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Brotherly Love (2015)
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(music playing) Hey, yo, that's the, uh, food, oh? Go grab that. Give me the money. Go grab that, man. What 'bout Chris? He in the bathroom. That's your cousin. He's not my blood. You back again? How much money you trying to lose? None. (groans) No. (alarm clock ringing) RADIO D.J.: Wake up, Little Joe here. Rise and shine. It's your host with the most. JACKIE: This is my older brother, Eric, but we call him June, short for Junior. He's been taking care of us ever since our dad died. He thought he was gonna be a ballplayer but life had other plans. Our dad used to say, "We do what we have to do." Well, he's been holding down at our house since he was 15. ("Lovely Day," by Jill Scott, playing) JUNE: Serg, get up, you know what it is. Time to go. Hey, I know you heard me. Get your ass up. SERGIO: Oh, man. JUNE: Hey, boy, you can't sleep your dreams down, man, you got to chase it. Get up, boy. Hey, I'm putting this money up here on the dresser, all right? JACKIE: His dreams are now in my twin brother, Sergio. Our mom says, Sergio's first word was "Kobe." Our dad was a musician, but he was the biggest 76ers fan ever. Doc, Barkley, Iverson, they were our heroes. Sergio was ranked one of the top ten high school players in the nation. Which brings us to me, Jackie. JUNE: Wake up. 6:00 and I don't wanna be in that bathroom all day. Jack, get up! JACKIE: I heard you. I'm up. I grew up listening to all the Philly greats, Jill Scott, Boyz II Men, Musiq Soulchild. Our dad used to play drums for a lot of those groups. When I was a kid I used to sit in on some of the sessions. I've been hooked on music ever since. ("Lovely Day," by Jill Scott, playing) Damn. Jack. Jack, come on, man. It's been a half hour already. Serg. What? Get some money from June for me before he leaves. Please. Like 50. Thanks, baby. Jackie needs some bread. Yeah? How much? Half a man. I just gave her 50 yesterday, yo. Well, tell her I said, "Get a job." DEZ: Hey, look, let me get half of that apple, though. Where your hooping gear? You know we got practice, player. JACKIE: Sergio's best friends, Sean and Dez, were always getting him in trouble. He knew better, but to tell you the truth, he probably would have been bored without them. Hey, bro. So, look, it's a girl in there, so when she come out, you're going--you're going run in. What she look like? DEZ: Chill with all that. Be worried about these snacks, bro. All right. All right. Here she come. Hey, cutie. No hoes. All right. Go ahead, go for it. Go, go, go. Hold that. DEZ: Grab me some Skittles, dog. DEZ: Okay. Got some barbeque jawn, some Skittle jawn. Oh, dang. (music playing) MANAGER: Come on! Come on! JACKIE: Our neighborhood was divided into two sections, the hilltop and the bottom, where we're from. The kids on the hill always thought they were better because they had a little more money, but we had all the same problems, drugs, crime, and everything else. Even though our neighborhood was divided, we all attended the same school. Overbrook High, the castle on the hill. It's located in the center of all the drama. We were always beefing. There was a constant war between them and us. My two best friends were Trina and my brother June's girlfriend, Simone. Simone and June have a son together. TRINA: You don't have to do that. SIMONE: They'll try you. TRINA: They will shoot all the time. Hey, Jack, you do your math homework? JACKIE: Uh-huh. Why? Let me see that jawn. I'm glad we ain't got cheerleading practice today. I am not in the mood. TRINA: Oh, that's right. Girl, you better start doing your own homework, Trina. Why? I know you're gonna do yours. Ain't that what friends are for? Jack, I need you to babysit for me tonight. I'm trying to go to Peanut' party? I love my nephew, but I do not have kids. Plus, I might be busy. Yeah, right. Never mind, I'll ask your mom. Oh. Y'all see Chris' new car? Who? Chris. Girl, that boy is fine. Last I checked he was from the hill, am I right? So what? I will break his ass down. Right? But the dance is coming up. I'm thinking, date, Jack, huh, Moni? Uh-uh. Nope. No. Uh-uh. I ain't co-signing that one. I ain't thinking about no dance. I could care less. All right. Whatever. I'm just trying to look out for a sister. I'm going to the library where some of y'all need to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Meet me at my locker after school. SIMONE: Yeah, and call me if you could babysit. CHRIS: What you reading, sis? You wouldn't know it. Well, try me. Makes Me Wanna Holler. By Nathan McCall. You're spending all this time in the library and you're still judging a book by its cover. I just thought. CHRIS: What? That I was lost? No. I read it and a few others like it. You're June's sister, right? Yeah, that's me. And you and Sergio, y'all are twins. Okay. You did your homework. You know, I be seeing you at the game doing your cheerleadin' thing. I always thought you was cute but I don't never see you with no dudes. You got a boyfriend? These little boys right here? Yeah, right. Plus, they all act like they' scared of June. Shh. Don't you live somewhere down the bottom? Yeah. And? Not like that, but... I drive that way when I go way home. I'd love to give you a ride. I'm asking if you want. I'm literally parked right in front of the school. So maybe we can meet there and finish talking? Yeah? No? I'll see you later. Let's go. Let's go. ("What We Do," by Freeway, playing) JACKIE: Serg has always been special to me. As divided as our neighborhood is, Serg is the only thing that seems to bring us all together. ("What We Do," by Freeway, playing) Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. COACH: That's what I'm talking about. ("What We Do," by Freeway, playing) Yeah! Man, I'm tired as hell. You better get your rest. It's going down tonight, cousin. Hey, you all going to Nut' party tonight? MAN: Hell, yeah. So what you're gonna do, Serg? Yeah, I'm going. You kidding me, man? No, man. I mean, like, after we graduate. No, I mean, hopefully go to a D 1 college. You know, everybody say I'm good enough, but you never know what can happen between now and then, you know what I mean? Yeah, you right. Crazy thing is though, man, you're gonna get so much better by then. I'm thinking about trying to go to college too. That's cool, bro. And you definitely could do it. You think so? SERGIO: Yeah. I bet you could do anything. But first things first. Look, I already know, man, we got Bartram this Friday and you got to worry about it. Uh-uh. You got Bartram to worry about. I don't worry. I win. Come on, man. And I know you heard about Nate Richards committin' to Georgetown. You better step your game up. So? He's 30 and he's a senior. It's his third year as a senior. All them scouts that's gonna be there, bro, I'm getting in my bag, I'm dropping like 50 on 'em, count it. "He's 30 years old. I'm getting in my bag." Look man, he gonna bust all of us up and drop 50 if you don't lock him up. That's all I'm saying. ("I'm a Hustla," by Cassidy, playing) JACKIE: June has been best friends with these two brothers, Peanut and Bunch since he was five. The three of them were always up to no good. But June takes care of them like he takes care of Serg and me. Peanut. Yo. You get my stash from Ty? Yeah, yeah. He said he needs four a half by tonight. Word? That's what he said? All right. Yo, is this my CD? It was. Shit, you had my Drake joint so we even, man. Man, sit down. Nigga, you drawin'. Wiz for Drake? How the fuck is that even? I'm bringing your shit over tomorrow. Yo, you seen that boy Chris's car? Hell, yeah, that shit' dope. I'm gonna take that shit. Word. I think it was the eight cylinder jawn. That was that six cylinder. He just had that AMG kid on that. He didn't spend no 60 "Gs" on that. PEANUT: I can say if anybody know, you know, huh? You know I know. Say, what's the word on that homicide last night? Same shit. Niggas on the hill tripping about it. Yeah, it's about to get crazy out here. You know all they like to do is rumble up there but niggas don't got no heart. No shit. But they can do it however they wanna do. Man, I say, we just stay focus on this cheese. Everything going smooth right now. We don't need no dumb shit fucking it up. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, don't worry about them nerds, man. Let's get this money. That nigga June over there is always trying to act like. Oh, whoa, this nigga always waving a gun and shit. This crazy motherfucker. Trying to act like he got some important shit to do, right? Nigga, that's because I do. I got responsibilities to handle. Shit, I'm trying to get us to fuck up this block, ASAP, nigga. Jackie got to go turn the music school downtown next year, you know? I heard about that school. I might fuck with it myself. "Heard it myself," this nigga? You know what, I'm trying to make beats, motherfucker, like, shit. (laughs) (music playing) ("Hush," by L.L. Cool J, playing) SEAN: Just like I was saying, you know Muhammad Ali may be my pops that's why I got them hands, son. SERGIO: Dude, you got to stop talking about your mom like that, bro. I'm just joking, dawg. Where's your books? What? What, you ain't had no homework? Yeah, yeah. I go to work when I get home from school. Man, they better be lucky even go to school anymore, for real, brother. The only reason I go is because that's where everybody else at all day. Yeah, but real talk, man, you heard what happened to Omar? No. Him and some dudes from the Hill got hit up. They dead? DEZ: Deader than disco music. And, now, it's gonna start a war. Yeah, y'all better be ready to knuckle up. Huh? First up, you better be ready to knuckle up. There you go again, man. Look. That's all I'm saying. I'm out. Man. Why are you so quiet? What do you want me to say? You can say whatever's on your mind. You do know it's dangerous out here for you, especially with me? You didn't know I wasn't into this whole war thing? You didn't know you didn't have a choice? Ah, this is my jawn right here. What you know about this? That's you. That's you. Yes. Well, guess what? Actually--no, I'm not gonna say nothing because you're not gonna believe me. What? You're not gonna believe me. Never mind. Fine, I don't even wanna know. My dad manages her. Stop lying. I know you wasn't gonna believe me. For real? For real. And I helped write the song. Okay. Now, I know you're lying. I'm serious. You wanna meet her? Yeah. And while we're at it, let's meet Beyonce and Jay-Z too. Okay. Pull over right here. All right. So this is where the magic happens, huh? I guess so. Look, maybe I could really help you with this book report and call me if you want. What are you trying to do? What? Come on, now. You know we can't do this. Honestly, I really don't see the problem. Look, it ain't gonna happen. MRS. TAYLOR: Who was that? Who was who? Who the who? What are you an owl or something? Who was that man that just dropped you off just now? It wasn't no man. It was just some boy from school. Okay, boy. I don't know what you're doing running around with that boy but he ain't sniffing around your ass looking for no roses. MAN: What? ZIP: Five hundred, nigga. MAN: Bet that, bet that. WOMAN: Let's go today. MAN: You gonna blow on my dice? ZIP: That shit out of here. Today. All right. Today. That's what it is. What's that? Seven. JUNE: Where's my money? ZIP: Damn. JUNE: Where's my money? Hey, nigga, you owe me some money or what? (crowd chattering) MAN: Where the dice at? Where the dice at? What up, Zip? What's up? Where the dice at? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Zip, who this? Bunch, you know this nigga right here? I never seen this funny looking nigga in my life. June, this is Kram, this is my cousin. He just moved out here. Hey, what's up, Mr. June? I've been looking for you. This nigga been looking for me. Y'all know that? You show him. BUNCH: You need to tell your cousin somethin' before he get fucked up out here, man. ZIP: June, seriously? We all here to get money and have a good time, that's it. Listen, you ain't got to explain shit because this is our neighborhood. MAN: Who? Yeah, what's up, little man? Oh, this is your hood? KRAM: Yes, sir. Look, Zip, you better get your cousin because this his hood and we don't even know that shit. We been out here all year nigga. We ain't seen this fat nigga yet. ZIP: June. Let me explain to you how this it's gonna go now. What's gonna happen right now? From now on, this shit is dead. None of you bottom niggas is coming out here at all until we find out who killed my boy, Omar. You hear me? Tough Tony, pretty boy? Little man? MAN: Yes, sir. KRAM: You hear me? All right. Cool. Look, let me tell you something, you don't run shit. All right? Don't get me fucked up, man, coming out here like you're all tough, Chinese beard looking mother fucker. (crowd chattering) (gunshot) (crowd chattering) JACKIE: When my dad died, it was like part of our mom died too. She changed so much. She drinks and smokes all the time. I feel like we take care of her now. Hey, yo. My nigga Peanut is crazy as shit, bro. You all seen him, man? Hey, man, I got to get me a gun for real. What you all think? Man, Peanut was on one. I think Bunch broke down that one nigga's jaw, though, for real. Hey, I did see that, man. The dude had that a little... "World Star"! Hey, hey, hey, y'all trying to make some money? Shit. You ain't got to tell me twice. What's good? Yeah, man, as long as it ain't one of your harebrain ass schemes. Man, chill will all that. Now, look, I was chilling some kids from the hill this weekend with my cousins, right? Y'all know what them big ass houses be? SERGIO: Yeah. All right. So, my cousin, he knows some kids that stay over there. Look, that house got everything in there. All right. Yeah, but what's that got to do with us? I'm getting there, nigga. Look, so we're playing 2K, right? I go downstairs to grab a soda, you feel me? And I see a key that's in the shelf. So, you know me, I go to the front to see if it worked, you know what I'm saying? It ain't work in the front but I bang to the back, boom. Green money. Yo, you got a key to the house, dawg? What? And check this, they leaving next month, so that means I found the ultimate lead, which means it's about to be the Grinch Stole Christmas in that bitch for everybody, man. Yeah, I'm good on that, brother. I'm really not trying to get booked on no B and E shit. Hey, man, ain't nobody going in no damn jail, bro. Now, look, your brother and them? Peanut, Bunch, BSB, Them niggas are getting into it, bro. They really getting money and I'm trying to do it like that. Plus, I'm on a fixed income already, man. What's that? It mean I got to fix it, so I could get some income, nigga. Now, look, man, I ain't got no hoop dreams or whatever like y'all got, all right? I got to grind for mine. So I'm doing this shit with or without y'all. You know I could use that extra paper, man. See, now that's what I'm talking about. They leavin' the same week as the dance. So the way I see it, you know, we hit it the same night. You really think this could work? Not only do I think it could work, we got the perfect alibi. The dance. (telephone rings) Hello? Jack, what happened? Where were you? I waited for you and almost missed the bus. JACKIE: My phone died. My phone. You ain't gonna believe who drove me home. Jack, I don't care if Lil Wayne picked your ass up and drove you home. You just--you don't do that kind of thing. That boy, Chris. Chris, who? Chris, Chris? Yes. Oh, shit. How'd that happen? I met him in the library today. All right. Well, how the hell did you get from the library to your house? Well, we talked for a little bit and he offered me a ride home from school. Mm-hmm. You ain't got to wait until after school to let him give you a ride. You're so damn nasty. He gave me his number too. All right. Well, did you call him? You think I should call him? Jack, after I almost missed the bus for y'all, you better call him. Well, give me one good reason why I should call him. Okay. I'll give you three. Number one, you ain't about to be calling my ass every half hour this evening, talking about some, "I'm bored." number two, if you don't call him, I'm gonna come over there and beat your ass. Okay, whatever. TRINA: And number three, if you don't call him, I'm coming over and beating that ass. As a matter of fact, I'ma get Bunch to come over and beat that ass. How about that? TRINA: Yeah, uh-huh. That's what I thought. Hang up this phone right now and call that boy. Okay, bye. (telephone rings) Hello? Hey, is Chris there? Yeah, this is Chris. Who is this? Jackie from school. CHRIS: Hey, what's up? Hold on one second. Hello? You all right? Yeah, I'm cool. You decided to call me? It was the book thing, you know. You surprised me with that. You know what's funny? I was actually reading that book since you mentioned it earlier. JACKIE: Oh, yeah? Yeah. I mean, know you probably thought I was joking earlier but I don't know if... How you wanna do it, but I can... I can always... Wait, are you allowed company? Trust me, you don't wanna do that. Okay. I mean, you can always come to my house. Your house? Oh, I don't know. I don't really know you like that. I'm just trying to help. I mean, I know it's the weekend. You probably going out, right? I'm not about to pull your leg about it but I'm just saying. All right. Look, meet me at the Sugar Bowl at like, 8:00. Don't have me looking stupid. I couldn't do that if I tried. DEZ: Yeah, yeah. You know, I got you. SEAN: Oh, yeah, yeah. I need that. Yo. DEZ: Yeah, no, I got you. What's up y'all? Hey, what up, bro? What's going on, Serg? How many y'all going drop on Bartram, though? You better come out to find out. Yeah. You're right, you're right. Hold on one second, though. All right? No, you good, man. Keep that. You good. Go ahead. DEZ: You sure? Yeah, I'm sure. All right, bro. Yup. No problem. I better see you there, though. I will. Yeah. ("Real One," by Quilly, playing) D.J.: Oh, shit. My man, Serg, in the building. Yo, Peanut. Happy birthday. Let's turn up. ("Real One," by Quilly, playing) ("Real One," by Quilly, playing) JACKIE: You live here? CHRIS: No, we just broke in somebody' house. About to go chill for a minute. (laughs sarcastically) Smarty pants. I'm just saying it's nice. Thank you. Appreciate it. Where your peoples? You know, my dad that club or whatever but my mom, who tell her where she at. You wanna, um, start on this book report or listen to some music? Oh my--what? You do know her. You wasn't lying. Told you. I wanna go to the Philadelphia Music Academy when we graduate. How you start doing that? You know, my dad, he manages groups and stuff so that's--well, that's pretty much it. You know, I'm around the studio, helpin' 'em write songs, lyrics, the groups end up liking 'em. Hey, and I'm involved. They pay you? Do they pay me? You see my car? Well, I'm impressed. You know, I heard you a singer too, like a really good singer. Who told you that? You know, how you hear stuff about me? I hear stuff about you. I guess. That's what I wanna do and I'm focused. Well, why don't we do a collaboration? Like a Bobby and Whitney type deal. Okay, not Bobby and Whitney but you know what I'm talking about. Something like it. You know, I heard about your cousin, Omar, and I'm real sorry about that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was like my brother. I'm still trying to figure how to get it all together, you know? I'll be all right, though. Okay. So where your girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend. I was hoping you would be interested in that. With all those girls that'd be chasing you? I think I might save myself the trouble. All those girls, really? Whoever you're getting your information from is really spinning you in this wrong direction about me because it ain't even like that. Look, don't get me wrong. I think you're cute or whatever, but I have plans and I don't have time to be sidetracked by some gaming ass nigga. Game? Jack, I think you're a really cool chick but it's like I see you around and I'm like I really wanna get to know this girl. I mean, to be honest, I got a lot of stuff on my hands as well. But all this name calling you're doing, I really don't think I deserve all that. I don't. And I don't wanna even hold you up either. You ready to go? I thought you was gonna help me with my book report. I was up there slaying that ass. I want you all to call me Conan from now on. Oh, this dude Conan, huh? Well, Conan, if you focus on your work more than you do these hoes, we'd all be driving Bentleys out this bitch, man. Man, just because you on lock down, don't be hating on me. Nigga 22 acting like he's 35. (laughing) Man, You got to realize what we got, man. Shit, I'm out here making sure we eat, man. While you all motherfuckers out here running around and acting like y'all rich. Come on, man. Y'all got to tighten up, man. These motherfuckers out here want what y'all got. They want what I got, man. But they can't get that shit and I ain't gonna let them. But y'all got to remember, shit just got real, man. Well, shit, all right. Keep my blinky on me. Oh, that's what you do? Don't give a fuck, nigga. Put that shit up. You'll shoot your damn self. MAN: June. You know that boy from the center in here? (music plays) (music plays) Hey, nigga, why you turn the music off? Nigga, what the fuck? Nigga, that. MAN: Talk that now, huh. June! MAN: Yeah, talk that now. Talk that now. Cut my party? Well, I hope you get a good grade on this book report. I think that depends on if you knew what you was talking about, right? I guess so. So, what are you, uh... what are you doing tomorrow? Our game is Friday. Okay. What about after the game? You know my brother June gonna be there, right? What that mean? Fuck. I'ma call you. Fuck. (basketball bouncing) JACKIE: By the time Friday rolled around, all I could think about was Chris. I figured if Chris didn't care what June would think seeing the two of us together, let him take the chance. ("Flipside," by Freeway, playing) (crowd chattering) SIMONE: You want this? What's up, sis. You all right? What up, man? What's going on? How's it going? JUNE: Real good. You enjoy the game? Game was all right. Serg did his thing. Y'alls' boy right there. All right. Okay. Let me talk to you outside for a second, pal. Come on. We'll be right back, J. ("Flipside," by Freeway, playing) ("Flipside," by Freeway, playing) So what you got on your mind, young blood? What you talking about? You want me to spell it out for you, man? I heard you came down to the house earlier. Oh, yeah. I drove Jackie home. Is that right? That's it. Okay. Look, you should be more careful coming down here, you know. It can get a little dangerous, man. You know I'm a big boy. I'm just... I figured I could handle anything coming my way. Look, I'm just saying. It's a whole different vibe going on down here than what's going on on the Hill or whatever. You feel me? And I know you know there's a war going on right now between us and y'all. Yeah. But, you know, I don't have nothing to do with that. Look here, man, I'm gonna keep it 100 with you right now, yo. I'm not really feeling this thing you got going on with my sister right now. (indistinct chatter) I don't know if you know enough but I respect you, man. I'm not trying to start no shit with you. I got three words for you, okay? Don't get comfortable. You got that? Hey, baby, I heard about your game last night. You're gonna be a star. But I knew it when the doctor handed you over to me. I said look at those long arms, and I said to myself I got me a ballplayer to save this family. You should have been there. I got you some eggs. Why don't you get something to eat before you run out of here? I'm late. Gotta be at the shop so I'm gonna just eat this. Well, get some money from you brother. Tell your uncle I said hi. SERGIO: All right. MAN: Look man, all I'm trying to say is everything ain't that easy. You can't control everything in your life, Ron. Things come at you sometimes unexpectedly. UNCLE RON:That's true but you can control how you handle the situation. You ain't got to be no fool. You ain't gonna go ahead with your head all cut off and hollering at people. You can control that, huh? That's easier said than done, Ronny. Oh, man. Come on. Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey. I got no change. That's you, man. All right? I'll see you next week. All right, black man. Okay. Thanks, man. All right. Serg. SERGIO: Man. What up, young bull? You do your thing, man. I appreciate it. You stay safe, love it. Yes, sir. UNCLE RON: Look what the wind blow in. Look what the wind blow in. (laughing) Man, what are you-- throw it up, man. What's up? What's up Uncle Ron? What's up, man? Ah, look at that hair. Look at that hair blowing up. What are--your floating this mother fucker. I know you saw me last night. Ain't gonna miss no game, no, you know that. Your daddy'd be proud of you, you know that. I know. I wish he coulda seen that game. Boy, that was gold can. Yes, sir, I know. I ain't seen you in a while, man. You know, where were you? Are you busy? No. It's just school and then basketball practice and then school and then basketball practice. I'm just busy. You know how it it's like when you young, Uncle Ron. That's what I'm trying to tell you. See, the foundation you're making right now is for who you gonna be in the future. So when you walk down these streets in Philly, they go, "There he go, there goes Sergio." Went to college, pro ball, bought his uncle a Rolls-Royce. (laughs) I done walked by a college or two, now. (laughs) I get it. And I appreciate the fact that you concerned, you know, but we got this, like me and June got a plan. We got a map and it's working. Is it not working? I understand all of that. I done seen this hood take down the best. Hmm? Bucky, or Pretty Tone... Frog, huh? Will Smith. And Will Smith went to Overbrook. And he stayed focused. You see what I'm saying? The hood ain't nothing but a breeding ground for young black talent. There's talent everywhere. There's a Michael Jordan down the street. There's a Mike Tyson over here. There's a Biggie Smalls working at (indistinct). But the hood has a way of knocking you off your square. See, the hood got a way of catering to your wants. Just like your brother, for instance. Your brother can be anything he wanna be, what he wanted, he gonna go get it. Not the right way by earning it, he gonna take it, huh? Just like his daddy. You can stop me when I'm lying. Are you gonna stop when I'm lying? But I'm not that naive and I'm doing what I got to do. I understand that. That's why I'm talking. I don't talk to these niggas, I don't talk to your brother like this. Your character is gonna determine your fate, not your talent. ("Throw it in the Bag," by Fabulous, playing) ("Throw it in the Bag," by Fabulous, playing) JACKIE: June thought Saturday was like Christmas. He always said, "What's the sense of money if you're not gonna use it?" He loved seeing everyone happy, especially if he was the one making them happy. He wanted to make sure we all had everything we need and more. He thought of his crew as his brothers. And he wanted for his brothers what he wanted for himself, to live good. ("Throw it in the Bag," by Fabulous, playing) ("Throw it in the Bag," by Fabulous, playing) I don't know. You just don't seem like the boyfriend type to me. You really think I'm this player type? Can we hang out for a little bit? I wanna take you somewhere. I really should stay in. Things are getting a little crazy out here. But you'll be safe with me, I promise. I got to get dressed, though. All right. I got to go ahead downtown, so how about you meet me at the store by the theater? Why over there? Can you just meet me there? What time? JUNE: I run these streets, boy. Look at you. Look at you. JUNE: Who do you think taught you? JUNE: Check this out. JUNE: Oh! SERGIO: All right. But you still slow. Look, you're too small. Get back, Serg. Get out of here, boy. Look at that three, boy. You too old. Oh, I'm going to Baja! JUNE: You got lucky, yo. SERGIO: I didn't get lucky, you drawin'. You got lucky. Come on, stop it. What? You drawin'! Whatever, man. I taught you well, baby boy. Look you can go as far as you want with this, Serg. You really think so, though? It just feels like a dream sometimes. Shit, nigga this is a dream and you living your dreams, so keep living. All right? I ain't the only kid waking up from this dream, though. Like, you know how many kids is working as hard as I am? Look, I don't give a fuck about them other kids. I don't care. How many them other kids made the front page at SLAM Magazine, huh? Or the cover a story on ESPN at 16 years old, hmm? Look, you work harder than everyone else so you better than everyone else. Period. That's it. Then what about you? I'm invested in you, baby boy. And when you go to the league, we gonna shake up the world like never before. And then we're gonna leave these bullshit streets right where they belong in the fucking wind, you understand? All right. Show me some love, man. Yeah. I heard your shopping with my boys. I just drop them off. Yeah, we can meet up as long as you look your instagram. (honking) Moved out the way, dickhead. (gunshot) Just like that. Then you're good. And then you're gonna be real good. Yeah, yeah, I know. Yo, you can't sit here. You got to move, bro. Serg, go! MAN: Get him. Get him. JUNE: Shut the fuck up! MAN: Take him in the house. MAN: Fuck into the house. (indistinct chatter) MAN: Where the fuck is that money at, nigga? Where that money at? JUNE: Hey, you need to calm down, man. MAN: Where the fuck is that money, at? JUNE: Relax, man. MAN: Hurry up. Where the rest at, nigga, huh? That's all I got, man. You think I'm playing with you, huh, huh? Feel that? We want the rest of that money tonight or you're gonna die tonight. I said that's all I got, this right here, man. If you gonna kill me, nigga, do what you got to do. Come on, we're gonna bring this nigga in the car. They gonna give us something. (indistinct chatter) Hey, what's going down here? (gunshot) JUNE: Ma, ma, ma! (indistinct chatter) MAN: Drag his ass up stairs. MAN: What the fuck, man. JUNE: Ma. MAN: Fuck up, come on. Man, I'm not getting in the car. MAN: Hey. (grunting) MAN: We'll see you again, June. We gonna see you later. (wheels screeching) Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? I had to put together something, I'm sorry. I should have called you. Sorry. I'm sorry? You think you can just say I'm sorry and it's fixed. Can you please chill, Jack, a situation came up. I just got a little tied up. And plus I'm trying to take you somewhere, babe. Where? It's a surprise. What surprise? Ain't that why they call it a surprise? Yeah, whatever. JACKIE: What is this place? CHRIS: Just keep walking, please. I can't see. I'm opening my eyes. No, look, keep your eyes close, please. Do not open. Keep going. Chris. Keep walking, keep walking. We're almost there. Okay. Now open. What are we doing here? I got you studio time. We gonna record your demo. What am I gonna sing? Wrote you a song. Yo, Paul, you almost ready? Yeah, I'm ready when you are Chris. All right. You all right? All right. Paul, this is my girl, Jackie. Jackie, this is Paul. Hey nice to meet you. Hi. He's gonna be the engineer for the night, all right? I can't believe this. Look, we're just gonna practice these lyrics, it's gonna be easy, you gonna knock this out, all right? (music playing) Oh, love is the song we sing It's all love Till we failed and lost the key Oh, love Such a game Where I have no luck No luck It was so perfect yesterday Out of the blue you walked away The story I keep living over again I pray Having love would be all we need But it's not true, no Never true, no So I don't want no love Gettin' my heart wrapped up so tight Then crash to the ground from way up high I don't want no love You fall in love It's not our fate 'Cause whatever falls break Ooh, love Baby, you sound so good. You really think so? What? Paul, how'd she sound? You sound phenomenal. It's not even mixed yet. It's gonna be great. I'm telling you. Paul, let me get a little bit, I just want to talk to her. Sure. I'll be the lounge. Honestly, you like it? I guess so. What do you think? I mean, your voice just riding over that beat was perfect. You sound amazing. No one's ever done anything like this for me before. You really believe in me. You know, that's not my voice over that track, it's yours because you're pure talent, I'm telling you. This is what you're supposed to be doing, Jack. Yeah, but this ain't my studio and that's not my song. Don't look at it like that because I'm gonna do whatever I can whenever I can to help you out, okay? So what do we do now? I'm gonna get it mixed, You gonna put it out, keep it pushing. You gotta start living your dream someday, right? I wanna tell you something. What? Never mind. Tell me. No. Please? I just really, really, really care about you, a lot. I care about you, too. I never did this before. (music playing) MAN: Fucking Jack, Little Jack right there. JACKIE: What's wrong? What's wrong? What happened to you? JUNE: Some guy robbed the house. Mom got shot, Jack. What? Where is she? JUNE: She on the way to the hospital. It's gonna be all right. Look, you just stay right here, we're gonna go up there after them, okay? What the fuck are you doing here, man? Just dropping Jackie off, man. You're dropping off my sister, nigga? He took me to the studio today. I don't give a fuck where he took you. Yow, June, relax, man. Relax, nigga? What the fuck are you talking about, man? I will break your motherfucking neck, nigga. Nigga, don't fuck with me, nigga. MAN: Chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, chill. JACKIE: You need to go. You need to go. Please. JUNE: You think he's cute. Huh? This shit is over. This ain't no game. Take your fucking ass in the house. But June. Look, I don't care. Whatever y'all had is over, okay? I ain't playing games with you no more, none of y'all. What's going on? Oh, shit. Oh, hold on, hold on, hold on. Yo. MAN: This is dope. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Slow down, man, slow down. No, you're bullshitting me, right? Who did it? All right, bro. June, what's up? Let me see your gun, man. Shit, for real? All right, what we doin'? Give me the gun now. Now, give me the gun. It's your brother, man. They killed your brother, man. Killed my fucking nigga, man. Fuck! Fuck, man. My gun, man. Give me my gun, man. Give me my fucking gun, man. JUNE: No, man. No, I got this, man. My fucking gun, bro. Fuck, fuck, fuck, man! (music playing) Where are you going? Sit down, Serg. I gotta talk to you. Sit down. Sit down. I need to talk to y'all about a few things. Now, look, I don't no extra shit going on around here, I want y'all to stick by the house for a little bit, all right? What you mean? What you mean what I mean? I want you all to stick around the house for a little while. I know what I'm talking about, Jack. But what about practice? I can't miss that because of this. I got you. I'm gonna take you to practice and I'm gonna pick you up. All right. Two things, money's tight around here so we can't be doing this extra spending, look, not on everything. Why? Because of this war? Look, it's not because of that. We just gotta let stuff simmer down, okay? I got to get my money back up, Serg. I can get a job after school if that's the case, bro. No, you can't get a job after school. I want you to concentrate, focus on what I told you, basketball. And last, I don't want all them people in my house, Jackie. That means Chris, too, yes. JACKIE: Look. I'm usually down to take your advice, but I feel like you're going a bit overboard. I mean, I don't feel like hearing none of this. The Brook Ball is coming up soon. That nigga is from the hill and you know how it get down. I don't want to even play that shit. You can't blame your issues on somebody else. Oh, my issues. We got to hold it down, okay? I'm taking care of shit around the house right now. Serg. All right now, y'all got to listen to me. I know what I'm saying, Jack. Look, Serg and I ain't got nothing to do with what's going on. You can't stop our life because of your problems. Look, I'm not gonna argue with you, Jackie, okay? You heard what I said. You heard what I said. You're not my father. Oh, I'm not your father, but I can buy you everything like I am your father though, right? Let me tell you something, girl, as long as I keep the lights on up in this motherfucker, I am your father. I don't need your money. Come on, Jack. Jack, get back here. June. Jack, get in here. DEZ: Hey, look, man, I heard about what happened with your moms. Is she all right? She'll recover in a few weeks, so the doctor said we got to wait this whole shit out. You know, they, um, they cleaned June out. They took a lot of bread, bro. See, this thing we got couldn't have came at a more perfect time. I mean, shit, man, maybe it could be you helping out for once. Look, bro, I'm just trying to look out for you, man. Think about it, all right? Hey, Serg, hey, we need you, man. (bell rings) TRINA: Well, well, well, it's not Ms. Jackie Taylor. Oh, shut up. Hey, girl. Hey, girl. How's your mom doing? She's doing better, stable. Good. That must have been scary. You don't even want to know. Wow, Jack. Why you ain't riding home with Chris? He wasn't here today. I haven't talked to him. Y'all are so cute together. Someone should tell June that. I wish this whole "Bottom and Hill" shit would stop. Me too, girl. Don't even worry about June. He'll get over it. I never met anybody like him before. He really cares about me. Real comfortable with him, you know. OMG, did you let him hit it? Shut up. Are you serious? Can you calm down? I can't calm down. Please? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. At least you picked a winner for your first time, you know, someone who can help you out, buy you some clothes, take you to K.O.P. No, it's not even like that. Is that all, you know? I mean. We just get along good. Okay. I could care less about that. Mm-hmm, you going to care if your ass get a box of CVS candy and a little plastic rose for Christmas. So silly. I'm just trying to cheer you up. I know. Look, with all the craziness with my mom and June, Chris is just necessary. Trust me, Jack, it's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna work out just fine. Doesn't it always? I guess. Where's your brother and sister? They were here. They went to school. You're always looking out. I don't know. This time, it just--it didn't go so well, ma. Well you can't control everything, baby. I'm sorry. MRS. TAYLOR: It's not your fault. These boys are out of control, it's just one of those things. I'm fine. But I don't want you going out doing nothing stupid, okay? What happened to Bunch hurt all of us, but God... has a way of settling things, okay? So, you let him do that, all right? Yes. I remember when you were seven, and I took you to market with me, we must have had four or five bags, four or five heavy bags, and you walked all the way to the top of the block. All them bags. And after a while, they got too heavy, but you wouldn't stop. So, I had to convince you to give me the smallest bag by telling you I had to get something out of it. I remember that, Ma, yeah. Look at me. Jackie, she's such a smart girl. I want you to let up on her a little bit, let her live a little or she'll grow to despise you. Trust me when I tell you. All right. I'm gonna do that. So, you go on and handle your business now. I'm all right here. I've been through much worse. I love you. I love you, too, ma. Junior, you take care of yourself, too, okay? Yeah. COACH: I got you. Good job, good job, good job. COACH: We got 12 seconds, okay? That's an eternity if they score a point. Do not let Richardson get the ball. Do not let Richardson get the ball, all right. We can do this. MAN: Panthers on three y'all, one two, three. ALL: Panthers. Oh! Come on, fellas, you're blowing it. Now do you wanna win or not? Do you wanna win? MAN: Yes, sir. COACH: Now we got nine seconds to score. Taylor, you're gonna inbound the ball to Dawson. They gonna double team you, you pass it back to Taylor, you take the shot to tie the game, we win in overtime, all right? We can do this. Let's go. Let's go y'all. Panthers on three, one, two, three. ALL: Panthers. MAN: Let's go. MAN: Come on, baby. Take it home. JUNE: I love you, bro. SERGIO: Yeah, you heavy as shit, Sean. Yo, why are we always taking this route? Because I'm always doing pedaling so I take a shortcut. You know, I'm gonna let you slide. You did hit 60 points. That came out of nowhere. I know. They probably wanted to hit into tomorrow. Yow, we're the state champs, baby. I know, right? Yeah. Oh, I know. I was like, "Oh, my God." Whoa. Shit. Shit, baby. Yeah. What you think about this whole breaking and entering shit, with Dez and them? Man, I ain't even gonna lie. That shit sounds stupid, dawg. Dez be tripping. He watch too many movies, like he think we Robocop or Batman or something? But real talk, I could use that money. Me, too. Money tighter than a frog ass around my house these days, bro. I'm serious, bro. But kill that shit. June catch wind about this, he'll kill us, all right? Good, man. What you got to eat though? Because I'm hungry as hell. Nigga, I don't know. I hope she cooked. I'm star-- I feel like Dez right now, dawg. I need some damn food. Why is it so dark in here? Surprise! Shit. Oh. JACKIE: You the man, fool. I love you. SIMONE: We got you. We got you. JUNE: You almost peed on yourself, boy! MAN: What's up, superstar? Come on. (indistinct chatter) (music playing) (glass clinking) Come on, come on. Silence. Listen up, y'all, hold on. Look here, y'all, not every day we come together like this especially not for nothing as great as this. Look, as a family. We came a long way and we still got a long way to go. I just wanna say I love y'all. I do. We love you, too. (laughs) Serg, I'm so fucking proud of you, bro. You've been working on your game since you were six-years-old. And if anyone knows, I know. I taught you all your moves, man, left hand, right hand, you know, that's me. SEAN: Uh, hold on a second, I mean, I may know a little something too, you know. (laughs) Sean was there, too. My man. But look, hard work pays off, and I just need you to stick with it and be patient it's gonna happen, all right? And, Jackie, baby girl, you so beautiful. Damn. Not once around here have you gave me any problems. Not one time. I took all of that for you. I took it all for you. Yeah. But keep up the good work, okay? And don't ever give up on your dreams, never. So cheers. Keep the party going. Cheers. Give it up, y'all. Come on, now. One time for Bunch, man. (music plays) (indistinct chatter) (music plays) I'm gonna get the door. I'll be back. What's up, June? Can I talk to you for a minute? What's the trail, young blood? I just wanna say I'm sorry about everything that happened with your mom and everything that night. Is she okay? Is she doing good? Yeah, she'll be all right. That's good. You know, I didn't mean... Look, I didn't mean... Go ahead. Look, man, I know shit got crazy around there that night, man, and I ain't mean to flip the lid on you, but, you know I had to, you know, put it down, man, but, um... It's kind of crazy, man. It's real crazy. It's kind of crazy, but I know it was all about nothing, so. It's all about nothing, bro. But I did talk to some people about what happened. Word? I kind of came up on some information. CHRIS: They usually do a little hustle thing at... that bar, you know, on 63rd and Lebanon. How much I owe you for this, man? You don't owe me, man. I just thought you would like to know. And that, I'd like to know. Well good luck on this man. I owe you something. No. Look, anything you need, you know, I want shit around... JACKIE: June, who is it? Y'all just gonna stand there? Gonna stand right in the doorway? Get in here, man. We're having a party. Talking about you, you know you're happy now. All right. (laughs) SEAN: All right, bro, I'm gonna see you tomorrow? Hey, thank you. Got my baby. Thank you. No, no, no. JACKIE: Okay. It was nice having you. Okay, baby. Ooh. Serg, I am so proud of you. Don't let this go to your head, okay? Thank you. Hey. All right? It's already big enough. Jackie, I'm gonna do your make up when you graduate. JACKIE: Yeah, we miss you. Enough already. You're too much. Once again. You 'bout to pick up the rug. Mom would kill you. You ready to put the bite down on these niggas, man? That's what I'm here to do. All right. I don't give a fuck right now, dawg. I hate these cop shows. All they do is lockup Black kids. Who else they gonna lockup? That ain't funny. I wasn't trying to be funny. And I bet you didn't know that most of these prisons are privately owned anyway. And? And that means that the jails are companies, which means they make a profit so the more people go to jail, the more money they make. And the fucked up thing is that the government is the ones that's giving them the money and then they get these contracts from these other companies and they get the inmates to do all the labor. That almost sounds like slavery. No, no, that's definitely slavery. What was you and my brother talking about? Just basketball stuff. He is in love with the Sixers. I'm like I'm an LA guy, it's the Lakers. I'm not talking about Serg. I'm talking about June. I mean, June is cool. We didn't talk about nothing. Do I look like I'm stupid? Well. Oh. Let me tell you something about my brother. He'll do anything for you, but as soon as you piss him off, you got big problems. JACKIE: Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but you don't to be hanging around with him and his friends. You ain't nothing like him. They're gangsters, Chris. And he takes care of his business and us by any means. They don't fuck around. (gunshots) (groans) (indistinct chatter) WOMAN: Hey, girl. MAN: Hello, Serg. ("Best of Me," by Anthony Hamilton, playing) ("Best of Me," by Anthony Hamilton, playing) ("Best of Me," by Anthony Hamilton, playing) (upbeat music plays) Attention, attention, attention. Students, no more of that dirty dancing, young man, I'm watching you. I'm watching you. All right. I hate to disturb the fun but as we celebrate the 25th Annual... Brook Ball. All right? Twenty-five years, and... we've had an awesome year starting with the accomplishments of our... basketball team. (cheers and applauses) Very... I'm very, very proud of these young men, but undoubtedly they could not have done it without... focus, lots of focus, right? So... without any further ado or delay, ladies and gentlemen, let's get right to... our Brook Ball... King and Queen for this year. Okay. My boy Serg. So ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for this year's Brook Ball King, Mr. Chris Collins. (cheers and applauses) And this next young lady, I'm so proud of her. She's been through a lot, but... she has shown tremendous character, tremendous intelligence and Stick-to-itiveness most importantly ladies and gentlemen please put your hands together for the Brook Ball Queen, Jackie Taylor, baby. (cheers and applauses) All right. Give it up. SERGIO: Did you push her back? Give it up. Give it up. So in the illustrious words of our Lord and Savior, party on, dude. (cheers and applauses) Yeah. Hey, give it up. Give it up. Come on, give it up. DEZ: All right, look, if we leave right now, we'll still make it back before it's over. Are you ready? I don't know. Really-- I really haven't even thought about this shit. I really don't, though. Look, Serg, I know you don't wanna do this shit. I don't wanna do this shit, but we need this money. All you got to do is help us carry some things out the house and we'll still split the money three-ways. All right. We good? Yeah. DEZ: Let's do this. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not--we got to--we got to be... I got you. You know this. SERGIO: Dez, don't fuck this up, bro. DEZ: Let's get to this paper, man. SERGIO: Yo, just hurry up so we can get out of here. Hey, look, Serg, you gonna run upstairs and grab all the money and jewelry. Me and Sean will go downstairs and grab that flat screen. Probably get like two brands of everything. Let's do it. SEAN: Let's get money. DEZ: Get to it. (beeps) DEZ: Hey, yo, come on. Hey, don't drop that... Keep that shit down, the neighbors, man. We good. Hey, look, watch the car. I'm go in there and grab the bag. I got you, dawg. Hurry up. It's cold. (police siren) DEZ: There's a cop. Come on. Come on. Come on. Don't, don't shoot. COP: Let me see your hands. Do it now. COP: Up. Hey, hands on the car. Yeah. Anybody else in there? No, sir. Just us. Sergio Taylor? COP: What you say, Williams? Are we clear? Anybody in there? No. It's all clear. (music playing) JUNE: Hey, Jackie, congratulations, baby. You look beautiful. Thank you. As ever, you're welcome. Oh, you're the man, huh? Congrats, sir. Thank you, man. Right on. I appreciate it. Y'all seen Serg? you know he shoulda won that, right? I thought he was gonna win it. He should have won. Right? Look, check it out. I got something for both of y'all, all right? So, Jack, look, you wait right here, okay? Okay. And let me holler at you. All right. Come on. Can you hold my drink, please? Look, when you come back, I have something to tell you. (upbeat music plays) JUNE: D.J. turnin' it up, Brook Ball King. CHRIS: I see you. JUNE: Hey. CHRIS: Thank you, brother. CHRIS: I'm gonna go and give Serg my crown. CHRIS: He was supposed to took that. JUNE: No, you earned that. CHRIS: I appreciate it, bro. JUNE: I should have won. CHRIS: (laughs) Well, this about to be over. What you 'bout to get into after this? JUNE: Oh, I'm f'in to have some fun. Some fun? 'Bout to have some fun. Some fun. Can I have some fun? Hey, whatever, man. All right. But I got something for you. What you talking about? Hold on. Let me show you. I got something for you. Wait right there. (sigh) Just goin' get right... Remember you looked out for me at the house? Now I'm 'bout to look out for you. No strings attached. You know, June, when I... first started this whole thing, I thought it would be easy. What you mean, man? I ain't plan on falling in love with your sister. No, man. That's cool, man. I ain't trippin' on that. Motherfucker. But you got to pay for what you did, dawg. (groaning) No... MAN: Hey, kid. Hey. JACKIE: The choices we make in life all come back full circle, good and bad. And with all the things June did, he never saw this coming. JUNE: And I'ma take y'all money while I'm at it. MAN: All right. JUNE: Yo, yo, yo, yo, hold up, bro. What the fuck y'all doing under the table, man? Y'all think I'm slow, man? What the fuck is you talking about? Look, you know what the fuck I'm talking about, bro. Y'all niggas' cheating, man. (doorbell rings) Nobody gotta cheat you, dawg. You on our side of the bridge, stop acting like a little bitch. Fuck y'all little card game, nigga. (laughing) Hey, yo, June, when you come back, make sure you bring some more money, all right? You back again? How much money you trying to lose? None. Come on, man, we was just playing. You June's sister, right? Yeah. So this is where the magic happens, huh? I guess so. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? Where were you? I had to put together something. (gunshot) June. (sirens wailing) JACKIE: I love you. I love you. Oh, June. Please, please, please. JACKIE: I couldn't believe it. Our brother was gone. All I could think about was, "God, please wake me up," but he didn't. It was real. People make choices that we know aren't right, but we still do 'em. And we live with the consequences. Hey. Hey. You okay? Yeah, I'm good. You got some mail. From who? You know who. SERGIO: Hey, hey. We gonna go see grandma. JACKIE: Serg, I'm proud of you. We all are. I love you. I love you, too. Let's go see grandma. Let's go see grandma. CHRIS: Dear Jackie, it's been two years, six months, and four days since I last seen or heard from you. I've written what seems to be hundreds of letters and... Not even sure if you've read one of them, but... I'll still write them. Every night I replay the chain of events that led me to where I'm at. When June killed my cousin Omar, I knew I was supposed to die right there with him. He would have killed me with no hesitation. I was so upset that I vowed to get him. I know you won't understand, but... Omar was like my bother. I loved him so much just as much as you loved June. The more I replay it, the more... I know I shouldn't have done it. At the time, I was so caught up... with all the hurt, oh, just crazy I ended up bringing the same pain to you and your and your family and I'm sorry for that. I know I can't do nothing to change my situation now, but... I hope you can move on with your life. I dream about us all the time, Jackie, us getting married, bein' successful, and maybe even having a kid. But I know it was just a dream, which is all I have in here. That, and, of course the time we spent together. I see Serg went to the league. I knew he was gonna make it. I saw his first game the other night. He killed it. But I'm not gonna hold you up much longer. But before I go, I wanna say, Jackie, live your dreams, baby, live your dreams. And know that I'll always love you. I know I never said it before, but I always meant to... everyday. (cries) ("Wake Up Everybody," by Keke Palmer, playing) ("Wake Up Everybody," by Keke Palmer, playing) ("Wake Up Everybody," by Keke Palmer, playing) |
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