.

It's like...

all this bad sh*t that's in my brain

is tryin' to push itself out
onto the paper.

It's 'cause you confessin'.

You goin' to church in there.

Ain't even lyin', neither.
It feel better once it get out.

Like I might be able to sleep tonight.

Or I might not. Who the f*ck knows?

I did some ill sh*t, Lou,
like some ill sh*t.

And I'm just tryin' to get myself
to not be underneath it no more.

It's like you just said.

Say that sh*t out loud, it gets lighter.

[SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

Let that truth save you, n*gga.

♪ ♪

So you don't think this
Kadeem Mathis disappearance

touches the task force?

I can ask around and see
if Unique and Camacho

had anything going,
but I never heard that.

Seems like this Mathis kid
is somethin' else.

Hmm.

I'm starting to think
Camacho's a red herring anyway.

I don't doubt that
some of the witnesses we've interviewed

actually believe that he was involved.

I just don't believe he was.

So you have other suspects in mind?

I can't really tell you
much more than that.

[CLEARS THROAT]

The fruits of this
investigation are proprietary,

not for consumption for anyone
outside the members of the team.

Especially for
a f*ckin' flatfoot like me.

All I can say is that I feel
like we're making progress.

All I can say is that you won't be
missed once you're finished here.

Well, we haven't done our jobs

until we've outstayed our welcome.

[HOWARD SIGHS AND CHUCKLES]

Tanner, you guys were never welcome.

♪ I want to Be there by your side ♪

[UPBEAT HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ Tell all the fellas ♪

♪ It's just you and me tonight ♪

♪ I need your body close to mine ♪

[ALL] ♪ Mine ♪

♪ I been cravin' a little quality time ♪

[ALL] ♪ I can't stay away
My mind is made ♪

♪ All I want is you ♪

♪ I'm rollin' with you ♪

♪ I can't stay away
My mind is made ♪

♪ All I want is you ♪

♪ I'm rollin' with you ♪

[VOCALIZING]

- [SOFTLY] We did it!
- [LAUGHS]

Um, y'all want a... a water or anything?

No, thank you.

[RECORD EXECUTIVES WHISPERING]

Don't know why y'all are even talking.

sh*t clear as day.

- Dad.
- [LAUGHS]

You need to get down with these girls.

Only question you should have is, um,

why my daughter ain't out in front.

Dad, stop.

I mean, she got the
best voice of all of 'em,

and she has the better moves.

- We gonna be leaving now.
- Wait, no, no.

No offense to the Supremes,
but my daughter's Diana Ross.

I got ears and eyes.
I know what I heard and seen.

What the hell is wrong wit' you?

You need to go before
you f*ck all this up for me.

Look, if you ain't
gonna speak for yourself,

I'ma talk for you. I'm your father.

I... I know sh*t. I'm just tryin' to help.

Just go!

Go!

I get loud sometimes.

You know how I am, but I...
I... I don't mean nothin' by it.

I'll talk to you later.

- [DOOR OPENS]
- sh*t.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[SOFT TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

[INDISTINCT MUFFLED CHATTER]

[KANAN] We not going to...
you an answering service.

So that means you answer the damn phone.

So I got customers sayin'
this sh*t just ring when they call.

'Cause money I'm payin' you,
shouldn't ring more than once.

Get your sh*t correct

or I'ma have to take
my business somewhere else

'cause now you f*cking up my world.

- [RECEIVER SLAMS]
- sh*t.

What's up, man? You just gonna
stand there or you gonna help?

K, look, I... I got...

Where the f*ck you been at, anyway?

I was layin' down tracks with Lou.
I just crashed over there.

Um...

look, I gotta... I gotta tell you, um...

I know how that g*n got in your bag, K.

Yeah?

What you know?

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

Hey, no, no. Speak, n*gga.

♪ ♪

It was your mom's.

What the f*ck you just say, F-Fame?

My mother?

How you know that sh*t
was my mom's, man?

- Fame.
- I was... I... I... I was here.

You saw her do this sh*t,
and you ain't tell me?

♪ ♪

You were here.

So you ain't just see her
do this sh*t, you let her.

Raq told me not to say anything.

And your moms is f*ckin' scary.

- What was I supposed to do?
- You didn't do sh*t.

Listen, you don't realize
how difficult it was

to keep this sh*t inside me.

I had to get this off my chest

'cause you my f*ckin' brother,
and I f*ckin' love you.

I don't wanna hide sh*t from you.

You not my f*ckin' brother, man.
You just sold me out, n*gga.

No, I...

And I know my mother
broke you off some sh*t

to keep your f*ckin' mouth closed.

'Cause your loyalty come at a price.

It's not even f*cking like that.

It's exactly like that, n*gga!

♪ ♪

You got five minutes to pack your sh*t
and get the f*ck out of here.

K.

[KANAN] If you're here when I get back,

we gonna have a problem, Famous.

I'm scary too, m*therf*cker.

Don't you forget that sh*t.

K, I... I'm...

[DOOR SLAMS]

♪ ♪

[IESHA] Your dad just loves you.

[LAUGHING] That's all.

I mean, he's not wrong.
You should be the lead.

My dad's never been right about anything

- a day in his life.
- [LAUGHS]

Well, there's a first time
for everything.

[CHUCKLES]

Your daddy's a damn fool.

Don't ever talk about my family.

I'll talk about whoever
the hell I wanna talk about.

- And I'ma f*ck your ass up.
- Mm-hmm.

No. Y'all, come on, now. Don't do this.

Um, I hope y'all arguin'
about that sad dancin'.

Because after that performance,

that's all you should be arguin' about.

Good news is, they think
there might be something here.

Bad news is, I think they wrong.

The choreography is sloppy.
The chemistry is nonexistent.

There is no connection
between the three of you.

Just three girls doin' they own thing.

That's because
we don't know who the lead is.

We all just everywhere out there.

You know what, Krystal?

You might not even be wrong.

Every group needs a leader.

And I been waitin'
for one of you to just step up

and grab it, to make it your own,

to show me that you're that girl,

but none of you have. Not even close.

You think you're entitled to it.

You think you're not good enough for it.

And you?

I don't even know
what the hell you think.

You want it?

Prove it!

Prove it to me, to the other girls,

to yourself!

You wanna fight each other?

Fight to be out front.

Fight to be the best!

Because as far as y'all concerned,

that's the only fight that matters.

[KRYSTAL SIGHS]

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

Ronnie, what the f*ck are you doin'?

Stop. That's not yours.
That's your brother's.

Ronnie, he's gonna be looking for it
when he comes back.

[GASPS] Ronnie!

[GRUNTS]

♪ ♪

[RAQ] I did what I had to do.

[KANAN] Well, what if your
little plan didn't work?

[RAQ] Whatever! No.
I did what I had to do, Kanan.

And I don't regret none of it.

All right? You my son.

That's your answer for everything.

You cover up all your lies and bullshit

by sayin' it's all about me.

- It is all about you.
- No, it's not!

- Yes, it is.
- [DOORBELL RINGS]

Hello again.
I'm here to meet with Kanan.

Come on in, Ms. Walsh.

Kanan right in here.

I heard some voices
when I walked up to the door.

My son and me, we some loud talkers.

Mm.

Uh, baby, this is Ms. Walsh.

The social worker I told you about.

Nice to meet you.

It's good to finally meet you, Kanan.

Is there somewhere
Kanan and I can speak alone?

We not doin' this together?

I'll talk to Kanan separately,

and then we can all regroup together.

Okay.

I guess you can go right in there.

♪ ♪

- After you.
- [LAURA] Thank you.

♪ ♪

[DOOR CLOSES]

[PHONES RINGING]

- [HOWARD KNOCKS]
- Hey, Cap. You got a minute?

Yeah, yeah. Come on.

So I've been talkin' to Ogden...
over in Narcotics?

Turns out he's gonna hang 'em up soon,

move to Florida.

And you want his job.

[HOWARD] I'd get some good overtime.

That would juice the hell
out of my pension

while I ride off into the sunset myself.

Be careful what you ask for, Howard.

Now, that job drags you
in all kinds of sh*t,

like this f*ckin' task force
disaster, for example.

These assholes are
turnin' my world upside down.

You give me Ogden's spot,
I'll get them off your back.

Them fat assholes, they get
half of their intel from me already.

Frankly, a new opportunity
for you makes sense.

Especially with everything
that went on with Burke?

Get you some distance from all that.

[HOWARD] That's what I'm talkin' about.

I could use a change of scenery.

It's not the worst idea I ever heard.

Let me make some calls, see what's what.

Thanks, Cap.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ ♪

'Nique's gone.

Uh, what do you mean?

[RONNIE] 'Nique's gone.
And he ain't coming back.

Just like you said.

Now we do business.

♪ ♪

If we do this, it's you and me.

Only between us.

My cousin isn't involved,
and no one else can know.

You want heroin.

♪ ♪

How much?

So Kanan tell you I take a bat to him

when he don't eat his carrots?

Child abuse isn't something
we joke about, Ms. Thomas.

Ah, 'course not.

I was just messin' around, being stupid.

My fault.

Kanan and I had a productive
and informative conversation.

He told me that you were vigilant

about his comings and goings

and that you're very involved
in his day-to-day activities.

Kanan also feels like at times,
you might be slightly overbearing.

Yeah, he just feels that way because...

As I said to him,

I wish more of the parents
I work with were overbearing.

These children need
more supervision, not less.

And frankly, possession of a firearm

on school grounds is very serious.

Yeah. Kanan knows that.

My mom knows that too.

Based on what I've heard from Kanan

and experienced firsthand in your home,

I feel...

satisfied about
where things stand right now.

I'll be back to check on both of you,

but I feel encouraged by what I've seen.

I'm pleased with your progress, Kanan.

Thanks.

We'll walk you out.

We really appreciate
you comin' out to see us.

[LAURA] Mm-hmm.

I'll see you both again soon.

- Bye, Kanan.
- [KANAN] Bye.

Keep up the good work.

I will.

[RAQ SIGHS]

That was good.

I shoulda told her
you put the gat in the bag.

Look, I know you don't wanna believe me.

And I get it,
but I did that because I love...

'Cause you love me, right?

I don't even know if you know
how to love somebody.

It ain't even just about me.

You had this same sh*t with Uncle Lou.

The sh*t with your uncle Lou
ain't the same, Kanan, all right?

You speakin' on things that you
don't know nothin' about now.

I'm pretty sure Uncle Lou

feel the same way about you I do.

So I don't doubt you done
done him like you did me.

You know, you're gonna get older.

And you're gonna feel
different about all this.

You're gonna understand
why I did what I did.

I'm never gonna understand
none of this sh*t.

I'm damn sure never
gonna understand you.

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

Yo, that rear speaker
on the right sound blown to me.

We ain't openin' up tonight
unless that sh*t's on point.

Now switch 'em. Come on.

[SPEAKER CRACKLING]

[SHIRLEY] He's a stickler, your brother.

I guess so.

You do this long enough,

you know what heartbreak looks like.

And it looks exactly like you
sittin' there right now.

[MARVIN SIGHS]

Heartbreak look like my daughter.

- How old?
- Eighteen.

I'll make it a double.

What's good, big brother?

Not a damn thing.

- What'd you do this time?
- [MARVIN SIGHS]

Rolled through Juke's rehearsal

for some big-time music mufuckers

and f*cked it all up.

Amateur Marvin,

telling the professionals
how to do they job, huh?

You know, I just...

I just wanna be there
for my daughter, man.

I'm tryin' to come correct
on this dad sh*t.

-Respect
-[MARVIN SCOFFS]

For real.

Look, I can't even pretend to know

how to be someone's daddy,
but I do know it ain't easy.

Might be easy for somebody,

but sure as hell ain't easy for me.

No, man.

This families thing,
it's the toughest sh*t ever.

Nobody know that better than me.

Don't stop.

Don't ever stop.

I gotta finish this sound check.

- Thanks, Shirley.
- [SHIRLEY] Mm.

[KANAN] You hitting Flushing today.

- [MESSENGER 1] Got it.
- [KANAN] You in Sunset Park.

[MESSENGER 2] Word.

- You in Whitestone.
- [MESSENGER 3] You got it.

Hey.

You are f*ckin' up my business,
Kanan, all right?

This... this sh*t
keeps happenin', all right?

I got nobody to work my runs

'cause they're all...
they're all workin' for you.

First of all, don't ever
push up on me like that.

Secondly...

they came to me.

I ain't go get them.

My jobs pay more than yours,

so who you think
they gonna want to f*ck with?

I agreed to lend them to you.

I didn't agree to let you
just straight up take them altogether.

You're not understandin'.

I didn't take sh*t, Paul.
They came to me.

And you seem to be getting' hit off

pretty nice for they time.

I don't see you
complainin' about the money

I'm puttin' in your pocket,

all the free dope
you gettin' to smoke up.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

What, uh, what if I told the cops

about what you're doing here, huh?

Bet that'd change things
pretty f*ckin' fast.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

I don't think you wanna
talk to me like that, Paul.

[SARCASTICALLY] Huh?
What are you gonna do?

You gonna fight me at recess?

I'm a grown man, Kanan.
You're a f*ckin' kid.

I done seen a lot of grown men
get put down by kids out here.

♪ ♪

Look, I just need a couple guys
for deliveries, okay?

Y'all go f*ck with him on some runs.

We tryin' to get paid, man.

If we wanted to f*ck with him,
we'd f*ck with him.

[SIGHS] Look, I...

I'll have work for y'all
when y'all get back.

- All right.
- I got you.

[PAUL] I'm the one that hired
you in the first place, man.

Come on.

Come on. You gonna look like that?

f*ckin' disgruntled? Unbelievable.

Said you was gonna be here


- They waitin' for you.
- [MESSENGER 4] All right, man.

Y'all give me a second.

♪ ♪

I see you puttin' in this work.

I'm just doin' what need to be done.

I'm havin' a party tonight,
Olympic Palace.

Come through.

I'm good.

You're gonna wanna be there.

f*ck for?

'Cause everybody gonna wanna be there.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

[HOWARD SIGHS]

What you want now?

What you know about Unique?

I was gonna ask you the same.

As usual, NYPD ain't about sh*t.

Well, I can't say that 'Nique's case

is a high priority at the precinct.

Truth be told, I thought it was you.

Figured you finally settled that score.

So y'all ain't got no leads,
no ideas, or nothin'?

Why the f*ck you even care?

Ain't this a good thing for you?

Your competition out the way.

And I thought you said you was done.

If you ain't in the game,
why are you worried about the players?

Yo, Raquel, straight up.

[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]

'Nique dead, yo.

We ain't got a body yet,
but it don't take no police

to take one look at that tailor shop

and know he ain't never coming home.

I mean, the blood, the v*olence.

sh*t.

We found a steel pipe
with trace bone fragments

and hair on it.

'Nique gone for good.

And y'all ain't doin' sh*t
to find out who did it.

It's on our to-do list.

Y'all can't front.

'Nique, Deen.

Cats is out here droppin'.

Maybe you thinkin' you next?

That's why you got me
all the way out here?

You scared, Raq?

There a big difference
between bein' scared

and bein' aware.

Scared m*therf*ckers so busy
lookin' over their shoulder,

they don't see what's comin'.

n*gg*s who aware, they know every angle.

And they know exactly what
the f*ck is headed they way.

See your partner who got put down,

she was scared. I'm aware, n*gga.

[ENGINE TURNS OVER]

♪ ♪

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]

[JUKEBOX CLEARS THROAT]

What you got goin' today?

School, rehearsal.

You got home late last night.

I was, um, with your Uncle Lou.

Helpin', uh... helpin' out at his club.

Yo, look, um, I'm sorry
about blowin' up the spot

like I did yesterday.

I... I... I just...

I just got excited, I...
you're just so good.

I shouldn't have yelled on you
like I did.

You was just lookin' out for me.

Turns out maybe you could be right.

I could be the leader of the group.

N'Kiyah ain't made up
her mind yet, but...

See? That's what I'm sayin'.
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Your uncle say I don't know sh*t,

but these ears, they know.

That's my girl right there.
That's my girl.

Wait, wait, I'm bein' a...

I'm... I'm bein' a damn fool again.

I'm actin' like it's about me
instead of you.

I should be celebratin' you,

but instead, I'm poundin' my own chest.

[SIGHS]

[SOFT TENDER MUSIC PLAYS]

I need your help, Juke.

I need to understand how to...

how to do this right, you know,

how to be here for you, uh,
how to be a father.

You want me to tell you
how to be my father?

♪ ♪

Now that you s...

I hear you say it,

it just sound, um,
it sound real... uh, real dumb.

I gotta go.

Right. You got school.

- Okay.
- I'll... I'll...

Later.

♪ ♪

[JAZZY MUSIC PLAYS]

[SINGER VOCALIZING]

♪ ♪

[MUSIC CLICKS OFF]

What you doin' here?

That was Daddy on that.

What do you want, Raq?

I wanted to come through
and say I'm sorry

for missing your club openin'.

Spot got potential.

I like it.

So what, you gonna take this
from up under me too?

I don't wanna take anything
from you, Lou.

Enough been taken
from all of us already.

I'm here to give.

Respect, love, support, all of that.

Maybe everybody else
believes that you out.

That you left the game behind, not me.

Can't leave yourself.

That's what you don't understand.
This ain't about what you did.

It's about who you are.

I want us to get back
to who we were, Lou.

To what we had, you and me.

Ain't nowhere for you and me to go.

It's not like you gave a f*ck
about me anyway.

I was just the hammer that
you pull out of your toolbox

whenever you needed sh*t knocked around.

And I shouldn't have
been that n*gga for you.

And maybe if I had said no...

[PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYS]

maybe Scrap, D-Wiz, maybe Zisa...

No, you got bodies on you.

That's yours and yours alone,
baby brother.

But you wanna blame it on me,

sayin' I turned you into
somethin' that you not.

Nobody can make you
somethin' that you not.

You made decisions for me

when I was too young
to make 'em for myself, Raq.

Yeah, well, you grown now. We both are.

It's time for us to take responsibility

for the things that we did,
for the decisions that we made.

You were my big sister.

I followed you wherever you went.

Well, I'm here right now.

With you.

Where you wanna go?

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

I'm goin' back to work.

You can see yourself out.

♪ ♪

Can't even imagine what Amber and Alice

will be like as teenagers.

I don't even want to imagine that.

Just imagine bigger, angrier, smarter,

more expensive versions
of what you got already.

[GERALD LAUGHS]

[CHILDREN LAUGHING]

You know, I've been
thinking about it a lot.

A story about your daughter
might make a lot of sense

for me and The Voice.

It's got a nice local angle,

and the human interest piece
has broader appeal.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Humans gonna be interested in this sh*t.

I'd have to interview her and you too.

Stories like this need
a lot of background.

Readers want to get a sense of
where your daughter's from

and, uh, who has helped her
to get where she is.

Mm.

Yo, appreciate this, G.

- More than you know.
- [GERALD CHUCKLES]

[CHUCKLING] Hey, my man!

What's going on?

[SOFT TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

- Don't know you, man.
- [PERSON] Of course you do!

I worked at Lanes. Remember?

I... I must have walked in on you
and Toni like 100 times.

Don't know you or no Toni.
Got the wrong guy, man.

Toni Deep, man.

You and her were together.

♪ ♪

I told you, I don't know you.

You need to move the f*ck on.

My mistake then. Sorry.

Hey. Let's go, buddy. Come on.

Brothers all look the same
to these white boys.

Toni Deep.

Sounds like a p*rn star.

What she sound like to me

is somebody I don't even f*ckin' know.

As soon as I heard about this party,

I told Juke to hit you
and see if you wanted to go.

I'm real glad you could come through.

That's real sweet of you, Kanan.

- Me too.
- [KANAN CHUCKLES]

Where Fame at?

I'm not f*cking with Famous no more.

Seriously?

- What the hell happened?
- [ELEVATOR BELL RINGS]

[KID 'N PLAY'S "AIN'T
GONNA HURT NOBODY" PLAYING]

[SINGER] ♪ Man, I'm gonna have fun ♪

♪ Ain't gonna hurt nobody ♪

♪ We just dancing ♪

♪ Ain't gonna hurt nobody
Out there on the floor ♪

♪ Ain't gonna hurt nobody
We just dancing ♪

What kinda party is this?

[SINGER] ♪ Ain't gonna hurt nobody ♪

♪ Gonna give you more ♪

You here.

Just stopping through
to see what's good.

It's this n*gga's party?

Ain't your brother missin' or some sh*t?

And you throwin' a damn party?

'Nique takin' time off. He'll be back.

That's not what I heard.

Young buck makes an appearance.

Ronnie said that you might come through.

Ishmael Henry,

but around the giddy-up,
most folks call me Snaps.

- I know who you are.
- [SNAPS] Yeah?

Hey, this is my cousin, Jukebox.

- And this our friend, Iesha.
- [SNAPS] Ladies.

My distinct pleasure.

And may I present to you, uh,
the queen of the kingdom,

belle of the ball, lady of the manor,

her highness, her excellency,
the apple of my eye,

and the song in my heart.

This is my soul mate,
my life, my wife, Pop Henry.

n*gga left some sh*t out,
but you get the picture.

[LAUGHS]

You got your daddy's good looks.

Sounds like you got
Def Con's good sense too.

Yeah.

Ronnie's been tellin' us.

Business is boomin'.

Yeah. Congratulations are in order.

What business?

Just makin' ends, that's all.

Come on in, y'all.

There's food, drinks, whatever you need.

[UPBEAT HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

Uh, what happened with you and Famous?

We at a party right now, Juke.

Nobody wanna talk about that sh*t.

Come on.

[SNAPS] Right this way, right this way.

Come on, yeah.

The water's everywhere.

Why are you callin' me?

Call the damn plumber.

Calling the plumber's
the landlord's job.

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

[SIGHS]

[SALT-N-PEPA'S
"I'LL TAKE YOUR MAN" PLAYING]

[PEPA] ♪ Well, I'll take
Your man right out the box ♪

[KANAN] Yeah, show me some! [LAUGHS]

[PEPA] ♪ So when you see us together ♪

♪ Chillin' in the place ♪

♪ Cold walkin' and sportin'
Him in your face ♪

♪ Go ahead, roll your eyes
Suck your teeth ♪

♪ Keep huffin' and puffin'
Like a dog in heat ♪

♪ You can call me a crook
A robber, a thief ♪

♪ But I'll be your butcher
If you got beef ♪

♪ You know what's up
I ain't no poo-putt ♪

♪ 'Cause Pepa kicks butts ♪

- [KANAN AND IESHA LAUGHING]
- We gotta go.

We got rehearsal in the morning.

Hey, yo, yo, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, y'all gotta go?

Yo, this party is live is hell, Juke.

We just got here. Let's stick
around for a little bit, a'ight?

See what's good.

Iesha and me got work in the morning.

[SIGHS]

- Juke's right. We should go.
- [GROANS]

All right. Whatever, man. Fine.

I mean, you can stay if you want.

[JUKEBOX] Mm-mm. Kanan leavin' with us.

Ain't nothin' for him here.

Also...

Kanan got a business to run, right?

Y'all wanna go, let's go.

Heads wanna meet you.

We leaving.

You ain't got nothin' to say
to them thugsters.

They ain't thugsters.

There go Prince Ra
and Toni XL over there.

Black Noise by the bar.

Kaz Allah talkin'
to them girls over there.

They all in the game.

And they all thugsters.

You wanna meet some people or not?

Look, I'ma catch up with y'all later.

I'm sure Kanan gonna be okay.

Raq wouldn't want you bein' here.

I don't give a f*ck what she want.

Later, Iesha.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

Let's go.

Come on. He's gonna be fine.

♪ ♪

[CHILL MUSIC PLAYS]

♪ ♪

♪

My lovely wife seems to think
that I spoke out of turn

when I brought up your success
in front of those young ladies.

My husband got a big mouth
to go with all them big words.

I keep work and family separate.

Wise man.

Family business is the
very definition of oxymoron.

More big words.

We wanna f*ck with you.

You on that nickel and dime sh*t
right now.

Together, we could make real money.

[SNAPS] What our
esteemed colleague, Ronnie,

is trying to say

is that he's very impressed
with what you've accomplished.

He's interested in partnering
with you in a trade

that is gonna be a lot more lucrative

than that in which
you are currently engaged.

We talkin' about different work,

sh*t that's got a higher upside
that's easier to move.

Now, Snaps and me, we don't
deal with the day to day.

We just put some money up.

But we do want
to safeguard our investment,

if you know what I'm saying.

Well, alls I got is n*gg*s on bikes.

Y'all can go get that sh*t
y'all selves, easy.

You already up and runnin'.

[SNAPS] Why build what is already built?

My sh*t is me and me only.

Ain't got nothin' to do with my mother.

If we thought you was with Raq,

we'd be talkin' to Raq.

f*ck Raq.

[SINGER] ♪ So now
I'm gonna depend on you ♪

♪ Just 'cause I need... ♪

f*ck Raq.

[SINGER] ♪ A woman, yeah, baby ♪

♪ Where is love? ♪

You must ain't got sh*t to do

if you gonna stay here with me
and watch this.

I was drivin' by, saw your truck,

and was wonderin' what happened.

Well, now you know.

[SOFT TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

Then there's these mufuckers.

- They messin' with you?
- They tryin'.

Everybody and everything is trying me

right about now, Marvin.

You hear about 'Nique?

They're sayin' he's a missing person.

He's dead.

I heard it from the police myself.

Damn.

That's f*cked up.

Man, I know you and 'Nique was
gettin' to be friends and all.

I got out the game like I did.

I know you ain't believe it was real.

I never said
I didn't believe it was real,

it just seemed quick, that's all.

Went down in, like, one night.

[SCOFFS] Yeah, well,
it was a hell of a night.

It was.

I don't think I fully believed it
when I said it neither.

But it seemed like
the right thing to do.

For Kanan, for myself, for everybody.

Extreme circumstances
call for extreme action.

My business was goin' anyway.

And them baloney mufuckers
blew the whole sh*t up,

so if I'm being honest,

it made my decision a lot easier.

This sh*t right here, Marvin?

What the f*ck do I know
about bein' a damn landlord?

It ain't me.

Don't nobody believe it's me neither.

sh*t, they still thinkin' I'm hustlin'.

What's the point of bein' right
when everybody thinkin' you wrong?

[MARVIN CHUCKLES]

♪ ♪

But you know what else?

I'm good at that other work.

I know how to do it as well
as anybody who ever done it.

Some people born to be doctors,
lawyers, ballplayers.

I'm here to move weight.

It's what I do. It's who I am.

So what the f*ck am I doin' here?

Why am I tryin'
so damn hard not to be me?

♪ ♪

[SINGER] ♪ I heard there was a
Party and they need an emcee ♪

♪ So fly the depression is never ♪

♪ It's the eyes on the left
And you know that I'm clever ♪

♪ Pat to the back
Get my pants down low ♪

Hold on.

Come on. Join us, Kanan.

It's a'ight.

- Come on.
- You belong.

[SINGER] ♪ It's the fashion show ♪

♪ I hop up on the mic
And it's baddest flow ♪

♪ It's the flyest one
With the patch on her eye ♪

♪ Telling many stories
Like once upon a time ♪

All right.

♪ DJ, come on and play my jam ♪

♪ I'ma keep them on they toes
Like Mr. Boogie Man ♪

♪ I'm more than one
No doubt about that ♪

♪ I'm so original
That's nothing but facts ♪

♪ True facts never got it like that ♪

[BELL RINGS]

Hey.

If it isn't my favorite retiree.

[LAUGHS]

I thought you'd be in Florida by now.

Is this the mailman?

Special delivery.

Ah!

Neither rain nor sleet nor snow, huh?

[CHUCKLES] I love this f*cking guy here.

Come, come.

We'll... we'll talk
someplace more private.

Come on. Come back.

Giorgio, hold my calls.

Come on. [CHUCKLES]

Here we go.

There he is, huh?

Hey, uh, you know,
I heard about our friend Unique

from my contacts
at the police department,

and, uh, I'm sorry.

'Nique was about his business,
just like me.

Which is why I'm here.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]

I wanna step into
what he started with you,

take it over.

[CHUCKLING] Wow. Man, oh man.

It sure fits you.
You are really somethin', huh?

I mean, they... they haven't
even found the body yet.

You ready to move in?

'Nique would do the same sh*t.

That work don't stop
for nothin' and nobody.

Yeah, whoa, whoa.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.

I thought you were done.

I mean, uh, out of the game, as you say.

I'm done doin' what I did
and how I did it.

I'ma do it different now.

Uh, I don't know.
Frankly, uh, I'm a little hesitant.

I mean, you're in, you're out,
now you're back in.

I'm gettin' whiplash
from your comings and goings.

Makes me a little nervous.

I mean, I...

you know, I need consistency,
Raq, somebody I could count on.

It seemed like, you know,
you could count on my sister

when it was time to put your mans down.

Didn't hesitate then.

The postman delivers again.

♪ ♪

I'll tell you what.

Let's give it the old college try.

[CHUCKLES]

But just so we're clear,

now that you're back in,

there's only one way out.

♪ ♪

[POUNDING ON DOOR]

Fame, answer the door.

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

sh*t.

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

[GROANS]

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

f*ck me.

Hey, man. A'ight.

[POUNDING CONTINUES]

[CURTIS MAYFIELD'S "PUSHERMAN" PLAYING]

[CURTIS] ♪ I'm your mama
I'm your daddy ♪

♪ I'm that n*gga In the alley ♪

♪ I'm your doctor when in need ♪

♪ Want some coke? Have some weed ♪

♪ You know me I'm your friend ♪

♪ Your main boy thick and thin ♪

♪ I'm your pusherman ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I'm your pusherman ♪

Time to go to work, n*gga.

♪ ♪

[CURTIS] ♪ Ain't I clean? Bad machine ♪

♪ Super cool, super mean ♪

♪ Feelin' good for the man ♪

♪ Super fly, here I stand ♪

♪ Secret stash, heavy bread ♪

♪ Baddest b*tches in the bed ♪

♪ I'm your pusherman ♪

Heard you were lookin' for me?

What do you know about this assh*le?

What happened to all of that
"fruits of your investigation

are only consumed by you" bullshit?

Rules were made to be broken,
Detective Howard.

And we could use your insight.

[SIGHS] It's a local guy.

Did some time on distribution,
always into somethin'.

Why?

He was implicated in a cocaine operation

by a witness who was later m*rder*d

up in Westchester County a while back.

The hitter on that job
was one Marco Boselli,

Sal Boselli's kid.

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]

A first grader could connect these dots.

[GROWN KANAN] Life's about choices,

the moves you make
and the ones you don't.

Thing is, as time goes on,
all that starts to add up

to who you are, to what you are.

But most n*gg*s don't realize
that sh*t till it's too late.

They don't understand that all they done

turnt them into who they are.

I told him, man, you know,
I... I told him not to do it.

But I didn't... I didn't stop him.

I didn't.

[LOW TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

I should have said no.

I should have got in between, but I...

I just let it happen.

And I was there, so it's on me.

It's...

It's my fault, you know?

It's my fault, that...

♪ ♪

that your son's dead.

And Scrap's gone. I'm so sorry.

I'm so f*ckin' sorry.

I... I couldn't stop him.

I try... I did...

he not here no more, and it's my fault.

[GROWN KANAN]
And once they figure it out,

they try to course correct,
change it up.

But you can't undo what's been done.

You can't go back. You're you, n*gga.

And hard as you may try to change,

you ain't never gonna
be anything but you.