The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022) s01e06 Episode Script
The Legacy of Ptolemy Grey
1
Pity!
Pity! Pity!
- Stop it! Stop it!
- Let me go! I have to.
No! We got to save her, Mama! We got to! - No! Stop! Stop it! Stop it, baby.
- No! Let me go! Pity! Pity! Pity! Maude! Maude! Help! Pity! Pity! Pity! Pity.
Pity.
Don't be scared, Maude.
Don't be scared.
Come on.
No, no, no.
No, get off! Get off me! Please.
Baby! Let me get my baby! Let me go get my baby! My baby! Somebody get my baby! We can stop now, Pity.
Good morning.
Hey.
Mmm.
Oh, you feel hot.
Ah, been running through fire.
Tar paper shack up in flames.
My little girlfriend, Maude Petit, was in there, about to burn up.
I run in and saved her.
Oh, that sound like a good dream this time.
Mmm, I don't know if I'd call it that, but it was a long time coming.
Yeah, well, whatever it was, you seem nice and calm.
That's new.
Yeah, well, not up here.
Mmm.
I remember 54, 55 years ago, I was reading this comic book about Thor, Norse god of thunder.
His old man, Odin, had a a chair, a throne.
Throne was named Hlidskjalf.
And when Odin sat on that throne, he could see everything, everywhere, all at once.
That's how I feel up here.
Maude and my mama.
Sensia.
You.
- Me? - Mm-hmm.
You ain't even known me a month.
Wouldn't be no me sitting here if you wasn't sitting next to me.
Is I'm still hot? Yeah.
Take some of this water.
It's for your pill.
Oh.
I'm gonna go take a shower.
Oh, um, Ms.
Shirley Wring called.
Aha, W-R-I-N-G! Yes.
Hello? It's me, Ptolemy.
I knew who it was.
I knew it was you before the phone rang.
What can I do for you, Ms.
Wring? - You can say "yes.
" - Yes.
Don't you even wanna know what you saying yes about? Mmm, sure I do, but if I say yes now or after, it won't make no difference.
You kinda crazy, ain't you, Ptolemy Grey? I am, but it's the crazy what keeps me going.
Well, if it keeps you going to having lunch with me, I'm thinking Monique's Tea House on Hill Street.
I'll be at my apartment, two o'clock.
Can it wait? Just a day.
I'm taking some new medication, and it's kinda getting the best of me right now.
- So, tomorrow? - Without a doubt.
- One o'clock? - I'll be there.
- Bye, Ptolemy.
- Bye, Shirley.
Bye, Shirley.
Oh, I'll be out your way in a sec.
Just wanted to use the mirror real quick.
I like that one.
Yeah? I wasn't too sure about it at first, but, I don't know, maybe.
How's Ms.
Wring? Invited me to tea.
- Tea? - This afternoon.
All right, well, if y'all excited then⦠How long you and Roger gonna be out this afternoon? Oh, I don't know.
Why? Well, I was thinking maybe after lunch, I'd come home, do a little entertaining.
Define "entertaining.
" Man got to have some secrets, ain't he? All right, well, you keep all your secrets.
What kinda time you need? Well, lunch ought to be over about 3:00.
I'd say, oh, couple more hours.
A couple of hou Okay.
Well, don't hurt yourself, Uncle.
I ain't gonna make no promises on that count.
Hi.
How you doing? - Fine, you? - Good.
- You all right? - Yeah, I'm fine.
Hey, Pitypapa.
If you had a free day, rent paid, money in the bank⦠â¦what would you do? I'd get us up before the sun.
Mmm.
Take the bus down to Lake Altoona.
We'd take off our socks and shoes, walk down to the shoreline, watch the sunrise.
That all? Then we'd go to a museum, surround ourselves with the beauty of art.
Yeah.
Mr.
Grey.
Good morning.
- What's your name? - Hernandez.
Pleased to meet you, Mr.
Hernandez.
No, Mr.
Grey.
Not Mr.
Hernandez, just Hernandez.
I like that name.
You from around these parts, Hernandez? Ah, 40 years here.
Thirty-eight, really.
When I was seven, my parents came up from a farm in the south of Mexico.
Ah, still speak Spanish? Nah, just got this accent is all.
Eh, I know some words.
Funny, the things that stay with you, huh? Yeah.
Yeah, it's funny.
Excuse me.
Them eyes there, w-what do you see? I-I don't, eh I mean, w-when you look ab about the eyes, just tell me what you see.
Uh⦠â¦I don't know.
Um, determination, maybe? - Conviction.
Defiance.
- No, no, no.
I mean, yeah, y-y-you You probably right.
But⦠â¦wha-what what I meant was⦠the color.
W-When you look around his eyes, what what what what color is that? Um, blue? - Blue? - Blue.
Blue⦠- Sure is.
- Yeah.
Blue.
Thank you, ma'am.
No problem.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
Look at you, boy.
There you go.
Let's get it.
Mm-hmm.
Go on.
Cast it.
Get a good one.
Come on.
You can do better than that.
Why are we sl stopping? 'Cause we're here, Mr.
Grey.
- Where's here? - Lake Altoona.
That's where you said you wanted to go next, no? Uh Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Yep, sure did.
Pretty.
Seen prettier, but it'll do.
It's almost time.
Mm-hmm, I know.
Best be getting home.
One last thing, then I'll be there.
I promise.
Don't be too long, okay, Pity? I'll try.
Here we are, Mr.
Grey.
Home again, home again.
Thank you, Hernandez.
Been a pleasure.
Likewise.
This here⦠This here's for you.
Thank you, but no tips.
Against regulations.
Oh, well, don't think of it as a tip, you know, think of it as a a favor or extended services.
Now, there's gonna be a man, a severe-looking man with spiky hair, gonna gonna come down here to my apartment building door.
What's this about, Mr.
Grey? Oh, it ain't nothing for you to worry about.
It's It's It's just that when he comes in, I'd like for you to wait, like, five minutes and start blowing your horn like you came to pick me up or something.
You know, blow your horn like the world coming to an end.
Blow it like the devil, all right? That's it? That's all you want me to do? Yes, sir, that's it.
If you can find it in your heart to do that for me, you'll make an old man happy.
I'll do it for you, Mr.
Grey.
No need to pay me.
Thank you.
Thank you, Hernandez.
That That's That's very kind of you.
I appreciate it.
Yes, sir.
- You have a good evening.
- You too.
Two plus nine equals 11.
Two plus nine equals 11.
Robyn.
I'm sitting here waiting Waiting for the truth.
Even though I can remember all the way back now⦠â¦I don't know for a fact what happened.
And a man needs to know the truth.
I know I do, so I can act accordingly.
I'm I'm sorry for what's about to happen here today.
But I got to set things right.
That motherfucker got to pay for what he done.
I know this ain't what you wanted⦠but ain't no other way.
That's him.
The truth in a man's body.
I know you in there, old man.
I love you, Robyn.
- Who is it? - You know damn well who it is.
Open the goddamn door! Come on in.
It's open.
Have a seat, Mr.
Gulla.
When I was a boy in Burdette, Mississippi, old men used to tell us boy children not to drink liquor out of no bottle that wasn't sealed.
Oh, yeah? Now, why's that? Well, back then, men had enemies put a dram of poison in your liquor in a minute.
Yeah, but you's drinking from the same bottle.
Did you see me drink? You better stop fucking around, old man.
You're liable to get yourself hurt.
See, and that right there is another reason might be poison in that bottle.
Like you say, I'm old, throwing my life away just to ease the pain.
You telling me you put something in this whiskey? You kill my nephew? I ain't trying to poison you, Alfred.
Hmm.
You better not.
Oh, I see you looking at my gold coins.
Thinking about taking them? Doing more than thinking.
Besides, what good they gonna do you? Hmm? What you gonna do? Travel off to Vegas, sow your wild oats, nigga? You so old your dick don't get hard no more.
Matter of fact, what Nina told me, you can't even go outside 'cause there's some woman that come and rob you every time she fucking see you.
Now, imagine that.
Grown man scared of a bitch.
This nigga ought to be bullwhipped.
What would you do if you had these coins? Take 'em to a Jew jeweler.
If it's real gold, I sell it for weight.
Exactly what I expect a fool to say.
- And who the fuck you calling a fool? - You.
Look at these doubloons.
They old.
Real old.
Mmm, original American coins.
Collector's items.
One of these worth more than $40,000 to a collector.
Four for the gold they made out of.
All right.
Well, you give 'em to me, and I'll get a collector to buy 'em.
I can fix it so you'd get one of these every month, or its value, for the next year.
I can do that.
All you gotta do is answer my question.
- Thought you already knew the answer.
- I do.
But I wanna hear it come out your mouth.
Now, why the fuck would I do something like that? Same reason your Black ass is here.
For the money.
Two coins every month, or their value, for a year.
Watch it, son.
This ain't no joke.
Yeah.
Yeah, I killed your poor little nephew.
Shot him dead in the head 'cause he tried to take my girl away.
Now I got his house.
I got his woman, my woman.
Driving in his car.
Sleeping in his bed.
His child and mine, both of them call me daddy.
Wh-Wh-What? Who saw me in that alley? Pull out your gun, boy! Draw on him.
Hey! Look here.
Who saw me in that alley? Newspapers didn't say nothing about no damn witnesses.
Do you believe in the devil, Mr.
Gulla? I got your devil right here.
Yeah.
Now, I'ma take these gold coins.
And I think I'ma go ahead and stay with Nina, yeah? And then you gonna tell me who saw me that night.
I ain't telling your punk ass shit.
Now⦠â¦if you don't give me that money and tell me what I wanna know, I'ma choke your old ass out.
And then I'ma beat that stuck-up bitch, Robyn, till she give up all your gold coins and secrets.
Robyn, no! Oh.
Oh, man.
- Oh, you're strong for an old man, huh? - That's why I'm still here.
Yeah, you think you can beat me? I don't know about that, but I can sure as hell shoot your ass.
Hey⦠â¦hold on, old man.
Sensia shot her husband with this here.
Uh-huh.
Hey, hey! Sh What? You mother Oh, I couldn't let him hurt Robyn.
Get him, boy! Get him before he escape! Hurry up! Ah, no, no, no.
Oh, God.
Mama? You can't let him hurt Robyn.
Sensia? He ain't no better than the men who lynched me.
No, Pity.
No! We can go swimming.
Stop them men from fighting.
You always told me, Unc⦠family all you got.
- Come on, baby.
- Get him, boy.
Hey! Fucking Somebody! He don't look right.
Fuck! Ow! Oh, God.
- What's this? - Someone help me.
- Somebody help me.
- Hey, call an ambulance! - What you doing? - I'm trying to help you.
Get off.
That's my shit, man.
Give - I'm trying to get help for you! Stop! - I'ma fucking kill you.
Stop! Let me go! Give it! Let me go! Let me go! Hey! You You! You, g-get away from that man, thief! Get away! I'm gonna call an ambulance.
Fuck you! Oh, God.
You I got you.
I got your ass.
I got I got him, Reggie.
I He gonna pay.
That's right.
You're gon Run.
Ru Run.
That's right, run.
Please help me.
I ca I c I got this this this motherfucker.
He gonna He He gonna pay.
He He gonna pay.
Look out, boy! Coy? - It's over, Pity.
- Put down the weapon! - It's over.
- I got it.
Mr.
Grey.
Mr.
Grey, I need you to lower that weapon.
Need you to do it right now.
You understand me? I see you, Mr.
Grey.
I see you.
I got you.
I got you.
I got you.
- He's clear.
- I got you.
Oh, Lord.
Lord.
Oh, Lord.
Oh, Lord.
Lord have mercy.
I got you, Mr.
Grey.
Walk with me.
All right? Walk with me.
Walk with me.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney⦠Mr.
Grey? Mr.
Grey, can you hear me? Mr.
Grey.
Satan.
Is we in hell? How are you? Mmm.
Beat the devil.
Ain't that something? Yes, you did.
How you feeling, Pity? C-Coy Coydog.
I d I done I done what you asked, and and the treasure stayed a treasure 'cause it was anointed in blood.
I always knew you would.
Hey, old man.
Reggie! Reggie! How you feel? Oh, Reggie.
Reggie, I'm so sorry.
Sorry about what? I Oh, I I I forget.
Ain't nothing to be sorry about, Uncle.
You did the best you could.
I I guess I did, huh? Don't fight it, Uncle.
I can get that for you.
Robyn.
First bird of spring.
All rise.
Sit, please.
I have studied the briefs presented, and it seems clear to me that after this meeting, I will be able to adjudicate this case in its entirety.
Well, I would like to take this opportunity to renew my objection to the special entry into evidence Ms.
Barnet's team offers.
Your Honor, it is stated clearly in Mr.
Ptolemy Grey's will if a suit is brought against his wishes, this testimony must be brought to light.
After all, we are here to test the viability of his last wishes.
You don't need to tell me why we're here, Ms.
Liem.
I see no reason why Mr.
Grey's request cannot be entered into evidence.
No matter what Ms.
Barnet or her lawyers say, there can be only one resolution as to the question of the validity of Mr.
Grey's so-called last wishes.
I have here 33 statements from neighbors, friends, from business owners from around Mr.
Grey's neighborhood.
They all say, without exception, that Mr.
Grey was showing signs of what the law understands as non compos mentis for at least the last six years.
A time well before Ms.
Barnet ever met him.
Mr.
Grey's family has taken comprehensive care of all of his needs.
The only reason Ms.
Barnet ever became aware of him is because Hilda Brown asked her to look after him once.
That's right.
Whatever Ptolemy Grey leaves to this world should go to his family and to the people who actually care about him.
Not to some young woman who obviously took advantage of a confused old man.
Mr.
Abromovitz, what do you say about Mr.
Malman's claims? Uh, Ptolemy told me his family might dispute the will using just these arguments.
I suggested he go see Angela Liem in order to rebuff any notion that he was mentally challenged in any way.
I have three red apples, two oranges, and a sausage link I bought at the market.
Oh, well, when I was a kid, a sausage link and some homemade applesauce would have made my day.
Uh, how many apples do I have? Uh, is I'm talking to you or to the camera? To me is great.
Um, well, you you said you had three, so I guess I got to believe you.
What is today's date? Today's date is April 21, 2021.
That's three days after my sister June's birthday.
You remember that, Niecie? What is your full name? My name is Ptolemy Roberts Grey.
Ptolemy, after a Greek king of Egypt who was also Cleopatra's father.
Uh, Roberts, which was my mother's maiden name, her family name.
And Grey after my father, who I never had a chance to meet.
Do you know why we're here today, Mr.
Grey? Yeah, in order for me to make a binding will, I have to prove that I'm in my right mind, of sound mind.
You are aware of the video camera recording our conversation? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, this is my first time being on video camera.
When I was a child in Mississippi, precious few people even had a regular camera.
So, it's all right with you that I use this method to prove that you are not experiencing any mental difficulties at this time? Oh, yes, ma'am.
Mm-hmm.
- So, you wanna make a trust? - Yes, I do.
And I want to make, um, Robyn Barnet my trustee.
I mean, not that she'll own everything, but that she'll be the one to say what happen to it.
And do you feel that your family does not deserve what you leave behind? Oh, no, it ain't like that.
I mean, they they good people, for the most part.
But I-I just want Robyn to be the one in charge of the money on a month-to-month and to make sure that the money is there for Reggie's kids when they wanna go to college and to probably put a little money on on Hilliard's books when he eventually go to prison.
And why do you want Ms.
Barnet to be in charge, Mr.
Grey? Oh, well, Robyn the kinda person gotta be in charge of where she at.
You know, she make sure everybody's okay before she go to sleep at night.
You know, order just come natural to her.
And, you know, she ain't wasteful or frivolous.
Can I Can I say something personal to her? Go ahead.
Robyn⦠â¦I want you to know that because of who you are and the things that you've done, I know that Coy would be glad that I'm leaving his legacy in your hands.
You saved me.
You helped me keep my promise.
And I want you to know that all them years before you, they mean nothing.
I love you, Bird.
Well, obviously, we reserve the right to investigate all documents and to have our experts evaluate this this evidence.
But there are other issues at hand here.
Such as? Such as the age of this woman.
- She's a teenage girl.
- I'm 18 years old.
A teenage girl, with barely an equivalency high school degree, who, by the way, assaulted my clients with a deadly weapon.
Objection.
There is no evidence that Ms.
Barnet has ever attacked anyone.
No police report, no 911 call She was seen chasing a woman down the street, beating her with a chair.
Hearsay.
She never went to see Mr.
Grey in the sanatorium.
That's because they Because Mr.
Grey's blood family was given temporary conservatorship, and they banned Ms.
Barnet from even visiting him.
- For six months.
- And then there's this lawyer.
He has held the purse strings to Mr.
Grey's trust for over half a year.
Working in close contact with Ms.
Barnet, he has given the plaintiffs almost nothing and refuses to release a schedule of distribution.
That is as Mr.
Grey wished it.
- Oh, so you say.
- Are you calling me a liar, Malman? - Oh, please.
Come on now.
- Gentlemen, please, sit down.
Look, all I'm saying, Your Honor, is that this is an age-old case of a young woman seducing an older man for his money.
You're going after her.
You're going after me.
Gentlemen, sit down! Please, sit down.
Or I will have you both held in contempt.
It's time for lunch.
Let's take a recess and reconvene at 2:30.
Uh, Ms.
Barnet.
Do you mind staying for a bit to talk? Did you threaten Hilda and her son? You're trying to trick me.
- No.
I'm just trying to understand.
- Understand what? Oh, this whole case is odd.
Dementia that momentarily disappears, an old man with billions of dollars and no formal education.
Well, Papa Grey finished the third grade, and then he read books for the rest of his life, so⦠What about you? Your father shot down in the streets and your mother a prostitute.
You know, there was this, um This white man who used to pay my mother, and he came over to the house one day when she was out.
He tried to rip off my clothes.
I pull out a knife.
He cut me here before I could lay a lamp upside his head.
I stabbed him eight times.
And it was only a white man's luck that he didn't die.
But my mother's face when she saw me, she pulled it together, she sewed me up herself.
She did what she could.
I don't care what my mother was.
She loved me.
So did Mr.
Grey, it seems.
I've never known anybody like him.
He waited his whole life to do right, and he made it by a hair.
- He murdered Alfred Gulla.
- Yeah, well, Alfred deserved it.
May Maybe you should have your lawyer present.
Why? Because you just admitted to assault.
So, what? You gonna throw me in jail? I might decide against you in the hearing.
- Oh, I don't care about that.
- You don't want the money? What I want? I want my degree in astronomy, and I want a seat on Elon Musk's flight to Mars.
If you don't want the money, why are you here? It's because I love Papa Grey.
And I know he would've wanted me to stand up for myself and represent him.
What if I decide that you should oversee Mr.
Grey's trust? I didn't know about the recording he made.
Before I saw that, I was I was pretty sure that that you were gonna decide for Niecie and 'em.
And Mr.
Abromovitz told me that they might could, um, break the will.
So, I already made my peace with it.
But what if the decision goes to you? I have three and a half years of college to get a BS, and then between four and six years for graduate school after that.
So, in in ten years I'll have my education, and Artie and Latisha will just be getting ready for college.
And by then, Hilly would have either made something of himself or he'd be in jail, and And Ms.
Wring will probably be dead.
So, if that's all Papa Grey wanted⦠Robyn.
Uh, you can go on.
Are you sure you're all right? Yeah.
We ain't blood, but she 'bout the closest thing I got.
Okay.
Um, Mr.
Malman said we can dispute the decision.
I don't wanna fight you, Auntie Niecie.
So, if you need to go back to court, that's on you.
- How much? - What? How much? Okay.
Um, enough to pay your bills and Nina's too.
Enough to get the kids through college, Hilly too if that's something he wants.
And Papa Grey asked me to start a leadership grant for young Black people trying to do better.
I'm gonna talk to Mr.
Abromovitz about starting a foundation and putting most of the money into that.
- Okay? - He's my blood, Robyn, not yours.
Then how come you never treated him like blood? You think I didn't treat Papa Grey If you'd stepped one foot in that apartment, you'd be overseeing his affairs, not me.
You have some damn nerve, little girl.
Telling me what you think I did and didn't do for Papa Grey all these years.
Years.
You understand that? Not weeks.
I'm sorry about what happened to you Right.
- I am.
- Mm-hmm.
And maybe I could've done better by you.
I see that now, but⦠Robyn, I took you into my home.
- Then you kicked me out! - Because I was trying to protect you.
- How do you not see that? - Whatever.
'Cause Papa Grey didn't even know me, and he took me in.
He didn't want nothing from me, and I didn't want nothing from him.
Come on, please.
Please.
I'm not trying to hurt you.
I'm just I'm just following what Papa Grey wrote down.
I I gotta do that.
I missed you.
And I gotta keep fighting.
- But - I got to do that.
Hey.
Hey.
Are you okay? Yeah, I'm good.
Thank you.
Papa Grey? Papa Grey.
Papa Grey.
Hi.
- B-Bird? - Yeah.
First bird of spring.
Yes.
How you feeling, Uncle? There's devils in here.
Girl, you better get out of here before they lock you up too.
You see how they got me tied up to this here chair? - Yeah.
- Yeah.
N-No.
No, no, no.
Th-This a It's a bed.
- A bed.
Yeah.
- Yeah.
But we gonna get you back to your old apartment.
And I'm gonna take care of you.
And so is Ms.
Shirley Wring.
Huh? Huh? W-R-I-N-G.
W W-R-I⦠W-R-I⦠W-R-I-N⦠- G.
- G.
There was There was a fire.
Big one.
It last forever.
The The devil come up out of it⦠- Mm-hmm.
- â¦but I ain't tell him nothing.
Mmm.
I'm a big boy.
Yes, you are.
I I saved Maude Petit.
Mm-hmm.
I runned in the fire.
I just took her out.
Our clothes had smoke all over them.
Mm-hmm.
Hey.
But now everything is okay.
It is? Yeah.
It is.
Everything okay.
- That's a book? - Mm-hmm.
I could read some of it if you like.
Okay.
"There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the shore.
" "And they all come from the same place.
" You know where that place is, Uncle? Home.
Yeah.
Don't cry.
Home.
One thing you gotta remember, Pity, is that we born dying.
Every gasp we take is one gasp closer to eternity.
If you deny that, then life lose all its purpose.
You gotta take life with death if you wanna have any chance to be a man.
But I miss Maude.
And now she gone forever.
You remember how she sounded when she'd laugh? Hmm? You remember you and her running out here on the Tickle River here, laughing and splashing? One time we grabbed a napping catfish and dragged him up onto the bank before he could do nothing.
Mama made us catfish stew that night, and we helped.
Well, that's the magic of life.
As long as you can think of your little girlfriend and smile, then⦠â¦somewhere she's smiling too.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
No! We got to save her, Mama! We got to! - No! Stop! Stop it! Stop it, baby.
- No! Let me go! Pity! Pity! Pity! Maude! Maude! Help! Pity! Pity! Pity! Pity.
Pity.
Don't be scared, Maude.
Don't be scared.
Come on.
No, no, no.
No, get off! Get off me! Please.
Baby! Let me get my baby! Let me go get my baby! My baby! Somebody get my baby! We can stop now, Pity.
Good morning.
Hey.
Mmm.
Oh, you feel hot.
Ah, been running through fire.
Tar paper shack up in flames.
My little girlfriend, Maude Petit, was in there, about to burn up.
I run in and saved her.
Oh, that sound like a good dream this time.
Mmm, I don't know if I'd call it that, but it was a long time coming.
Yeah, well, whatever it was, you seem nice and calm.
That's new.
Yeah, well, not up here.
Mmm.
I remember 54, 55 years ago, I was reading this comic book about Thor, Norse god of thunder.
His old man, Odin, had a a chair, a throne.
Throne was named Hlidskjalf.
And when Odin sat on that throne, he could see everything, everywhere, all at once.
That's how I feel up here.
Maude and my mama.
Sensia.
You.
- Me? - Mm-hmm.
You ain't even known me a month.
Wouldn't be no me sitting here if you wasn't sitting next to me.
Is I'm still hot? Yeah.
Take some of this water.
It's for your pill.
Oh.
I'm gonna go take a shower.
Oh, um, Ms.
Shirley Wring called.
Aha, W-R-I-N-G! Yes.
Hello? It's me, Ptolemy.
I knew who it was.
I knew it was you before the phone rang.
What can I do for you, Ms.
Wring? - You can say "yes.
" - Yes.
Don't you even wanna know what you saying yes about? Mmm, sure I do, but if I say yes now or after, it won't make no difference.
You kinda crazy, ain't you, Ptolemy Grey? I am, but it's the crazy what keeps me going.
Well, if it keeps you going to having lunch with me, I'm thinking Monique's Tea House on Hill Street.
I'll be at my apartment, two o'clock.
Can it wait? Just a day.
I'm taking some new medication, and it's kinda getting the best of me right now.
- So, tomorrow? - Without a doubt.
- One o'clock? - I'll be there.
- Bye, Ptolemy.
- Bye, Shirley.
Bye, Shirley.
Oh, I'll be out your way in a sec.
Just wanted to use the mirror real quick.
I like that one.
Yeah? I wasn't too sure about it at first, but, I don't know, maybe.
How's Ms.
Wring? Invited me to tea.
- Tea? - This afternoon.
All right, well, if y'all excited then⦠How long you and Roger gonna be out this afternoon? Oh, I don't know.
Why? Well, I was thinking maybe after lunch, I'd come home, do a little entertaining.
Define "entertaining.
" Man got to have some secrets, ain't he? All right, well, you keep all your secrets.
What kinda time you need? Well, lunch ought to be over about 3:00.
I'd say, oh, couple more hours.
A couple of hou Okay.
Well, don't hurt yourself, Uncle.
I ain't gonna make no promises on that count.
Hi.
How you doing? - Fine, you? - Good.
- You all right? - Yeah, I'm fine.
Hey, Pitypapa.
If you had a free day, rent paid, money in the bank⦠â¦what would you do? I'd get us up before the sun.
Mmm.
Take the bus down to Lake Altoona.
We'd take off our socks and shoes, walk down to the shoreline, watch the sunrise.
That all? Then we'd go to a museum, surround ourselves with the beauty of art.
Yeah.
Mr.
Grey.
Good morning.
- What's your name? - Hernandez.
Pleased to meet you, Mr.
Hernandez.
No, Mr.
Grey.
Not Mr.
Hernandez, just Hernandez.
I like that name.
You from around these parts, Hernandez? Ah, 40 years here.
Thirty-eight, really.
When I was seven, my parents came up from a farm in the south of Mexico.
Ah, still speak Spanish? Nah, just got this accent is all.
Eh, I know some words.
Funny, the things that stay with you, huh? Yeah.
Yeah, it's funny.
Excuse me.
Them eyes there, w-what do you see? I-I don't, eh I mean, w-when you look ab about the eyes, just tell me what you see.
Uh⦠â¦I don't know.
Um, determination, maybe? - Conviction.
Defiance.
- No, no, no.
I mean, yeah, y-y-you You probably right.
But⦠â¦wha-what what I meant was⦠the color.
W-When you look around his eyes, what what what what color is that? Um, blue? - Blue? - Blue.
Blue⦠- Sure is.
- Yeah.
Blue.
Thank you, ma'am.
No problem.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
Look at you, boy.
There you go.
Let's get it.
Mm-hmm.
Go on.
Cast it.
Get a good one.
Come on.
You can do better than that.
Why are we sl stopping? 'Cause we're here, Mr.
Grey.
- Where's here? - Lake Altoona.
That's where you said you wanted to go next, no? Uh Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Yep, sure did.
Pretty.
Seen prettier, but it'll do.
It's almost time.
Mm-hmm, I know.
Best be getting home.
One last thing, then I'll be there.
I promise.
Don't be too long, okay, Pity? I'll try.
Here we are, Mr.
Grey.
Home again, home again.
Thank you, Hernandez.
Been a pleasure.
Likewise.
This here⦠This here's for you.
Thank you, but no tips.
Against regulations.
Oh, well, don't think of it as a tip, you know, think of it as a a favor or extended services.
Now, there's gonna be a man, a severe-looking man with spiky hair, gonna gonna come down here to my apartment building door.
What's this about, Mr.
Grey? Oh, it ain't nothing for you to worry about.
It's It's It's just that when he comes in, I'd like for you to wait, like, five minutes and start blowing your horn like you came to pick me up or something.
You know, blow your horn like the world coming to an end.
Blow it like the devil, all right? That's it? That's all you want me to do? Yes, sir, that's it.
If you can find it in your heart to do that for me, you'll make an old man happy.
I'll do it for you, Mr.
Grey.
No need to pay me.
Thank you.
Thank you, Hernandez.
That That's That's very kind of you.
I appreciate it.
Yes, sir.
- You have a good evening.
- You too.
Two plus nine equals 11.
Two plus nine equals 11.
Robyn.
I'm sitting here waiting Waiting for the truth.
Even though I can remember all the way back now⦠â¦I don't know for a fact what happened.
And a man needs to know the truth.
I know I do, so I can act accordingly.
I'm I'm sorry for what's about to happen here today.
But I got to set things right.
That motherfucker got to pay for what he done.
I know this ain't what you wanted⦠but ain't no other way.
That's him.
The truth in a man's body.
I know you in there, old man.
I love you, Robyn.
- Who is it? - You know damn well who it is.
Open the goddamn door! Come on in.
It's open.
Have a seat, Mr.
Gulla.
When I was a boy in Burdette, Mississippi, old men used to tell us boy children not to drink liquor out of no bottle that wasn't sealed.
Oh, yeah? Now, why's that? Well, back then, men had enemies put a dram of poison in your liquor in a minute.
Yeah, but you's drinking from the same bottle.
Did you see me drink? You better stop fucking around, old man.
You're liable to get yourself hurt.
See, and that right there is another reason might be poison in that bottle.
Like you say, I'm old, throwing my life away just to ease the pain.
You telling me you put something in this whiskey? You kill my nephew? I ain't trying to poison you, Alfred.
Hmm.
You better not.
Oh, I see you looking at my gold coins.
Thinking about taking them? Doing more than thinking.
Besides, what good they gonna do you? Hmm? What you gonna do? Travel off to Vegas, sow your wild oats, nigga? You so old your dick don't get hard no more.
Matter of fact, what Nina told me, you can't even go outside 'cause there's some woman that come and rob you every time she fucking see you.
Now, imagine that.
Grown man scared of a bitch.
This nigga ought to be bullwhipped.
What would you do if you had these coins? Take 'em to a Jew jeweler.
If it's real gold, I sell it for weight.
Exactly what I expect a fool to say.
- And who the fuck you calling a fool? - You.
Look at these doubloons.
They old.
Real old.
Mmm, original American coins.
Collector's items.
One of these worth more than $40,000 to a collector.
Four for the gold they made out of.
All right.
Well, you give 'em to me, and I'll get a collector to buy 'em.
I can fix it so you'd get one of these every month, or its value, for the next year.
I can do that.
All you gotta do is answer my question.
- Thought you already knew the answer.
- I do.
But I wanna hear it come out your mouth.
Now, why the fuck would I do something like that? Same reason your Black ass is here.
For the money.
Two coins every month, or their value, for a year.
Watch it, son.
This ain't no joke.
Yeah.
Yeah, I killed your poor little nephew.
Shot him dead in the head 'cause he tried to take my girl away.
Now I got his house.
I got his woman, my woman.
Driving in his car.
Sleeping in his bed.
His child and mine, both of them call me daddy.
Wh-Wh-What? Who saw me in that alley? Pull out your gun, boy! Draw on him.
Hey! Look here.
Who saw me in that alley? Newspapers didn't say nothing about no damn witnesses.
Do you believe in the devil, Mr.
Gulla? I got your devil right here.
Yeah.
Now, I'ma take these gold coins.
And I think I'ma go ahead and stay with Nina, yeah? And then you gonna tell me who saw me that night.
I ain't telling your punk ass shit.
Now⦠â¦if you don't give me that money and tell me what I wanna know, I'ma choke your old ass out.
And then I'ma beat that stuck-up bitch, Robyn, till she give up all your gold coins and secrets.
Robyn, no! Oh.
Oh, man.
- Oh, you're strong for an old man, huh? - That's why I'm still here.
Yeah, you think you can beat me? I don't know about that, but I can sure as hell shoot your ass.
Hey⦠â¦hold on, old man.
Sensia shot her husband with this here.
Uh-huh.
Hey, hey! Sh What? You mother Oh, I couldn't let him hurt Robyn.
Get him, boy! Get him before he escape! Hurry up! Ah, no, no, no.
Oh, God.
Mama? You can't let him hurt Robyn.
Sensia? He ain't no better than the men who lynched me.
No, Pity.
No! We can go swimming.
Stop them men from fighting.
You always told me, Unc⦠family all you got.
- Come on, baby.
- Get him, boy.
Hey! Fucking Somebody! He don't look right.
Fuck! Ow! Oh, God.
- What's this? - Someone help me.
- Somebody help me.
- Hey, call an ambulance! - What you doing? - I'm trying to help you.
Get off.
That's my shit, man.
Give - I'm trying to get help for you! Stop! - I'ma fucking kill you.
Stop! Let me go! Give it! Let me go! Let me go! Hey! You You! You, g-get away from that man, thief! Get away! I'm gonna call an ambulance.
Fuck you! Oh, God.
You I got you.
I got your ass.
I got I got him, Reggie.
I He gonna pay.
That's right.
You're gon Run.
Ru Run.
That's right, run.
Please help me.
I ca I c I got this this this motherfucker.
He gonna He He gonna pay.
He He gonna pay.
Look out, boy! Coy? - It's over, Pity.
- Put down the weapon! - It's over.
- I got it.
Mr.
Grey.
Mr.
Grey, I need you to lower that weapon.
Need you to do it right now.
You understand me? I see you, Mr.
Grey.
I see you.
I got you.
I got you.
I got you.
- He's clear.
- I got you.
Oh, Lord.
Lord.
Oh, Lord.
Oh, Lord.
Lord have mercy.
I got you, Mr.
Grey.
Walk with me.
All right? Walk with me.
Walk with me.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney⦠Mr.
Grey? Mr.
Grey, can you hear me? Mr.
Grey.
Satan.
Is we in hell? How are you? Mmm.
Beat the devil.
Ain't that something? Yes, you did.
How you feeling, Pity? C-Coy Coydog.
I d I done I done what you asked, and and the treasure stayed a treasure 'cause it was anointed in blood.
I always knew you would.
Hey, old man.
Reggie! Reggie! How you feel? Oh, Reggie.
Reggie, I'm so sorry.
Sorry about what? I Oh, I I I forget.
Ain't nothing to be sorry about, Uncle.
You did the best you could.
I I guess I did, huh? Don't fight it, Uncle.
I can get that for you.
Robyn.
First bird of spring.
All rise.
Sit, please.
I have studied the briefs presented, and it seems clear to me that after this meeting, I will be able to adjudicate this case in its entirety.
Well, I would like to take this opportunity to renew my objection to the special entry into evidence Ms.
Barnet's team offers.
Your Honor, it is stated clearly in Mr.
Ptolemy Grey's will if a suit is brought against his wishes, this testimony must be brought to light.
After all, we are here to test the viability of his last wishes.
You don't need to tell me why we're here, Ms.
Liem.
I see no reason why Mr.
Grey's request cannot be entered into evidence.
No matter what Ms.
Barnet or her lawyers say, there can be only one resolution as to the question of the validity of Mr.
Grey's so-called last wishes.
I have here 33 statements from neighbors, friends, from business owners from around Mr.
Grey's neighborhood.
They all say, without exception, that Mr.
Grey was showing signs of what the law understands as non compos mentis for at least the last six years.
A time well before Ms.
Barnet ever met him.
Mr.
Grey's family has taken comprehensive care of all of his needs.
The only reason Ms.
Barnet ever became aware of him is because Hilda Brown asked her to look after him once.
That's right.
Whatever Ptolemy Grey leaves to this world should go to his family and to the people who actually care about him.
Not to some young woman who obviously took advantage of a confused old man.
Mr.
Abromovitz, what do you say about Mr.
Malman's claims? Uh, Ptolemy told me his family might dispute the will using just these arguments.
I suggested he go see Angela Liem in order to rebuff any notion that he was mentally challenged in any way.
I have three red apples, two oranges, and a sausage link I bought at the market.
Oh, well, when I was a kid, a sausage link and some homemade applesauce would have made my day.
Uh, how many apples do I have? Uh, is I'm talking to you or to the camera? To me is great.
Um, well, you you said you had three, so I guess I got to believe you.
What is today's date? Today's date is April 21, 2021.
That's three days after my sister June's birthday.
You remember that, Niecie? What is your full name? My name is Ptolemy Roberts Grey.
Ptolemy, after a Greek king of Egypt who was also Cleopatra's father.
Uh, Roberts, which was my mother's maiden name, her family name.
And Grey after my father, who I never had a chance to meet.
Do you know why we're here today, Mr.
Grey? Yeah, in order for me to make a binding will, I have to prove that I'm in my right mind, of sound mind.
You are aware of the video camera recording our conversation? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, this is my first time being on video camera.
When I was a child in Mississippi, precious few people even had a regular camera.
So, it's all right with you that I use this method to prove that you are not experiencing any mental difficulties at this time? Oh, yes, ma'am.
Mm-hmm.
- So, you wanna make a trust? - Yes, I do.
And I want to make, um, Robyn Barnet my trustee.
I mean, not that she'll own everything, but that she'll be the one to say what happen to it.
And do you feel that your family does not deserve what you leave behind? Oh, no, it ain't like that.
I mean, they they good people, for the most part.
But I-I just want Robyn to be the one in charge of the money on a month-to-month and to make sure that the money is there for Reggie's kids when they wanna go to college and to probably put a little money on on Hilliard's books when he eventually go to prison.
And why do you want Ms.
Barnet to be in charge, Mr.
Grey? Oh, well, Robyn the kinda person gotta be in charge of where she at.
You know, she make sure everybody's okay before she go to sleep at night.
You know, order just come natural to her.
And, you know, she ain't wasteful or frivolous.
Can I Can I say something personal to her? Go ahead.
Robyn⦠â¦I want you to know that because of who you are and the things that you've done, I know that Coy would be glad that I'm leaving his legacy in your hands.
You saved me.
You helped me keep my promise.
And I want you to know that all them years before you, they mean nothing.
I love you, Bird.
Well, obviously, we reserve the right to investigate all documents and to have our experts evaluate this this evidence.
But there are other issues at hand here.
Such as? Such as the age of this woman.
- She's a teenage girl.
- I'm 18 years old.
A teenage girl, with barely an equivalency high school degree, who, by the way, assaulted my clients with a deadly weapon.
Objection.
There is no evidence that Ms.
Barnet has ever attacked anyone.
No police report, no 911 call She was seen chasing a woman down the street, beating her with a chair.
Hearsay.
She never went to see Mr.
Grey in the sanatorium.
That's because they Because Mr.
Grey's blood family was given temporary conservatorship, and they banned Ms.
Barnet from even visiting him.
- For six months.
- And then there's this lawyer.
He has held the purse strings to Mr.
Grey's trust for over half a year.
Working in close contact with Ms.
Barnet, he has given the plaintiffs almost nothing and refuses to release a schedule of distribution.
That is as Mr.
Grey wished it.
- Oh, so you say.
- Are you calling me a liar, Malman? - Oh, please.
Come on now.
- Gentlemen, please, sit down.
Look, all I'm saying, Your Honor, is that this is an age-old case of a young woman seducing an older man for his money.
You're going after her.
You're going after me.
Gentlemen, sit down! Please, sit down.
Or I will have you both held in contempt.
It's time for lunch.
Let's take a recess and reconvene at 2:30.
Uh, Ms.
Barnet.
Do you mind staying for a bit to talk? Did you threaten Hilda and her son? You're trying to trick me.
- No.
I'm just trying to understand.
- Understand what? Oh, this whole case is odd.
Dementia that momentarily disappears, an old man with billions of dollars and no formal education.
Well, Papa Grey finished the third grade, and then he read books for the rest of his life, so⦠What about you? Your father shot down in the streets and your mother a prostitute.
You know, there was this, um This white man who used to pay my mother, and he came over to the house one day when she was out.
He tried to rip off my clothes.
I pull out a knife.
He cut me here before I could lay a lamp upside his head.
I stabbed him eight times.
And it was only a white man's luck that he didn't die.
But my mother's face when she saw me, she pulled it together, she sewed me up herself.
She did what she could.
I don't care what my mother was.
She loved me.
So did Mr.
Grey, it seems.
I've never known anybody like him.
He waited his whole life to do right, and he made it by a hair.
- He murdered Alfred Gulla.
- Yeah, well, Alfred deserved it.
May Maybe you should have your lawyer present.
Why? Because you just admitted to assault.
So, what? You gonna throw me in jail? I might decide against you in the hearing.
- Oh, I don't care about that.
- You don't want the money? What I want? I want my degree in astronomy, and I want a seat on Elon Musk's flight to Mars.
If you don't want the money, why are you here? It's because I love Papa Grey.
And I know he would've wanted me to stand up for myself and represent him.
What if I decide that you should oversee Mr.
Grey's trust? I didn't know about the recording he made.
Before I saw that, I was I was pretty sure that that you were gonna decide for Niecie and 'em.
And Mr.
Abromovitz told me that they might could, um, break the will.
So, I already made my peace with it.
But what if the decision goes to you? I have three and a half years of college to get a BS, and then between four and six years for graduate school after that.
So, in in ten years I'll have my education, and Artie and Latisha will just be getting ready for college.
And by then, Hilly would have either made something of himself or he'd be in jail, and And Ms.
Wring will probably be dead.
So, if that's all Papa Grey wanted⦠Robyn.
Uh, you can go on.
Are you sure you're all right? Yeah.
We ain't blood, but she 'bout the closest thing I got.
Okay.
Um, Mr.
Malman said we can dispute the decision.
I don't wanna fight you, Auntie Niecie.
So, if you need to go back to court, that's on you.
- How much? - What? How much? Okay.
Um, enough to pay your bills and Nina's too.
Enough to get the kids through college, Hilly too if that's something he wants.
And Papa Grey asked me to start a leadership grant for young Black people trying to do better.
I'm gonna talk to Mr.
Abromovitz about starting a foundation and putting most of the money into that.
- Okay? - He's my blood, Robyn, not yours.
Then how come you never treated him like blood? You think I didn't treat Papa Grey If you'd stepped one foot in that apartment, you'd be overseeing his affairs, not me.
You have some damn nerve, little girl.
Telling me what you think I did and didn't do for Papa Grey all these years.
Years.
You understand that? Not weeks.
I'm sorry about what happened to you Right.
- I am.
- Mm-hmm.
And maybe I could've done better by you.
I see that now, but⦠Robyn, I took you into my home.
- Then you kicked me out! - Because I was trying to protect you.
- How do you not see that? - Whatever.
'Cause Papa Grey didn't even know me, and he took me in.
He didn't want nothing from me, and I didn't want nothing from him.
Come on, please.
Please.
I'm not trying to hurt you.
I'm just I'm just following what Papa Grey wrote down.
I I gotta do that.
I missed you.
And I gotta keep fighting.
- But - I got to do that.
Hey.
Hey.
Are you okay? Yeah, I'm good.
Thank you.
Papa Grey? Papa Grey.
Papa Grey.
Hi.
- B-Bird? - Yeah.
First bird of spring.
Yes.
How you feeling, Uncle? There's devils in here.
Girl, you better get out of here before they lock you up too.
You see how they got me tied up to this here chair? - Yeah.
- Yeah.
N-No.
No, no, no.
Th-This a It's a bed.
- A bed.
Yeah.
- Yeah.
But we gonna get you back to your old apartment.
And I'm gonna take care of you.
And so is Ms.
Shirley Wring.
Huh? Huh? W-R-I-N-G.
W W-R-I⦠W-R-I⦠W-R-I-N⦠- G.
- G.
There was There was a fire.
Big one.
It last forever.
The The devil come up out of it⦠- Mm-hmm.
- â¦but I ain't tell him nothing.
Mmm.
I'm a big boy.
Yes, you are.
I I saved Maude Petit.
Mm-hmm.
I runned in the fire.
I just took her out.
Our clothes had smoke all over them.
Mm-hmm.
Hey.
But now everything is okay.
It is? Yeah.
It is.
Everything okay.
- That's a book? - Mm-hmm.
I could read some of it if you like.
Okay.
"There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the shore.
" "And they all come from the same place.
" You know where that place is, Uncle? Home.
Yeah.
Don't cry.
Home.
One thing you gotta remember, Pity, is that we born dying.
Every gasp we take is one gasp closer to eternity.
If you deny that, then life lose all its purpose.
You gotta take life with death if you wanna have any chance to be a man.
But I miss Maude.
And now she gone forever.
You remember how she sounded when she'd laugh? Hmm? You remember you and her running out here on the Tickle River here, laughing and splashing? One time we grabbed a napping catfish and dragged him up onto the bank before he could do nothing.
Mama made us catfish stew that night, and we helped.
Well, that's the magic of life.
As long as you can think of your little girlfriend and smile, then⦠â¦somewhere she's smiling too.
- Yeah? - Yeah.