01x06 - Aisha

[bunniefuu]

Aisha: Previously on The Slap...

Do you hit your wife? Do you hit her?

No!

Thanassis: Harry, you're the one who hits women and small children.

Yeah, I didn't hit a woman.

So you admit to hitting the kid.

You're still going.

Are you serious?

Of course.

No.

It's Rosie and Gary, love.

You've got to represent us.

I've been really thinking about what we have.

Connie, I... I didn't mean to...

Please don't say "I'm so sorry," to me like that.

Look, I don't think I can work here anymore.

You remember that Richie was taking pictures at the barbecue.

Yes.

He has pictures of Hugo being slapped.

[Horn honking]

[Tires screeching]

Hey!

Please help her.

Aisha: Oh, my god, Sandi.

Hector!

Oh, my God.

Hector!

[Sobbing]

All right, love, come on, come on.

[Sobbing fades]

Sandi: Koula, it's okay.

It's a tabloid.

It's nothing.

Koula, I have to go.

I need to show Harry.

What's going on?

It will all be forgotten by tomorrow.

Listen to me, listen to me.

Focus.

It will be gone.

Nobody sees this.

It is time for New York to see what a model character Harry Apostolou is.

Kiki, you explain.

We are going to arrange for you to be honored at a benefit, The American Friends of the National Archeological Museum of Athens.

Manolis: I'm confused.

That's great.

Thanassis: Then you are in the Times.

It costs, but it's much bigger, Black tie, the Plaza.

I need to tell the story of a man, a good Greek-American philanthropist who generously gave to flood-ravaged broke towns in Greece.

You did?

Harry.

This is a man who hires ex-convicts at his business...

Recidivists...

Rehabilitated them into mechanics when nobody else would even give them the time of day.

Excuse me, who is this?

Kiki?

Oh, she runs communications in my business.

She sees that some clients stay out of the papers and others are in.

Kiki: I'd like for you to donate a vehicle to City Bounty Food Bank's benefit next week to be auctioned off at Cipriani.

It's a nice event.

It's a good photo op, Jimmy Fallon.

Oh, I love him.

Thanassis: We show who Harry is.

You're not a man who batters children.

You're a man who saves them.

Thanassis: Hmm?

I can turn Harry into that man.

But I need a character witness who will get on the stand, someone of unimpeachable pristine credentials, and it cannot be an employee.

It cannot be flesh and blood, because, let's be honest, you could've k*lled that kid, and Koula would still swear you're innocent.

Of course he's innocent. He was provoked.

Koula, have a cookie.

We need a respected community leader, a physician of unimpeachable character.

Aisha, we need you.

So I'm not a member of the family?

Yes.

But you're not Greek, which, in this case, is not a bad thing.

And would it be a bad thing otherwise?

You misunderstand me, my dear.

Tribes.

Aisha: I really don't know what to say about this.

I need time to think.

Thanassis: Doctor...

Let me make sure that you know exactly what is happening here.

These charges against Harry, they are a prelude to a multimillion-dollar personal injury suit.

I have seen this up close and personal for 40 years.

I have defended the powerful against the most dangerous, vicious, ruthless enemy of all.

Do you know who that is?

It's the weak and the powerless.

Oh, my God.

Because it is the weak and the powerless who become t*rrorists.

One cove over, from my window in Sands Point, I saw the towers come down.

Yes, so I have seen.

I have seen how the tears of the weak and the powerless can turn steel into rust.

And all the while, their hearts flutter with the thrill of taking each and every thing that we hold dear and making it their own.

Are you guilty?

You bet your ass.

Were you defending your kid? Who cares?

Was there a bat in the kid's hand?

Were there photographs?

Maybe.

But I still say you were standing your ground.

I can fight anything they throw at us, anything.

But there is one thing I cannot do, Doctor, and that is to say the words, "In all my years of knowing this man, I have only seen a kind and gentle man, one with whom I would trust the lives of my own children."

Will you say those words, Dr. Cole?

[Soft jazz music]

[Coughs]

No, I have not been to Africa lately.

Nor have I seen a doctor in ten years.

You were wise to avoid us.

Can you take a deeper breath?

[Wheezes]

Do you smoke, Britton?

But they're organic, so...

Oh, well, then.

And again.

[Wheezes]

Yeah.

Yeah, you've got pneumonia.

Oops.

When was the last time you slept?

Yesterday I got a few hours while the trick nodded off, so a little Xanax would go a long way.

[Chuckles]

Dilated pupils, dry, cracked skin, the nose bleeds, sores in the mouth.

I'd say you're having a relationship with crystal meth.

It's a casual one.

We're not going steady.

Look, I know that you're clever, Britton, but are you smart?

Well, I mean, we know the answer to that one, right?

I'm just a little run-down is all.

Just... I overdid it.

God, I just... I overdid it.

[Knocks on door]

Yeah.

Woman: Dr. Cole. Can I see you please?

Yeah, sure.

Just hang tight, and I'll be back in a minute.

He's positive, isn't he?

For HIV, yes.

Connie: Aisha.

They need to know if you're going to the Boston conference.

They can't hold the room past 6:00.

Just let me deal with this kid first.

So, Agatha.

I need you to call Kreuger at Sinai.

He needs to be admitted now.

And I want an ambulance.

Okay.

Britton, we need...

Oh, come on.

Man: Okay, yeah.

Nice.

What's this called?

Nothing, just Gowanus Canal Houseboat.

But interesting, you kept the building in focus, but not the boat.

How come?

I don't know, I just thought it was cool.

Man: It has a nice tension, but maybe if you framed it differently or cropped it.

It might have even more power if you compressed it.

Next.

Gary: He said what?

Yeah.

Oh, God.

[Laughter]

Yeah.

There should be a law against morons teaching anything other than Geography.

Richie: I wanted you to sort of feel the slickness, like, the pollution.

Gary: No, it's perfect.

I like the water.

I like the oily water up against the wood grain.

There's a really great BFA program for photography at The New School.

I mean, I know everyone there.

I teach there.

Would you mind if I show that to someone?

I can't afford a BFA.

Shut up. Don't say no.

They have scholarships.

Okay, yeah.

[Laughs]

That's... That's an amazing thing that you say that.

Well, you already figured out the hardest thing.

I have?

It's not for the artist to understand what he's made.

It's up to a viewer to figure it out.

Your job is just to make the pictures.

Wow.

Huh?

Yeah.

Hey, Richie.

Hi.

You got pictures from the barbecue?

Yeah, I do.

I... How do you know that?

Connie said there were some good ones.

Richie: She said what?

Hugo.

Can I see?

Well...

Is that...

There's no... There's nothing...

That... That's not gonna be anything.

Gary: Richie.

Why don't you take Hugo to the bodega, get him something with sugar.

Maybe it'll have the opposite effect.

Richie: Hey, Hugo, let's go get paletas y sorbetas, señor.

Hugo: Yeah.

Okay, let's do it. Come on.

[Door latches open]

Gary: What the hell was that?

[Door shuts]

He has evidence, Gary.

Yeah, no, Rosie.

We're not dragging Richie into any part of this.

One troubled child is enough, even for me.

What's that supposed to mean?

It means that Richie is a kind, decent kid, and we are not going to sully everyone and everything that crosses our path with this case.

You're so predictable.

Pulling some sort of moral argument just to try and get out of doing what's right.

What's right, what's right, what's right.

What... What is right?

How the hell would we know what's right anymore?

We got our heads so far up our asses that, Rosie, Rosie, I don't recognize you.

Hell, I don't recognize myself.

But you, what, you think you're the only mother in the world?

I do not.

But I know I'm the only parent he has.

No, you... You really didn't just say that to me, did you?

When I wake up, the first thing...

Hugo, he's running and crying.

His face is burning.

I see it in my dreams, Gary.

Well, maybe the way to stop seeing it in your dreams is stop being Joan of Arc and just go back to being Rosie, because God knows that I miss her, and I have no idea who the hell was just talking to me.

[Solemn piano music]

[Light buzzing]

Oh, come on.

[Knocking]

[Knocks on door]

Hey, did Britton come back?

No. [Sighs]

So I guess this is it.

Hmm?

Oh.

Of course, I blocked it out.

Your last day.

[Sighs]

Are you sure you want to leave?

It's just all of this early college admission decision stuff.

Hmm.

Yeah, it's full on, so I'm just really eager to...

Run like hell.

Yeah, I have a deep, deep need to escape New York.

But I did get a little paid internship at the film museum just while I'm applying so I can pay for flights and stuff.

And if ever you need letters of recommendation, I will, of course, go wildly overboard singing your praises.

I want you to remember how special you are.

No, I'm not, but I love you.

So...

What's wrong, Connie?

Nothing I'm just, um...

Sorry I let you down.

Not touching you.

Stop.

I'm not even touching you.

I'm trying to do this.

Stop.

I'm not touching you.

Stop it.

I'm not touching you.

No, stop.

Aisha: Hey, your mother is in the house.

I decree this ruckus shall cease.

Ugh, monster children.

You made me lose.

Come on, go wash up. Go upstairs.

And I'll come and discuss the day with you two.

Muah!

Full reports, please.

[Laughs]

Go on upstairs.

Dad, I know. I know.

What am I being accused of this time?

[Scoffs]

Koula wants to know why you're being evasive about speaking up for Harry.

Do you wonder that too?

With Rosie, I feel like I'm lying, and with you, I feel like a traitor.

No one thinks you're a liar or a traitor.

God, but can't you see it from my side?

Hello?

It's the office.

Some conference in Boston wants to know if they should replace you.

Call them back.

Tell them that I'll be there tomorrow afternoon.

Okay.

[Phone beeps]

I need a bath.

[Sighs]

So Anouk is to be obeyed to the letter Especially when it comes to...

No chocolate.

No chocolate.

You can have all the chocolate you want.

I mean, you guys know that they're not going to school today, right?

Aisha: Oh, really?

Hells no.

Jamie and I are taking them to MoMA and then the Film Forum.

There's a Roald Dahl festival.

We're all playing hooky today.

Hector: You know what, that's great. I'm working late.

I got a council meeting.

Let them have an adventure with these two incredibly cool people.

Oh, my God.

I don't want to know. I don't want to know.

[Whistling sound]

Yep, there's my car.

But when are you coming back?

Oh, I'm just gonna be a couple days, darling.

And I'm not gonna work this weekend, so we can...

Well, you guys can think of something incredibly fun, and as long as it's not dangerous or illegal or both, we can do it.

Paintball and pizza.

Oh, I love you so much.

Please don't fight.

I don't want to come back and find one of you dead, strangled.

Let me get your bag.

Aisha: You see what you have to look forward to, babe.

Can't wait.

Hey.

Melissa: Stop it.

Love you.

All right.

Mother hen has flown the coop.

Ah.

[Laughs]

Hector, I've got to give you a heads up on something.

Oh, God.

I hate it when people say that.

No, listen.

Rosie tells me Connie is gonna testify.

Sure it's not gonna be for Harry.

Hector, this is not a good thing.

I told you.

This is hell.

Open your eyes, buddy.

It's time to wake up.

[Bell ringing]

Richie, what's wrong?

Nothing.

You haven't answered any of my texts, and I've been calling.

I'm busy. I have a lot of work.

What did I do?

I'm sorry about the party.

Let it go.

I don't want to talk about the party.

You're my best friend. Talk to me.

I'm your best friend?

That's interesting, because best friends don't sell each other out.

What did I do wrong?

You told Rosie that I have pictures of the slap.

But you do.

Yes, and I don't want to be brought into this.

You sold me out.

You never should have said that.

But you do. Why do you care?

I don't understand what the problem is.

All I did was tell the truth.

It wasn't your choice.

You took away my right not to be a part of this.

It was selfish, and I don't know why you didn't think of me when you did it.

Do you do that?

Do you think of other people when you do what you do?

Richie.

Keep away from me, Connie.

What are you so afraid of?

[Gary grunts]

I'm an airplane, look.

[Imitates airplane]

[Laughs]

One day it'll be easy, huh?

I had three dachshunds growing up.

I used to take them to the dog park every day.

This is almost as hard.

[Laughs]

Give it!

Gary: Hey!

Hugo, be cool, buddy.

Yeah, the pictures of them wreaking havoc, they don't really make it into the photo album, do they?

Nah.

No.

[Laughs] So...

Hugo: Give it to me.

Give it.

Gary: Why is that guy taking pictures of my kid?

Give it.

Give it to me.

Why are you taking pictures of my kid?

Hey.

Why are you taking pictures of my kid?

Why are you taking pictures of my son?

My truck!

Daddy!

Come here.

All right.

Hey.

That's a lot of texts.

Suddenly you're texting like a teenager.

I needed to talk to you.

Hey, listen to me. Listen to me.

What are you doing, all right?

I hear you're suddenly testifying for Rosie.

Yeah.

Your cousin committed a crime, and I care about Rosie and Hugo.

No, first of all, it wasn't a crime.

And you didn't even see it.

I don't know if you remember that part, but...

Right?

Excuse me.

Yeah.

Man: Can I get a discount on this?

It's torn.

Connie: Sure.

Um...

Take $2 off?

Cool.

Man: You're the best person in the world today.

Connie, Connie.

What are you doing?

Is this about...

About what?

Really?

Really?

Is that who you want to be with me?

You know, for the first time since I met you, you're acting beneath your age.

[Scoffs]

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

What?

I just realized.

You're scared of me, aren't you?

Okay.

Excuse me.

I have to get back to work.

Woman: And so, you see, what happens when the body's resistance is compromised.

And yet, as daunting as the work is, the ghost always lurks, and the outbreaks move faster today than they ever have, and so must we.

Thank you.

[Applause]

I was hoping that was you at registration.

Oh, my God, Ajay.

[Laughs]

I could've sworn you avoided these things like the plague, as it were.

I thought you did.

I do, but I had to give a talk about Ebola.

Oh, yes, I'm sorry I missed that.

No, it was a riot.

It k*lled.

[Laughs]

You going to this new approaches to flu strain prediction thing?

Should be loads of fun.

No, I've got the Leptospirosis in urban densities.

Why do we even come here? It's terrifying.

Maybe it's less terrifying if you can name it.

Hmm.

How are you? Where are you now?

I'm at USC, my own lab.

Oh.

Well, I'm late.

Do you want to have dinner, catch up?

Sure, yeah, just not... Not here in the hotel, please God.

Aisha, who do you think you're talking to?

We'll go somewhere else.

Yeah, okay.

Okay.

I'll find your room and give you a call.

Fine, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

[Speaking Greek]

Ah, I told you this was my lucky night.

My son Hector.

Do you know the Greek navy?

[Speaking Greek]

I taught him this game when he was four.

Hector, look at the board and tell me, should I double him or not?

Double him.

He's too smart to take the bet.

[Speaking Greek]

[Laughs]

Same time, same place.

The drinks are on me.

Ajay, you look happy.

I was not going to say the same about you.

You were never much for small talk, were you?

What?

You want to get into it, really?

Is it Hector?

No.

No, it's me.

Sometimes I think that he doesn't know the person that he married.

A very bad girl.

And I was an even worse boy.

We're lucky we're still alive with all the crap we ingested.

The crap.

How fast we drove, yes?

Ugh.

So, what, he saved you, and now you're missing the old Aisha?

Oh, God, no.

She was never very good at the compromises of everyday life.

Let's face it.

And this Aisha is very good at them.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm just tired.

[Laughs]

What? What?

Why don't you tell me what's really wrong?

This... This family that I married into, they're like mafia.

It's like they're so way, way into your business, and there was this incident.

What if you were asked to lie to protect a member of the family that you married into, but in doing that, you'd be betraying a really close friend?

They're asking you to choose your family over your friend?

This cousin, he hit a kid at my house.

A grown man hit a kid?

And now the family want me to be a character witness for this guy who did it before to his wife.

And my husband wants me to lie, you know, even by omission.

Listen.

I'm not a specialist in this stuff.

I mean, I'm 0 and 2 when it comes to the marriage game.

I am floating deep in outer space.

But you want my advice?

Mm-hmm.

Keep the peace.

Lie.

You've got kids.

Everyone lies for the sake of the kids.

It's what one does.

And if it's poisoning me?

Don't be imprecise, Aisha Cole.

You're a scientist.

This crap, this is a little moral sneeze.

Well, sneezes can turn into full-blown...

Enough.

Keep the peace.

Take the long view.

[Sighs]

What are we doing here?

We're holding hands.

Hmm.

That's all.

I am just so tired of my bloody virtue.

I've been wildly stupid, Dad.

The girl?

You knew?

She's fond of you, I know.

Was.

I stopped it, Dad, but it's not stopping.

So...

She has the fury now.

Hmm.

Listen to me.

First...

I love you.

And you are a good man, despite what you think of yourself.

But you are just a man.

All your life, your need to be good has usurped your need to be you.

I've watched it.

Hey, listen to me.

You're okay.

You're okay.

You'll get through it.

But let me tell you, this will get out, one way or another.

And you need to get ahead of it.

[Sighs]

Just remember, the guilty man who never gets caught, he's never free.

You're lucky.

Some prisons have no keys.

[Aisha moaning]

You remember?

Yeah.

[Laughs]

I can't see. You have to help me.

Okay, okay.

[Moaning]

Aisha.

If we don't stop now, I won't be able to.

I don't want to stop.

Just give me one second.

[Groans]

One second.

[Sighs]

[Sighs]

[Metal jingling]

[Soft jazz]

Oh, good. Thank you.

Can you chalk it up to how much I wanted you?

No.

No, I can't, Ajay.

Yeah.

Hey.

You know, it's not out of the question you might find some measure of happiness.

I mean, if there's one thing I know, it's that we could all be dead tomorrow if the right bug comes along.

[Groans]

Well, if that was the case, I think I know where I'd want to be.

[Laughs]

Hi.

I was in the neighborhood.

I thought you might want a ride.

What are you doing here?

I don't know.

Oh.

Hector: I missed you too much, and I had to come see you.

[Aisha laughs]

I'm nuts.

Thanks for doing this. It's such a sweet idea.

My dad got this car when I was 15.

I learned to drive in it.

Yeah?

Yeah.

[Laughs]

I've always felt safe in the...

In this car.

Smells like the past to me.

I used to steal it for dates.

I guess I kind of like to think of this as a date.

[Laughs]

Oh, what's wrong?

You always get nostalgic when you're sad.

You haven't said where we're going yet.

Oh, it's a surprise.

Mm?

I just wanted to be alone with you for more than 26 minutes between the needs of others.

Hmm.

I can't believe you thought of this.

I don't tell you, do I, enough...

What?

That you're so much more beautiful now than when we met.

Oh.

What was I, a dog then?

No, God, no.

You were gorgeous, but now you're beautiful.

That's much bigger than gorgeous.

Oh, that is so not like you.

I'm starting to think there's something wrong.

No.

Hmm?

They're gonna close soon.

Oh, just let me make a call.

Hey, Janice, it's Dr. Cole.

Yes.

The kid that ran out, Britton Collins, did he call?

Okay, well, if he does, will you just make sure you patch him straight through to my cell?

Okay, thank you.

Okay, I'm all yours.

Why do you keep staring at me? What is it?

I like seeing you against these walls, these giant colors.

It suits you.

I keep getting the feeling that you want to tell me something.

Hmm.

I don't know what anything is anymore.

I made so many mistakes.

I'm so sorry.

Talk to me.

[Scoffs]

I don't think I can.

Uh, you have to now.

Come on.

I had something happen.

I let something happen that never should have happened.

Well, who is it?

What have you done?

You drove all the way to Boston to tell me something, didn't you?

Connie. It was Connie.

What?

I don't know how it happened.

I'm so... I...

I don't know what happened to me.

You had a relationship with the teenage babysitter?

No, it... It never went beyond...

It was just a kiss.

You kissed Connie?

It was on the edge, and I... I took it a little too far.

So nothing really happened?

No.

Oh.

And whatever it was, it's over.

Yes, I swear.

So, then, why did you tell me?

What?

Why are you telling me this now?

What am I supposed to do with it?

Because I love you, and it's the truth.

This has got nothing to do with the truth.

No, now, stop.

You think this is easy for me?

I do think, in a funny way, it is easy for you, Hector.

Hector Apostolou, the last good man in America, confessing to a petty offense, this pathetic dalliance with a teenager, who, by the way, is too naive to even know a hustle when she hears one, and then you can...

You can feel better about yourself, yeah? Yeah?

Sheltered underneath this veil of honesty, which, by the way, is just a smoke screen for your cowardice.

And if you think I'm gonna apologize for saying any of that, I am not.

Now, let's go home, because there's a clinic and two children who need me.

[Whistling sound]

Hector: Kids?

No.

It's the man I nearly slept with last night.

Just pull over. Just pull over!

I even lied to you then, you know, when we met.

You remember that day?

You pulled an all-nighter at the E.R.

Well, yeah, I'd been up all night.

But I certainly wasn't saving anyone.

I'd been with him.

We'd gotten into the Dexedrine, among other things.

Vodka, among other things.

We'd been partying for 20 hours straight.

[Laughs]

Medical students do this, but not as much as I did.

It's like I was two...

Two different people.

There's one that was gonna be this great doctor, and the other one...

Might never even have survived.

And there it was.

You...

With your decency.

I think it was your decency that saved me.

I really believe that.

This good man.

This naive belief in my goodness.

Maybe it wasn't decency.

Maybe you were just reticent, and then you had this little mid-life crisis and got bold.

Aisha.

Let's just go back to Brooklyn.

Woman: Has two separate problems to...

Where is she?

Connie, she doesn't...

Connie, she... Yes.

Connie knows that I have separate insurance under the Medicaid and the supplement.

Hi, Britton.

I'm so, so glad you came back.

I'm having an ambulance take you to the hospital, and I'll come with you.

Carpe diem, I thought that it meant to seize sex, dr*gs, and abandonment in every possible moment.

If you can believe it, so did I.

But I learned a little trick.

Let's take it by the hour until the hours add up to something larger.

Larger?

A future, if you like.

A future?

I'm gonna grab you some water.

And will you just sit?

Aisha?

There's someone in your office.

Oh, Sandi.

Uh...

Could you grab Mr. Cooper some water?

Yes, of course.

Thanks, Jan.

You all right?

I'm fine, really.

I just wanted to talk.

Is that okay? Do you mind?

No. Sure.

Do you want to sit?

Sure.

Listen, the other day with Thanassis, I watched what that family was doing to you.

It can be suffocating, can't it?

Anyway, you aren't going to be asked to be a character witness.

What?

I told Thanassis, uh...

About this, what happened.

I told him...

I told him that my husband lost his temper once so badly that he hit me.

I told him that you were the person that I came to, and that you and Hector took care of me.

Okay.

I told him that even if he coached you, you'd have to take the stand and talk to the prosecutor, and that wouldn't be fair to anyone.

So you will not be bothered by him again.

[Sighs]

Sandi...

[Phone beeps]

Janice: Dr. Cole?

The ambulance is here for Britton.

Okay.

How did you forgive him?

My husband feels so small.

No matter how much money he makes, no matter how well he does, he still thinks he's a Greek immigrant who came over here and drove a cab, who fought to make it in America, and will never deserve the cheerleader from Connecticut.

And that gives him the right to... To hit her?

Aisha.

I won't argue for my marriage, for what's good about it, and there is so much that is, and if this is a very bad day for feminism, so be it.

Harry has paid dearly for that night, believe me.

What about when he does it again?

He won't.

Besides, he couldn't afford it.

Is it that big?

I wouldn't play with that.

It's impossible to put back together.

[Gentle piano music]

Put that on him.

Oh.

[Laughter]