Survivor's Remorse (2014) s03e02 Episode Script

The Ritual

1 I just want to thank Mr.
Jimmy Flaherty for bringing me to Atlanta.
There's four people who forced me to believe that I and they were worthy of a big-time dream.
Those four people that believed in me are my family.
Who's the new talent? Very much at your service.
Chen, don't you want me to be happy? More than anything.
Homosexuals make him shiver with revulsion.
Get the hell out of my church! - A Cadillac Escalade? - Yes! No more timing belt problems now.
We did it the right way.
We sold drugs for it.
You don't need to spend your money on me.
That's what the money is for, to make the people that I care about happy.
Don't you let her out of your sight.
All right, Unc.
[siren blaring.]
- [monitor beeping.]
- Damn, this is all my fault.
Don't you die on me, Julius.
You do not have my permission to die.
So if you are walking towards a white light, stop, turn the fuck around and walk into the dark.
Uncle J, I'm so sorry.
CASSIE: Hang in there, baby.
Just hang in there.
Mmm, I love doing this with you.
[Missy moaning, muffled speech.]
What'd you say? I said, me, too.
- Ooh.
- [phone buzzing.]
Oh, wait, wait, wait.
Ah, ah, if you take a call while you are inside me, it will be your last time inside me.
I'm sorry, baby.
It's just reflexes.
We are busy.
The world can wait.
Yes, it can, and it shall, my queen.
[laughing, moaning.]
You've reached Reggie.
M-CHUCK: Reggie, it's an emergency.
Just call me back.
Hello, you've reached Missy Vaughn.
I apologize that I can't make it to the phone right now.
At the tone, please leave a detailed message and I promise that I'll get back to you just as soon as I'm possibly able.
And remember, don't wait for the perfect moment.
Take the moment and make it perfect.
Here comes the tone.
[beeps.]
Missy, I told you everybody knows what to do at the tone! Now call me back because this family is in the middle of a massively imperfect moment.
Call me back! Going out.
EMT: Move back.
Okay, hang in there, Julius.
Hang in there, baby.
Ma'am, you need to wait here.
No, I'm going with my brother.
No, ma'am.
Hospital policy.
Well, you better take care of him.
'Cause if you don't, we will make it our policy to sue this place into bankruptcy, won't we, son? Let 'em know we ain't broke and we ain't on Medicaid either.
We got lawyer money.
Johnnie Cochran lawyer money.
[quiet chatter.]
Did you let my uncle know that your car is a death trap that stalls out in the middle of intersections? It never has or had done that.
We were taking it to the mechanic.
Because, what, it was in perfect condition? No, because it was a piece-of-shit shitbox.
Chuck, lay off.
CASSIE: Allison, before the ambulance got there, you got him breathing again, right? I think so.
You're a nurse.
You know or don't.
I'm just an MRI technician.
Yeah, but techs know what breathing is.
Even I know what breathing is.
I'm breathing.
You're breathing.
He's breathing.
She's breathing.
Look, Allison told you what she knows.
I just want to know if he's still breathing.
I'll I'll change his bedpan.
I'll feed him.
I'll even help him smoke weed through one of them fucking holes in his goddamn neck.
I just want him alive.
I just want him alive.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Oh! [both laughing.]
So when you going off birth control? Oh, I thought we weren't talking babies till things got more settled.
I know, but the world needs our baby.
We don't even know if Cam's gonna stay in Atlanta.
It don't matter.
No, Cam leaves, we leave.
If we leave, baby gets to leave with us.
Long as we like it.
If we don't like it, we'll drive it to a fire station and safe-haven its ass.
[Laughs.]
Tell me again how Cam's even got an opt-out clause after one season.
Because Cam has a fantastic manager.
But, listen, say say we re-sign here.
Why you throwing salt on Atlanta? Atlanta has been good to us so far.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
You know what's 20 miles outside Atlanta? - I do not.
- Georgia.
[gasps.]
Now that's unfair.
There's a lot of good folks all over Georgia.
And those good folks have allowed their state to have a holiday honoring Robert E.
Lee.
Day after Thanksgiving.
So what? Most people take that day off anyway.
And they call it Black Friday.
Robert E.
Would have hated that.
I have worked too hard on my education for my next accomplishment to be a baby.
Ah.
Right now it's time for me to be me.
With you being you.
Mmm.
Okay.
Hey.
- Jimmy, how'd you know? - M-Chuck called.
I was looking for Reggie, thinking they might have been playing poker.
You have Jimmy's cell number? He's helping me apply to colleges.
- Since when? - Since I asked.
Not long.
Happy to help.
I'd liked to have known that you were applying for colleges.
- Really? - I offered to write recommendations.
What, in state? Out of state? - Early stages.
I'll let you know.
- All right.
Since I'll probably be the one paying for tuition, that would be nice.
You just spent tens of thousands of dollars buying a car for Allison that led to our uncle being hospitalized and you're gonna nitpick costs for my education? I just want to know why you're bothering the owner of my basketball team.
It came up in conversation.
I got my own aspirations.
It's not a problem.
Really, I dictate some stuff to my assistant, she types it up, I sign it.
Who gives a shit what school Mary Charles eventually quits or flunks out of? We're waiting to see if my brother's gonna live.
How is he? No word yet.
Jimmy, Allison.
Allison, Jimmy.
Hi.
Hey, you didn't have to come here, but thank you.
When you signed with my team, I said I'd be there for you and your family.
That wasn't bullshit.
A lot of other bullshit was bullshit, but not that.
Let me see what I can find out.
[phone buzzes.]
Reggie.
Yeah, it's bad.
Why was Julius in Allison's car? I don't know.
And when did Cam buy her a new car? I don't know.
He was rambling.
Haven't they been dating, like, what, a month? Haven't been keeping track, but something like that, yeah.
Did you tell Cam to buy a woman he met only a month ago a car? I did not.
- Did he ask you about it? - He did not.
I mean, doesn't he have to run that kind of stuff by you? Not if he chooses not to, no.
Allison really seems more like a Mini Cooper kind of girl, right? - Missy! - I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm so nervous right now.
Fuck.
I know, I am, too.
He's out there with his family.
I can't do it.
You can.
I can't, so I shouldn't.
Dr.
Lang, a family needs news, you have that news.
So do you.
I'll watch and learn.
No, this shift is not about you watching.
It's about you doctoring with all its concomitant shittiness.
Now, come on.
You can do this.
Please don't make me do this.
You're a doctor, Kristine.
[sighs.]
Hi.
You're with Julius? Yes, um, I'm his sister.
How how is he? Your brother has perished.
Julius is dead? Yes, he died.
He's dead.
How is he dead? The blunt force trauma of the truck upon the car door and in turn upon your brother's thorax and abdomen led to massive hemorrhaging and the cessation of functionality of his heart, - lungs, kidneys, spleen - All right, we get it.
It was, uh, too much to overcome.
We're sorry.
So very, very sorry.
The sorrow of the entire staff is deeply felt at this moment.
Even though there was nothing to be done, we tried to do everything we could do.
Any and everything.
All the things were done to no avail.
I'm sure he was a very nice man.
We're very sorry.
[crying.]
No, this is no.
[sobbing.]
No.
No.
No.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
No.
No.
Hey.
Hey.
A moment, please.
"Your brother has perished"? So patients at this hospital are, what, a quart of milk, a loaf of bread? We're trying our best here, sir.
That can't be true.
Well, I'm sorry you feel that way.
Sorry or so very, very sorry? Sir, I've had a very long day.
Yeah? Any relatives die? Three men have died in this ER since I arrived.
Well, maybe it's time to hit the books again, Doc.
Study up.
Try to trim those numbers down.
Who the hell do you think you are, pal? Just a pal who built this place a new wing for pediatric care.
That's me.
James Flaherty.
That's my name.
But a man shouldn't have to point to a charity wall to get bad news delivered less bluntly and more kindly than what you two just vomited up.
That disastrous string of syllables that you blurted out back there, that was a bad plan.
I don't appreciate bad plans and bad behavior.
I expect more from hospitals that I have gifted wings to.
Shit, even from ones I haven't.
Hey, wing boy.
- This is a teaching hospital.
- Teach better.
I don't care how many walls you put your name on, you've got no right to come into this ER and pop off on my residents.
She's learning, okay? She didn't arrive a fully formed, perfect human like you, Daddy Warbucks.
Mr.
Flaherty is right.
I gave that news badly.
I'm sorry.
I should be better.
I have it in me, I think, to be better.
But tonight I just [crying.]
Hey, I'm sorry.
- [sobbing.]
- Hey, I'm anger is a there's I'm sorry.
Fuck off.
Come on.
So, for the funeral, I'll just need a church with a pastor who doesn't hate lesbians and a caterer with an endless supply of shrimp for the repast.
And coffee.
You know those big coffee things.
People'll need coffee.
And a good limousine to take his casket to the church and to the grave.
- And not one of those funny, jokey ones.
- Hey.
The ones that people will think we're the fucking Munsters.
I will make sure that the best people will help your family through this.
Better get Mom home, get her high or something.
Yeah, raid Uncle J's room.
He's got to have something.
Missy, can you take M-Chuck and Aunt Cass home in our car? We'll stay at the mansion tonight.
I got to stay behind with Cam.
Why don't you have Allison drive you both home in the brand-new car she didn't take that put us all in this situation? Yeah, so what exactly happened with that? Can we not talk about that now? Ignoring it don't change it.
All right.
I got to go.
I got to [sighs.]
got to identify the body and stuff.
Reggie, just call Beckwith and make sure the Atlanta Police check that truck driver's blood alcohol level.
They arrested him at the scene, though, right? They better have.
That drunk was drag racing on surface streets.
- We don't know if he was drunk.
- He was something.
You know, I bet you he didn't have his mandated sleep.
Exactly.
Verify that shit, Reg.
Because that would make it a criminal case and allow for a civil suit.
They got to test his blood tonight.
All right, I will handle it.
Yo, can we please get the fuck out of this godforsaken place? All right.
I got to go.
Hey, I'm sorry.
It's getting kind of late.
I'm gonna get you a ride, all right? I want to wait with you.
No, Reggie and me got to deal with some paperwork and some other stuff, so I'm sorry I didn't take the car.
Oh, please.
Let's not.
I can't.
M-Chuck is angry at me.
Yeah, so she's not thinking right.
None of us are.
It's my car might have stalled out.
- It was my car.
It was my fault.
- Babe.
Please, that's not true.
I don't want to leave you tonight.
Baby, I got to get home and rest.
Got a game tomorrow.
No one's gonna ask you to play.
Can I just get Jimmy to take you home? I got to go identify the body.
I just I want to do this shit task with Reggie.
Just go get some sleep.
I'm so sorry.
[crying.]
Did you get to know Julius at all? Me neither.
Seemed like a nice guy.
Proud of his family.
Always smiling.
Also used to call me Jiminy Cricket.
I hated that.
Fucking life, huh? Everything's great until it ain't.
[whispers.]
Get up.
Unc, look, I didn't mean to put you on the spot in front of Ma and M-Chuck asking about love and all that earlier.
Sorry, I wasn't thinking.
Nonthinking is a fucked-up side effect of being lovestruck.
Allison's worth all the side effects.
Oh, why you acting like you a virgin? She makes me gloriously happy.
I feel the same way about heroin.
But love ain't opium, so make sure you pick the right girl to love, nephew.
Seriously, what's the name of the girl that broke your heart? Oxycontin.
[laughs.]
I want to buy Allison a car.
Man, you didn't listen to nothing that I said.
She must got the good good.
But she needs a car, so I'm gonna get her one because I can.
You approve? Can I keep the one you bought me? - Yeah, of course.
- Then approve, yeah.
Man, you brought me a brand-new Escalade and I ain't even fucking you.
'Cause if I had to fuck you, no, thanks.
I'm walking.
[Laughing.]
He's so cold.
Let's go, cousin.
Um, Mr.
Calloway, your uncle's belongings.
Uh, sorry for your loss.
Uh, Cam, uh, you mind if we got a pic? Do you mind if if you got a pic? No, no, give me your phone.
You want an autograph? Want your car washed? I'm sorry, he blurts without thinking.
No, no, no, no.
Let's get the pic.
Now, what kind of filter do you want to use? No, fuck it, let's just Snapchat this shit.
- Reggie.
- No, no, no, what part of our uncle just died and is laying right in front of us don't these two fucks understand? Please just don't get me fired.
It's fine, all right? No worries.
No decency, hmm? No decorum? Reggie.
He said sorry.
Chill.
I ain't nothing but chill, Cam.
I'm just chilling in the morgue with these two fucks that need to summon up some simple decency.
You're absolutely right.
We're two fucks, yes.
We meant no disrespect.
Well, I'd hate to be around when disrespect is your intention.
CAM: Reg, let's go.
Kill yourself.
I didn't need you to fly here tonight.
I was in Philadelphia.
I have a plane.
He was your brother.
Do you remember how the Catholic prayer "Glory Be" goes? I do not.
But one moment.
"Glory Be" prayer.
Ah.
"Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
" Now as it was in the beginning world without end, amen.
Oh, I was saying it wrong.
Uh, it probably doesn't even work if you say it wrong.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm just doing this because this is what we did as kids.
I still have my grandmother's rosary.
We were raised Catholic and the only time we went to church down here was some other, you know, so-called Christian deal.
But we got kicked out because the pastor hated Mary Charles' gayness.
Her gayness is sizable.
But not as big as the ignorance of many religious sects.
What kind of religion were you raised with? In Communist China, religiosity was actively discouraged.
My parents did not want to incur the wrath of the establishment, thus we cultivated a fervent secularity.
English, Chen.
[laughs.]
No religion to speak of.
But more out of a lack of exposure to it than a dismissal of its usefulness in humanity's search for meaning.
The last thing Julius said was that he wished he believed in God.
And now I'm worried that he's just wandering around the afterlife, locked out of the gates of heaven because he didn't believe.
And at that moment of his death, he realized that God really does exist and he was like, "Shit! I fucked up.
" And God was like, "Yep.
" I mean, that's some shit right there.
That's that's some unravelly shit that I can do without.
[sighs.]
He was the best darn brother a girl could ever have.
He really was.
[sighs.]
[crying.]
It's nice that Chen's here for your mom.
It's nice to be a billionaire with a jet.
Can be there for whoever, whenever, good times, bad times.
What was Cassie saying about college and Jimmy Flaherty? I'm trying to forget.
I don't want to be tempted to take an ax to her head.
Yeah.
That would be not great.
I want to go to college because I don't want to be just sitting around here in Atlanta with no job, no relationship, no doing nothing, just living off my little brother's money.
You got an excuse.
You're married.
Hey, I I had a job that I gave up before I came down here to support Reggie.
I'm getting another one.
Now that we're settled I'm not criticizing.
You got a husband.
He makes money.
I'm sure you keep Reggie happy in all the ways that breeder women keep their breeder men happy until the point at which they no doubt finally breed.
Then you have, like, a new little Reggie or Missy to show off and make your unemployment seem worthwhile.
That's criticizing.
People don't give me the same wide berth, you know? So that's what college was is about.
Who knows? Life's short, right? But it's long if you don't know what you're doing with your life.
I can't believe Uncle J is dead.
I've got to go to bed.
You're sleeping over, right? I think the guest room off the elevator has clean sheets.
Thank you.
Who'd ever thought we'd live in a house with a elevator? He wouldn't have been in that car if I didn't buy the new one.
He wouldn't be in Atlanta if you weren't a famous basketball player.
If I don't buy Allison the new car, Uncle J is never in her old car.
Hey, Cam, we are smarter than this kind of conversation.
On a night like this, it is a mistake that we shouldn't make, so we won't.
Let's just rest.
My mistake is not calling you before I bought the car.
'Cause if I had called you and said, "Reggie, what do you think about this?" you would have said, "Oh, it's a bad idea.
" And I would have been pissed that you were nixing it, but I would have known you were right because you always are.
Uncle J would still be alive and we would not be where we are.
I ain't always right.
And I wouldn't have stopped you from buying the car.
Don't lie, Reg.
I can own this.
Own what? What what do you want to own? Huh? You dig this girl.
You dig this girl in a way that I have never seen you dig a girl and her car was busted.
Cam, the metric ton of money that you have spent on all the people that you love and then all the other people that feel they somehow helped you succeed is staggering.
[laughs.]
It's staggering.
Man, little have you just purely spent on yourself or a girl that you dug, most of it, if not all of it, you have spent on everybody else.
And then here comes this girl that just makes you feel good to be around.
She's not falling at your feet, she's got her own job, she ain't chasing after you, and she needed a car.
And you step in like a man with a cape to bestow some goodness upon her.
Now, that's you, cousin.
That's you all the way through.
Now, it ain't me.
[Chuckles.]
[laughs.]
I know it ain't me.
You one in a million, man.
And you made yourself into a man with a cape.
Don't beat yourself up for wearing it.
Do not beat yourself up for doing what cape-wearing heroes do.
And don't turn good gestures, kind gestures, into anything bad.
You make good things happen for so many people, man.
Me, M-Chuck, Aunt Cass, Missy, Uncle Julius, we all better off because of one person.
That is you.
Uncle Julius was proud as shit of you, Cam.
Nobody ever enjoyed your success more than he did.
He never missed a game, never missed nothing.
He didn't need credit for being a great uncle.
He just loved us and he basked in us being us, watching us succeed.
[sighs.]
I got to we got we got a busy few days.
Missy's asleep in the guest room.
House got five guest rooms.
Yeah, I'll just I'll walk towards the snoring.
You want me to get you out of your game tomorrow night? No.
That's why we're here in Atlanta.
I can't believe this shit, man.
[crying.]
All right.
- See you in the morning.
- All right.
[exhales.]
[rain pattering.]
[sighs.]
Yo, Unc, did you think back when we was in Boston that we'd be balling like this? Why you think I stuck around? - Come on, man, I'm serious.
- No, I'm serious, too.
Why'd you think I took your snotty-nosed ass down to them drug-infested playgrounds to shoot around? 'Cause I knew we'd be living like this.
- For real? - Yeah.
Not giving a car away to a girl you just met, but certainly for me.
[laughs.]
- [singing with radio.]
- Yo, pretty ladies around the world Got a weird thing to show you Little Jheri curls Jheri curls? [Laughs.]
And your mama, too 'Cause we're about to go down And you know just what to do Throw your hands in the air like you don't care Glide by the people as they start to look and stare [laughing.]
[fire crackling.]
Fuck.
Yo, dude, what the fuck? You can't be doing shit like this here down South.
I am lying in bed and I see the reflection of the flames in the window, so I'm thinking, shit, there's some fucking cross burning shit happening.
Hey, come on.
Ready to squat down and shit in my hand and give it throw it, hurl it down at the first white-hooded prick I see.
But instead Sorry.
Just glad it was the car that was on fire and not you.
Fuck, it won't go out.
Look, let it go.
You know, it's better that this thing burns beyond repair.
I don't want it on the road anymore for anyone.
I'll pay for you to go to college.
Anywhere.
You won't flunk.
You won't quit.
I believe in you, you know, like you believed in me.
Uncle J's death ain't your fault.
I know.
Do you? - [screams.]
- Fuck! Now that is your fault.
[sighs.]
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon.
" God, open Your gates for my uncle.
He did a lot of stupid shit, yeah, but I think he deserves a spot.
[phone buzzes.]
Hey, Jimmy.
Thanks for coming last night.
Morning.
Any excuse to leave a black-tie event is a good excuse.
Well, hopefully your next excuse won't involve a tragic death.
- How's Cam? - He's still sleeping.
Good, I know how it feels when an uncle dies.
When I was 11, my Uncle Joe was shot in the head by a woman who was not my aunt.
Oh, Jesus.
Sorry.
If you make promises you plan on breaking while having sex with people who are not your spouse, you run the risk of bullets entering your skull.
Exiting your skull, too, in my uncle's case.
Sounds more like a cellmate story.
Yeah, I got to practice sharing that story without the skull part.
I'm putting your aunt in touch with the best funeral director in town.
Let me know how else I can help.
And let me know if Cam wants tonight off.
We're playing the Knicks, so no worries if he does.
Hey, thank you, Jimmy.
If you're gonna steal my shit, at least let me sleep through it.
Sorry.
When someone dies in China, we mourn for 49 days of prayer and remove all mirrors.
Oh, good for China, but leave my mirror alone.
I'm not walking around looking like shit for the next 49 days.
The belief is that if one sees a reflection of a coffin in the mirror, another death will occur.
Well, tell your countrymen to just leave their coffins out the house.
[sighs.]
Can't believe he's really gone.
There's a Chinese proverb.
"All of life is a dream walking.
All of death is a going home.
" Well, respect to proverbs, pretty words don't plan funerals.
I'm the one left walking around the house with the sudden burden of having to plan a funeral and a burial and a and a post-funeral repast.
Selfish Julius.
Selfish, shit-starting motherfucker.
I am here to help.
And you have a family to shoulder your burden, too.
Every journey starts with a step.
And every quote don't need quoting.
You call the cops about that trucker? Beckwith is working on it.
They got to do a toxicology report on Uncle J, too.
- It's gonna take a while.
- Watch, they gonna blame Uncle J, Reg.
You got to be there when they test that stuff.
And how you figure I'm invited? I ain't the county coroner.
Doctors lie, and you know this.
[doorbell rings.]
- Chen, can you get that, baby? - Will do.
All right, people, we got shit to do.
Meet me in the kitchen.
Good morning to you, too, Ma.
Ain't nothing good about it.
Y'all better prepare for me to be blunt all day.
It's the only way that I can cope without falling apart.
First things first, how and where are we gonna bury your uncle? Cremation's probably better for the environment.
Fuck the environment.
Julius was a man.
Not gonna set him on fire and reduce him to a pile of dust.
We're gonna give him a proper casket and we're gonna bury him in the ground.
- Now, the question is will it be Boston or Atlanta? - Boston.
- Fuck Boston.
- He spent most of his life there.
But he left with all of us and he was the happiest he had ever been here.
- Till he got hit by a truck.
- That wasn't his fault.
- We don't know that yet.
- Food delivery.
"With sympathy from Richard and Dihane Freeman.
" Who's Richard and Dihane Freeman? Atlanta philanthropists whose names are on every museum in town.
Sympathy food from strangers 'cause Cam's famous.
- This is stupid.
- [Doorbell rings.]
- Baby.
- Boston is where his friends are.
Cam, if we have the funeral in Boston, people will show up for reasons that got nothing to do with mourning Uncle J and everything to do with shoving their grubby hands in your pockets.
I'm afraid Reggie is right.
Plus we're not gonna visit a grave in Boston.
People never visit the grave anyway.
They just say they will.
Well, this here is the saying stage and I say that the burial will be in Atlanta.
Barbecue from the Atlanta Falcons' front office with sympathy.
From our close friends that we don't know and we never met at the Falcons.
I want to have a church funeral.
Thought you said his last words were "I wish I believed in God.
" He could have been in midsentence.
Yeah, maybe he passed before he was about to add "earlier.
" Like, "I wish I believed in God earlier.
" - Unlikely.
- How about if I toss you through a windshield and let's see if you have trouble finishing your sentences? Hey, I don't recall Uncle J as a believer.
He had this prayer card in his wallet.
Who the fuck's St.
Francis? Can we not with the fucking language every fucking minute? St.
Francis loved animals.
Uncle J shot a deer and killed the neighbor's dog.
Well, this card is proof that he was asking for forgiveness.
Let's forget about what he did or didn't say.
If Uncle J didn't believe in God, why'd he have this card? Because he bought stupid shit at the car wash.
He also had a Tupac snow globe and Day-Glo Silly Putty.
It don't mean nothing.
I love Silly Putty.
That prayer card is from a Catholic church downtown.
Well, maybe they knew him.
We can have the funeral there.
Last time you guys went to church, you stole their flowers and Chuck chucked Bibles at the pastor.
That church was not the right fit.
And they were hymnals, not Bibles.
Look, if we're doing this for Uncle J, I say we taxidermy him and and throw a bash with him sitting right here chilling one last time.
DJs, food.
No church, just chill.
Hire some strippers to grind on him.
MISSY: Real or taxidermy? Can you imagine if he got wood? [laughter.]
[sighs.]
CASSIE: I had Gran's rosary out last night.
Julius and I were baptized Catholic.
Uh, we never went like a lot of people do, but Reggie and Cam went to a Catholic high school.
And once you get past the molesting shit, you know, the the Catholics have a good message.
But this this card is a sign that Julius, he should have a Catholic funeral.
A couple of Uncle J's friends are texting about services.
- We should fly his friends down.
- No, we shouldn't.
Julius would want his friends here.
Well, he ain't here, so it don't matter.
Maybe he's watching from the other side, hoping we do what he wants.
Ain't no other side.
It's just above ground and below.
You don't know whether or not there's another side.
And unless you want to find out whether your supposition is true, shut the fuck up.
- M-CHUCK: Ma, language.
- We can fly them down on my plane.
I can help make arrangements for the friends coming in from Boston.
Well, arrange for a big pain in the ass.
- [doorbell rings.]
- [all sigh.]
Let's greet this shitty day.
Hey, let me know if you're skipping the game tonight.
Team's asking.
[sighs.]
Okay, so how long till the worms start chewing up my uncle's corpse? You did not just ask that.
If we're not cremating, I need to know when the worms start feasting.
You don't.
I don't.
Then you can make like ashes and scatter.
Worms, truth.
My wife's lasagna with sympathy.
- Thank you, Clay.
- Uh, full disclosure.
It's veggie lasagna.
It's not great.
- Well, thank you.
- Reggie, I got some unwelcome news.
You gonna make me eat this now? There was a dashboard video from the truck.
My contacts at the Atlanta Police Department have seen it.
Your uncle ran the red light.
The accident was Julius' fault.
He wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Also, there was marijuana in the car and along with a pipe.
Mm, apart from that, though, he's completely blameless? Oh.
I want to see that video.
I shall arrange it.
And the truck driver was clean? He passed every test.
Said he had plenty of rest.
His, uh, blood was clean.
Skid marks showed a quick reaction and every effort to stop.
They have telemetry on all these things, Reggie.
Truck driver's completely traumatized.
Do we know if the poor traumatized trucker was speeding? He was not.
Again, they they have the measurements.
- I'm very sorry, Reggie.
- [Laughs.]
I wish that made me feel better.
Is there anything I can do for you? Raise my uncle from the dead and make the accident not his fault.
Short of that, eat some of this fucking food.
Did Julius talk to you about God? Julius was Julius.
He'd eat, play dominoes with the other men.
- Julius hung out with the priests? - Oh, no, no.
I'm talking about the Monday night men's meal.
- Oh.
- I'm proud to say it's considered the best meal for the homeless in this city.
Atlanta's homeless people are on Yelp now? Not proud that as a society we still have so many homeless, but as Jesus said, "The poor will always be with you.
" Julius was a good man.
Uh, he just never told us that he was volunteering to feed the homeless.
He never boasted.
Cassie, he wasn't a volunteer.
He was homeless.
He came here to eat.
That lying mother [phone buzzes.]
Hey.
Hey.
How you doing? Not great.
Yeah.
You? Not great.
Sorry I've been quiet today.
Dealing with the funeral.
I understand.
No worries.
You want to come to the game tonight? I would.
I would.
All right, I'll leave you tix.
You want me to send a car service for you? No, I'm my dad got me a rental car.
- Cool.
- Okay.
- Have a good game.
- Thanks.
See you after.
We're up to 11 so far.
Everyone's touched to be included.
And everyone's upset.
This one guy, Pookie, was very, very upset.
It's Poo-kie.
Spelled like cookie.
Yeah, but it's pronounced Poo-kie.
The word poo is right there, Missy.
Okay, well, however he and everyone else wants to pronounce it wrong, he's getting a ride to the airport in Boston with, uh, Rome, Silk, Yayo and Cakebread.
Rome is a good dude.
Cakebread, not so much.
And Yayo, I don't know.
Um, Cassie gave me all these nicknames and numbers, but I need real names for reservations at the W.
The W? No, no, no.
Absolutely not.
We're not putting these fools up at the W.
The Hampton Inn or Courtyard Marriott if we get a rate.
And did you tell them that they're in charge of incidentals or any smoking fees or extra room cleaning fees? - I did not.
- Missy, you I am a stranger calling to tell them their friend has died.
Oh, real quick.
- Uh, T-Low does not have a phone.
- Course he doesn't.
So you have to text Jemarius and get his Aunt Carol's number.
Call Aunt Carol's phone, leave a message, and then T-Low will call you back from Aunt Carol's landline or a pay phone if he finds one.
All right.
I know, it's a lot to absorb.
No, it's fine.
I don't mind doing all this for T-Low.
You know what, Missy? I'd like to take some time to absorb all this fucking shit myself without putting up 20 dudes from Boston.
Looking more like 12 or 13.
No, no, hood 12 goes to 25 before you know it.
There'll be people hanging on the wings, - stowing away in the wheel wells.
- Baby.
Baby.
- What? - Come on.
Julius would be happy that his friends are coming.
This ain't for him.
This is for us.
It's for your aunt most of all.
But let's just do what she asked, okay? I have a shuttle van picking them up.
I uh, they leave Boston at noon.
I will check them all in and take them to a family style restaurant.
- All you can eat.
- Okay.
For a flat fee and free refills because these sons of bitches, Missy, they drink soda after soda after soda.
They're like soda camels.
Soda camels? They'll take advantage, okay? This Okay.
It's okay.
This is like our wedding except it's not fun.
It'll be fun again.
Just not now.
[sighs.]
So what do you think about the dress? I think it's sexy.
It's a funeral.
I'm not going for sexy.
Then you cannot go to the funeral.
In fact, you cannot go anywhere.
So I shouldn't show any part of my titties? To me, yes.
To the funeral, no.
[doorbell rings.]
Oh, jeez.
Look, if you got food, please send it back.
It looks like Costco fucked the Epcot Center in here.
Hello.
My name is Dr.
Lang from the hospital last night.
I'm here because I feel terrible about how I delivered the news about your uncle.
No worries.
You you did great.
I did not.
I strive to be the best I can and I was not that.
Your family deserved better.
Did you come here to start a fucking argument? - No.
- Okay, was it great? Maybe great's not the right word.
Is there room for improvement? I'm not here to judge, but, yes, definitely.
It was a shitty thing, it's a shitty job.
Not that the job is shitty, it's just this whole thing, it's all shitty.
Except this.
This I'm sure your being here is violating some sort of official code of conduct, but probably more so 'cause corporations need to cover their ass than genuine human kindness.
You didn't have to do it, so it's great that you felt it and did it and didn't have to.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I believe you.
Thank you.
Me, too.
Thank you.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Bows.
We're bowing.
Good.
[reporters clamoring.]
Morgan? Cam, 51 points.
10 out of 12 three-pointers.
Tell us what you were feeling.
My teammates moved the ball well.
Team defense.
It was a good team win.
You scored half the points.
The guys got me open looks.
[reporters clamoring.]
Yes? Cam, your uncle passed last night.
So do you think your uncle was watching over you? You know, helping those shots fall? Ha ha, yeah! Cake, not the time for selfies.
Well, thank you for the private jet etiquette, but it's not every day we get to fly in a jet.
You ain't in it yet and you won't be if you don't put this away.
- You don't get to make up the rules.
- This rule is already made.
When you going to your friend's funeral, you don't celebrate shit.
What if I don't smile? You think Julius wouldn't have had this shit all over Instagram? Come on now.
CAM: On behalf of my mother and my family, I look out, I see a lot of a lot of faces.
Some from the team and from the arena.
I just want to thank everybody for being here.
My Uncle Julius was was a great man.
And what made him great was his boundless love that he had for his family.
All he wanted was for his sister and his his sister's kids to to be happy, safe, and to be healthy.
And he strove to make that want real.
He liked food and dancing and food and and music and food and dominoes and sleeping and hard work, you know, which he did a lot of until I I went pro and I told him he can quit.
Quit his job, but he never quit being there for us.
Kids need grown-ups to impart certain things about life and my mother was amazing at that.
She she gave me my fierceness, my drive, and my resilience.
But when your father's not in your life the way my father wasn't, my mom knew that we we needed a man to fill those undefinable yet necessary wisdom gaps that a young you know, young idiot like me needs to to make his way through life.
When your mom is breaking her back working and providing, who might pick up that dude slack? Who's gonna be that man to be the man? And for my sister, for me, for Reggie, that that man was Uncle Julius.
Uncle J didn't he didn't try to be a dad.
He couldn't be.
You know, he didn't want to be.
Uncle J considered himself to be a walking miracle.
He was a 45-year-old straight black male who didn't have any kids.
[laughter.]
And despite his appearance, he was responsible.
But if you're here and you're a secret kid, - you can see me after.
- [Laughter.]
- Uncle J was he was a friend.
- MEN: Yeah.
CAM: You know, he was a coach.
He was a secret keeper.
He was the most loyal man that I knew.
He was just an uncle.
Someone who was there, you know, stepping in, stepping up.
Always.
Sometimes that's all you really need from an uncle.
Someone who's there, someone who's available and who's interested in who you're becoming and where you want to go, who you want to be.
My Uncle Julius was there always.
And now he's not.
That's the hardest part.
It's okay, baby.
It's okay.
Think I got a shot with M-Chuck? Julius said it'll never happen.
No, what he said was over his dead body.
[people chatting.]
They say only the good die young, so I knew Julius would live forever - because he wasn't shit.
- [Laughs.]
Thanks, Cake.
I really needed that.
But, you know, baby girl, if you need anything else.
Cake.
You still on your woman thing? It's not a thing.
It's me.
All right.
But, hey, look, if you ever think about getting it in with a real man, - can I get first dibs? - No.
There's nothing wrong with real D.
I could be like your personal trainer.
Not now, not ever.
- The future's unwritten.
- [Groans.]
Mary Charles, did he just say something I need to beat the fuck out of him for? Thanks, Pookie, but I don't think the fuck can be beaten out of Cakebread.
That's the thing.
Beckwith told me there's dashboard cam video.
Uncle J ran a red light.
Crash is his fault.
You know, the two of you did really, really good today.
Thanks.
It's a nice party, right? Party? Cam, Reggie.
- It's me, Squeeze.
- Holy shit, Squeeze.
- Yo.
- Hey, man.
I know I wasn't invited, but I took the Greyhound 'cause I wanted to pay my respects.
I'm sorry I missed the funeral.
Fucking bus made so many stops, man.
Spent more time stopped than driving.
But your uncle, man, he made it so I didn't get kicked out of the army.
He was so cool to me when he was dating my mom.
He made my life.
Dude, thanks for the effort, man.
And welcome.
We appreciate it.
Shit hit me hard.
I still got the ugly cry face, but I'm gonna keep it together.
I don't want to scare none of these folks.
Ah, there's plenty of people crying and laughing, too.
- Telling stories.
- Yeah, let's get you something to eat, man.
Is all this food free? - [laughing.]
- Jimmy, I didn't know you were a burner.
Oh, there's a lot you don't know about me, Chen.
Let's keep it that way.
[laughing.]
When Reggie and I first dated, he bought me a diamond necklace.
- I didn't accept it.
- Why not? Because it was extravagant.
And like you, I'm not the kind of woman distracted by extravagance.
Right thought, right actions, sincerity of mind and heart these are the things that I need from a man.
And I got them.
Diamonds can come in time.
You were right to turn down that car.
You hear me? [sighs.]
[glass clinking.]
Oh, this glass got that good clink.
People we appreciate your outpouring of love for Julius.
If there's one thing my brother knew how to do, it was how to have a good time.
So I don't care how down y'all are, but for Julius' sake, we are gonna turn up.
This is how we do it - - Watch over us.
This is how we do it Sha la la la la la lo Shabada lo lo lo whoa This is how we do it Man, don't make me drink alone.
[sighs.]
This is gonna be difficult.
Life is for the living.
We got to still live.
To Uncle J.
I'm kind of buzzed and it's all because This is how we do it South Central does it like nobody does This is how we do it To all my neighbors, you got much flavor This is how we do it Let's flip the track, bring the old school back This is how we do it - This is how we do it - Man, thank you so much.
All hands are in the air And wave 'em from here to there If you're an OG mack or a wannabe player You see the hood's been good to me Here, Father.
I've been collecting change.
Give it to your biggest alcoholic.
They're the happiest homeless.
- Thank you, Julius.
- Yeah.
You got anything special for me? Sure, I do.
Lookie here, lookie here.
Mmm.
Yeah, you got something to cut it with? Oh, will this prayer card work? Oh, yeah.
Is water wet? [chuckles.]
- Who is this? - That's St.
Francis.
Oh, St.
Francis.
The one that messed with the animals? - Yes.
- Oh, okay.
Well, his name is St.
El Choppo now.
- Oh.
- Yes.
And I have something here that'll make a nun get naked.
This is how we do it All hands are in the air And wave 'em from here to there If you're an OG mack or a wannabe player You see the hood's been good to me Ever since I was a lower-case G But now I'm a big G, the girls see I got the money Hundred dollar bills, y'all If you were from where I'm from Then you would know That I got to get mine in a big, black truck You can get yours in a '64 Whatever it is, the party's underway So tip up your cup and throw your hands up And let me hear the party say I'm kind of buzzed, it's all because This is how we do it South Central does it like nobody does This is how we do it To all my neighbors, you got much flavor This is how we do it Let's flip the track, bring the old school back This is how we
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