If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Movie Script
1
(STATIC CRACKLING)
(CHILDREN SHOUTING
IN THE DISTANCE)
(DISTANT VOICES
CHATTERING, LAUGHING)
(DISTANT HORN HONKS)
(DISTANT SIREN WAILING)
(WHISTLE TWEETS)
You ready for this?
I never been more ready
for anything in my whole life.
TISH: I hope that nobody
has ever had to look
at anybody they love...
through glass.
(CELL DOOR BUZZES)
(PANTING)
(MUTTERS):
I need to tell...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SIGHS)
- Hey.
- Hey.
Alonzo?
Alonzo, we...
We're gonna have a baby.
TISH: I should have said
already, we're not married.
That means more to him
than it does to me,
but I understand how he feel.
Fonny is 22.
I'm 19.
I'm glad, Fonny.
I'm glad. Don't you worry.
(LAUGHING)
You tell my daddy?
- Not yet.
- You tell your folks?
Not yet, but don't worry
about them.
I just wanted to tell you first.
A baby.
What you gonna do?
I'm gonna do
just like I've been doin'.
I'm gonna work up to
just about the last month
and then Mama and Sis
will take care for me.
You ain't got to worry.
And, anyway, we'll have you
out of here before then.
Are you sure about that?
I'm always sure about that.
I love you.
I love you, too.
(SAW BUZZING)
TISH: Fonny used to go
to a vocational school,
where they teach kids to mae
all kinds of shitty things,
like card tables and hassocs
and chest of drawers,
which nobody's ever gonna bu.
But Fonny didn't go for it
at all, and he split,
takin' most of the tools
from the workshop with him.
He started workin' as a short
- o rder cook so he could eat.
And he found a basement where
he could work on his wood,
and he was at our house
more than he was at his.
It was all so simple.
Learn this, build that,
get a job and work it
until the job became you.
But Fonny had decided
on a whole new view.
You see, he had found somethig
that he wanted to do.
And this saved him from the death
that awaited the children of our age.
And though it took many form,
the death itself
was very simple.
The cause was simple, too.
The kids had been told
that they weren't worth shit.
And everything
they saw around them...
proved it.
(DOOR OPENS)
(SIGHS)
Hey. How you doin', li'l bit?
How is he?
He's just the same.
He's fine.
He sends his love.
That's good.
Did you see the lawyer?
Not today.
I have to go on Monday.
He been to see Fonny?
No.
Mama?
Yeah, baby.
Mama...
I saw you standin' there
Sing, mama, sing.
In a mist of a dream
I wondered
Why, oh, why
That you were not there
Get the good glasses.
- What you doin' with that?
- What's it look like?
That I stopped and I stared
What's the
special occasion?
You the man of the house,
start pouring.
Oh, but of course,
madame.
All right.
I wonder what
all this is for.
Not too much
for Tish.
I looked for you
All right.
What's goin' on?
You were nowhere
to be found
To be found
Could it be my...
(CLEARS THROAT) Ooh.
This...
is a sacrament.
And, no, I ain't
lost my mind.
We are drinkin'
to new life.
Tish gonna have
Fonny's baby.
You may not believe
Drink.
Uh...
This could happen to you,
pretty baby
Uh, well...
That's... That's
one hell of a note.
Aren't you gonna drink
to the little one, Tish?
How long has this
been goin' on?
About three months.
- Yeah, that's what I figured.
- Three months?
You mean, while you two was runnin'
around here lookin' at places?
All right.
Tish...
you sure you want
this baby?
Yes.
And Fonny wants it, too.
It's our baby,
and, a-and it's not his fault
that he's in jail.
It's not like he ran away.
And we've always been
best friends
ever since we were little,
Daddy, you know that.
And we'd be married now
if it wasn't for that lady...
SHARON: Tish, he knows it.
He knows it.
Your daddy knows it.
He's just...
He's just worried
about you, that's all.
Hey, don't you go thinkin'
I think you're some bad girl
or any other foolishness
like that.
I just asked you
because you're so young,
that's all. And... (SIGHS)
Unbow your head,
sister.
To the newborn.
We are
Next to the star
(LAUGHS)
I hope it's a boy.
ERNESTINE:
Oh, Daddy.
That will tickle old Frank
to pieces, I bet.
(LAUGHING)
Tish, do you mind
if, if I break
the news to him?
No, Daddy.
I don't mind.
I sure would like to be the one
to tell them sisters.
JOSEPH:
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
You know what?
Joe, call 'em all over here.
- Oh, no...
- No, no, I'm serious...
- Ma.
- It's Saturday night.
We got a whole lot left
in that bottle. It's not late.
As I think about it, that's
the best way to do this.
SHARON: Go on,
call their asses on over here.
All right, look, all right.
I think you're right, love.
(LAUGHS)
Let's get them on over here.
All right. All right!
(CHUCKLES)
Woo!
- My baby sister's havin' a baby.
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, hey, Nipsey Russell.
(LAUGHS) Hey, what's up?
What y'all doin'? Hey, honey...
- What you wanna have?
- A boy.
- Fonny.
- Fonny.
What?
(LAUGHING)
TISH: The day I realized
Fonny was in love with me
was strange.
It was the day he gave
Mama that sculpture.
I dumped water
over Fonny's head
and scrubbed Fonny's back
in the bathtub,
in a time
that seems so long ago.
I don't remember
that we ever had any curiosiy
concerning
each other's bodies.
Fonny loved me too much.
And that meant that there
had never been any occasion
for shame between us.
We were a part of each othe,
flesh of each other's flesh,
which we so took for granted
that we never thought
of the flesh.
And yet,
it was no surprise to me
when I finally understood...
that he was
the most beautiful person
I had seen in all my life.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FONNY: You know, I've slept
in this park sometimes.
Nah, it's...
it's not a good idea.
Why'd you sleep
in the park?
It was late.
I didn't wanna go home.
I didn't wanna wake
none of y'all up neither.
But I got me a pad
down here now.
So you wanna eat down here
or you wanna wait
till we get uptown?
Or, uh, do you wanna go
to the movies?
- (TISH CHUCKLES)
- Or do you want a little wine
or a little pot
or a little beer?
(CHUCKLES)
Or a cup of coffee?
Maybe you just wanna walk
around a little bit more
till you make up
your mind?
(CHUCKLING)
Come on.
JOSEPH:
Yeah.
SHARON:
Yeah. Ooh.
ERNESTINE: Y'all know
we can see y'all, right?
Yeah. Don't be lookin'.
Keep your eyes in there.
ERNESTINE:
Oh, y'all nasty.
- (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
- Oh. That old rattle.
- Oh!
- All right.
- All right.
ERNESTINE:
I got it.
- Hey!
- Hi.
- Ernestine.
- Adrienne.
- JOSEPH: How you doin'?
- Miss Sheila.
JOSEPH:
Hey, it's so nice to see you.
Gotta call an emergency
or somethin' to see you?
- Great to see you.
- Good to see you.
TISH: Fonny's mother
didn't like me.
She just didn't think
I was good enough for Fonny.
Which really means
that she didn't think
I was good enough for her.
And in another way,
she felt that I was maybe
just exactly
what Fonny deserved.
- FRANK: Young lady.
- ERNESTINE: Daddy, I got it.
So you saw
my big-headed boy today?
Yeah. He's fine.
He sends his love.
Now, they ain't bein'
too hard on him, is they?
Now I ask you like that
because, you know,
he may say things to you
he won't say to me.
ALICE:
Lovers' secrets?
Well, he hates it,
you can see that.
- And he should.
- Come on.
But... he's strong.
He'll be all right.
But we gotta get him
out of there.
If he'd done his reading and his
studying when he should have,
he wouldn't be in there
in the first place.
- Girl, what you know about it?
- Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
I got some gin
and we got some whisky
and we got some cognac.
(CHUCKLES) We ain't got
no Thunderbird, though.
- I hope you ladies don't mind.
- Mind?
Frank does not care
if we mind.
SHARON: Well, Mrs. Hunt,
what can I get you, sugar?
I can offer you coffee, tea...
ice cream,
Coca-Cola.
- Coca-Cola.
- ERNESTINE: I got it, Mama.
How about an ice cream soda,
Mrs. Hunt?
I can do that for you.
Sheila, why don't
you help me?
Come on.
- Oh, Lord! Time flies.
- Yeah.
SHARON: I haven't seen you
since all this trouble started.
Girl, don't say a word.
I've been runnin' myself sick
all up and down the Bronx,
trying to get the very best
legal advice I can find.
I just pray
and I pray and I pray
that the Lord will bring
my boy to the light.
- That's all I pray for.
- Mm.
ALICE: Every day
and every night.
And then sometimes,
sometimes I think
this might be the Lord's plan
to get my boy
to think on his sins...
and surrender his soul
to Jesus.
SHARON:
Yeah, you might be right.
The Lord sure works
in mysterious ways.
Oh, yes, He does.
Now, He may try you,
but He ain't never left
none of His children alone.
What do you think about
that lawyer Ernestine found?
Um, that boy Hayward?
I ain't met him yet.
I just ain't had time
to get downtown yet.
I know Frank saw him.
What do you think
about him, Frank?
He's a white boy, been to
law school, got them degrees.
I ain't got to tell you what
that mean. It don't mean shit.
You're talkin' to a woman.
I'm hip.
And it's a mighty
welcome change.
- Uh...
- Like I was sayin'...
It don't mean shit. I ain't
sure we gonna stay with him.
On the other hand, as white
boys go, he's not so bad.
He's young and hungry,
so he's not as full of shit now
as he may be when he's full.
- Hmm.
- ALICE: That's what I keep tryin' to tell you.
It's that negative attitude.
You so full of hate.
If you give people hatred,
they give it back to you.
Every time I hear you talk
like that, it breaks my heart
knowin' my boy
is locked up in some dungeon
that only the love of God
will get him out of.
Now, Alice, I don't think that
Frank was talkin' about hate.
He was just speakin'
on the truth.
ALICE:
Well, I trust in God.
I know He cares for me.
Mr. Rivers, what exactly
is the purpose of this meeting?
You didn't call us
all the way over here
just to watch my father
insult my mother.
TISH:
Why not?
It's Saturday night.
Can't tell what folks won't do
if they get bored enough.
Maybe we just invited you
over to liven things up.
I can believe
you're that malicious,
but I can't believe
you're that stupid.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- JOSEPH: Uh, um...
Let me go check on that,
um, ice cream float.
(LAUGHING)
Uh-huh. Pedrocito.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
Good to see you.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
(PEDROCITO SPEAKING SPANISH)
PEDROCITO: How can I
help you, senorita?
I'm sorry your company tonight
is less than desirable,
but, sadly,
that cannot be helped.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
(FONNY, PEDROCITO LAUGHING)
TISH:
I had never seen Fonny
outside the world
in which I moved.
I had seen him with his
father and his mother,
and I had seen him with us.
I had certainly never seen him
in the world in which he move.
(RAIN PATTERING)
Perhaps it was only now I was
able to see him with me...
because even though he was
turned away from me laughing...
he was holdin' my hand.
Good night.
FONNY:
Tish?
TISH:
Yeah?
Come and see my place,
won't you?
TISH:
But it's late.
FONNY:
It ain't far.
Okay, Fonny.
Okay.
(CHUCKLES)
(RAIN PATTERING)
Don't look so sad
Hey.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Happy landings.
Here, Daddy.
JOSEPH:
Oh.
- FRANK: Hey, hey, hey, hey.
- JOSEPH: That's enough for you.
(LAUGHING)
Keeps on turnin'
Yeah
Let's just be glad
I called this meeting.
I had Daddy ask you all
to come over so I could tell you
what I had to tell Fonny today.
What I had to tell
Fonny today is...
Fonny's gonna be a father.
We're gonna have a baby.
You and me, we fixin'
to go out and get drunk.
(LAUGHING)
All right.
Oh, I'm glad. Don't
worry, I-I'm mighty glad.
And who's gonna be responsible
for this baby?
The father and the mother.
You can bet it won't be
the Holy damn Ghost.
I guess you call
your lustful action love.
ALICE:
I don't.
I always knew you'd be
the destruction of my son.
The Bible says,
"Put to death, therefore,
- all that is earthly in you."
- (FRANK SIGHS)
"Sexual immorality,
"impurity, passion,
evil desire, covetousness."
That child was
born of sin,
and the Holy Ghost
is gonna cause it
to shrivel in your womb.
But my son,
my son will be forgiven.
- My prayers...
- Oh!
- Oh.
- SHEILA: Mama.
- JOSEPH: Frank!
- Her heart!
I think you'll find
it's still pumpin',
but I wouldn't call it
no heart!
Help me, help her.
Come on, Mama, come on.
Joe, let the women take care
of her, man. Come on!
Joseph. Joseph, go on.
Go on, we don't need you here.
- All right, all right.
- FRANK: Come on.
It's okay, you got it.
I got you.
JOSEPH:
Frank. Frank!
(PANTING)
ADRIENNE:
Okay. You're okay.
That was a terrible thing
you said to me.
That was the most terrible thing
I've heard in all my life.
My father
didn't have to slap her.
- She's got a weak heart.
- She got a weak head.
The Holy Ghost must have
softened your brain, child.
Did she forget that that was
Frank's grandchild
she was cursin'?
I don't think you have the right
to sneer at my mother's faith.
ERNESTINE: Oh, don't
give me that bullshit.
You so ashamed to have
a Holy Roller for a mother,
you don't know what to do.
Y'all make me sick!
And who do you
funky niggers think you are?
She only asked
one question.
Who is going to raise
this baby? And who is?
Tish ain't got no education,
and God knows,
she ain't got nothin' else.
Fonny ain't never been
worth a damn.
So who is going to raise
this baby?
I am, you dried-up,
yellow cunt!
And you keep on talkin', I'll
take mighty good care of you.
Adrienne, baby!
Can I tell you somethin',
sweetie?
Ever since the first day
I laid eyes
on your very fine person,
I got caught up
in your Adam's apple.
Oh, I've been dreamin'
about it.
And I can't tell
whether I wanna tear it out
with my fingers or my teeth.
And if you touch
my baby sister,
I'm gonna have to make up
my mind real quick.
So touch her.
I knew
we shouldn't have come.
Oh, Sheila. I didn't even know
you could say that word.
SHARON:
Ernestine.
ADRIENNE: Come on, Sheila.
Let's go.
- Come on, Mama.
- Come on, Mama.
Just grab her purse. Come on.
Just come on, Mama.
We got you.
Hold her purse. Come on.
- (SNIFFLES)
- Come on, Mama.
I hope you're proud
of how you raised
your daughters.
My girls ain't gonna think
of bringing no bastards home
to feed!
I can tell you that!
- That's 'cause won't nobody fuck 'em.
- SHARON: Ernestine.
That child that's comin'...
is your grandchild.
I don't understand you.
It's your grandchild.
What difference does it make
how it gets here?
The child ain't got nothin'
to do with that.
Ain't none of us
got nothin' to do with that.
That child...
That child...
- That child...
- Come on, let's go, Mama.
- Go on home.
- That child...
(SOBBING);
That child, that child...
Get your shit!
Take your shit with you.
(PANTING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(DISTANT THUNDER RUMBLING)
(RAIN PATTERING LOUDLY)
(LIVELY JAZZ PIANO PLAYING)
(SLOW JAZZ SAXOPHONE PLAYING)
(GASPS)
Don't be scared.
Just remember
that I belong to you.
Just remember
that I wouldn't hurt you
for anything
in this world.
You're just gonna
have to get used to me.
And we got all the time
in the world.
Hold on to me.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(TISH GASPS)
(MUSIC FADES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
WOMAN (OVER PA SYSTEM):
...Salowski,
please report
to station master's office.
(INDISTINC ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
TISH: I like lying
here like this.
FONNY:
I do, too.
That was my first time.
Did you know?
FONNY:
Do you like me?
I mean...
When I make love to you...
do you like it?
You just wanna hear me say it.
- FONNY: So?
- TISH: So what?
FONNY: So why don't you
go ahead and say it?
TISH:
I just know that I love you.
(MUSIC FADES)
TISH:
Mrs. Victoria Rogers,
ne Victoria Maria
San Felipe Sanchez,
declares that on the evening
of October 5th,
between the hours
of 11:00 and 12:00,
in the vestibule of her hom,
she was criminally assaulted
by a man
she now claims to have been
Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt,
and was used
by the aforesaid Hunt
in the most extreme
and abominable sexual manne,
and forced to undergo
the most unimaginable
sexual perversions.
I've never seen her,
I know only
that an American-born Irishmn
went to Puerto Rico
six years ago
and there met Victoria
who was then 18.
He married her
and brought her to New York.
Having pumped three children
out of her, he left.
Her home is on Orchard Stree.
Orchard Street,
if you know New York,
is a very long way
from Bank Street.
Orchard Street is damn near
in the East River,
and Bank Street
is practically in the Hudso.
It is not possible to run
from Orchard to Bank Street,
particularly not with
the police behind you.
Yet Officer Bell swears
he saw Fonny
run from the scene
of the crime.
This is only possible
if Officer Bell were off dut,
for his beat is on the
West Side, not the East.
And yet, it is now up to the accused
to prove, and pay for proving,
the irregularity and improbability
of this sequence of events.
HAYWARD: I'm doing
everything I can to get him
back to you
just as fast as I can.
But Mrs. Rogers' refusal
to reconsider her testimony
has left us
in a very tough place.
- And now she's disappeared.
- Disappeared?
Well, how can
she just disappear?
I don't think
she's gone very far.
They certainly don't have
the means for that.
But her family may have
returned her to Puerto Rico.
In any case,
in order to find her,
I'll need special
investigators and...
- SHARON: That means more money.
- Unfortunately.
But doesn't it make it
look bad for her case,
for her to just disappear like
that? She's the key witness.
She's only one of the key
witnesses in this case.
You have to remember
this Officer Bell.
HAYWARD: His was the authoritative
identification of the rapis.
It's Bell who swears he saw
Alonzo running away
from the scene of the crime.
If he saw Fonny run
from the scene of the crime,
then why did he have to wait and
come and get him out of the house?
Wait. Tish, Tish, wait...
Let me get you straight now.
You're sayin'
that that Officer Bell
tells her what to say.
- Exactly.
- TISH: So you're sayin'...
There's no gettin' at
the truth in this case?
(SIGHS)
Look.
If I didn't believe
in Alonzo's innocence,
- I would never have taken this case.
- Call him Fonny.
Excuse me?
Call him Fonny.
When you call him Alonzo,
I see the judge
and the bars
and the chains and the...
I know you're doin'
my sister a favor,
and this
is a very fancy law office,
but if you're gonna do this,
you gotta be family.
So call him Fonny... please.
I understand.
Now, you and... Fonny insist
that you were together
in the room on Bank Street with
an old friend, Daniel Carty.
That's the alibi.
But your testimony,
as you can imagine,
counts for nothing.
And Daniel Carty has just been
arrested by the DA's office,
and I've not been allowed
to see him.
What they're doing
is really against the law,
but Daniel has a record.
They obviously intend to make
him change his testimony,
and... (SCOFFS),
I don't know this,
but I'm willing to bet
that that's why
Mrs. Rogers has disappeared.
So you see, I will do
everything I can.
(CRIES)
SHARON: How soon
do you need the money?
(SOBBING)
We're already tracing
Mrs. Rogers.
I'll just need the money...
uh, as soon as you can get it.
I'll also force the DA's office
to allow me to see Daniel Carty,
but they'll throw every
conceivable obstacle in my way.
(TISH SOBBING)
SHARON: Don't you cry.
Don't you cry, baby.
- Don't you cry.
- Here.
(SOFTLY): Here you go.
Wipe your face.
- (SOBBING)
- Wipe your face.
(CELL DOOR BUZZES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hey.
Hey.
TISH:
You see Hayward?
Yeah.
What the fuck happened
to Mrs. Rogers?
Where the fuck did she go?
I don't know,
but we'll find her.
FONNY:
How we gonna find her?
We're sending people
to Puerto Rico.
- We think that's where she went.
- Yeah?
Suppose she went to...
to Argentina, hmm?
- Or-or Chile or China?
- How's she gonna get that far?
They can give her the money
to go anywhere.
- TISH: Who?
- The DA's office, that's who.
- Fonny, I don't think...
- Oh, what, you don't believe me?
- Huh? You don't think they could do it?
- I...
- I don't think they have.
- (FONNY SCOFFS)
How are we gonna get
the money to find her?
We're all workin', all of us.
Yeah, my daddy's working
at the garment center,
you're working
at the department store,
- and your daddy's workin' at the waterfront...
- Fonny, you need to listen.
- Listen to what?
- (POUNDS TABLE)
(PANTING): That lawyer
don't give a shit about me.
He don't give a shit
about nobody!
You want me to die in here?
You know what's happenin'
to me, to me in here?
(FONNY BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
I'm sorry, baby.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean
none of that for you.
I love you.
You know that.
(SIGHS) I do.
And I understand
what you're goin' through...
because I'm with you.
(SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
You take care of yourself
out there.
(CELL DOOR BUZZING)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
TISH: Fonny had been
walking down Lenox Avenue
- when he ran into Daniel.
- DANIEL: Fonny!
TISH: Time had not
improved Daniel.
He was still big,
black and loud.
At the age of 28,
a little older than Fonny,
but he was already runnin' ot
of familiar faces.
So they grabbed each other
on the avenue.
- What's happenin', baby?
- Why you askin' me, man?
Oh, because like the man say
about Mount Everest,
- "You there."
- Oh, come on.
What's goin' on with
these threads, though, man?
Hey, you know, I'm out here
lookin' for a job, man.
Oh, I can dig it, man.
All right.
Yeah. Come on back
to the pad.
We'll get some beer. Tish'll
fix us somethin' to eat.
TISH: And though he certainly
shouldn't be spending the money,
he pushes Daniel into a cab and
they roll on down to Bank Street,
where I am not expecting the.
But I could not be
indifferent to Daniel,
because I realized
from Fonny's face
how marvelous it was for him
to have scooped up
from the swamp waters
of his past an old friend.
TISH:
Oh, my God.
DANIEL:
I get this, man.
No, Fonny, I'm serious, man.
I-I get this shit.
This is, uh...
the abstract, right?
Like, kind of that Negro...
- It will be something one day.
- Yeah, I know, man.
- Like, I mean... it's solid.
- (CLANKS)
(DANIEL LAUGHS)
I mean,
keep doing your thing, man.
- This is...
- (CLANKS)
- It's got weight to it.
- (BOTH LAUGHING)
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
- You wanna smoke, man?
- Hell, yeah.
Thanks, man.
They got lofts standin' empty
all over the East Side, man.
They all firetraps, too.
And some of them
ain't even got no toilets.
So you figure, finding a loft
ain't gonna be no sweat, right?
But, man...
this country really
do not like niggers, man.
(SCOFFS)
(CHUCKLES)
They don't like niggers
so bad, man,
they'll rent to a leper
before they rent to a nigger.
Sometimes,
Tish and I'll go together,
sometimes, she'll go by herself,
sometimes I go by myself,
but it's always
the same story, man.
And now I can't even
let her go by herself.
Dig this, right?
Last week we thought
we had ourselves a loft.
Cat had promised it to her.
- Okay.
- But he hadn't seen me.
Oh... (CHUCKLING)
You know, so he figures,
a black chick way downtown,
looking for a loft
all by herself,
- he think he gonna make it with her.
- Really? (LAUGHS)
He thinks
she's propositionin' him.
(DANIEL SIGHS)
I mean, that's
what he really thinks.
(SCOFFS)
She come back to tell me,
all happy and proud.
We go down there, and sure
enough, when that cat sees me...
he says, "Oh, there's been
some great misunderstanding.
"I can't rent you the loft
'cause, 'cause I got
"all this family
coming in from Romania
in, like, a half-hour
and I gotta give it to 'em."
Shit. I told him
he was full of shit.
Yeah.
And then he threatened
to call the cops on my ass.
I'm really gonna have
to figure out a way of getting
some bread together and getting
the fuck out of this country.
Oh, yeah?
How you gonna do that?
I don't know yet.
Tish can't swim.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
(COUGHS)
Come on, man.
- You all right?
- Yeah.
Fuckin' wrong...
You wrong for that.
Yo, man.
And, look...
(LAUGHS)
Maybe you
can go first.
Nah, man.
I don't think
I could do that.
I'd be too scared.
Scared of what?
I'd just be scared, man.
You scared of what
might happen to Tish?
I'd be scared of what might
happen to the both of us...
without each other.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I know I might seem
like a weird kind of cat, but...
I got two things
in my life, man.
I got my wood and stone...
and I got Tish.
Without them, I'm lost.
I know that.
You know, whatever's in me,
I ain't put it there.
I damn sure can't take it out.
DANIEL: I don't know if
you're so weird, man.
I mean, I know you lucky.
I mean,
I ain't got nothin' like that.
Can I have another beer, man?
- Hell, yeah, you can.
- Mm.
(CHUCKLES)
- Here you go, big fella.
- All right. Appreciate it.
- Yeah.
- Hey, cheers.
Cheers.
(SIGHS)
DANIEL: I just got
out the slammer, baby.
Two years.
They said, uh...
They still say
that I stole a car.
I mean, yeah, I had
a little bit of pot on me
when they grabbed me,
but, man, I...
I don't even know
how to drive a car, Fonny.
But then it sounded
a whole lot better
than a marijuana charge,
you dig?
By the balls, huh?
By the balls.
I've been smokin' up
all your smokes, man.
Should have got Tish
to get you some more.
(CHUCKLES) Shit.
You already made of money?
- DANIEL: There she go.
- TISH: Hey.
- DANIEL: Hey.
- FONNY: You need help in there, baby?
TISH: No, I'm fine.
Y'all all right?
DANIEL: Yeah, we good. We just
sittin' here starvin' as always.
I'm movin'. I'm movin'.
I'm... Tish, I'm playin'.
I'm-I'm jokin'.
TISH: I gonna put somethin'
real special on your plate.
DANIEL: She's takin'
her jacket off, man.
She gonna put
the dukes up.
(LAUGHING)
Thank you, Tish.
- TISH: Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm.
(LAUGHING)
- You got a good one, man.
- FONNY: Mm-hmm.
(LAUGHS)
How long you been out, man?
DANIEL:
Hmm.
About three months.
It was bad, man.
Very bad.
I mean, it's bad now.
(SNIFFLES)
Maybe I'd feel different
if I had done something
and got caught,
but... I ain't do nothin'.
They were just playing with me
'cause they knew they could.
And, look, I'm lucky that
I only got two years 'cause...
when you in there,
they can do with you...
whatever they want.
You hear me?
What...
ever they want.
And they dogs, man.
Mm.
You know, I found out
in the slammer
what Malcolm and them cats
was talkin' about.
The white man
has got to be the devil.
Because he sure ain't a man.
Some of the things
I've seen...
be dreaming about it
until the day I die.
Hey.
It's all right, man.
You out now.
And you young.
Man, I hear
what you're sayin'...
and I appreciate it, but...
you don't know.
The worst thing...
The worst thing is
that they can make you so...
fucking scared, Fonny.
Just...
scared, man.
- You cats hungry?
- FONNY: Yeah.
- DANIEL: Yeah.
- FONNY: Yeah, we starvin'.
Tish, you didn't happen to bring
back no beer with you, did you?
Um, I think we got some left.
- If y'all ain't drink 'em up.
- DANIEL: Never.
Mm.
Don't try to blow out
The sun for me
Baby
I'm not asking
for what I know can't be
Tish, come on.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Tish.
Seriously.
I'm not gonna cry.
TISH: God is good, God is great,
and we thank Him
for this food,
and we thank Him to help
Daniel at our table tonight.
Sounds like you got it
all figured out.
I mean, who you learn
that from, Fonny?
(LAUGHING)
I wouldn't ask you
to lift up
This great
Big world, little baby
I'm not that kind
Of girl
All that I ask
Is a smile or two
And nothing in this world
Will be too good for you
(SONG FADES)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
Get me out of here!
Get me out of here,
baby, please!
(DOOR CREAKS)
(TISH WHIMPERING SOFTLY)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(TISH WHIMPERING)
- (SOFTLY): Hey.
- (GASPS)
(SIGHS)
I know I can't help you
very much right now.
Lord knows what
I wouldn't give if I could.
But I know about sufferin'...
and I know that it ends.
And when you lyin'
in this bed,
you not by yourself.
You got this child right here
beneath your heart.
And we all countin' on you.
Fonny countin' on you...
to bring this baby here
safe and well and...
(SIGHS)
You the only one
that can do it.
You understand?
Yes, Mama.
- Okay.
- (SNIFFLES)
I don't wanna sound foolish...
but remember,
love is what brought you here.
And if you trusted love
this far,
don't panic now.
Trust it all the way.
I love you, baby girl.
TISH:
I love you, too.
ERNESTINE:
Hey, Jezebel.
TISH: Sis started calling me
Jezebel after I got my job
at the perfume counter.
She said...
You smell like
a Louisiana whore.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TISH: The store thought
that it was very progressive
to give this job
to a colored girl.
(SIGHS)
I stand behind that counter
all day long...
smilin'
till my back teeth ache.
And it isn't only
old white ladies
who come to that counter
to smell the back of my han.
Very rarely
does a black cat come
anywhere near this counter.
And if he does, his intentios
are often more generous
and always more precise.
Perhaps for a black cat, I look
like a helpless baby sister
and he doesn't wanna see me
turn into a whore.
And yet, some black cats
come closer,
just to look into my eyes
to check out what's happenin,
and they never smell
the back of my hand.
A black cat puts out his had
and you spray it,
and he carries
the back of his own hand
to his own nostrils.
But a white man?
A white man
will take your hand,
he will carry your flesh
to his nostrils...
(SNIFFING)
...and he will hold it ther.
He will hold it there
for a lifetime.
Thank you.
(LAUGHING)
All right.
You want the good news
or the bad news first?
Bad news.
See, that's how I know
we family.
(CHUCKLES)
Okay.
The bad news is...
they found Mrs. Rogers,
but she's in Puerto Rico.
Somebody's gotta go
and talk to her.
Which we'll
have to pay for.
- Okay.
- Hmm.
So what's the good news?
You smell nice.
(CHUCKLES)
That they found her, baby.
But how did she get
to Puerto Rico?
I can't go to Puerto Rico.
Mama and Daddy don't know.
I haven't talked to them yet
because I wanted
to talk to you first.
Do you think
she was really raped?
Baby sis.
I actually do think
she was raped...
and that she has absolutely
no idea who did it,
that the man could pass her
on the street
and she wouldn't even
recognize him.
But why Fonny?
Because he was presented
to her as the rapist,
and it was much easier
for her to say yes
than to try to relive
the whole damn thing.
Oh. Well, what about Daniel?
Daniel can vouch for us.
Daniel knows Fonny was with him.
And Hayward's gonna
talk to him tomorrow.
He might have been able
to talk to him today.
Some shit.
Yeah.
But we in it now.
(SIGHS)
And you, uh, you showed
her the ad, right?
(LOCK CLACKS, DOOR OPENS)
LEVY: All right, lady and
gentleman, here we are.
Hey, I know it doesn't look
like much right now,
but, um,
well, we're not done, you see?
You gotta, you gotta imagine
that there's like walls
all the way
up and down here and...
I mean, yeah, it's a,
it's a work in progress.
Yeah. See, Tish,
it's, it's not done.
It's a work in progress.
Fonny, I'm sorry,
but how we gonna make this
into a home?
Look. Look, imagine
there are walls, right?
Over here and over here.
I mean, see, none of this
is gonna be here.
It's gonna be like
we got our own little space.
And maybe there'll be some
other young folks, over there
and, and over there,
like a community, right?
Uh, yeah, a community.
Yeah, sure.
But... where are we gonna cook
and sleep and bathe?
I mean...
Where are my mama
and them gonna sit?
Easy.
Look, I'll put a couch
right over here, huh?
Mama, Daddy,
maybe even Ernestine, right?
And the bed,
I'll put all the way back there,
right against the wall,
so I can see that pretty light
on your face when the sun rises.
Some of my sculptures over here
and, and over here.
Right?
As far as eatin' goes,
I was thinkin'...
I was thinkin'
we could put a table right here.
What you think?
I don't know, Fonny.
FONNY:
As far as I'm concerned,
the only thing
we missin' is a fridge.
But I don't wanna
throw my back out
before we even have
a chance to make a kid.
Hey, Levy.
Come on, give me a, a hand
with this fridge, man.
- What, you-you want me to...
- Yeah, come on, help me out.
Okay.
All right, babe,
I need you to get the door.
Get the door, come on.
- All right. All right. You ready?
- Okay. Yeah, I'm ready.
- You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Three, two, one.
- Uh-huh.
Oh, okay, all right.
You good?
- Yeah, I'm good.
- All right.
- Slowly now. Careful.
- Okay, okay.
All right. Why am I straining
more than you?
FONNY:
I got you. I got you.
Right on back here. Right on back here.
All right.
- Right here?
- Yeah, right here. Perfect.
(GRUNTING)
Right.
Whoo! Ha!
Hey, that sure took
a load out of me.
Yeah... me, too.
But what a man wouldn't do
for love, eh, Levy?
LEVY:
Amen.
Well, thank you
for my fridge, boys,
but don't forget
about my stove.
Oh! Oh, yeah,
of course not.
Uh, you mind helpin' me out
with the stove?
- Not at all, no.
- Levy? All right.
We gotta make sure we get that.
LEVY: You don't gotta
worry about your neighbors.
All you got down here
is sweatshops.
And the place on the ground
floor, though, it's legit.
So other than it bein'
a firetrap, what's the catch?
Catch?
I mean, no offense,
Levy, but...
we've been looking
for a long time.
Don't seem to me
like there's a reason
to treat two Negros
so nice like.
I mean, clearly,
we ain't got a pot
nor much of a drink
to make piss with.
Pardon my French.
Look, man, with me,
it's, uh, it's pretty simple.
I... I dig people
who love each other.
Black, white, green, purple,
it doesn't really matter to me.
Just spread the love,
you know?
- Oh, so you a hippie now?
- (CHUCKLES) No.
I ain't take you
for no hippie, man.
LEVY:
No, man, I'm, uh...
I don't know,
I'm just my mother's son.
You know, sometimes that's all that
makes the difference between us and them.
All right, well, just, uh,
just keep in touch
about gettin'
that deposit together, yeah?
(SIGHS) Will do.
Will do, Levy.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Whoo!
(SCREAMS)
(LAUGHING)
(BOTH SCREAMING)
You ready for this?
I've never been more ready
for anything in my whole life.
I'm gonna grab
some things for dinner.
I'm gonna grab me some smokes
from across the street.
FRANK:
What we gonna do?
JOSEPH: Well, the
first thing we gotta do
is we gotta stop blaming
ourselves.
If we can't do that, man,
we'll never get the boy out
because we'll be
so fucked up.
And we cannot
fuck up now, baby,
and I know you hear
where I'm comin' from.
FRANK:
Yeah, I hear that, man.
But what we gonna do
about the money?
You ever have
any money?
- You ever have any money?
- No.
Then why are you
worried about it now?
You raised them somehow.
You fed them somehow,
didn't you?
If we start worryin'
about the money now...
then we fucked, and
we'll lose our children.
That white man, baby,
he want you to be worried
about the money.
That, that's his whole game.
But if we got to where
we are without the money,
we can get further.
I ain't worried
about their money.
It don't belong
to them anyhow.
They stole it from us.
They ain't never
met nobody
that they didn't lie
to and steal from.
Well, I can steal, too.
And rob.
How you think
I raised my daughters?
Shit.
And what you think
is gonna happen?
- What we make happen.
- Man, that's easy to say.
Not if you mean it.
Man, I love Fonny more than
I love anybody in this world.
Makes me ashamed, man,
because he was a,
he was a real manly little boy
who wasn't scared of nothin'.
Yeah, except, maybe,
his mama.
And now he's in jail
and it ain't his fault,
and I don't know
how I'm gonna get him out.
I'm sure one hell of a man.
Well, he sure thinks
you are.
He loves you
and respects you.
Let me tell you
somethin' else.
Your son is the father
of my daughter's child.
Now, how you gonna sit here
and act like
can't nothin' be done?
We got a baby
on the way here, man.
You want me to beat
the shit out of you?
Now... I know some hustles,
and you know some hustles,
and these are our children,
and we gotta set them free.
So, let's drink on up, man,
and let's go on in.
We got a whole lot of shit
to deal with in a hurry.
TISH: The date for Fonny's
trial keeps changing.
This fact, of course,
forces me to realize
that Hayward's concern
is genuine.
I don't think that he very
much cared in the beginning.
He'd never taken a case
like Fonny's before,
but once into it, the odor
of shit rose too high.
He had no choice
but to keep stirrin' it.
It became obvious at once,
for example,
that the degree of his concen
for his client
placed him at odds
with the keepers
of the keys and seals.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
He had not expected this,
and at first it bewildered,
then frightened
and angered him.
It didn't help
that I distrusted him,
Ernestine harangued him,
Mama was exhaustin' him.
For Joseph, he was
just another white boy
with a college degree.
Fonny's actual trial...
TISH: And so, I start
lettin' out my clothes
and go to work wearing dresss
that fit like sacks.
Mama starts preparin' hersef
for a journey
to save Fonny's soul.
And Joseph and Frank
are coldly stealin'
from the docks
and the garment center...
sellin' the hot goods
in Harlem or in Brooklyn.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
They don't tell me
any of this, of course...
but I know it.
I know it.
(DOOR OPENS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Thank you.
(FONNY CHUCKLES)
Here she come.
(CHUCKLES)
Big as two houses.
(CHUCKLES)
Are you sure it ain't twins
or triplets? (CHUCKLES)
Shit, we might make history.
Your daddy
figure hisself a comedian.
(CHUCKLES)
You look good, baby.
- Well, thank you, honey.
- (CHUCKLES)
Better than anybody in here.
I don't care how big you get.
(CHUCKLES) Well, as soon
as that ain't the truth,
somethin' wrong. You tell me
'cause I'm out of here then.
(CHUCKLES)
How you doin', husband?
I'm good, wife.
You here now.
I'm okay now.
You know I love you.
You know I love you.
No matter what happens
with all this shit,
you know I... (GROANS)
Tish! Guard! Guard!
(GROANS)
FONNY:
Tish!
I'm all right.
I'm okay.
I'm fine.
(SIGHS)
You all right?
FONNY:
Me?
I'm not the one
who just got punched
by a midget inside
they belly.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
TISH: I remember the night
the baby was conceived.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
It was the day
we saw our loft.
I can sure dig a tomato
who digs tomatoes.
Hey, sweet tomato.
You know I dig tomatoes.
Come on, brown sugar, give me a smile.
Come on, babe.
FONNY: What the hell
are you doin', man?
Hey! Shit!
- Get off me!
- TISH: Fonny, wait!
Get off me!
Fonny! Fonny!
Oh, Fonny.
What happened?
That man there attacked me.
(GRUNTS)
(SNIFFLES)
And where were you...
while, uh, while all
this was goin' on
between junior there
and your girl?
- He was around the corner...
- I was buyin' smokes.
...buyin' cigarettes.
Is that so, boy?
He's not a boy, officer.
You live around here?
Yeah.
- Bank Street.
- Uh-huh.
Hm, I'm taking you down...
- No!
- ...for assault and battery.
No! Stop!
Oh, no, you're not.
Oh, no, you're not.
No, you're not!
I know both
these young people.
They shop here
very often.
What the young lady
has told you is the truth.
I saw exactly
what happened.
That's a funny way
to run a business, lady.
You're not gonna tell me
how to run my business.
I was on this street
before you got here,
and I will be here
long after you are gone.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Come on.
I'll be seein' you around.
You may.
Then again, you may not.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FONNY:
Tish.
Yes?
Don't you ever try
and protect me.
But you were tryin'
to protect me.
It is not the same... thing.
Fuck! (GRUNTS)
(SIREN CHIRPING)
(TISH CRYING)
(SIGHS) Look.
Don't ever think,
don't ever think
that I don't know
that you love me.
Do you believe
we gon' make it?
(PEDROCITO CHUCKLES)
(PEDROCITO SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- We have no money.
- PEDROCITO: Ah.
But we are very hungry.
And I will have some money
in a couple of days.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
A couple of days?
That's what they all say.
And I guess
you also wanna sit down
while you eat, right?
Well, yes, if you can
arrange it, that'd be nice.
PEDROCITO (CHUCKLES):
Ah, let me guess.
You need a margarita.
Caught me again.
(CHUCKLES)
(TISH MOANING)
Oh...
Oh, Tish.
(BOTH MOANING)
(PANTING)
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(BREATH ECHOS)
TISH: We are beginning to have
a somewhat acrid dialogue,
this thing and I.
It kicks and I smash an egg
on the floor.
(GROANING)
It kicks
and suddenly the coffeepot
is upside down on the table.
It kicks and the perfume
on the back of my hand
brings salt
to the roof of my mouth
and my free hand
weighs on the glass counter
with force enough
to crack it in two.
Be patient.
I'm doin' the best that I can.
Please?
And then it hauls off again
like Muhammad Ali,
and I'm on the ropes.
(TISH COUGHING)
(RETCHING)
(COUGHING)
(GROANING)
(TOILET FLUSHING)
JOSEPH: Come on, sweetheart.
Right here.
I'll make some tea for you,
all right? Come on.
All right,
nice and easy, baby.
Nice and easy, baby girl.
All right.
(PANTING)
(SIGHS)
Come right here.
Come here.
Come here.
Come on,
sit right up there.
Lean into Daddy's arms.
Come on.
Come on,
I got you, baby.
All right. All right.
Take some deep breaths
with me, all right? Come on.
- (TISH EXHALES)
- Inhale.
All right, come on,
I got you, baby.
You're doin' good.
You're doin' good, baby.
TISH: Mama gets to Puerto
Rico on an evening plane.
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(ROCK AND ROLL SONG
PLAYING IN SPANISH)
(SONG CONTINUING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SONG CONTINUING)
(SONG FADES)
MAN: Senora Rivers,
you waiting for me?
WAITER:
Gin and tonic.
Thank you.
- (WAITER SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- (MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
So, what do you want
to see me about?
I don't especially
wanna see you.
I wanna see
Victoria Rogers.
I'm the mother-in-law of the man
who she accused of rape.
Well, I don't know anything
about that.
SHARON:
That can't be true.
You come all the way down here
just to call me a liar?
I came down here to prove
a man's innocence.
And you have to drag Victoria to
hell and back to do that, right?
Mm, she's been through enough,
more than enough.
Leave her alone.
A man is about to die
for somethin' he didn't do.
Can we leave him alone?
Do you believe
I love my daughter?
To be honest, lady,
it's hard to believe
that you have a daughter.
Do you think
I'd marry my child to a rapist?
You might not know.
Why are you coming to me?
I'm not an American.
You-you-you, you,
you called them lawyers
up there, right?
I mean, look around. Shit.
I have my little thing here
and Victoria, she's-she's...
She's putting herself
back together.
And, lady, I don't need to put
her through anymore shit, okay?
No. No, no, no, no.
Buena noche.
SHARON:
Look at 'em.
Do you think I came
here to make you suffer?
Look at me.
I'm looking at you.
Do you think I came here
to make you suffer?
No. No.
Then take this to Victoria.
You take it to her
and you ask her, you show her.
(SIGHS) I'm a woman...
and I know what women know.
I know she was raped.
But I also know...
I know Fonny did not rape her.
(VOICES CHATTERING IN SPANISH)
TISH: When Mama
wakes in the morning,
Pietro sends a boy
to take her to Victoria.
She has become
Pietro's responsibility
because like the man said
about Mount Everest,
"You're there."
How long were
you in New York?
Too long.
Children still there?
Listen.
Leave my children
out of this.
Why did you
come back here?
If it happened to you...
what would you do?
Daughter,
I was a woman
long before you was a woman,
remember that.
And I know...
I know you pay
for the lies you tell.
You sent a man to jail,
one you ain't
never even seen before.
Just 22 years old, young...
and he wants to marry
my daughter.
I did see him.
You saw him
in the police line-up.
That was the only time
you saw him.
What makes you so sure?
(SIGHS)
I've known him all his life.
One thing I can tell, lady...
you ain't never been raped.
They took me
down there...
and they told me
to pick him out.
So that's what I did.
I picked him out.
But it was...
It happened in the dark.
- You saw Alonzo in the light.
- I saw enough.
Daughter,
in the name of God...
Get off of me.
- Daughter, please...
- Get off of me.
- Please listen...
- Get off of me.
No, no, no.
Get off of me!
Por favor. Por favo!
(SCREAMS)
- (SCREAMS): Get off me!
- Shh!
(SCREAMING):
Get off!
- (WOMEN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- SHARON: Oh, my gosh.
- (VICTORIA SCREAMING)
- (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- (VICTORIA SCREAMING)
- (WOMEN CHATTERING)
(SOBS) Oh, no.
(SOBBING)
No.
Damn!
Fuck.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You all right?
TISH:
Yeah, I'm all right.
The baby all right?
TISH:
Baby's fine.
Gotta get some meat
on your bones, hon.
Lord, have mercy.
(CHUCKLES) Speak up.
He can't hear you.
Look...
there's something
I gotta tell you.
Mama came home from Puerto Rico.
She found Victoria,
but the girl went crazy.
They don't know
where she is now, so...
so the trial
might be postponed.
Fonny?
- Fonny?
- I'm fine.
Listen, I'm...
I'll be out soon.
I'm comin' home
because I'm glad I came.
Can you dig that?
(CHUCKLES)
You see...
See, now, I'm an artisan.
I'm like a cat
who makes tables.
I don't like the word artisan,
I never have.
Guess I don't know
what the fuck it means.
I'm a cat who...
who works from his gut,
with his hands.
See, I know what it is now.
I mean, even if I go under,
but I don't think I will now.
I know I won't.
Baby, I love you.
And I'm gonna build us
a great, big table.
And our family's
gonna eat off of it
for a long, long time to come.
(CHUCKLES)
Don't you worry.
I'll be home soon.
I'm comin' home to you.
I wanna be in your arms.
I wanna hold you in my arms.
I gotta hold our baby
in my arms.
It's gotta be.
Don't you worry, I'm...
I'm comin' home.
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(MUFFLED, AMBIENT,
UNDERWATER DRONING)
FONNY:
I wanna be in your arms.
I wanna hold you in my arms.
I gotta hold our baby
in my arms.
It's gotta be. It's gotta b.
(BABY WAILING)
(BABY QUIETS)
- (BABY COOS)
- Hi.
(SOBS) Hi.
(RAIN PATTERING)
(SOFTLY): My little Fonny.
My little Fonny.
I got you. I got you.
I got you.
I promise I got you.
I promise I got you.
I got you.
I promise.
I promise.
I promise I got you. I got you.
I got you.
Mommy's got you.
TISH:
We're still not married.
After all this happened,
neither of us cares
what that means.
Fonny was once 22, I was 19.
But neither of us
is young anymore,
can't afford to be.
They say we gotta live
the life we've been given...
and live it
so our children can be free.
There aren't enough hours in
the day or judges on the benh
to try all the cases
brought against these men.
The game has been rigged
and the courts see it throug.
A trial is their right,
but to bury you
beneath the prison
for forcin' the judge
and the DA to do their jobs
is the court's right, too.
And so,
like many of these poor men..
Fonny took a plea.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Let's see.
I got something for you.
Here.
Yeah? Okay.
Wanna draw somethin'
for Daddy? Yeah?
Hey, little man.
- Hey.
- Hey.
I see you've been
eating good.
Yeah, well...
(CHUCKLES)
Looks like I'm not the only one.
(TISH CHUCKLES)
Nah, the apple don't fall
too far from the tree.
Hey, who all this for?
- ALONZO: You.
- For me?
Well, how'd you get the money
to pay for all of this?
What, you got
a job now, man?
Hmm? You runnin'
numbers on me?
TISH:
Mm-hmm.
Say dollar straight,
dollar box.
Don't say that.
You gotta quit teaching
him that mess.
Hey, what you drawin', Alonzo?
That's when you
come home, Daddy.
Let me see.
Ever since I told him,
he just writes it
everywhere.
(SCOFFS)
Here, son.
(SCOFFS)
Well...
I don't know about y'all,
but I'm starvin'.
You gotta say grace.
Oh, we...
- Mm-hmm.
- We gotta say grace?
All right.
You wanna say
grace for us?
Thank you, God,
for the food
we're about to eat
and for all of our blessing
and we have received
and for my daddy.
In Jesus' name, amen.
- FONNY: Amen.
- Amen.
(CHUCKLES)
Hey, Alonzo, you wanna
help me with this, man?
My country
'Tis of thee
Sweet land
Of liberty
For this I sing
Land where
My father died
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
Oh Lord
From every
Mountainside
Oh, let freedom
Let freedom
Let it ring
My country
'Tis of thee
Sweet land
Of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where
My father died
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
From every
Mountainside
Oh, oh let freedom Lord
Freedom
Let freedom ring
My country
'Tis of thee
Oh Lord
Sweet land
Of liberty
Of thee I sing
I'm singing for the land
Land where
My father died
I'm singing for the land
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
From every mountainside
From every
Mountainside
Oh, let freedom
Let freedom
Let it ring
Why Lord today
Please Lord
Let freedom
Let it ring
In America, in America
Lord please
Let freedom
Let it ring
Oh, all over the world
Lord, Lord, Lord
Let freedom
Ring
Mm-hmm-hmm-hmm,
hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
(STATIC CRACKLING)
(CHILDREN SHOUTING
IN THE DISTANCE)
(DISTANT VOICES
CHATTERING, LAUGHING)
(DISTANT HORN HONKS)
(DISTANT SIREN WAILING)
(WHISTLE TWEETS)
You ready for this?
I never been more ready
for anything in my whole life.
TISH: I hope that nobody
has ever had to look
at anybody they love...
through glass.
(CELL DOOR BUZZES)
(PANTING)
(MUTTERS):
I need to tell...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SIGHS)
- Hey.
- Hey.
Alonzo?
Alonzo, we...
We're gonna have a baby.
TISH: I should have said
already, we're not married.
That means more to him
than it does to me,
but I understand how he feel.
Fonny is 22.
I'm 19.
I'm glad, Fonny.
I'm glad. Don't you worry.
(LAUGHING)
You tell my daddy?
- Not yet.
- You tell your folks?
Not yet, but don't worry
about them.
I just wanted to tell you first.
A baby.
What you gonna do?
I'm gonna do
just like I've been doin'.
I'm gonna work up to
just about the last month
and then Mama and Sis
will take care for me.
You ain't got to worry.
And, anyway, we'll have you
out of here before then.
Are you sure about that?
I'm always sure about that.
I love you.
I love you, too.
(SAW BUZZING)
TISH: Fonny used to go
to a vocational school,
where they teach kids to mae
all kinds of shitty things,
like card tables and hassocs
and chest of drawers,
which nobody's ever gonna bu.
But Fonny didn't go for it
at all, and he split,
takin' most of the tools
from the workshop with him.
He started workin' as a short
- o rder cook so he could eat.
And he found a basement where
he could work on his wood,
and he was at our house
more than he was at his.
It was all so simple.
Learn this, build that,
get a job and work it
until the job became you.
But Fonny had decided
on a whole new view.
You see, he had found somethig
that he wanted to do.
And this saved him from the death
that awaited the children of our age.
And though it took many form,
the death itself
was very simple.
The cause was simple, too.
The kids had been told
that they weren't worth shit.
And everything
they saw around them...
proved it.
(DOOR OPENS)
(SIGHS)
Hey. How you doin', li'l bit?
How is he?
He's just the same.
He's fine.
He sends his love.
That's good.
Did you see the lawyer?
Not today.
I have to go on Monday.
He been to see Fonny?
No.
Mama?
Yeah, baby.
Mama...
I saw you standin' there
Sing, mama, sing.
In a mist of a dream
I wondered
Why, oh, why
That you were not there
Get the good glasses.
- What you doin' with that?
- What's it look like?
That I stopped and I stared
What's the
special occasion?
You the man of the house,
start pouring.
Oh, but of course,
madame.
All right.
I wonder what
all this is for.
Not too much
for Tish.
I looked for you
All right.
What's goin' on?
You were nowhere
to be found
To be found
Could it be my...
(CLEARS THROAT) Ooh.
This...
is a sacrament.
And, no, I ain't
lost my mind.
We are drinkin'
to new life.
Tish gonna have
Fonny's baby.
You may not believe
Drink.
Uh...
This could happen to you,
pretty baby
Uh, well...
That's... That's
one hell of a note.
Aren't you gonna drink
to the little one, Tish?
How long has this
been goin' on?
About three months.
- Yeah, that's what I figured.
- Three months?
You mean, while you two was runnin'
around here lookin' at places?
All right.
Tish...
you sure you want
this baby?
Yes.
And Fonny wants it, too.
It's our baby,
and, a-and it's not his fault
that he's in jail.
It's not like he ran away.
And we've always been
best friends
ever since we were little,
Daddy, you know that.
And we'd be married now
if it wasn't for that lady...
SHARON: Tish, he knows it.
He knows it.
Your daddy knows it.
He's just...
He's just worried
about you, that's all.
Hey, don't you go thinkin'
I think you're some bad girl
or any other foolishness
like that.
I just asked you
because you're so young,
that's all. And... (SIGHS)
Unbow your head,
sister.
To the newborn.
We are
Next to the star
(LAUGHS)
I hope it's a boy.
ERNESTINE:
Oh, Daddy.
That will tickle old Frank
to pieces, I bet.
(LAUGHING)
Tish, do you mind
if, if I break
the news to him?
No, Daddy.
I don't mind.
I sure would like to be the one
to tell them sisters.
JOSEPH:
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
You know what?
Joe, call 'em all over here.
- Oh, no...
- No, no, I'm serious...
- Ma.
- It's Saturday night.
We got a whole lot left
in that bottle. It's not late.
As I think about it, that's
the best way to do this.
SHARON: Go on,
call their asses on over here.
All right, look, all right.
I think you're right, love.
(LAUGHS)
Let's get them on over here.
All right. All right!
(CHUCKLES)
Woo!
- My baby sister's havin' a baby.
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, hey, Nipsey Russell.
(LAUGHS) Hey, what's up?
What y'all doin'? Hey, honey...
- What you wanna have?
- A boy.
- Fonny.
- Fonny.
What?
(LAUGHING)
TISH: The day I realized
Fonny was in love with me
was strange.
It was the day he gave
Mama that sculpture.
I dumped water
over Fonny's head
and scrubbed Fonny's back
in the bathtub,
in a time
that seems so long ago.
I don't remember
that we ever had any curiosiy
concerning
each other's bodies.
Fonny loved me too much.
And that meant that there
had never been any occasion
for shame between us.
We were a part of each othe,
flesh of each other's flesh,
which we so took for granted
that we never thought
of the flesh.
And yet,
it was no surprise to me
when I finally understood...
that he was
the most beautiful person
I had seen in all my life.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FONNY: You know, I've slept
in this park sometimes.
Nah, it's...
it's not a good idea.
Why'd you sleep
in the park?
It was late.
I didn't wanna go home.
I didn't wanna wake
none of y'all up neither.
But I got me a pad
down here now.
So you wanna eat down here
or you wanna wait
till we get uptown?
Or, uh, do you wanna go
to the movies?
- (TISH CHUCKLES)
- Or do you want a little wine
or a little pot
or a little beer?
(CHUCKLES)
Or a cup of coffee?
Maybe you just wanna walk
around a little bit more
till you make up
your mind?
(CHUCKLING)
Come on.
JOSEPH:
Yeah.
SHARON:
Yeah. Ooh.
ERNESTINE: Y'all know
we can see y'all, right?
Yeah. Don't be lookin'.
Keep your eyes in there.
ERNESTINE:
Oh, y'all nasty.
- (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
- Oh. That old rattle.
- Oh!
- All right.
- All right.
ERNESTINE:
I got it.
- Hey!
- Hi.
- Ernestine.
- Adrienne.
- JOSEPH: How you doin'?
- Miss Sheila.
JOSEPH:
Hey, it's so nice to see you.
Gotta call an emergency
or somethin' to see you?
- Great to see you.
- Good to see you.
TISH: Fonny's mother
didn't like me.
She just didn't think
I was good enough for Fonny.
Which really means
that she didn't think
I was good enough for her.
And in another way,
she felt that I was maybe
just exactly
what Fonny deserved.
- FRANK: Young lady.
- ERNESTINE: Daddy, I got it.
So you saw
my big-headed boy today?
Yeah. He's fine.
He sends his love.
Now, they ain't bein'
too hard on him, is they?
Now I ask you like that
because, you know,
he may say things to you
he won't say to me.
ALICE:
Lovers' secrets?
Well, he hates it,
you can see that.
- And he should.
- Come on.
But... he's strong.
He'll be all right.
But we gotta get him
out of there.
If he'd done his reading and his
studying when he should have,
he wouldn't be in there
in the first place.
- Girl, what you know about it?
- Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
I got some gin
and we got some whisky
and we got some cognac.
(CHUCKLES) We ain't got
no Thunderbird, though.
- I hope you ladies don't mind.
- Mind?
Frank does not care
if we mind.
SHARON: Well, Mrs. Hunt,
what can I get you, sugar?
I can offer you coffee, tea...
ice cream,
Coca-Cola.
- Coca-Cola.
- ERNESTINE: I got it, Mama.
How about an ice cream soda,
Mrs. Hunt?
I can do that for you.
Sheila, why don't
you help me?
Come on.
- Oh, Lord! Time flies.
- Yeah.
SHARON: I haven't seen you
since all this trouble started.
Girl, don't say a word.
I've been runnin' myself sick
all up and down the Bronx,
trying to get the very best
legal advice I can find.
I just pray
and I pray and I pray
that the Lord will bring
my boy to the light.
- That's all I pray for.
- Mm.
ALICE: Every day
and every night.
And then sometimes,
sometimes I think
this might be the Lord's plan
to get my boy
to think on his sins...
and surrender his soul
to Jesus.
SHARON:
Yeah, you might be right.
The Lord sure works
in mysterious ways.
Oh, yes, He does.
Now, He may try you,
but He ain't never left
none of His children alone.
What do you think about
that lawyer Ernestine found?
Um, that boy Hayward?
I ain't met him yet.
I just ain't had time
to get downtown yet.
I know Frank saw him.
What do you think
about him, Frank?
He's a white boy, been to
law school, got them degrees.
I ain't got to tell you what
that mean. It don't mean shit.
You're talkin' to a woman.
I'm hip.
And it's a mighty
welcome change.
- Uh...
- Like I was sayin'...
It don't mean shit. I ain't
sure we gonna stay with him.
On the other hand, as white
boys go, he's not so bad.
He's young and hungry,
so he's not as full of shit now
as he may be when he's full.
- Hmm.
- ALICE: That's what I keep tryin' to tell you.
It's that negative attitude.
You so full of hate.
If you give people hatred,
they give it back to you.
Every time I hear you talk
like that, it breaks my heart
knowin' my boy
is locked up in some dungeon
that only the love of God
will get him out of.
Now, Alice, I don't think that
Frank was talkin' about hate.
He was just speakin'
on the truth.
ALICE:
Well, I trust in God.
I know He cares for me.
Mr. Rivers, what exactly
is the purpose of this meeting?
You didn't call us
all the way over here
just to watch my father
insult my mother.
TISH:
Why not?
It's Saturday night.
Can't tell what folks won't do
if they get bored enough.
Maybe we just invited you
over to liven things up.
I can believe
you're that malicious,
but I can't believe
you're that stupid.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- JOSEPH: Uh, um...
Let me go check on that,
um, ice cream float.
(LAUGHING)
Uh-huh. Pedrocito.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
Good to see you.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
(PEDROCITO SPEAKING SPANISH)
PEDROCITO: How can I
help you, senorita?
I'm sorry your company tonight
is less than desirable,
but, sadly,
that cannot be helped.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
(FONNY, PEDROCITO LAUGHING)
TISH:
I had never seen Fonny
outside the world
in which I moved.
I had seen him with his
father and his mother,
and I had seen him with us.
I had certainly never seen him
in the world in which he move.
(RAIN PATTERING)
Perhaps it was only now I was
able to see him with me...
because even though he was
turned away from me laughing...
he was holdin' my hand.
Good night.
FONNY:
Tish?
TISH:
Yeah?
Come and see my place,
won't you?
TISH:
But it's late.
FONNY:
It ain't far.
Okay, Fonny.
Okay.
(CHUCKLES)
(RAIN PATTERING)
Don't look so sad
Hey.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Happy landings.
Here, Daddy.
JOSEPH:
Oh.
- FRANK: Hey, hey, hey, hey.
- JOSEPH: That's enough for you.
(LAUGHING)
Keeps on turnin'
Yeah
Let's just be glad
I called this meeting.
I had Daddy ask you all
to come over so I could tell you
what I had to tell Fonny today.
What I had to tell
Fonny today is...
Fonny's gonna be a father.
We're gonna have a baby.
You and me, we fixin'
to go out and get drunk.
(LAUGHING)
All right.
Oh, I'm glad. Don't
worry, I-I'm mighty glad.
And who's gonna be responsible
for this baby?
The father and the mother.
You can bet it won't be
the Holy damn Ghost.
I guess you call
your lustful action love.
ALICE:
I don't.
I always knew you'd be
the destruction of my son.
The Bible says,
"Put to death, therefore,
- all that is earthly in you."
- (FRANK SIGHS)
"Sexual immorality,
"impurity, passion,
evil desire, covetousness."
That child was
born of sin,
and the Holy Ghost
is gonna cause it
to shrivel in your womb.
But my son,
my son will be forgiven.
- My prayers...
- Oh!
- Oh.
- SHEILA: Mama.
- JOSEPH: Frank!
- Her heart!
I think you'll find
it's still pumpin',
but I wouldn't call it
no heart!
Help me, help her.
Come on, Mama, come on.
Joe, let the women take care
of her, man. Come on!
Joseph. Joseph, go on.
Go on, we don't need you here.
- All right, all right.
- FRANK: Come on.
It's okay, you got it.
I got you.
JOSEPH:
Frank. Frank!
(PANTING)
ADRIENNE:
Okay. You're okay.
That was a terrible thing
you said to me.
That was the most terrible thing
I've heard in all my life.
My father
didn't have to slap her.
- She's got a weak heart.
- She got a weak head.
The Holy Ghost must have
softened your brain, child.
Did she forget that that was
Frank's grandchild
she was cursin'?
I don't think you have the right
to sneer at my mother's faith.
ERNESTINE: Oh, don't
give me that bullshit.
You so ashamed to have
a Holy Roller for a mother,
you don't know what to do.
Y'all make me sick!
And who do you
funky niggers think you are?
She only asked
one question.
Who is going to raise
this baby? And who is?
Tish ain't got no education,
and God knows,
she ain't got nothin' else.
Fonny ain't never been
worth a damn.
So who is going to raise
this baby?
I am, you dried-up,
yellow cunt!
And you keep on talkin', I'll
take mighty good care of you.
Adrienne, baby!
Can I tell you somethin',
sweetie?
Ever since the first day
I laid eyes
on your very fine person,
I got caught up
in your Adam's apple.
Oh, I've been dreamin'
about it.
And I can't tell
whether I wanna tear it out
with my fingers or my teeth.
And if you touch
my baby sister,
I'm gonna have to make up
my mind real quick.
So touch her.
I knew
we shouldn't have come.
Oh, Sheila. I didn't even know
you could say that word.
SHARON:
Ernestine.
ADRIENNE: Come on, Sheila.
Let's go.
- Come on, Mama.
- Come on, Mama.
Just grab her purse. Come on.
Just come on, Mama.
We got you.
Hold her purse. Come on.
- (SNIFFLES)
- Come on, Mama.
I hope you're proud
of how you raised
your daughters.
My girls ain't gonna think
of bringing no bastards home
to feed!
I can tell you that!
- That's 'cause won't nobody fuck 'em.
- SHARON: Ernestine.
That child that's comin'...
is your grandchild.
I don't understand you.
It's your grandchild.
What difference does it make
how it gets here?
The child ain't got nothin'
to do with that.
Ain't none of us
got nothin' to do with that.
That child...
That child...
- That child...
- Come on, let's go, Mama.
- Go on home.
- That child...
(SOBBING);
That child, that child...
Get your shit!
Take your shit with you.
(PANTING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(DISTANT THUNDER RUMBLING)
(RAIN PATTERING LOUDLY)
(LIVELY JAZZ PIANO PLAYING)
(SLOW JAZZ SAXOPHONE PLAYING)
(GASPS)
Don't be scared.
Just remember
that I belong to you.
Just remember
that I wouldn't hurt you
for anything
in this world.
You're just gonna
have to get used to me.
And we got all the time
in the world.
Hold on to me.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(TISH GASPS)
(MUSIC FADES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
WOMAN (OVER PA SYSTEM):
...Salowski,
please report
to station master's office.
(INDISTINC ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
TISH: I like lying
here like this.
FONNY:
I do, too.
That was my first time.
Did you know?
FONNY:
Do you like me?
I mean...
When I make love to you...
do you like it?
You just wanna hear me say it.
- FONNY: So?
- TISH: So what?
FONNY: So why don't you
go ahead and say it?
TISH:
I just know that I love you.
(MUSIC FADES)
TISH:
Mrs. Victoria Rogers,
ne Victoria Maria
San Felipe Sanchez,
declares that on the evening
of October 5th,
between the hours
of 11:00 and 12:00,
in the vestibule of her hom,
she was criminally assaulted
by a man
she now claims to have been
Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt,
and was used
by the aforesaid Hunt
in the most extreme
and abominable sexual manne,
and forced to undergo
the most unimaginable
sexual perversions.
I've never seen her,
I know only
that an American-born Irishmn
went to Puerto Rico
six years ago
and there met Victoria
who was then 18.
He married her
and brought her to New York.
Having pumped three children
out of her, he left.
Her home is on Orchard Stree.
Orchard Street,
if you know New York,
is a very long way
from Bank Street.
Orchard Street is damn near
in the East River,
and Bank Street
is practically in the Hudso.
It is not possible to run
from Orchard to Bank Street,
particularly not with
the police behind you.
Yet Officer Bell swears
he saw Fonny
run from the scene
of the crime.
This is only possible
if Officer Bell were off dut,
for his beat is on the
West Side, not the East.
And yet, it is now up to the accused
to prove, and pay for proving,
the irregularity and improbability
of this sequence of events.
HAYWARD: I'm doing
everything I can to get him
back to you
just as fast as I can.
But Mrs. Rogers' refusal
to reconsider her testimony
has left us
in a very tough place.
- And now she's disappeared.
- Disappeared?
Well, how can
she just disappear?
I don't think
she's gone very far.
They certainly don't have
the means for that.
But her family may have
returned her to Puerto Rico.
In any case,
in order to find her,
I'll need special
investigators and...
- SHARON: That means more money.
- Unfortunately.
But doesn't it make it
look bad for her case,
for her to just disappear like
that? She's the key witness.
She's only one of the key
witnesses in this case.
You have to remember
this Officer Bell.
HAYWARD: His was the authoritative
identification of the rapis.
It's Bell who swears he saw
Alonzo running away
from the scene of the crime.
If he saw Fonny run
from the scene of the crime,
then why did he have to wait and
come and get him out of the house?
Wait. Tish, Tish, wait...
Let me get you straight now.
You're sayin'
that that Officer Bell
tells her what to say.
- Exactly.
- TISH: So you're sayin'...
There's no gettin' at
the truth in this case?
(SIGHS)
Look.
If I didn't believe
in Alonzo's innocence,
- I would never have taken this case.
- Call him Fonny.
Excuse me?
Call him Fonny.
When you call him Alonzo,
I see the judge
and the bars
and the chains and the...
I know you're doin'
my sister a favor,
and this
is a very fancy law office,
but if you're gonna do this,
you gotta be family.
So call him Fonny... please.
I understand.
Now, you and... Fonny insist
that you were together
in the room on Bank Street with
an old friend, Daniel Carty.
That's the alibi.
But your testimony,
as you can imagine,
counts for nothing.
And Daniel Carty has just been
arrested by the DA's office,
and I've not been allowed
to see him.
What they're doing
is really against the law,
but Daniel has a record.
They obviously intend to make
him change his testimony,
and... (SCOFFS),
I don't know this,
but I'm willing to bet
that that's why
Mrs. Rogers has disappeared.
So you see, I will do
everything I can.
(CRIES)
SHARON: How soon
do you need the money?
(SOBBING)
We're already tracing
Mrs. Rogers.
I'll just need the money...
uh, as soon as you can get it.
I'll also force the DA's office
to allow me to see Daniel Carty,
but they'll throw every
conceivable obstacle in my way.
(TISH SOBBING)
SHARON: Don't you cry.
Don't you cry, baby.
- Don't you cry.
- Here.
(SOFTLY): Here you go.
Wipe your face.
- (SOBBING)
- Wipe your face.
(CELL DOOR BUZZES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hey.
Hey.
TISH:
You see Hayward?
Yeah.
What the fuck happened
to Mrs. Rogers?
Where the fuck did she go?
I don't know,
but we'll find her.
FONNY:
How we gonna find her?
We're sending people
to Puerto Rico.
- We think that's where she went.
- Yeah?
Suppose she went to...
to Argentina, hmm?
- Or-or Chile or China?
- How's she gonna get that far?
They can give her the money
to go anywhere.
- TISH: Who?
- The DA's office, that's who.
- Fonny, I don't think...
- Oh, what, you don't believe me?
- Huh? You don't think they could do it?
- I...
- I don't think they have.
- (FONNY SCOFFS)
How are we gonna get
the money to find her?
We're all workin', all of us.
Yeah, my daddy's working
at the garment center,
you're working
at the department store,
- and your daddy's workin' at the waterfront...
- Fonny, you need to listen.
- Listen to what?
- (POUNDS TABLE)
(PANTING): That lawyer
don't give a shit about me.
He don't give a shit
about nobody!
You want me to die in here?
You know what's happenin'
to me, to me in here?
(FONNY BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
I'm sorry, baby.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean
none of that for you.
I love you.
You know that.
(SIGHS) I do.
And I understand
what you're goin' through...
because I'm with you.
(SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
You take care of yourself
out there.
(CELL DOOR BUZZING)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
TISH: Fonny had been
walking down Lenox Avenue
- when he ran into Daniel.
- DANIEL: Fonny!
TISH: Time had not
improved Daniel.
He was still big,
black and loud.
At the age of 28,
a little older than Fonny,
but he was already runnin' ot
of familiar faces.
So they grabbed each other
on the avenue.
- What's happenin', baby?
- Why you askin' me, man?
Oh, because like the man say
about Mount Everest,
- "You there."
- Oh, come on.
What's goin' on with
these threads, though, man?
Hey, you know, I'm out here
lookin' for a job, man.
Oh, I can dig it, man.
All right.
Yeah. Come on back
to the pad.
We'll get some beer. Tish'll
fix us somethin' to eat.
TISH: And though he certainly
shouldn't be spending the money,
he pushes Daniel into a cab and
they roll on down to Bank Street,
where I am not expecting the.
But I could not be
indifferent to Daniel,
because I realized
from Fonny's face
how marvelous it was for him
to have scooped up
from the swamp waters
of his past an old friend.
TISH:
Oh, my God.
DANIEL:
I get this, man.
No, Fonny, I'm serious, man.
I-I get this shit.
This is, uh...
the abstract, right?
Like, kind of that Negro...
- It will be something one day.
- Yeah, I know, man.
- Like, I mean... it's solid.
- (CLANKS)
(DANIEL LAUGHS)
I mean,
keep doing your thing, man.
- This is...
- (CLANKS)
- It's got weight to it.
- (BOTH LAUGHING)
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
- You wanna smoke, man?
- Hell, yeah.
Thanks, man.
They got lofts standin' empty
all over the East Side, man.
They all firetraps, too.
And some of them
ain't even got no toilets.
So you figure, finding a loft
ain't gonna be no sweat, right?
But, man...
this country really
do not like niggers, man.
(SCOFFS)
(CHUCKLES)
They don't like niggers
so bad, man,
they'll rent to a leper
before they rent to a nigger.
Sometimes,
Tish and I'll go together,
sometimes, she'll go by herself,
sometimes I go by myself,
but it's always
the same story, man.
And now I can't even
let her go by herself.
Dig this, right?
Last week we thought
we had ourselves a loft.
Cat had promised it to her.
- Okay.
- But he hadn't seen me.
Oh... (CHUCKLING)
You know, so he figures,
a black chick way downtown,
looking for a loft
all by herself,
- he think he gonna make it with her.
- Really? (LAUGHS)
He thinks
she's propositionin' him.
(DANIEL SIGHS)
I mean, that's
what he really thinks.
(SCOFFS)
She come back to tell me,
all happy and proud.
We go down there, and sure
enough, when that cat sees me...
he says, "Oh, there's been
some great misunderstanding.
"I can't rent you the loft
'cause, 'cause I got
"all this family
coming in from Romania
in, like, a half-hour
and I gotta give it to 'em."
Shit. I told him
he was full of shit.
Yeah.
And then he threatened
to call the cops on my ass.
I'm really gonna have
to figure out a way of getting
some bread together and getting
the fuck out of this country.
Oh, yeah?
How you gonna do that?
I don't know yet.
Tish can't swim.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
(COUGHS)
Come on, man.
- You all right?
- Yeah.
Fuckin' wrong...
You wrong for that.
Yo, man.
And, look...
(LAUGHS)
Maybe you
can go first.
Nah, man.
I don't think
I could do that.
I'd be too scared.
Scared of what?
I'd just be scared, man.
You scared of what
might happen to Tish?
I'd be scared of what might
happen to the both of us...
without each other.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I know I might seem
like a weird kind of cat, but...
I got two things
in my life, man.
I got my wood and stone...
and I got Tish.
Without them, I'm lost.
I know that.
You know, whatever's in me,
I ain't put it there.
I damn sure can't take it out.
DANIEL: I don't know if
you're so weird, man.
I mean, I know you lucky.
I mean,
I ain't got nothin' like that.
Can I have another beer, man?
- Hell, yeah, you can.
- Mm.
(CHUCKLES)
- Here you go, big fella.
- All right. Appreciate it.
- Yeah.
- Hey, cheers.
Cheers.
(SIGHS)
DANIEL: I just got
out the slammer, baby.
Two years.
They said, uh...
They still say
that I stole a car.
I mean, yeah, I had
a little bit of pot on me
when they grabbed me,
but, man, I...
I don't even know
how to drive a car, Fonny.
But then it sounded
a whole lot better
than a marijuana charge,
you dig?
By the balls, huh?
By the balls.
I've been smokin' up
all your smokes, man.
Should have got Tish
to get you some more.
(CHUCKLES) Shit.
You already made of money?
- DANIEL: There she go.
- TISH: Hey.
- DANIEL: Hey.
- FONNY: You need help in there, baby?
TISH: No, I'm fine.
Y'all all right?
DANIEL: Yeah, we good. We just
sittin' here starvin' as always.
I'm movin'. I'm movin'.
I'm... Tish, I'm playin'.
I'm-I'm jokin'.
TISH: I gonna put somethin'
real special on your plate.
DANIEL: She's takin'
her jacket off, man.
She gonna put
the dukes up.
(LAUGHING)
Thank you, Tish.
- TISH: Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm.
(LAUGHING)
- You got a good one, man.
- FONNY: Mm-hmm.
(LAUGHS)
How long you been out, man?
DANIEL:
Hmm.
About three months.
It was bad, man.
Very bad.
I mean, it's bad now.
(SNIFFLES)
Maybe I'd feel different
if I had done something
and got caught,
but... I ain't do nothin'.
They were just playing with me
'cause they knew they could.
And, look, I'm lucky that
I only got two years 'cause...
when you in there,
they can do with you...
whatever they want.
You hear me?
What...
ever they want.
And they dogs, man.
Mm.
You know, I found out
in the slammer
what Malcolm and them cats
was talkin' about.
The white man
has got to be the devil.
Because he sure ain't a man.
Some of the things
I've seen...
be dreaming about it
until the day I die.
Hey.
It's all right, man.
You out now.
And you young.
Man, I hear
what you're sayin'...
and I appreciate it, but...
you don't know.
The worst thing...
The worst thing is
that they can make you so...
fucking scared, Fonny.
Just...
scared, man.
- You cats hungry?
- FONNY: Yeah.
- DANIEL: Yeah.
- FONNY: Yeah, we starvin'.
Tish, you didn't happen to bring
back no beer with you, did you?
Um, I think we got some left.
- If y'all ain't drink 'em up.
- DANIEL: Never.
Mm.
Don't try to blow out
The sun for me
Baby
I'm not asking
for what I know can't be
Tish, come on.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Tish.
Seriously.
I'm not gonna cry.
TISH: God is good, God is great,
and we thank Him
for this food,
and we thank Him to help
Daniel at our table tonight.
Sounds like you got it
all figured out.
I mean, who you learn
that from, Fonny?
(LAUGHING)
I wouldn't ask you
to lift up
This great
Big world, little baby
I'm not that kind
Of girl
All that I ask
Is a smile or two
And nothing in this world
Will be too good for you
(SONG FADES)
(TRAIN CLACKING)
Get me out of here!
Get me out of here,
baby, please!
(DOOR CREAKS)
(TISH WHIMPERING SOFTLY)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(TISH WHIMPERING)
- (SOFTLY): Hey.
- (GASPS)
(SIGHS)
I know I can't help you
very much right now.
Lord knows what
I wouldn't give if I could.
But I know about sufferin'...
and I know that it ends.
And when you lyin'
in this bed,
you not by yourself.
You got this child right here
beneath your heart.
And we all countin' on you.
Fonny countin' on you...
to bring this baby here
safe and well and...
(SIGHS)
You the only one
that can do it.
You understand?
Yes, Mama.
- Okay.
- (SNIFFLES)
I don't wanna sound foolish...
but remember,
love is what brought you here.
And if you trusted love
this far,
don't panic now.
Trust it all the way.
I love you, baby girl.
TISH:
I love you, too.
ERNESTINE:
Hey, Jezebel.
TISH: Sis started calling me
Jezebel after I got my job
at the perfume counter.
She said...
You smell like
a Louisiana whore.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TISH: The store thought
that it was very progressive
to give this job
to a colored girl.
(SIGHS)
I stand behind that counter
all day long...
smilin'
till my back teeth ache.
And it isn't only
old white ladies
who come to that counter
to smell the back of my han.
Very rarely
does a black cat come
anywhere near this counter.
And if he does, his intentios
are often more generous
and always more precise.
Perhaps for a black cat, I look
like a helpless baby sister
and he doesn't wanna see me
turn into a whore.
And yet, some black cats
come closer,
just to look into my eyes
to check out what's happenin,
and they never smell
the back of my hand.
A black cat puts out his had
and you spray it,
and he carries
the back of his own hand
to his own nostrils.
But a white man?
A white man
will take your hand,
he will carry your flesh
to his nostrils...
(SNIFFING)
...and he will hold it ther.
He will hold it there
for a lifetime.
Thank you.
(LAUGHING)
All right.
You want the good news
or the bad news first?
Bad news.
See, that's how I know
we family.
(CHUCKLES)
Okay.
The bad news is...
they found Mrs. Rogers,
but she's in Puerto Rico.
Somebody's gotta go
and talk to her.
Which we'll
have to pay for.
- Okay.
- Hmm.
So what's the good news?
You smell nice.
(CHUCKLES)
That they found her, baby.
But how did she get
to Puerto Rico?
I can't go to Puerto Rico.
Mama and Daddy don't know.
I haven't talked to them yet
because I wanted
to talk to you first.
Do you think
she was really raped?
Baby sis.
I actually do think
she was raped...
and that she has absolutely
no idea who did it,
that the man could pass her
on the street
and she wouldn't even
recognize him.
But why Fonny?
Because he was presented
to her as the rapist,
and it was much easier
for her to say yes
than to try to relive
the whole damn thing.
Oh. Well, what about Daniel?
Daniel can vouch for us.
Daniel knows Fonny was with him.
And Hayward's gonna
talk to him tomorrow.
He might have been able
to talk to him today.
Some shit.
Yeah.
But we in it now.
(SIGHS)
And you, uh, you showed
her the ad, right?
(LOCK CLACKS, DOOR OPENS)
LEVY: All right, lady and
gentleman, here we are.
Hey, I know it doesn't look
like much right now,
but, um,
well, we're not done, you see?
You gotta, you gotta imagine
that there's like walls
all the way
up and down here and...
I mean, yeah, it's a,
it's a work in progress.
Yeah. See, Tish,
it's, it's not done.
It's a work in progress.
Fonny, I'm sorry,
but how we gonna make this
into a home?
Look. Look, imagine
there are walls, right?
Over here and over here.
I mean, see, none of this
is gonna be here.
It's gonna be like
we got our own little space.
And maybe there'll be some
other young folks, over there
and, and over there,
like a community, right?
Uh, yeah, a community.
Yeah, sure.
But... where are we gonna cook
and sleep and bathe?
I mean...
Where are my mama
and them gonna sit?
Easy.
Look, I'll put a couch
right over here, huh?
Mama, Daddy,
maybe even Ernestine, right?
And the bed,
I'll put all the way back there,
right against the wall,
so I can see that pretty light
on your face when the sun rises.
Some of my sculptures over here
and, and over here.
Right?
As far as eatin' goes,
I was thinkin'...
I was thinkin'
we could put a table right here.
What you think?
I don't know, Fonny.
FONNY:
As far as I'm concerned,
the only thing
we missin' is a fridge.
But I don't wanna
throw my back out
before we even have
a chance to make a kid.
Hey, Levy.
Come on, give me a, a hand
with this fridge, man.
- What, you-you want me to...
- Yeah, come on, help me out.
Okay.
All right, babe,
I need you to get the door.
Get the door, come on.
- All right. All right. You ready?
- Okay. Yeah, I'm ready.
- You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Three, two, one.
- Uh-huh.
Oh, okay, all right.
You good?
- Yeah, I'm good.
- All right.
- Slowly now. Careful.
- Okay, okay.
All right. Why am I straining
more than you?
FONNY:
I got you. I got you.
Right on back here. Right on back here.
All right.
- Right here?
- Yeah, right here. Perfect.
(GRUNTING)
Right.
Whoo! Ha!
Hey, that sure took
a load out of me.
Yeah... me, too.
But what a man wouldn't do
for love, eh, Levy?
LEVY:
Amen.
Well, thank you
for my fridge, boys,
but don't forget
about my stove.
Oh! Oh, yeah,
of course not.
Uh, you mind helpin' me out
with the stove?
- Not at all, no.
- Levy? All right.
We gotta make sure we get that.
LEVY: You don't gotta
worry about your neighbors.
All you got down here
is sweatshops.
And the place on the ground
floor, though, it's legit.
So other than it bein'
a firetrap, what's the catch?
Catch?
I mean, no offense,
Levy, but...
we've been looking
for a long time.
Don't seem to me
like there's a reason
to treat two Negros
so nice like.
I mean, clearly,
we ain't got a pot
nor much of a drink
to make piss with.
Pardon my French.
Look, man, with me,
it's, uh, it's pretty simple.
I... I dig people
who love each other.
Black, white, green, purple,
it doesn't really matter to me.
Just spread the love,
you know?
- Oh, so you a hippie now?
- (CHUCKLES) No.
I ain't take you
for no hippie, man.
LEVY:
No, man, I'm, uh...
I don't know,
I'm just my mother's son.
You know, sometimes that's all that
makes the difference between us and them.
All right, well, just, uh,
just keep in touch
about gettin'
that deposit together, yeah?
(SIGHS) Will do.
Will do, Levy.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Whoo!
(SCREAMS)
(LAUGHING)
(BOTH SCREAMING)
You ready for this?
I've never been more ready
for anything in my whole life.
I'm gonna grab
some things for dinner.
I'm gonna grab me some smokes
from across the street.
FRANK:
What we gonna do?
JOSEPH: Well, the
first thing we gotta do
is we gotta stop blaming
ourselves.
If we can't do that, man,
we'll never get the boy out
because we'll be
so fucked up.
And we cannot
fuck up now, baby,
and I know you hear
where I'm comin' from.
FRANK:
Yeah, I hear that, man.
But what we gonna do
about the money?
You ever have
any money?
- You ever have any money?
- No.
Then why are you
worried about it now?
You raised them somehow.
You fed them somehow,
didn't you?
If we start worryin'
about the money now...
then we fucked, and
we'll lose our children.
That white man, baby,
he want you to be worried
about the money.
That, that's his whole game.
But if we got to where
we are without the money,
we can get further.
I ain't worried
about their money.
It don't belong
to them anyhow.
They stole it from us.
They ain't never
met nobody
that they didn't lie
to and steal from.
Well, I can steal, too.
And rob.
How you think
I raised my daughters?
Shit.
And what you think
is gonna happen?
- What we make happen.
- Man, that's easy to say.
Not if you mean it.
Man, I love Fonny more than
I love anybody in this world.
Makes me ashamed, man,
because he was a,
he was a real manly little boy
who wasn't scared of nothin'.
Yeah, except, maybe,
his mama.
And now he's in jail
and it ain't his fault,
and I don't know
how I'm gonna get him out.
I'm sure one hell of a man.
Well, he sure thinks
you are.
He loves you
and respects you.
Let me tell you
somethin' else.
Your son is the father
of my daughter's child.
Now, how you gonna sit here
and act like
can't nothin' be done?
We got a baby
on the way here, man.
You want me to beat
the shit out of you?
Now... I know some hustles,
and you know some hustles,
and these are our children,
and we gotta set them free.
So, let's drink on up, man,
and let's go on in.
We got a whole lot of shit
to deal with in a hurry.
TISH: The date for Fonny's
trial keeps changing.
This fact, of course,
forces me to realize
that Hayward's concern
is genuine.
I don't think that he very
much cared in the beginning.
He'd never taken a case
like Fonny's before,
but once into it, the odor
of shit rose too high.
He had no choice
but to keep stirrin' it.
It became obvious at once,
for example,
that the degree of his concen
for his client
placed him at odds
with the keepers
of the keys and seals.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
He had not expected this,
and at first it bewildered,
then frightened
and angered him.
It didn't help
that I distrusted him,
Ernestine harangued him,
Mama was exhaustin' him.
For Joseph, he was
just another white boy
with a college degree.
Fonny's actual trial...
TISH: And so, I start
lettin' out my clothes
and go to work wearing dresss
that fit like sacks.
Mama starts preparin' hersef
for a journey
to save Fonny's soul.
And Joseph and Frank
are coldly stealin'
from the docks
and the garment center...
sellin' the hot goods
in Harlem or in Brooklyn.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
They don't tell me
any of this, of course...
but I know it.
I know it.
(DOOR OPENS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Thank you.
(FONNY CHUCKLES)
Here she come.
(CHUCKLES)
Big as two houses.
(CHUCKLES)
Are you sure it ain't twins
or triplets? (CHUCKLES)
Shit, we might make history.
Your daddy
figure hisself a comedian.
(CHUCKLES)
You look good, baby.
- Well, thank you, honey.
- (CHUCKLES)
Better than anybody in here.
I don't care how big you get.
(CHUCKLES) Well, as soon
as that ain't the truth,
somethin' wrong. You tell me
'cause I'm out of here then.
(CHUCKLES)
How you doin', husband?
I'm good, wife.
You here now.
I'm okay now.
You know I love you.
You know I love you.
No matter what happens
with all this shit,
you know I... (GROANS)
Tish! Guard! Guard!
(GROANS)
FONNY:
Tish!
I'm all right.
I'm okay.
I'm fine.
(SIGHS)
You all right?
FONNY:
Me?
I'm not the one
who just got punched
by a midget inside
they belly.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
TISH: I remember the night
the baby was conceived.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
It was the day
we saw our loft.
I can sure dig a tomato
who digs tomatoes.
Hey, sweet tomato.
You know I dig tomatoes.
Come on, brown sugar, give me a smile.
Come on, babe.
FONNY: What the hell
are you doin', man?
Hey! Shit!
- Get off me!
- TISH: Fonny, wait!
Get off me!
Fonny! Fonny!
Oh, Fonny.
What happened?
That man there attacked me.
(GRUNTS)
(SNIFFLES)
And where were you...
while, uh, while all
this was goin' on
between junior there
and your girl?
- He was around the corner...
- I was buyin' smokes.
...buyin' cigarettes.
Is that so, boy?
He's not a boy, officer.
You live around here?
Yeah.
- Bank Street.
- Uh-huh.
Hm, I'm taking you down...
- No!
- ...for assault and battery.
No! Stop!
Oh, no, you're not.
Oh, no, you're not.
No, you're not!
I know both
these young people.
They shop here
very often.
What the young lady
has told you is the truth.
I saw exactly
what happened.
That's a funny way
to run a business, lady.
You're not gonna tell me
how to run my business.
I was on this street
before you got here,
and I will be here
long after you are gone.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Come on.
I'll be seein' you around.
You may.
Then again, you may not.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FONNY:
Tish.
Yes?
Don't you ever try
and protect me.
But you were tryin'
to protect me.
It is not the same... thing.
Fuck! (GRUNTS)
(SIREN CHIRPING)
(TISH CRYING)
(SIGHS) Look.
Don't ever think,
don't ever think
that I don't know
that you love me.
Do you believe
we gon' make it?
(PEDROCITO CHUCKLES)
(PEDROCITO SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- We have no money.
- PEDROCITO: Ah.
But we are very hungry.
And I will have some money
in a couple of days.
(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
A couple of days?
That's what they all say.
And I guess
you also wanna sit down
while you eat, right?
Well, yes, if you can
arrange it, that'd be nice.
PEDROCITO (CHUCKLES):
Ah, let me guess.
You need a margarita.
Caught me again.
(CHUCKLES)
(TISH MOANING)
Oh...
Oh, Tish.
(BOTH MOANING)
(PANTING)
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(BREATH ECHOS)
TISH: We are beginning to have
a somewhat acrid dialogue,
this thing and I.
It kicks and I smash an egg
on the floor.
(GROANING)
It kicks
and suddenly the coffeepot
is upside down on the table.
It kicks and the perfume
on the back of my hand
brings salt
to the roof of my mouth
and my free hand
weighs on the glass counter
with force enough
to crack it in two.
Be patient.
I'm doin' the best that I can.
Please?
And then it hauls off again
like Muhammad Ali,
and I'm on the ropes.
(TISH COUGHING)
(RETCHING)
(COUGHING)
(GROANING)
(TOILET FLUSHING)
JOSEPH: Come on, sweetheart.
Right here.
I'll make some tea for you,
all right? Come on.
All right,
nice and easy, baby.
Nice and easy, baby girl.
All right.
(PANTING)
(SIGHS)
Come right here.
Come here.
Come here.
Come on,
sit right up there.
Lean into Daddy's arms.
Come on.
Come on,
I got you, baby.
All right. All right.
Take some deep breaths
with me, all right? Come on.
- (TISH EXHALES)
- Inhale.
All right, come on,
I got you, baby.
You're doin' good.
You're doin' good, baby.
TISH: Mama gets to Puerto
Rico on an evening plane.
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(ROCK AND ROLL SONG
PLAYING IN SPANISH)
(SONG CONTINUING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SONG CONTINUING)
(SONG FADES)
MAN: Senora Rivers,
you waiting for me?
WAITER:
Gin and tonic.
Thank you.
- (WAITER SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- (MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
So, what do you want
to see me about?
I don't especially
wanna see you.
I wanna see
Victoria Rogers.
I'm the mother-in-law of the man
who she accused of rape.
Well, I don't know anything
about that.
SHARON:
That can't be true.
You come all the way down here
just to call me a liar?
I came down here to prove
a man's innocence.
And you have to drag Victoria to
hell and back to do that, right?
Mm, she's been through enough,
more than enough.
Leave her alone.
A man is about to die
for somethin' he didn't do.
Can we leave him alone?
Do you believe
I love my daughter?
To be honest, lady,
it's hard to believe
that you have a daughter.
Do you think
I'd marry my child to a rapist?
You might not know.
Why are you coming to me?
I'm not an American.
You-you-you, you,
you called them lawyers
up there, right?
I mean, look around. Shit.
I have my little thing here
and Victoria, she's-she's...
She's putting herself
back together.
And, lady, I don't need to put
her through anymore shit, okay?
No. No, no, no, no.
Buena noche.
SHARON:
Look at 'em.
Do you think I came
here to make you suffer?
Look at me.
I'm looking at you.
Do you think I came here
to make you suffer?
No. No.
Then take this to Victoria.
You take it to her
and you ask her, you show her.
(SIGHS) I'm a woman...
and I know what women know.
I know she was raped.
But I also know...
I know Fonny did not rape her.
(VOICES CHATTERING IN SPANISH)
TISH: When Mama
wakes in the morning,
Pietro sends a boy
to take her to Victoria.
She has become
Pietro's responsibility
because like the man said
about Mount Everest,
"You're there."
How long were
you in New York?
Too long.
Children still there?
Listen.
Leave my children
out of this.
Why did you
come back here?
If it happened to you...
what would you do?
Daughter,
I was a woman
long before you was a woman,
remember that.
And I know...
I know you pay
for the lies you tell.
You sent a man to jail,
one you ain't
never even seen before.
Just 22 years old, young...
and he wants to marry
my daughter.
I did see him.
You saw him
in the police line-up.
That was the only time
you saw him.
What makes you so sure?
(SIGHS)
I've known him all his life.
One thing I can tell, lady...
you ain't never been raped.
They took me
down there...
and they told me
to pick him out.
So that's what I did.
I picked him out.
But it was...
It happened in the dark.
- You saw Alonzo in the light.
- I saw enough.
Daughter,
in the name of God...
Get off of me.
- Daughter, please...
- Get off of me.
- Please listen...
- Get off of me.
No, no, no.
Get off of me!
Por favor. Por favo!
(SCREAMS)
- (SCREAMS): Get off me!
- Shh!
(SCREAMING):
Get off!
- (WOMEN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- SHARON: Oh, my gosh.
- (VICTORIA SCREAMING)
- (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
- (VICTORIA SCREAMING)
- (WOMEN CHATTERING)
(SOBS) Oh, no.
(SOBBING)
No.
Damn!
Fuck.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You all right?
TISH:
Yeah, I'm all right.
The baby all right?
TISH:
Baby's fine.
Gotta get some meat
on your bones, hon.
Lord, have mercy.
(CHUCKLES) Speak up.
He can't hear you.
Look...
there's something
I gotta tell you.
Mama came home from Puerto Rico.
She found Victoria,
but the girl went crazy.
They don't know
where she is now, so...
so the trial
might be postponed.
Fonny?
- Fonny?
- I'm fine.
Listen, I'm...
I'll be out soon.
I'm comin' home
because I'm glad I came.
Can you dig that?
(CHUCKLES)
You see...
See, now, I'm an artisan.
I'm like a cat
who makes tables.
I don't like the word artisan,
I never have.
Guess I don't know
what the fuck it means.
I'm a cat who...
who works from his gut,
with his hands.
See, I know what it is now.
I mean, even if I go under,
but I don't think I will now.
I know I won't.
Baby, I love you.
And I'm gonna build us
a great, big table.
And our family's
gonna eat off of it
for a long, long time to come.
(CHUCKLES)
Don't you worry.
I'll be home soon.
I'm comin' home to you.
I wanna be in your arms.
I wanna hold you in my arms.
I gotta hold our baby
in my arms.
It's gotta be.
Don't you worry, I'm...
I'm comin' home.
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
(MUFFLED, AMBIENT,
UNDERWATER DRONING)
FONNY:
I wanna be in your arms.
I wanna hold you in my arms.
I gotta hold our baby
in my arms.
It's gotta be. It's gotta b.
(BABY WAILING)
(BABY QUIETS)
- (BABY COOS)
- Hi.
(SOBS) Hi.
(RAIN PATTERING)
(SOFTLY): My little Fonny.
My little Fonny.
I got you. I got you.
I got you.
I promise I got you.
I promise I got you.
I got you.
I promise.
I promise.
I promise I got you. I got you.
I got you.
Mommy's got you.
TISH:
We're still not married.
After all this happened,
neither of us cares
what that means.
Fonny was once 22, I was 19.
But neither of us
is young anymore,
can't afford to be.
They say we gotta live
the life we've been given...
and live it
so our children can be free.
There aren't enough hours in
the day or judges on the benh
to try all the cases
brought against these men.
The game has been rigged
and the courts see it throug.
A trial is their right,
but to bury you
beneath the prison
for forcin' the judge
and the DA to do their jobs
is the court's right, too.
And so,
like many of these poor men..
Fonny took a plea.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Let's see.
I got something for you.
Here.
Yeah? Okay.
Wanna draw somethin'
for Daddy? Yeah?
Hey, little man.
- Hey.
- Hey.
I see you've been
eating good.
Yeah, well...
(CHUCKLES)
Looks like I'm not the only one.
(TISH CHUCKLES)
Nah, the apple don't fall
too far from the tree.
Hey, who all this for?
- ALONZO: You.
- For me?
Well, how'd you get the money
to pay for all of this?
What, you got
a job now, man?
Hmm? You runnin'
numbers on me?
TISH:
Mm-hmm.
Say dollar straight,
dollar box.
Don't say that.
You gotta quit teaching
him that mess.
Hey, what you drawin', Alonzo?
That's when you
come home, Daddy.
Let me see.
Ever since I told him,
he just writes it
everywhere.
(SCOFFS)
Here, son.
(SCOFFS)
Well...
I don't know about y'all,
but I'm starvin'.
You gotta say grace.
Oh, we...
- Mm-hmm.
- We gotta say grace?
All right.
You wanna say
grace for us?
Thank you, God,
for the food
we're about to eat
and for all of our blessing
and we have received
and for my daddy.
In Jesus' name, amen.
- FONNY: Amen.
- Amen.
(CHUCKLES)
Hey, Alonzo, you wanna
help me with this, man?
My country
'Tis of thee
Sweet land
Of liberty
For this I sing
Land where
My father died
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
Oh Lord
From every
Mountainside
Oh, let freedom
Let freedom
Let it ring
My country
'Tis of thee
Sweet land
Of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where
My father died
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
From every
Mountainside
Oh, oh let freedom Lord
Freedom
Let freedom ring
My country
'Tis of thee
Oh Lord
Sweet land
Of liberty
Of thee I sing
I'm singing for the land
Land where
My father died
I'm singing for the land
Land of
The pilgrims' pride
From every mountainside
From every
Mountainside
Oh, let freedom
Let freedom
Let it ring
Why Lord today
Please Lord
Let freedom
Let it ring
In America, in America
Lord please
Let freedom
Let it ring
Oh, all over the world
Lord, Lord, Lord
Let freedom
Ring
Mm-hmm-hmm-hmm,
hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm