Euphoria (2019) s01e90 Episode Script

1
- Hi.
- Hi.
Oh, wait. Don't kiss me. I just woke up.
No, it doesn't matter.
They're good luck kisses.
- Oh, fuck. Wait. My presentation.
- What?
- Wait, what time is it?
- You're good. You're good.
- You're good. It's eight.
- Okay.
You're good.
- I'm so fucking nervous.
- You got it.
- Mm, I can't fuck this up.
- You're gonna be
You're gonna be amazing.
Want me to walk you to school?
Mm, I think I wanna listen
to music and clear my head,
but I love you.
I love you, too.
Go. Go.
You know whatever happens today,
I'm proud of you.
Ooh.
Can you believe it?
It's everything
we dreamed of.
- Mm. I love you.
- I love you.
Shit.
You had pancakes, right?
Look, Ali, I know you don't believe me,
but I'm, I'm doing really good,
actually.
- Is that so?
- Yeah.
- Mm.
- Yeah, for sure.
I mean it, you know,
could suddenly shit flip
and get super dark? Yeah, you know.
I mean it could, but
I feel like I've found this, like,
amazing balance, where
I'm like happy and healthy,
and I'm not, like,
looking to anybody else
for that happiness, you know?
Fuckin' Jules.
The way I was, like,
putting way too much
of my emotional well-being
in her hands, you know,
without ever, like, talking about it,
or, or saying it. I
Especially the way I was fuckin'
making plans for the rest
of our life and shit. And I just
And I look back and I'm just like,
why the fuck did I do that?
It's fuckin' crazy. And weird.
Eh, I don't know.
I guess I just, like,
made her the point.
But she's, like, not the point.
I'm the point, you know?
The point is your sobriety.
Yeah. Of course. Yeah.
And, and like, my,
my general overall well-being.
Which starts with your sobriety.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
And, like, finding an emotional
balance, you know?
You just said you found
an amazing balance.
I, I did.
I have. I, I mean,
but I'm not perfect, you know, so
I'm, I'm sane, though.
Like, I'm sane. Saner.
I'm making sane decisions.
Rue.
You're high.
I feel like you're not
listening to what I'm saying.
Rue, I don't think you're
listening to what you're saying.
I feel like that's
physically impossible.
To what? Talk some bullshit?
Huh.
You know, that's what,
like, I, I don't understand
about the world.
'Cause, like, there is tons
of people who, you know,
drink and do drugs,
and sometimes their life is good.
And sometimes,
life's just bad, you know?
It's fucking life. There's ups
and downs to this shit, but,
I mean, whether you believe me or not,
- I'm, like, I'm good.
- Yeah, yeah, you said that.
Yeah, I mean, it's not like
I'm doing a bunch of shit.
I'm just smoking a little bit of weed,
and taking some pills that
were prescribed to me.
My point is, it's not gonna last.
Yeah, well, neither do
my moods when I'm sober.
Okay, well, you know,
I'm not saying you're, um,
a paragon of mental health.
You've got your issues,
and you're gonna be
struggling with those issues
for the rest of your life.
That's a fact.
The problem is,
is that you look at sobriety
as a weakness in the
face of those issues,
and what I'm saying is,
sobriety is your greatest weapon.
Yeah.
Ali, can I tell you something?
Yeah.
Like, for real, if
If I say some dark shit,
you're not gonna report me
to the state or something?
Uh, Rue, I'm not a guidance counselor.
I'm just a crackhead who's trying to do
a little good on this Earth
before I die.
Uh, you're, you're a trip, man.
- What were you gonna say?
- Ah.
- It doesn't matter. It's stupid.
- All right, I'm sorry. Come on.
- What were you gonna say? Say it.
- Nah. I don't wanna
Say it.
Um
When I'm, uh, when I'm clean, you know,
when I'm present, uh,
like a part of this world,
I don't just think about relapsing.
It's, uh, it's darker than that.
And, uh, you can say
that sobriety is my, uh,
greatest weapon, but
To tell you the truth,
drugs are probably
the only reason I haven't killed myself.
Oh.
Now we're talkin'.
Now you're being real.
Now you're being honest.
Because this whole bullshit
about being a functioning
drug addict, about finding balance,
- that ain't true. That's a lie.
- It's not a lie.
It's a lie, whether you know it or not
but more importantly,
I don't give a fuck to hear it.
Yeah, whatever, man.
"Whatever, man"?
Whatever, man.
Listen, young blood.
I was shooting dope before
your mama's egg dropped.
I've lived a whole motherfuckin'
life to get to this diner
to sit across from your arrogant ass,
so don't you ever "whatever" me.
You're 17. You don't know shit.
You think you're hard? I'm harder.
You think you're tough? I'm tougher.
You got clean and want to kill yourself?
Same motherfuckin' story here.
You want to know why?
You want to know why? I'll tell you why.
'Cause you don't know how to live life.
You don't have the tools.
You're too busy running around,
trying to bullshit everybody
into thinking you're hard,
and you don't give a fuck,
when in reality,
you give so much of a fuck,
you can't even bear to be alive.
So guess what? New rule.
No more wasting my motherfuckin' time.
You wanna use? Use.
But the least you can do is
be honest. Own that shit.
Okay.
You feel me?
Yep.
Why'd you relapse?
I don't know. Couldn't stop
my mind from racing.
Racing about what?
- Everything.
- Hey, hey. Get specific.
All the things I remember
and all the things I wish I didn't.
Okay. I get it.
Why didn't you call me?
Just
honestly, I wasn't really
trying not to relapse.
Yeah. Man. Okay.
Where'd you get the drugs?
I had some pills for emergency purposes.
Fuck. So you never stood a chance.
Nope.
Do you wanna get clean?
No.
You sure?
Yep.
I get it. I get it.
Is that fucked up?
What? That you don't want to get clean?
Yeah, yeah. Of course it's fucked up.
Ah. I'm a piece of shit, huh?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're a piece of shit.
All right, but, uh,
here's the silver lining.
You're not a drug addict
because you're a piece of shit.
You're a piece of shit because
you're a drug addict. You follow?
- Mm, I don't really
- Okay, all right.
What I'm saying is, you didn't come out
of the womb an evil person.
You, Rue, came out of the
womb a beautiful baby girl,
who unbeknownst to her,
had a couple of wires crossed.
So when you tried
drugs for the first time,
it, uh, set something off in your brain
that's beyond your control.
And it isn't a question of willpower.
It's not about how strong you are.
You've been fighting a losing
game since the first day
you got high.
So you can destroy your life,
you can fuck
your little sister's head up,
you can abuse and torture
and take for granted your mama,
and sit here and
look me in the eye,
and say, as calm as can be,
as cool as a cucumber,
"Imma keep usin' drugs."
Ha.
That is the disease of addiction.
It is a degenerative disease.
It is incurable. It is deadly.
And it's no different than cancer.
And you got it.
Why? Mm. Luck of the draw.
But, hey, but the hardest
part of having the disease
of addiction,
aside from having the disease,
is that no one in the world
sees it as a disease.
They see you as selfish.
They see you as weak.
They see you as cruel.
They see you as, uh, destructive.
They think, why should
I give a fuck about her
if she doesn't give a fuck
about herself or anybody else?
Why does this girl deserve
my time, my patience,
my sympathy? Right?
If she wants to kill herself, let her.
All reasonable questions and responses.
But luckily, you aren't the
only person on planet Earth
who has this disease.
There happens to be people like me,
who understand that
you aren't all that bad.
Probably underneath all
this busted-ass, chaotic energy,
you might even be a good kid.
Who knows?
And that is why we are eating
pancakes on Christmas Eve.
Despite the fact that you
don't want to get clean.
- You have daughters, right?
- Mm-hmm.
Where are they?
Different places,
celebrating with their families.
Mm. You see them often?
I've never declined an invitation.
Wait, but haven't you been,
like, clean for 20 years?
Nah, nah.
I was clean for seven years.
Wait, really?
Yeah, well, I had 12 years before that,
but you know, I got cocky.
Started to walk around
thinking I was invincible.
So, now I got seven years.
- Oh, shit.
- Right.
Wait, how do you
How do you relapse after 12 years?
You forget how bad it is.
Damn. How, how long did you relapse for?
A year and a half.
- Oh, fuck.
- Yeah, fuck. Yeah. Right.
Oh, shit.
Damn. I thought, I thought
you were gonna say,
like, a day or something.
Nah, nah. Once you get
back in that cycle,
you know, using and abusing,
it's inescapable.
Especially if you've
been clean for 12 years.
That's when the disease starts talking.
"Twelve years, Martin,
and you ain't never
getting that far again." Aah.
Wait. Martin?
Uh, yeah.
Who's Martin?
Martin is me.
What?
- My name.
- Your name is Martin?
- Well, it used to be.
- What?
- Before I converted.
- To what?
To Islam.
Ali, I'm super fucking
confused right now.
What am I, your first Black friend?
What'd you think,
I was actually from the Middle East?
- I'm from south Philly.
- What
Yeah, but you, you just don't,
you don't look like a Martin.
You don't.
I didn't think so, either.
Do women ever convert to Islam?
- Very few.
- Mm.
You know, it's interesting,
'cause, like
It's kind of what I struggle with.
What do you mean?
The NA shit.
Step one, I, I, I'm cool with.
Like, you know, I, I can,
I can agree, you know,
I'm powerless over drugs,
and my life is unmanageable.
That's not, like, fucking inconceivable.
- Right. Right.
- But, um
It's step two.
"Came to believe that a
power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity."
That one, I just, I, uh
I have some trouble with.
Oh, oh, okay.
All right, all right, I see.
Now I get it.
You don't believe
there's a power on Earth
greater than Rue.
That's not true.
- Really?
- It's not true.
I think there's tons of shit
that is of greater power than me.
Name one.
A Mack truck.
Uh-huh.
- What?
- Name another.
Uh, the ocean.
Try again.
Shit. I would say
any song by Otis Redding is
of greater power than me.
That doesn't make any sense.
It does. Yeah, it does.
- It does.
- What?
The The impact that
"Try a Little Tenderness"
had on the world is,
is more than I, I could ever do.
- Well
- It's more than probably
- any of us will ever fucking do.
- All right, all right, all right.
Little smart ass.
Okay, that's not gonna cut it.
Ali, I don't believe in God.
Guess what?
God doesn't give a fuck
if you believe in him.
- He believes in you.
- I don't know.
That, that, that sounds good,
but it, it doesn't really mean anything.
Of course it means something.
If God didn't believe in you,
you wouldn't even
still be breathing.
So, you're saying the reason
my dad died is because God
didn't believe in him?
Rue, uh, that's not what I was saying
There's nothing that
makes me angrier than
that fucking argument.
Hey, that's, that's not
what I was saying
You know, 'cause every time
someone survives,
like, a mass shooting or some
terrible fucking earthquake,
they always say, you know,
"I survived for a reason.
God saved me for a reason.
I have a purpose."
And then I think to myself,
like, okay, well,
what you're saying is that
your life is more important
than that six-year-old who
died that day, or the newborn
who died that day,
or anybody fucking else
who died that day.
Your life has a purpose, right?
Well, why does your life have a purpose,
and my dad's doesn't?
Because I could argue
that my dad's purpose
was to raise me and my sister.
To be there for my mom.
That was his purpose, I think.
But, you know.
He's dead.
- Listen
- Ali, if you're,
if you're about to tell me
that he died for a reason,
or you know, whatever,
I will literally walk the fuck out.
I, I wasn't.
He didn't die to teach us a lesson.
Okay? He didn't die to, you know,
have us all come together,
or whatever the fuck
people tell people when they
don't have anything to say.
He died because he died. That's it.
Same stupid reason
I came out of the womb
with a couple wires crossed.
Right? Just fucking luck.
You said it.
That's it.
Listen, um
I don't know all the answers.
And I'm not gonna pretend to.
But I do know that at any given point
that we're unable to see and comprehend
the overall arc of human life.
No person can see it.
The whole chain reaction
of how things come to be
from beginning to end.
It's a mystery,
and will always remain a mystery.
How, um, six-year-old
Malcolm Little's daddy
was killed in a streetcar accident.
Rumor was it that
the Black Legion did it.
The KKK.
How that little boy grew up
believing that this white world
had no place for a Black man
like him, so fuck it.
He moves to Harlem, becomes a pimp.
Becomes an addict.
Starts robbing and stealing,
till he gets locked up.
Who discovers Islam.
Who starts a movement.
Who scares the living shit
out of white America so bad
that white America
was so afraid that they
embraced another Negro,
one who had a dream,
not to cut the head off the snake,
even if that's what they deserved,
but to live in harmony.
Next thing you know, Civil Rights Act.
The first legislative steps
granting you and I the right
to sit in this motherfuckin'
diner to have a conversation
about whether or not
you wanna stay clean from drugs.
Drugs that were given to your ancestors
to keep them inebriated,
inoculated, enslaved.
Drugs that stripped them
of their ability to not
just be free, but to imagine
a world in which they were free.
So, why is one person's
purpose greater than another's?
Why are some people struck
down while others live?
Why are you, Rue Bennett,
sitting here when other
17-year-olds, 17-year-olds
who are better, who are kinder,
who are more respectful than you,
aren't sitting here,
I don't know.
That's the mystery.
But here we are.
So what now?
I don't know.
Maybe I'll
start a revolution like
Malcolm X or something.
But haven't you heard,
man, revolutions are
no longer radical.
What are you talking about?
There's so many
revolutions that everybody's
a revolutionary.
The rich. The poor.
The right. The left.
The young. The old.
The beggars. The bankers.
Man is it beautiful.
Huh?
Everyone all at once, fighting
one revolution after another.
I tell ya, I never thought
I'd see so many revolutions
in my entire life.
The, the revolutions are
fought and won so damn fast
that the people don't even
have time to implement change,
because have you heard?
Huh? There's a new revolution.
I went down to, um,
buy me a new pair of kicks
at the Nike store the other day.
And I look up on the wall,
and I see in 20-foot letters,
these words, "Our people matter."
And I thought, man, this feels good.
Here I am, and my favorite
shoe store's out here saying,
"I know you lived a long life.
"And I know that life
ain't always been easy,
"but here you are,
at 54 years old, my brother,
and I want to say I love you."
And I'm like, man.
This feels good.
And I'm like, thank you, Nike.
And then I pick up a pair
of these sneakers
and I look at the price tag,
and it says $139.99.
And I'm, like,
I thought Nike loved me.
Appreciated me and my life.
What happened here?
And I look around the store,
and I see a whole bunch
of Black people, you know,
also feeling good.
And I see a whole bunch
of white people, too.
Also feeling good.
Some even, you know, posing.
And taking, uh, pictures
with the 20-foot letters on the wall.
And, uh Shit.
Yeah. Yeah. Straight up.
I just had this feeling,
and I thought, fuck you, Nike.
You don't give a fuck
about anything or anyone.
Chinese Muslims are sewing
these Kaepernick sneakers
for seven cents an hour,
and you're tellin' me
my Black ass matters.
Give me a fucking break.
If rap music wasn't mainstream,
if Nirvana was still the
most popular band in America,
they'd be out here saying,
"Depression Matters,"
because that's what would move sneakers.
Shit. These advertisers.
They're too good.
Uh-huh.
And they've outsmarted us.
But at the same time,
your generation's full of
some mark-ass bitches,
because they've tapped
into your phones.
Yeah, yeah. They've read your likes.
They've predicted your moves,
and trapped yo' asses.
You think you out here
fighting a revolution,
and Bank of America's on your side?
Give me a fucking break.
Because a true revolution has no allies.
It's just that simple.
Because a true revolution,
not a fast one,
not a quick one, not a fashionable one,
but a real fucking revolution,
is at its core, spiritual.
It is a complete decimation
of one's priorities,
beliefs, and way of living.
And reconstruction in
the spirit of, uh
You have to create a new God.
Or gods. Or whatever you can.
But it is imperative that
you believe in something.
Something greater
than yourself. All right?
And it can't be the ocean,
or your favorite song.
And it can't be the movement,
or the people, or the words.
You've got to believe in the poetry.
Because everything else in
your life will fail you.
Including yourself.
You hear me?
That's where you are.
You're sick.
Your whole system's on
the verge of collapse.
And the addict in
you is trying to sell you
on the same shit that got
you sick in the first place.
And if you keep going
the way you're going,
you'll rot from the inside
until you cave in and die.
Your only hope is a revolution.
But a real fuckin' revolution,
inside and out.
But you gotta see it through.
You can't half-ass this shit.
You just have to commit to it,
every single day.
And know that you
can always do it better.
And be better.
Because who knows? Um
One day, you might succeed.
I don't underestimate anyone.
Uh Stranger things have happened.
Be right back.
All right?
Hey, after all these years
I'm still here
Fingers outstretched
With your imprint in my bed
A pit so big
I lay on the edge
Will love let me down
Again, oh, no
Oh, hey, hey!
I didn't know you were gonna pick up.
I-I thought I was gonna
get your voicemail.
Uh heh. Nah, nah.
I'm not Not trying to guilt trip you.
It's just
It's Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
I wonder how I'll sleep at night
With a cavity by my side
And nothing left to hold but pride
Will I
Your sister there?
Oh, that's good. That's good.
Hey, me in 20 years
Tell her I, uh,
tell her Merry Christmas for me.
And tell her I, I love her.
And I miss her very much.
No. Nah.
I'm not trying to talk to
her through you, Imani.
That's not what I was try
Right.
Of sentimental veneer
I wonder how I'll sleep
I'm doing good.
I'm I just came from my meeting.
Now I'm standing in the parking lot. Ha.
Nah, nah, nah.
I'm just getting pancakes
with a kid I sponsor.
Hold out a little bit more
A little bit more,
just a little bit more
Hey, hey. Hey!
Who's this?
Rashad?
"Who's this?"
It's Poppo.
Poppo Ali.
Wait, wait, wait. Say it again.
Oh, yeah, little man!
Oh, oh, hey. Oh, wow.
Oh, wow. Hey.
What a voice he has on him.
Right?
Wait. How tall is he by now?
Is he What yeah.
Oh, yeah Nah.
Oh, yeah. No, I, I, I understand.
It's not a problem.
Oh, wow.
Is it laced within my DNA
To be braced in endless January
Have I become the cavity I feared?
I, I'm all right.
I, I just feel like I'm in a
one of them old movies.
"It's a Wonderful Life."
It's a wonderful life.
Merry Christmas, Imani.
Ask me in 20 years
Ali, what am I supposed
to do about Jules?
Miss Marsha?
Question.
Yes?
How long you been clean?
Seventeen years,
by the grace of God.
Seventeen years.
Never thought I'd be able to say that.
But I say it with a lot of pride.
Seventeen years.
Why?
What would happen if, uh,
you thought about dating
in the early stages of
you trying to get clean?
You want to know if I
was interested in dating,
or if I was interested in getting clean?
'Cause the answer is "yes"
to both of those questions.
But
I had to not be in a relationship,
so that I could focus on my sobriety.
Because that's what I wanted,
and I didn't have enough
energy for both of those.
And I wanted to get clean.
Everything that's good to you
ain't always good for you.
What do you have to
say to somebody who doesn't
have a whole lot of hope?
When I was a little girl growing up,
my grandma used to
always have this saying,
and I never understood
what it meant
until I was ready to get clean.
And her words were, "Baby,
trouble don't last always."
And it doesn't,
if you want to make a change.
That's up to you.
You got any more questions for me
while I'm trying to count my tips?
Nah, count 'em.
Imma throw a couple more in there later.
You need to,
with your cheap ass.
That's the truth, right there.
You know
It's funny, when I think about it.
I still blame Jules for all this shit.
Why?
'Cause
I was clean.
And I was, like, gonna stay clean.
And for the most part,
I was pretty happy, so
- And fuckin' Jules
- Wait, wait.
You were gonna stay clean?
- Yeah.
- With pills in your room?
I wasn't taking them.
- You were saving them.
- Yeah.
Even though you just said
you were gonna stay clean.
- Uh
- And that relapsing was Jules' fault.
Ali, you don't know what she did to me.
You're right. I don't.
She cheated on me.
When I was sober,
she literally cheated on me.
I didn't know that.
Exactly.
So, you were in a relationship.
Yeah.
I thought you two were just friends.
No.
Huh.
When did it shift?
Uh, the night of the carnival,
she came over,
and we, like, kissed a whole bunch.
Okay, but when did it
become a relationship?
I just told you. That night.
It became a relationship that night.
- Yeah.
- So it wasn't just kissing.
You two talked about being together.
What? That's so weird.
What?
Why would we talk about it?
Because that's how people
get into relationships, Rue.
They talk about it.
I mean, we said "I love you."
A lot.
I say "I love you" to my barber.
Okay, yeah, but you don't
make out with your barber.
Even if I did, my barber might assume
it was just a casual thing.
We talked about getting matching tattoos
on the inside of our lips.
Damn.
Did you?
No, but we, we talked about it.
Okay.
Keep going.
I mean, there's nothing else
to say, you know?
Except that I loved her.
I trusted her.
And when I look back at it,
you know, just,
it's like she lied to me.
And, uh, manipulated me.
Right.
Like the whole thing
at the train station.
Her trying to get me
to run away with her,
even though I was, um, scared, and
didn't have my medication
Just kind of fucked up,
and selfish.
I didn't think she was
actually gonna go.
You know, like, leave me.
It just kind of set something
off in my head, you know?
Thinking about my whole life, how
people make all these fucking promises.
My mom kissing me on
the forehead, and
telling me my dad's gonna be all right.
And Jules talking about how
we're gonna live together
when she goes off to college
and sleep in the same bed,
and be together forever.
And then she ditches me.
'Cause she met another girl.
Just
made me think about how everyone lies.
It's not even the lies that hurt,
you know?
It's the fact that you're never
really emotionally prepared
for someone to leave you.
Just kind of messed up.
And it just started, like,
this avalanche of shit,
about maybe I deserve it.
Maybe this is the universe's punishment
for me being a piece
of shit my entire life.
Stealing from my mom.
Hitting her in the face.
That's what I've done, Ali.
I have, I have hit my mom in the face.
I picked up a piece of glass,
and I pointed it at my mom
and I threatened to kill her.
That is some unforgivable shit.
Maybe I deserve to get my ass left
at a train station
at 1:00 a.m., you know?
Drugs change who you are as a person.
Every time I attacked my mom,
I wasn't high.
Drugs change who you are as a person.
It's still unforgivable.
Nah. It's not.
Come on.
If I actually believe that
what you did was unforgivable,
I wouldn't be sitting here,
because what I've done
in my life, is way more unforgivable.
Yeah, right. No.
Ah. I said it before. I'll say it again.
You're playing pool with Minnesota Fats.
Maybe if I was some
random-ass classmate of yours
with no life experience,
and I heard that you
picked up a piece of glass
and threatened your mom,
I'd be like, "Ooh, that's unforgivable."
But the more you believe that,
the sicker it makes you,
because every time you do
something unforgivable,
you think, "Why change?
I'm just a piece of shit.
I better keep going.
What's the difference now?"
Without realizing that
forgiveness is the key to change.
We're too busy running around
judging everybody's
intentions and motivations
as if we have some insight
into the human soul.
You know, "You did this,
so that must mean you're that."
Just give me a break.
Ali, I picked up a piece of glass.
I pointed it at my mom.
And I told her I was gonna kill her.
Right.
That's fucking terrible.
But what's it mean?
Means that I'm a piece of shit.
- Look deeper.
- I am.
Nah. You're not. Look deeper.
Ali, that sounds like a tag
line for a dumb fucking movie.
So just because it doesn't
sound cool enough to you,
you're gonna settle
for being superficial?
That's unforgivable.
Look deeper. What's it mean?
That I'm violent to someone I love.
Okay, okay.
Why?
Because that's who I am.
I don't know what that means.
It means that I'm okay with that.
Are you?
That's what it says.
But are you okay with that?
No.
So, it's not who you are.
Yeah, well, I still did it.
But why are you not okay with it?
Because it's a terrible
fucking thing to do.
- Why?
- Because it's shitty.
It's cruel, and it's mean,
and my mom doesn't deserve that.
- Those are all things you believe.
- Yes.
And your beliefs are
part of who you are.
Yes, of course.
So what you're saying is,
is that you can
simultaneously do something
that you also believe is wrong.
Well, doesn't you doing it
mean more than your intentions?
It all depends.
Why are you ignoring all
the things you believe?
'Cause I wasn't thinking.
Okay, but that could
just be the struggle
of all human beings.
What?
Living up to their belief system.
Not all human beings
threaten to kill their mom.
True. Yours is more extreme.
I'll give you that.
But why?
Why is it more extreme?
Yeah.
I don't know. 'Cause of, like,
drugs, and certain
emotional disorders.
You sure it's that, and not just
because you're a terrible person?
I mean, 'cause it could just
be because you're a piece of shit.
No, it's not that.
I mean, 'cause there's
a lot of people with
drug issues and emotional issues
that don't threaten
to kill their mothers.
Yeah, no. I know.
But you did.
And your punishment,
the sentence you're giving yourself
is that you, Rue Bennett,
are beyond forgiveness.
That punishment is way too harsh,
and it's also way too easy.
It allows you to keep doing
exactly what you're doing
without changing,
because you deserve it.
There's no hope.
You're beyond forgiveness.
So you may as well just
fuck the fuck off forever
and go down the gutter
because that's what this girl,
this piece of shit, deserves.
This is why the world
keeps getting worse.
People keep doing shit
that we deem unforgivable,
and in return, they decide
there's no reason to change.
So now you got a whole bunch
of people running around
who don't give a fuck about redemption.
That's scary.
Ali, what have you done
that's so terrible?
A lot.
But what? For real.
A lot.
- You're not just saying that?
- Nah.
You promise?
Why do you want to know?
Because I think you're,
like, a good person.
And I just couldn't imagine you,
like, doing something terrible.
I grew up in a house where my dad
used to beat up my mama.
He was a drunken, cold son of a bitch.
And every night, I lay in bed
dreaming of every which way to kill him.
But eventually, my mama up and left him
and took me and my sister
with her, and life goes on.
But I always said to myself
that no matter how bad shit got,
whether I was shooting
dope or smoking crack,
I would never, ever be like my dad.
And then I, I got married.
I had two girls. It was chaos.
I was using,
and my wife wasn't having it.
We were fighting every night.
And it got physical.
And, uh, one night I looked over
and I see my two little girls watching.
And I thought, here I am,
a grown man with two girls,
and they just watched me
hit their mom in the face.
I spent 30 years of my life
thinking of how to kill my dad
for doing the same shit
I just did to their mom.
That's rock bottom.
It doesn't get any worse than that.
But, hey, it took me another
five years to clean up,
because for some people,
there is no rock bottom.
It's bottomless.
And the truth is,
drugs will fundamentally change
who you are as a human being.
Every moral. Every principle.
Everything you hold close
to your heart, and believe in,
will go out the window
or down the drain.
'Cause there's no force
stronger on planet Earth
than that next fix.
Now, you may be functioning.
Maybe things go well.
Maybe they last.
And maybe they don't.
But the one thing I know is true
is that the longer you do drugs,
the more you're gonna lose.
And not just in terms
of the things you love,
but the things you value about yourself.
And every compromise you make,
every moral line that you cross,
you'll go further and further,
until you don't recognize
who the fuck you are.
And that list of racing thoughts,
that list of unforgivable things,
it grows longer.
And gets uglier.
You still think I'm a good person?
Yeah.
The thought of maybe being a good person
is what keeps me
trying to be a good person.
Although, some people
might disagree with you.
My youngest daughter, for one.
What's her name?
Marie.
Ali?
Yeah?
I just don't really plan
on being here that long.
And that's, um
That's the tough part about
all this, you know?
'Cause, I, I, I love talking to you.
I do.
And I agree with, um,
almost everything you're saying.
And I understand it.
But, um
I just don't plan on
being here that long.
I get it.
We're living in dark times.
Huh. Not a lot of hope out there.
The thing I miss about doing drugs
is the beauty.
No matter what's going on in the world,
no matter what's going on in your life,
everything is gonna be okay.
Yeah.
The world's just really
fuckin' ugly, you know?
It's really fuckin' ugly, and, um
Everybody seems to be okay
with it, you know?
The anger.
The level of anger.
Everyone's just out to make
everyone else not seem human.
And I don't really
want to be a part of it.
I don't even want to witness it.
Sure, it's not, like,
the root of all my problems,
but I definitely think about it.
A lot.
Because thinking about
those questions, those ideas,
they're a large part of, uh
what makes this life worth living.
Right?
That's what I was talking about earlier.
You gotta believe in the poetry.
The value of two people sitting
in a diner on Christmas Eve,
talking about
life, addiction, loss.
You don't want to be a part of it,
Rue, because
you care about the big things in life.
I don't know if I care about
the big things in life.
Come on now, of course you do
because you obviously don't care about
the small things, like being right,
or being angry.
All the things that kill
curiosity and keeps us from
keeps us all from looking deeper.
You said it earlier.
I love talking to you.
Because we talk about the real shit.
Shit that matters.
Like, who do you want to be
when you leave this Earth?
I'm not really sure I follow.
You said you weren't
gonna be here much longer.
Okay. Then?
How do you want your mom
and sister to remember you?
As someone who tried really
hard to be someone I couldn't.
I got faith in you.
Why?
I don't know.
I just do.
Granted, I was a Christian
before I became a Muslim,
so, I've been wrong before.
Thanks.