The Porter (2022) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Listen, I'll bring home a little extra
for the roof.
Let me use the trains
to run numbers for you.
I can bring 'em in by the thousands.
Any man working on my team
gets a piece of the action.
Hey Clarence, we too late for the draw?
Come on, man.
I've got my numbers and everything.
Miss Queenie's already beat your ass
for going behind her
back and there you is.
Look, I'm just trying
to be somebody, Junior.
Why should our people
walk miles to a city hospital
that shuts the door in their face?
- We need our own clinics.
- And my answer is no.
Corrine is gone and the show must go on.
With me on the job,
you get the whole song and dance.
The song that I sing
is part of an echo
Henry!
Ah, Mr. Randolph, please.
You've been fighting for
workers longer than anyone.
I don't even know where to start.
A token of support on behalf
of The Welfare Committee.
You mean on behalf of the railroad?
We have a rat reporting to Edwards.
I'm proud of you, old man.
Your son try the piano yet?
He's working up to it.
Took me longer to choose
a piano than a husband.
You married?
I'm a lot of things I'll never be again.
Here's your cut, Junior.
Ah, what you think?
Shines so bright you
can see your reflection.
Go on now, take a look.
We gon' fix that janky-ass
part in your hair.
Ow.
You should get a pair.
I can have a jeweller
here within the hour.
Money's made to be spent, Junior.
People start seeing what you have,
they start wonderin' where you got it.
Very true.
Well.
Well
it's taken two weeks,
but you now have the distinct honour
of being the only man to beat me.
Yeah, maybe you met your match.
Maybe.
Let's go again.
You're early.
Well, my watch said one thing,
but my stomach was saying another.
Smells like I made the right choice.
Where Junior?
I left him sleeping.
He's been running himself
ragged these last few weeks.
Hmm.
Well, let me make myself useful then.
Hey Teddy, wanna come on
and give your Uncle Zeke a hand?
You remember the order, right?
Atta boy.
Teddy always remember,
every task is a chance
to show your excellence.
There you go.
Properties for rent?
You moving out?
It's for my clinic plan.
Oh yeah.
Okay, Miss Marlene.
Finally gettin' it off the ground.
I'm taking it to New York
to the U.N.I.A convention,
gonna show it to the man himself.
Maybe Garvey's got
gumption for an old idea.
Well good ideas never go bad.
The man come here
wid his two long hands, eh?
- Yes sir!
- Mm.
One to eat Marlene's famous fish soup
and the other
well, the other to smack
you upside your head!
- Think you're fast, huh?
- Come here, come here.
You heathens.
Come on, now.
Have a seat.
Later, later, man, ready.
Well ya better have your
Granny's yams in there
or I'm goin' back to bed.
Lucky for you I made extra.
Oh, you made me extra.
I set a little
food aside for Mrs. Watson
to give Teddy while we're in New York.
Oh!
You are going to see
the "Supreme Negro Jackass"?
I believe the headline read
"Supreme Negro Jamaican Jackass".
Nobody vex me now.
And I'll have you know,
Glenford's covering for me,
Popsy loaned me his car,
and I booked a hotel
exclusively for Negroes.
We're gonna have a good time.
Ready for that?
- Mmmhmm.
- Mmm.
All right, now let's bless
this food so we can eat.
Dear Heavenly Father,
bless this food
and bless these three
fine young gentlemen
who are about to receive it.
Two fine gentlemen.
Must be talking about me and my son.
Watch out.
I got two for you.
What's up?
Number two become number one!
Ya bus'.
You messed up the whole table,
I ain't even know what happened.
What's the matter, you
still looking for the rat?
You'd be smart to pay it some mind.
Hey Junior, someone in
the community is talking,
but I have a plan.
I set up a meeting at
the Stardust tonight.
Told all the porters when and where.
Nobody's foolish enough
to walk through that door,
knowing what'd happen to them
if the company found out.
Mm-hmm.
You're right.
Unless they working for the company.
Right.
You got a devious mind, Zeke.
You sure you don't wanna work with me?
You sure you don't
wanna join the movement?
I'm good.
Me too.
Stubborn.
Come on, man.
You can't have a good play right there?
If you tell me it's your
birthday, I think I might cry.
Hmm, no.
I can't believe nobody showed up.
But guess it's time to pack it in.
To give Popsy back his room.
You ever think maybe you
should pack it in for good?
What you mean?
I mean, look at Lance.
Railroad fired him for
no rhyme or reason.
Look at what happened
to the church garden.
And here you are, giving
'em a reason to punish you.
Well, that's exactly why I'm doing this,
to stop things like what
happened to Lance and to Henry.
I know what Henry meant to you,
but risking everything you got
ain't gonna bring him back.
Well I gotta try.
These people have the
kind of power you can't fight.
I've seen it up close.
William Edwards doesn't
care about his own son,
you think you can make him
give a shit about the porters?
You need to put this down, Zeke.
Before someone gets hurt.
This strike is nothing but a plot
led by a bunch of
foreigners and communists!
Well, if you want to
give into their demands,
that's your business.
But I didn't make my money
suckin' on a silver spoon,
and I'll be damned or dead
before I let anyone take it away!
What?
Mail delivery.
Anything to send out?
I have an important shipment
that needs to be escorted
over the border.
- What is it?
- Well, that's none of your concern.
I just need you to ensure
that no one sees the
contents of this boxcar.
Not the staff,
nor the customs inspectors.
How am I supposed to do that?
This railroad was built on imagination,
innovation, and audacity.
Channel that.
Be creative.
Well I'm nothing if not creative.
You're nothing if not an Edwards.
Remember that.
And act accordingly.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are now boarding
at Belleville station.
The last stop will be Montreal.
You might want to head off.
The train is about to leave.
Thank you very much.
The train don't leave for
another ten minutes.
He'll make it.
I meant what I said the other day.
There's always a spot for
you in the numbers game.
I already got Edwards and his spies
breathing down my neck,
you think I want Miss Queenie
angling for what's left?
Things are different now.
Me and Queenie are partners.
Partners?
Zeke!
What happened?
Picked up the drop from Clarence,
some guy jumped me on the way back.
Who?
I never seen him before.
He get my money?
Did he get my money?
Yeah man.
Okay, get him on the train.
Get him on the train.
I gotta head into
town to the pick-up spot.
I'll catch the next
train back to Montreal.
I gotta find out what
happened before word gets out.
Cover my car?
Ain't you forgetting something?
Shit. Marlene.
I'll square things with Marlene later
Well wait. Hey, hey.
You think you should be
heading down there alone?
I mean, look at what the
hell they did to Otis's face.
That is nothing compared
to what'll happen
if I don't get Queenie her money.
Hey, what you doing around these parts?
I thought the train left at eleven.
I thought it was time to check in,
see how business was doin'.
Hmm? Ah, pbshtt,
well, numbers is bringing
in new customers,
which is good for you, good for me.
Right.
Any problems?
Nope.
That's funny,
my runner says different.
He got jumped after the pick-up.
You seen anybody hanging around?
Hmmm.
Did the drop this week
same as I did last week,
and the week before that.
All right.
Everything all right here, pop?
Yeah, yeah, son. Everything is fine.
Ah, just finish loading up
all that feed over there for me, okay?
Hold on.
So I need your opinion
on something, I
It's my anniversary coming up and
I don't know too much about
Leave!
- What the hell?
- Please, please, please! Come on.
Which hand your boy
could do without, Clarence?
No, no, no, no, no, no!
You were-you were fine,
you were fine taking from my boy
and now you're worried about yours?
- It's all
- Which fucking hand?!
It's all gone, man!
Come on, Junior.
Listen, I lost everything
to the Spanish Flu, man.
I had to go see this loan
man by the name of Bolton.
I ain't asking you for your sob stories!
- I'm asking for my fucking money!
- It's gone!
He took it all!
He said-he said he's "changing
the terms of our agreement".
- He said
- You lying to me?
- No!
- You fucking lying to me?
You want me to break
your fucking boy's hand?
Oh come on, Junior, man.
Ain't a white man out
here that don't think
that they got a right to
everything that we got.
You-you know that, man.
You know that!
Come on now.
- All right.
- Come on, man. That's my son.
Okay. All right.
Come on, get up. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
You're good, man.
You all right? You good?
Pop! Pop!
Put your hand in my pocket again
you'll draw back a fucking nub!
Pop!
Pop, are you all right?
Despise me
If I should take a notion
To jump into the ocean
Where'd you get that?
I-I got a big tip and treated myself.
Don't you lie to me, Lucy-Mae.
You think I don't see you sneaking
in and out all hours of the night?
Whoring yourself off for what,
some fancy dress?
It's not like that.
Madame Nadeau's dinner is tonight.
She needs us to serve the guests.
But I can't.
You know I'm performing at Stardust.
You need to stop
believing in some fantasy
that you can be something you aren't
and accept what you are.
What I am is a star.
And after tonight,
everyone's gonna know it.
I'm not playing with you, Lucinda.
Show up tonight or
don't come back at all.
Hey Marlene.
Where is he?
You know he'd make it if he could.
Is he in trouble?
One thing I know about Junior Massey,
he always finds a way out of
whatever he get himself into.
Two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight.
One.
Stop!
Sandra, switch with Monique.
Um, I don't know who you think you are,
but this isn't how things are done.
It is when I'm headlining.
So why don't you take your new place?
In the back.
Don't forget to tell Popsy
to turn up the stage lights,
now that it's a little darker up front.
Which one of you heifers
thinks you deserve my spot?
You?
Lucky to be five feet tall if
you take off those high heels.
Or you?
Pretending to be twenty when
you're damn near forty?
Or you?
Couldn't find the beat with
a light, a map, or a compass.
I earned my spot.
So step in line,
or step aside.
Come on, Sandra.
From the top!
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
Please.
How are you going to
talk about a black man
who wants to do good for black people?
Aw, come on.
All I'm saying, is the ship sank.
I mean, how many Negroes
ended up in the water
because of that man? Come on.
All anyone wants to talk about
are Garvey's ships to Africa.
What about everything else?
What about it?
- Black enterprise.
- Ha!
Black pride.
Randolph says Garvey will
do anything for a dollar,
and then that dollar ends
up in his pocket, Marlene.
Come on!
He is a black man who wants
to do right by his people,
not just have them holding their
hands out to the white man.
So that's what you think I'm doing?
All I meant was that is why
I'm taking my clinic to him.
We can barely go to the white hospitals.
Certainly can't get a job at one.
We have to take care of ourselves.
That's all I'm tryin'
to do too, Marlene.
Take care!
The train to Montreal
making all stops leaving in 15 minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
Hey, I thought you were
on the last run in?
I had some business.
You jumpin' on?
Isn't that Edwards boy?
Yeah, don't know what he's doin',
but he does it at every stop.
Gets off, walks to
that car, stands there.
What's inside?
Who knows?
Maybe he's working the
train for extra money.
Had a run in with him at
Stardust a couple of weeks ago.
That boy might be the
worst gambler I ever seen.
Is that right?
Hmm.
Ah, come on, don't get sore, Winn.
Sometimes the wrong card comes
up for the right man, huh?
And I'm the right man always!
Give me that.
I'm sorry, sir.
Sir, I'll get this
cleaned up straight away.
Excuse me, sir.
Didn't realize my father
allowed gambling on his trains.
Ah, it's just a friendly game, sir.
I'd appreciate if this goes no further.
All right, I'll make you a
a deal then, huh?
We're still about an hour and
a half outside of Montreal.
Why don't we play a "friendly
little game", as you say.
No sir, I have guests to tend to.
It's a good thing my father
owns the trains then, huh?
Be that as a may, if I apologize I
Take the deal, my friend.
Trust me, you won't
like the alternative.
Don't worry,
I'll leave you with enough
money to go home with.
That's mighty kind of you, sir.
Okay.
I dreamt I grew wings of velvet
I took off flying,
like a bat out of hell
But when I woke from this vision
I was once more a woman jailed
I bathe in the stormy weather
To men's delight, I swoon and sin
But the river is rising and
it's fixin' to pull me in
If every note of the birdsong
Broke every bar in the cage
Flocks of my people would fly off
Up and away
When vipers coil around her throat
The nightingale still
serenades the crowd
Who am I but a songbird
Who am I but a lost girl, found
I wish I was a songbird
Who am I but a lost girl, found
This back to Africa stuff is different.
Say, whatever happened to the other act?
The one with the
the cream coloured girl?
Dammit!
Thought I had you that time.
All right, let's play again.
Not to pour salt in the wound, sir,
but your money clip is
looking a little light.
Play for this.
Winner takes all.
That's
that's worth more than all I got.
Four times as much, at least.
I think the stakes are fair.
Oh shit, I missed a stop.
Sir, I gotta be getting back to work.
Don't worry.
It's in both of our best interests that
no one gets wind of this little game.
Now, winner takes all, it's settled.
Deal.
Yes sir.
Hey.
Eh eh.
That must've cost ya a pretty penny.
Not money buy this here.
Yeah?
Hey, if it taste it, me brotha.
Well, pour me another one,
I maybe taste that one.
They say a man who drinks like that
is trying to forget.
Marlene ain't gonna be best
pleased when I get home,
seein' as I was supposed
to take her to New York.
Yeah, well you know that wife of yours,
her thunder is worse than her lighting.
Yeah and besides,
it's not like she didn't
get a chance to go, right?
What you mean?
Talkin' about Zeke.
Come by to get the car,
said you got tied up.
Just figured you sent him.
Come on, pour me another drink, man.
Pour me another drink!
Pour me another drink he said.
Pour me another drink, man.
Any problems?
Not a one.
You kept your eyes on it at every stop?
As instructed.
They'll take it from here.
Good work, son.
Hush now.
Fellow citizens of Africa,
I greet you in the name of the
United Negro Improvement Association.
We, of the United
Negro Improvement Association,
are raising the cry for
Africa for the Africans,
those at home and those abroad.
We seek to emancipate
the Negro everywhere,
industrially,
educationally,
politically
and religiously.
On going back to our respective homes
we go with determination
to lay down, if needs be,
the last drop of our blood
for the defence of Africa
and the emancipation of our race.
An insult was hurled at the
civilized Negroes of the world
when they took upon themselves the right
to parcel out a proportion
of 608,000 square miles of our own land!
For we have never gave it up.
We have never sold it.
It was still ours.
And we are the more aggrieved
because of the lynch rope,
because of the segregation,
because of the Jim Crowism that is used,
practiced and exercised
here in this country
and in other parts of the world
by the white nations of the earth,
wherever Negroes happen accidentally
or otherwise to find themselves.
If there's no safety for the
Negroes in this white world,
I cannot see what right they
have to parcel out the homeland,
the country of the Negroes.
The world ought to
understand that the Negro
has come to life,
possessed with a new conscience,
a new soul.
I warn the world that the day will come
when the races of the world
will marshal themselves
in great conflict for the
survival of the fittest.
Brother Garvey!
Greetings, Sister?
Massey. Marlene Massey.
I am part of the U.N.I.A
chapter in Montreal.
Ah.
Had a chance to visit
Montreal about two years ago.
Wonderful city.
You're doing fine work
there. Keep it up.
Actually, that's why I came.
I believe that we could do more.
I have a plan for a clinic.
Black owned, Black run,
serving the Black community in Montreal.
I like the sound of it already.
I found some properties for rent,
and I believe in a few years
we could be profitable.
Those are highly endorsed by Mr. Powell.
He'll be speaking shortly, as one
of the leaders of the movement.
You believe in eugenics?
I endorse in the race purity
ideas Mr. Powell purports,
the strength of one's bloodline
is the strength of one's race.
And we are,
as you know,
the original race.
What about the part that sanctions
the sterilization of women
or getting rid of
"feeble-minded" individuals?
Sister, have you never pricked your soul
on a thorn you found reading scripture?
Love someone whose ways were unloving?
You may not agree with
all he stands for sister,
but one does not discard
the baby with the bathwater.
I thank you for coming, Sister Massey.
And I'll be sure to speak to your
chapter head about the clinic.
Excuse me
Nice to see you
and thank you for coming.
Mr. Randolph?
I don't know if you remember me.
The porter with a plan?
Yes sir.
Zeke Garrett.
This isn't a great time.
Oh, right.
I understand.
I'll wait.
Mr. Randolph, I-I've been followed,
room broken into,
community garden got destroyed,
and someone is talkin' to the company,
telling them my every move.
Hmm.
Please.
You've got a snitch.
And in my experience, snitches get paid.
So you need to find out
who the company is paying.
How do you suppose I do that?
You know what they say about
house slaves and field slaves?
Folks think the house
slave is the, uh, Uncle Tom
and the field slave is the threat.
But they have it all wrong.
Well, how do you figure?
The house slave was the
one making their food,
fixing their drinks,
making their beds at night.
Well it sounds like a porter.
Don't underestimate the threat
you can be on the inside.
There's value to being
close to the enemy.
Ears to the door, hmm?
Collecting information.
So I should get close to Edwards?
Build his trust.
And when you have enough, you get out
and blow the whole thing up.
How you doin', Lucy-Mae?
Just getting ready to fade back
into the shadows of the back row.
You know, back when I told people
that I was gonna open this joint,
they thought that I was crazy.
Couldn't imagine that a Black
man could do much around here
except, you know, work in the mines,
on the trains.
What's that gotta do with me?
Just because people
weren't understanding
what you were bringin',
don't mean it wasn't good.
So you're saying I can keep headlining?
I want you to be my stage director.
Hmm?
Come up with the routines.
Let's give these folks a,
a taste for the future.
But slowly.
A taste for the future?
Well that's a new way of puttin' it.
All you're really sayin'
is stay in the back row.
This crowd don't deal in coal.
Jigaboo, tar baby,
ink stain, eight-rock.
I've heard it all before.
I'm only gonna say this once,
so listen up.
You got something that none
of these other girls got.
Girl, that is vision.
So I'm gonna leave it up to you to
decide what you wanna do with it.
Every page is full of nonsense,
like restrictive immigration
and selective breeding.
Yeah, well, he ain't
alone in his thinkin'.
I mean, you could hardly find
a copy of that book anywhere.
They call them
"socially inadequate persons".
You should see the list:
the wayward,
deaf, deformed, dependent.
And they always blame the
"deficiency" on the mother.
Well you know nothin' like that
will ever happen to Teddy, right?
Not as long as I'm breathing.
I have half of mind to go home
and build that clinic myself.
Go on, Marlene.
I'm serious, Zeke!
I am through asking for permission.
I'm gonna get my clinic
one way or another.
Paperwork.
On the first page is
a list of all my kin,
ah, dates of birth.
And how do I know you
didn't make this all up?
Well, why would I do that?
Looks to me this nigger's
trying to smuggle in his
prostitute in his fancy car.
I'm a porter with the
Cross Continental Railroad, sir.
And the company gave us this card
when we crossin' the border.
Said you're a porter, huh?
That's right.
I'll take a shine before you go.
But I'm off duty, sir,
and I don't got my kit.
Oh, spit shine'll do just fine.
Or maybe you'd rather
I take your lady aside
and conduct a thorough inspection
to make sure she's not
bringing in any impurities.
See?
I just did half your work.
Hurry up.
Zeke, slow down.
Zeke.
Zeke, stop!
What are you doing?
Zeke!
You're scaring me, Zeke!
Zeke.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Hey Marlene?
Junior didn't ask me to take you.
What?
I know, I-I-I'm sorry.
I just know how much it
meant to you and I just
I just couldn't stand to
see your dreams slip away.
Thank you.
The watch and the money should
more than cover this week.
Something happen I should know about?
Nothing that's gonna happen again.
I don't see any blood on your hands.
Which leads me to believe
whatever problem you encountered,
you failed to solve.
In this business
The only way you can be sure
you won't encounter
the same problem twice.
This is what Bobby did
with his second chance.
Same hustle, different drug.
The last man who stole from me
got picked out of the
river piece by piece.
Believe me, porter, this was a kindness.
If you leave a man breathing,
you leave him with another
chance to betray you.
So you know what you have to do, right?
Hmm.
Sticks, clean this bitch up.
Mr. Edwards.
Mr. Garrett?
Earlier today I had some
trouble crossing the border.
The Customs Agent, well,
the way he spoke to me.
Didn't you have your card?
See, well, that's just it.
As soon as I showed it to him,
all of a sudden I was
able to get right through.
And it made me realize how valued
being a porter on your
railway really is.
And I just wanted to apologize
for ever taking that for granted, sir.
Good to see you've come to
your senses, Mr. Garrett.
I think we could work together
to make things better, sir.
Sir, I would appreciate
if you would consider
appointing me to the Welfare Committee.
- The Welfare Committee?
- Yes, sir.
If it's all right with you,
I would like to be the head
man between your office
and the committee, sir.
Not even on the committee yet
and asking for a promotion.
I know the work and the
men better than anyone.
And no one knows the
railway like you, sir.
Surely, the best change can
come if we work together.
From the inside.
I'm sorry.
Does that sorry come
with an explanation?
Listen, I'll make it up to you, Mar.
Doesn't matter.
It's done.
Come on, please Junior. Please.
Come on, Junior, please.
Come on, man!
Please, no.
No, Junior.
Please. Please.
Please, Junior!
I'm sorry, Junior.
Junior, no!
No!
No!
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.