Hope Lives (2022) - full transcript

Daddy, the sun is setting.

Aww, it's so pretty.

You're horrible.

Who did your hair?

Who did your coat today?

And look at your dirty shoes.

Like, you could have
did better than that.

Man, you stink, like, come on.

Go take a shower.

You're so ugly,

Please don't touch me.



Please don't touch me.

Hey, where you going?

If you ain't wanna be picked on,

you shoulda never
been born ugly.

Gimme that back, my
daddy gave that to me.

No.

Give it!

This is mine now.

Stop, give it!

No!

Give it.

No, this is mine now.

Please, stop acting
like you really hurt.

Get up.



Come on, stop playing, get up.

Come on, get up.
Bruh,

I don't think she's moving.

Peter?

Honey, how you hanging in there?

Yeah, that was his only child.

His wife died while giving
birth to his daughter.

That's so sad.

I heard he's not
even planning to press charges

against the kid who
killed his daughter.

What?

No way in the world I
could have done that.

He would be a jail,

and his parents should have
some kind of responsibility.

Well, apparently,

his parents weren't
in his life, so.

I think I heard that his
dad passed away years ago.

Baby.

Oh, sweetie.

You know, you should really
consider getting away from here.

You need a fresh,
new environment,

and Virginia has
nothing left for you.

And it doesn't have
to be right away.

But you really should go.

Oh, baby.

♪ My mind is going a
million miles a second ♪

♪ If it don't stop

♪ I'm afraid that
I'm gonna wreck it ♪

♪ I'm the type yeah it's
hard to learn the lesson ♪

♪ No GPS I follow
my direction yeah ♪

♪ You suggest a fraction

♪ The light of my reflection

♪ Standing in the mirror

♪ Looking good man I'm
smiling for my selfie ♪

♪ Trying to capture
my best moments ♪

♪ Searching for the
best I ever had ♪

So I just wanted
to speak to you.

My chemistry professor,

he told me I needed to
speak to you directly

about getting an
extension on a project.

Really, I'm just a
little overloaded

with some work right now,

and I wanted to speak to you
about getting an extension.

Come in.

Hey, I'm sorry to
interrupt you guys.

Are you principal Hanway?

Yes.

I'm Peter.

I was supposed to
meet you earlier.

Oh, I have to take this, okay?

We'll talk about
this later, okay?

I'm so sorry to
interrupt you guys.

Sorry, brother.

Peter!

Pleasure to meet you.

So, tell me, how long have
you been working with Evolve?

It seems to be a
fantastic organization.

It is, I love it.

I've actually been there,
what, three months now

and they got me focused on
the bullying portion of like

the school programs and things.

So, I'm enjoying
it, can't complain.

Excellent.

So, what made you
want to get involved

in the after-school program
to help victims of bullying?

Ooh.

Wow.

Wow, that's kind
of a big question.

It started with,
actually, my church.

I was youth director there
for, what, a few years,

and I loved it so much
that I went back to school,

got my degree in social work,

and I was a social worker
for about 10 years.

And the rest is history.

Plus I'm passionate about
the topic of bullying,

so it worked out.

Well, we're very
grateful for your service.

Thank you.

You mentioned youth pastor.

I just want to remind you

that this is a public school
and we have to keep our

religious and political
beliefs personal.

Absolutely, 100%,
I agree with that.

And you know, plus,

there's ways to share God

without even actually
saying His name.

I know what you mean.

Oh, do you?

I'm a Christian, too.

Really?

Okay, cool.

Cool.

Well, let's get
back on track here.

Yeah.

So, this is a volunteer
opportunity for the students.

So there's no guarantee that
anyone will even show up.

I understand.

I mean, come on, they're teens.

I get it, that's fine.

Yeah, but that being
said, our counselor, Jane,

has been talking to
some of the students

since the beginning of the year

and it looks like we
have about six signed up,

so we'll see if they show up.

Cool.

Sounds good.

All right.

So, we'll have
you start tomorrow

and you'll actually be in
this classroom right here.

Really?

Nice, perfect, I like it.

All right, so we'll
see you tomorrow.

Of course, yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your
time, I appreciate it.

I appreciate it.

All right.

Hey, actually, Principal Hanway,

nevermind.

I'm sorry, I kind of answered
it in my head already.

Sorry about that.

Okay.

All right, you
have a good day.

You too.

All right.

See you tomorrow.

Alrighty.

Peter, you still there?

Yeah.

Yeah, ma, I'm here.

Well, I'm just glad that
you got up out of Virginia

and went out there
for a fresh start.

Yeah, me too.

You know, I think it was needed.

How do you think
working at that new school

is gonna go?

I think it's going to
be all right, you know?

The principal seems pretty nice.

Well, I just hope he's not
one of those pushover types.

So, he is a she, Ma.

Oh, okay.

Well, I hope that she's not
one of those pushover types.

Nah, nah, she's pretty cool.

She's real nice.

She's actually good
with the students, too.

Oh.

Pretty nice, huh?

Mm-hmm.

She cute, too?

Come on, Ma.

What?

I'm just curious.

Yeah, she's
beautiful, actually.

Oh.

She got rings on?

Nope.

She sure don't.

I was looking hard, too.

I ain't see nothing.

But look, you gotta
stop that, Ma.

You gotta stop it, all right?

You know, I'm not
in any way ready

for any kind of
relationship right now.

Well, it's been eight years
since your wife passed, Peter.

Ma, this has nothing
to do with Tameka.

Oh.

Well,

you just take your time, baby.

You know that Brianna
was very special to me.

Don't do that.

Don't do what?

Don't bring up
Brianna, okay, Ma?

Like, look, I'm trying my best

to just get this out of my mind.

I can't, I don't even
want to think about it.

It helps to talk about.

It doesn't help me, Ma.

Okay?

Look, what helps me is just
not thinking about it at all.

Okay?

That's what helps me.

No, you just can't go running
away from dealing with this.

Well, you the one
who told me to run, Ma.

You the one who told me to
pack up, come to Maryland,

get away from all this.

You told me that.

Oh, oh, no.

No, I told you to leave
so that you could heal,

so that you could
deal with everything.

I didn't say run away.

And don't you dare take
out your anger on me.

You didn't just lose a daughter.

I lost my grand baby.

I'm sorry, Ma.

I'm sorry.

You know, this stuff
just ain't easy.

Yeah, well, it's
not supposed to be.

Oh, hey.

How are you?

I'm Mr. Ryans.

What's your name?

Hello, I'm Wanda.

Wanda.

Nice to meet you, Wanda.

Wow.

So I'm the counselor
that's gonna be

talking with you guys today.

By any chance, did you
notice anybody else coming in

when you were here?

No, I'm the only one.

All right, no problem.

So we'll just go
ahead and get started

just as soon as a few more
people get in here, all right?

Cool, awesome.

All right, guys,
just take a seat.

Oh, hey.

Hello.

I'm Jane, school counselor.

And you must be Peter?

Mr. Ryans, that's me.

So nice to meet you.

Thank you.

Okay, well, I rounded
up three more for you.

They had all expressed
interest in this group,

but apparently they had
gotten a little distracted

in the hallway on the way over.

That's all right,
they're teens, you know?

Let 'em live.

That's true, that's true.

If you need anything, I'll be
in my office till about 5:30.

And if you don't, just make
sure you turn off the lights

and lock up on your way out.

- Will do.
- All right?

Thank you, uh, Jane, right?

You bet.

All right, thank you.

All right, well, hey,
good to see you guys.

I'm Mr. Ryans.

I'm from Evolve.

As you guys can see here,

we're a nonprofit organization

and they sent me
here as a counselor,

partnering with your school

to talk with you guys a
little bit about bullying.

So I'm glad to be here,
glad to see your faces.

Excuse me, ma'am?

Are you supposed to be in here?

Yeah, but I can go?

No, no, no, come
on in, come on in.

Please, have a seat.

Empty chair right there.

Come on, come on.

Yeah, we're just talking a
little bit about the program

and everything else,

kind of the intro to the class.

But I'm curious, do any of
you guys know each other?

I don't know anyone here.

I mean, I've seen
them around school,

but we don't talk or anything.

Okay, well, hey,
nothing wrong with that.

That's the best place
to start, you know?

When you don't know somebody,
we get to know each other.

And, hey, why don't
you kick us off

since you started talking?

My name's Carson Palmer.

I'm here 'cause the
school counselor

suggested me to come here
so I can be around people

I can better relate to.

Hey.

Yeah, yeah, this the after
school bullying program?

It is, yeah.

James.

Okay, cool.

How y'all doing,
how y'all doing?

- How you doing, brother?
- All right.

All right, I'm Mr. Ryans.

Sure, sure.

We're just kind of
getting to know each other

a little bit.

I mean, since you so
graciously decided

to show up late and everything,

why don't you kick us off next?

Tell us a little about yourself.

All right, well, obviously
I ain't no weird nerd,

nothing like that.

But

basically, I sent a provocative
picture to my girl, right?

We broke up later on.

She ended up sending
it to the whole school,

and, yeah, so.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Listen, James,

that is tough,

but let me give you a little
bit of encouragement, okay?

There's actually
people in our world

who really have a large platform

and they've made mistakes,
just like you did.

And, unfortunately,

their mistakes have
cost them a lot more.

So they've came out on top.

I believe you'll be
able to come out on top.

All right, we'll talk
more about this later,

but just be encouraged, man.

This is not a forever thing.

You're gonna be all right.

Let's keep it
going, this is fun.

How about you, Sir,
in the blue shirt?

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Darren.

Okay.

Do you want to share
anything else, a little more?

I'm pretty quiet.

Really?

James, no, stop.

Okay?

There's absolutely nothing wrong

with being a little
bit introverted, okay?

So tell us a little bit more.

I'm,

I'm used a lot at the school.

People, they'll
pretend to befriend me

just so that I can help
them with their school work.

Why would they
want to befriend you

just so you can do
their schoolwork?

Uh, Mr. Ryans?

This guy is like the smartest
in our entire school,

like top notch smartest.

Really?

Okay.

Well, I mean, that's
a good thing, right?

I mean, there's nothing
wrong with being

obviously one of the
smartest kids in class.

That should make you very
desirable as a friend.

I have a question, though.

I would want to know
why in the world

would you just allow yourself
to be used like that?

I mean, what would happen

if you just stopped all
together doing their work?

Poof.

Poof?

Okay, what do you mean by poof?

Then I'd have no friends.

All right, wouldn't
that be a good thing?

I mean, who would want to
be friends with someone

who's pretty much fake anyway?

A fake friend is
better than no friend.

I'm sorry, I've been
talking a lot, Mr. Ryans,

but I'd rather be alone.

I don't want no fake
people around me

ever.

Well, I'm Maria.

Hi, Maria.

We're glad you joined us.

Why don't you tell us a
little bit why you're here?

Yeah, why did you
decide to join us, Maria?

I'm sorry, do you
guys know each other?

Everybody in here knows her.

She's the pretty,

popular,

light-skin Instagram model
with like 500,000 followers.

What, you jealous?

You sound jealous.

What that got to
do with anything?

Shut up, boy.

Stop, stop, stop.

You guys, relax, okay?

It's all right.

You said Instagram.

I mean, what do
you mean Instagram?

Well, Mr. Ryans,

it means she gets half naked

in front of hundreds and
thousands of people for some likes

and maybe a free
makeup sponsorship.

Hmm?

Anyways, I'm just here to see

if speaking in a group setting

with other people who've
also experienced bullying

would be helpful.

Girl, what kind of bullying
have you ever experienced?

Your kind.

When jealous, unkempt females
always got something to say.

Girl, unkempt?

Who are you calling unkempt?

I'm calling you unkempt.

What you gonna do?

Huh, huh?

Stop, stop, stop,
hey, sit down.

Looking all stupid.

First of all.

First of all, nothing.

You need to get out my face.

Hey, stop.

You don't know me?

No, she don't know me.
I don't wanna know you.

I'm frickin' outta here.

I don't got time for this.
Ha ha.

No!

Have a seat, don't leave.

Nobody wants you here.

Nobody want you here.

Look at me, okay?

Please, do not leave this
class right now because of her

or anybody else in here, okay?

If you're gonna leave here,
let it be because of me,

because I failed you.

Give me a chance,
come on, have a seat.

Give me a chance,
give me a chance.

We're not gonna do this, okay?

That's not what this
program is about.

Okay?

This is really an opportunity
for us to actually connect,

come together, okay?

I understand, you know,
we can have hostility,

you know, you may
not like each other.

You may even be
enemies, but here today,

I need you to understand that
by the end of this class,

you're gonna be friends.

Listen, whatever
your issue is today,

just understand
that there's hope,

there's an opportunity for you
guys to have a better life.

All right?

And I'm gonna teach
you that, okay?

Yeah, yeah, James?

Mr. Ryans, yeah,
Stephanie smell good.

I'm not trying to be funny.

She just smelled good to me.

Y'all know, like the Jergens,

cherry almond Jergens?

Oh, so y'all don't
moisturize y'alls skin?

Okay, whatever.

I'm sorry, everybody.

Stephanie, you smell good.

That's all I was trying to say.

All right, all right, cool.

Listen, I appreciate that.

You guys, I'm excited
to be here, man.

Come on, put on
those smiling faces.

Let's kick things off
with a little activity.

All right, come on,
let's get loose.

Stand up outta your desk.

Stand up, stand up.

Come on, stand up, stand
up, stand up, stand up.

All right, just move your
desks out of the way.

We're gonna get in a circle

and we are going to have
a nice time, all right?

Hey, you still here?

It's almost five o'clock.

I am.

You could have warned me
about these kids, you know.

I wanted to surprise you.

How'd it go today?

It actually went pretty good.

I can't complain.
Good.

A lot went on, you
know, some rough patches,

you know, fun moments,

but at the end of the
day, it, oh, actually,

there's a student named James.

You heard of him?

James?

Yes, of course.

Hmm.

By the look of your face,

lets me know it's true.

Unfortunately, yes.

It got out to the entire staff.

Wait, you saw it, too?

Yeah.

Oh my.

Poor kid.

Dang.

Well, I mean, hey, look,

out of all the kids
that were here today,

he seems like the one

that's probably gonna
be just fine very soon.

Yeah, he'll be all right.

Absolutely.

Well, look, I gotta hit the gym.

I'll finish cleaning
up right here

and lock the door on the
way out and be good to go.

Okay, well, I'll
let you do your thing.

Okay.

Look, I really appreciate you.

Thank you.

I'll see you tomorrow.

All right.

Hey,

sorry, nevermind.

I'm good.

I'm sorry about that.

You know, this is the
second time you did this to me

in two days.

What's going on?

I know, I'm sorry.

My fault, I got a lot going on.

These kids was crazy.

I'm just, I'm good, though.

Everything's fine.

Okay.

Have a good night.

All right, you too.

Yeah, I gotta go work out.

♪ Rockefeller over

♪ Now I'm going to
war like a soldier ♪

♪ Plus they tried
to count me out ♪

♪ Thinking that it's over

Push, push, push, push, push.

Here we go.

Good work, good work.

Yo, you killing me, Marshall.

Hey, well, that's
music to my ears.

Oh my gosh, that's not, man.

This was supposed to
be a light workout.

- Light?
- Yes.

Man, come on, man.

We ain't put no toe in
the water around here.

No, but so,

how's the bullying program with
the new school treating you?

Great.

Yo, them kids is a trip, man.

Mm-hmm.

I like the sign of what
you're doing overall.

You, hey, how's wifey doing?

She's good, she's good.

She's great.

Don't be mad.

We have, you know,

we've been keeping it under
wraps for the most part,

but she's,

we're pregnant.

- Shut up.
- Yes sir.

Oh my.

Come here, boy!

Thank you, thank
you, thank you.

Congrats, man.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How far along is she?

So she's in her
third trimester.

Actually coming down
the home stretch.

So, with that being said,

I'm gonna need a little
administrative help

for the personal
training business,

mainly scheduling,
payments, cold calls.

Like back office stuff.

So if you know any
high school kids

looking for something part-time,
something on the weekends.

Got you.

I'll actually put out a word
at the school I'm at now.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

I appreciate that.

Yup, yup.

All right, that's enough
intimacy between us for one day.

All right, come on, let's
crush this last set.

Come on, bro.

Nah, nah, nah, let's
go, let's go, let's go.

You said that three sets ago.

I saw that, I saw that.

Not gonna work, not around here.

Yo, next time when you say
light, make it light, man.

Light?

This is light.

♪ I'm in the biz

♪ Tell her don't miss me

Wobbly Wanda in the building.

Wobbledy, wobble, wobble.

Drop it like it's hot.

Hold up, hold up, hold up.

Don't tell her drop nothing.

Mess around and
trigger an earthquake.

Hey, Slim.

Hey.

Hey, Slim

Hey.

Leave her alone, stupid.

Mind your business.

Hey, Slim.

What, you been
working out, sexy?

Hey.

What, you been working out?

There she blows.

What happened?

I saw that.

Oh my.

I don't want to
do this geometry.

Wait, is that him?

I mean, he looks kinda nerdy.

Like, look at his bag.

It's like a binder
with straps on.

He's not ugly,
he's just mad weird.

I swear. I need someone
like him to do my work for me.

Girl, you can
have him after me.

Ew.

Are you guys?

No, no.

You sure?

No.

Please, stop.

I mean you can have him

after he helps me
pass my English class.

Okay, well, you
better handle that

because I need him,
like, tomorrow.

Okay.

Hey, Darien.

Hey, it's Darren,

but you are AP English with
the paperclips and staples?

Yeah.

Here

you

go.

Oh, thank you.

I was able to finish
both papers for you.

Aww, you're so sweet.

No problem.

Actually, I have this
for the same class

and it's due on Monday.

Monday?

Yeah.

Oh, um,

I'm sorry, I won't have time
to do that this weekend.

Excuse me?

I'm sorry, I won't have time.

Find the time.

I'll probably be able
to work on it during my

first period class
Monday morning.

Great.

Thank you.

♪ Calm down before you
stress up the groove ♪

♪ The energy a little different
when the blessings improve ♪

♪ Hey who you talking to

♪ Just know I aint no

♪ Could be anything
in the world ♪

Hey, Principal Hanway.

Hey, guys.

Have a good weekend.

Hey, Peter.

Hey, what's up?

You headed to your
session with the kids?

Yeah, yeah.

Actually, going there right now.

Well, great.

Well, have a good weekend.

Cool, cool.

Hold on real quick.

So,

are you free this weekend?

Free?

Yeah, you know what I mean?

You know, you busy with
these kids all week.

I figured maybe we can go out

and have some adult
time or something.

Well, I don't think my
husband would like that.

Oh, my bad, I'm so sorry.

I'm just kidding,
I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

Really?

Well, what'd you have in mind?

I don't know.

You know, something fun.

Like I'm cool with anything.

What about bowling?

I like bowling, yeah.

I'm a beast, you know?

Well, let's do that.

I'm cool with that.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I know you got my number,

so why don't you
just shoot me a text?

Text me your address.

I'll come through maybe
Saturday night around seven.

My address?

Yeah.

No, I don't know you
that well, Mr. Ryans.

Oh, it's Mr. Ryans now?

I respect that, I respect.

All right, well, cool.

How about instead if
you text me a number

and I'll text you the
address to the bowling alley

and we can meet
there around seven?

Sounds good.

All right.

I'll see you then.

Cool, cool, cool.

Hey.

Yeah?

I was wondering when you
were going to come around

and ask me.

Okay.

See you.

All right.

♪ As long as you're with me

♪ I feel at home

It is so good to see that
you actually all came back.

All of you.

This is great, this is great.

I figured, you know,
this time around,

we could dive a little
deeper and talk about hate.

You know, in high school,

not everybody loves
everything, right?

So I figured we could
just take a second

and talk about some of the
things we hate about school.

Wanda, why don't
we start with you?

Do I have to go first?

You don't have to,

but we'd love to hear a
little bit of your story.

If you wouldn't mind
sharing, please.

What's something you
hate about high school?

Going to class late.

Late?

Who cares about
going to class late?

I do.

And clearly you have
no idea what it's like

dreading to go to class

and fear that half of the
class is waiting for you

just to try out their
new fat people jokes.

Look, Wanda, you ain't
that big, all right?

I know people fatter than you.

Shut up, James.

You shut up.

Look, you got some size and all,

but don't worry about that.

And I ain't trying to be rude,

so don't tell me shut up.

You shut up.

Whatever.

James, no, we're
not doing that, okay?

I know you're trying to help,
but we're not doing that.

All right, we want to hear
you, Wanda, sorry about that.

Please, please continue.

Tell us what's going on.

Mr. Ryans,

I hate going to
class late because,

because when I'm
late, I'm noticeable.

Mm-hmm.

It's like everyone is
watching me as I walk to my seat

and all I feel are eyes as
I walk past their desks.

But when I'm early, Mr. Ryans,

when I'm early and
seated at my desk,

no one pays attention.

It's like,

I'm either a walking billboard

that everyone can just
laugh and point at, or,

or I just don't exist at all.

I know what you mean.

I guess I have a certain look

that makes people
think it's their job

to make me feel
terrible about who I am.

About time white people
know how it feel to be treated

just because of how you look.

Stephanie, no.

Mr. Ryans, can
I say something?

Absolutely, Carson, you may.

To be honest, I have no
reason to like black people.

Say what?

My whole life, it's been
black kids who picked on me.

It was a black man who
broke into my house

and took everything
of value from us.

It's a black guy at
my afterschool job

who makes every day I go
in there a living

and to be quite honest,

I grew up in a house where
neither of my parents

have anything positive to
say about black people.

Now, and that all being said,

I don't let my
parents influence me.

I don't let any single
experience I've had

with any black person

paint a picture in my mind

that all black
people are the same.

I just choose to go through life

treating everyone the right way,

even if I get
slammed in the way.

I heard that.

I respect it.

Do me a favor, though, yo.

Don't ever invite
me to your house,

'cause I ain't coming.

I don't care if you
got Hamburger Helper,

baked apple pie, I ain't coming.

But, nah, for reals, yo,

I respect that.

Look, look, I
appreciate you sharing.

Carson, thank you.

Thank you for sharing
your little story.

Wanda, thank you for sharing.

See, the truth is, you know,

we all experience something
about school that we hate,

all of us.

All of us have pains
and issues we deal with,

but there's ways to cope,
so let's take a minute

and talk about some
of those things, okay?

♪ Yeah I got bad thoughts
that make my mind scared ♪

♪ Hold me hostage and
they don't fight fair ♪

♪ Who gonna pray for me
and wipe all my tears ♪

♪ Who gonna save me if
you not right here ♪

♪ Ooh this darkness it
make my sight clear ♪

♪ Take me away 'cause
I don't like here ♪

♪ Ghosts of my past

♪ They filling the night air

♪ Wake me up

♪ I'm trapped in my nightmares

♪ Wake me up

♪ I'm trapped in my nightmares

♪ Wake me up

♪ Back to life back to life

What you looking at?

Nothing.

Man, you not doing
them dishes right.

Don't ignore me.

I said, you're not doing
those dishes right.

What am I doing wrong?

You're supposed
to use the sponge,

not the rag.

Sorry.

I don't know why
they hired you anyway.

Why do you have such
a problem with me, bro?

'Cause you're
a punk white boy.

And I'm not your bro.

Man, there's brothers out
here who really need a job

so they could feed their family.

And here you come,

just taking up space.

I need a job too, man.

No you don't.

Your parents will buy
you whatever you need.

You don't know anything
about me or my family.

Who you talking to you like
you about to do something?

Wash that.

Where are my fries?

All right, lemme
see what you got.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Oh, what up, twinkle toes?

Twinkle toes.

Oh my gosh.

What was that?

You didn't see that.

You didn't see it.

Everybody saw that.

No, no.

I'm just warming up.

That's the warmup?

That's the warmup.

That's the cold up, my gosh.

Like, you know a gutter ball
still counts as zero, right?

Watch it.

Watch it, okay?

Not everybody can, you know,

get strikes every single
time, like your boy, right?

Okay, see, now you about
to strike out on this date

if you keep messing with me.

Oh, all right.

My fault, my fault, my fault.

I did want to say
something, though.

Something kind of been
on my mind a little bit.

I find it hard to believe that
you've never been married.

Well, believe it.

I'm just so focused on work

and raising my kids right now.

Mm-hmm.

Wait, kids?

Hold up, hold up.

All this time, you've
never told me you had kids.

Yeah, I have two.

Two?

Nice, nice.

And, forgive me for asking,

but is their dad like
in their life or?

They're both adopted.

Oh.

Something I always wanted
to do, since I'm adopted.

I didn't know that.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

Well, congrats on the children.

Thank you.

What what about you?

Do you have any kids?

I did, yeah.

I had a daughter, but she
passed away last year.

Yeah.

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Wow.

It's okay.

You know, for obvious reasons,

it's not something
I like to talk about

or bring up that much,

but I'm doing better, I'm okay.

I won't bring it up again.

I'm sorry.

But if you ever do
want to talk, I'm here.

I appreciate that, thank you.

There is actually something
I want to talk to you about.

I was curious if you're
really that bad at bowling?

Oh, you know what?

You know what, you know what?

Let me say something.

You talking about
me, you better.

One pin down?

You better roll a strike.

You sitting there
talking about me,

you better roll a strike.

You ain't said nothing.

You ain't said nothing,
but dang, girl, I got this.

Talking about me,
I need to see you.

Let's go, let's go.

Here we go.

Show this bad boy right here.

Put a little bit of the
booty out, like that.

Oh my.

Stick it out.

By God, yeah, yeah.

All right, now see that,
that one don't count.

- I mean?
- That one didn't count.

That one didn't count, okay?

I just had to reset, you know,

do a little bit different flow.

Wow.

- I got this one, though.
- Four pins?

I'm gonna pick it up.

If I just stay focused, I
might get out of this school.

Trust me, you'll get out.

I don't know, man.

I got you, man.

Stephanie!

All right.

Take it easy, kid.

I got it.

What's up, girl?

Hey.

So, you going to Mr.
Ryans' after school program?

Yeah.

Girl, why you so mean?

I ain't mean.

You is mean.

I ain't mean.

All right, meanie.

I'm sorry, you almost
ripped your book.

Yeah, see, I need that smile.

You're stupid.

You're stupid.

No, you're definitely stupid.

Who is that girl
he talking to?

What you even doing out here?

- Um, I forgot.
- Get it together.

Hey, James.

Good morning, Cherie.

I see you decided
not to upgrade.

And who are you?

Who are you?

What's wrong with you?

What's wrong with us?

What's wrong with her hair?

Like, may I suggest a brush?
Stephanie.

Does she even own
a comb or brush?

A simple wash and brush.

I don't even know you.

Something wrong with y'all.

You're both ignorant,

and that's why you
my ex-girlfriend.

What's up, ladies?

Hey, Jay.

Hey, Mr. Ryans.

Carson, hey man, you're early.

You know we don't get
started for another, what,

30 minutes or so?

Yeah, can I just talk to you
about something real quick?

Of course, man, please,
come on over here.

What's going on?

Okay, so I have this job

that I work sometimes after
school and on the weekends.

And there's this guy there who
just hates me for no reason.

I haven't really
done anything to him,

he just seems to make every
day I come in a nightmare.

Hmm.

I'm sorry to hear
about that, man.

Well, have you told
your boss about it?

No.

Why not?

I mean, I don't
want to snitch on him.

And I feel like telling my boss

isn't going to do
anything, either,

because you know, their
families are friends,

so he's not going to fire
them, so I'm just an outcast.

Got you.

Wow, yeah.

Yeah, that sounds like
a tough situation, man.

To be honest with you,

it sounds like one that's
not gonna get much better.

I just remembered something.

Wow, so I was just at
the gym the other day

with my personal trainer and
he actually owns the gym.

He was telling me that
he's looking for somebody

working there part-time and
you might be a good fit.

You know, if it's something
you're interested in,

I could maybe set up
an interview for you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Totally, totally, that
sounds great, yeah, yeah.

Awesome, man.

Look, so let's do this.

Let's start with you talking
to your parents first.

Mm-hmm.

Okay?

Tell them about
everything that's going on

and based on what you
guys come to, let me know

and I can set up an interview
for you guys, all right?

Okay, that sounds
great, Mr. Ryans.

Thank you so much.
My man.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate you, bro.

All right, I'll be back
here in like half an hour.

- Sounds good.
- All right.

We gonna have fun today, man.

Yes, Sir.

Yeah.

All right.

Hey, I'm running
late for a meeting,

but I just wanted
to let you know

I really enjoyed
myself last night.

I enjoyed myself, too.

And maybe we can
do it again soon?

Of course.

I call you later?

Sounds good.

All right.

- See you.
- See you.

Look, look, look, look,
look, all I'm saying is

you guys, your generation
is just completely spoiled.

I'm sorry, it's true.

You guys are spoiled.

No, just because you
grew up in the stone age.

What?

The stone age?

Mr. Ryans, Mr. Ryans?

So my mom, she told
me that you guys had

like some kind of machine
separate from your phone

that leaves messages or?

I don't know.

An answering machine,
are you kidding me?

Y'all don't know what a
box answering machine is?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I know what you talking about.

Do you know what
I'm talking about?

Y'all used to get together
as a family and like

sing songs and
record y'all's selves

and then sit back and
let somebody call y'all

and then y'all ain't even
be there for them to sing,

or them to hear y'all singing.

Yes.

Yeah, we didn't have your
little high tech cell phones

you guys got now with
ring tones and stuff,

and app stores.

No, we had to actually
press a button,

get around as a family

and do something.

And that's the
difference between us

and this generation now.

We came together as a family.

Mr. Ryans?

That's how it be in class, too.

We be keeping it real, though,

with all that electronic stuff.

Mrs. Preston took
my phone, too, today.

And I didn't even have it out.

Cougar.

She tried to take my phone, too.

I said, nah, lady, uh uh.

I ain't trying to
slide like that.

James, James, don't do that.

Don't do that.

That's exactly how
rumors start, man.

I'm playing, though.

I get it, I get
it, you're playing.

But rumors like that

actually can get people
in a lot of trouble.

Yeah, I know about that.

So do I.

Girl, what you mean
you know about that?

You the type that
start them rumors.

Meda, I don't know
what your problem is,

but I don't start
rumors about no one.

You need to stop coming for me.

I just think it's kinda
annoying you keep coming here

day after day and
you don't belong.

You still don't.

Wait, ladies,
hold on one second.

This is,

I want to create a family
atmosphere here, okay?

All right, it seems like you
to just have some hostility

and we want to get this
right, respectfully, okay?

So, Stephanie, why don't
you just share with us,

why are you so adamant that
she doesn't belong here?

Well, because this
group was supposed to be

for those of us
dealing with bullying,

self-esteem issues
and all of that stuff.

She clearly don't got
none of those issues.

I mean, she's pretty,

she's popular.

Everything is perfect.

You got everything
going on great for you.

I don't get it.

'Cause you jealous.

Shut up.

I don't have everything.

My life ain't perfect.

My mom's an alcoholic.

And my dad,

he's in prison.

And if you think that having
all these followers are great,

man, you got it wrong.

Because with all that
comes haters, racists,

comments, everything
you could think of.

And then on top of that,
I got to come to school

and sit with girls
just like you.

What a sad life you have, awe.

Whatever.

No, what a sad life you have.

I don't know why you got so
much hate towards this girl,

but she has never
done anything to you

or anyone else in this group.

There has gotta be
some other reason

why you got so much
hate inside of you,

but Stephanie,

you got to find another
way to let that mess out,

'cause I think everyone in here
has had about enough of it.

So, yeah.

Sure told you, huh?

My whole life,

I've been picked
on and laughed at

because I don't look
like all the other girls.

I don't wear the latest fashion.

I don't have the stylish things.

And most of the time,

it's either boys or
super pretty girls

who always have
something bad to say.

It hurts,

and I build up a genuine
hate for most people,

especially girls
that look like you.

♪ Dirty water

♪ Wash me clean

♪ You'll always
be a part of me ♪

You don't deserve to be
treated the way I treated you.

None of y'all do,

and I'm sorry.

Well, look at that.

Y'all finally got along, huh?

I'm happy for y'all.

That was beautiful,
I ain't gonna lie.

I was hoping y'all
was gonna fight today,

but it is what it is.

Mr. Ryans, you the truth, man.

You the truth.

♪ And I believe in what
my eyes can not see ♪

I got one more.

You're on top.

Almost there.

Good work, good work.

Oh, gosh, you're
killing me, dog.

I thought coming here was
gonna give me a chance

to get away from
that mental list

of the school I got going on.

What's going on?

Nothing.

Actually, it's all good, man.

I was just, you
know, got these kids

that's on my mind
constantly, man.

I think, finally,
for the first time,

I'm finally getting
through to some of them.

That's awesome, man.

And I think sometime, bro,

at the end of the day,
kids just need to feel

that it's someone out there
that has they back, you know?

Yeah, absolutely.

Except there's one
thing I'm not feeling.

The fact they be clowning me.

They be catching me.

One of them call me ancient.

I mean, you got no
spring chicken, bro.

What is that supposed to mean?

You're like two years
younger than me, yo.

Hey, but don't you forget it.

No, they call me ancient
'cause they was talking about

answering machines
back in the day.

You remember answering machines?

Mr. Ryans?

Carson, what's up, man?

How you doing, Sir?

I'm glad you
could come through.

Yo, look, I forgot to tell you.

So sorry.

So, this is Carson.

Carson, this is Marshall.

Marshall, Carson.

Yeah.

Nice to meet you, Sir.

So I remember you telling
me this a little while ago

you were looking
for some extra help

to help around here with
administration type stuff.

So, Carson, he's
actually looking for

a little part-time gig,

so I thought I'd
connect you guys

and see if there's something
that might be there for him.

Actually, I brought
my resume for you, Sir.

Okay.

You'd be surprised how many
people come looking for a job,

but not actually
prepared with a resume.

How many days a
week can your work?

Right now, just one, 'cause
I still have the other job

and I want to give them
at least two weeks notice.

But once I'm done with that,

I can do two days a week
from five to 8:00 PM,

anytime on Sundays.

Okay, step into my office.

Thank you.

I appreciate you.

Yes, Sir, man,
I'll holla at you.

Mr. Ryans,

thank you.

No problem.

Hey, don't tease me.

Bro, leave me alone.

Gosh.

All right, I got
you Marshall, man.

10 sets, here we go.

One.

Two.

This tutoring is so boring.

Yeah.

When am I gonna use this?

I know I'm not.

Same.

I'm done with this.

What?

Girl, look.

He's looking at you.

So pathetic.

You better go over there

and get yourself
an A in history.

I'm not going over there.

Watch, he'll come to me.

Okay.

What?

You have a question?

You're kidding me, right?

When were they friends?

I don't know.

She's better stay away.

Well, I know, he's yours.

It says find the lateral.

Just look at her.

She's not even that pretty.

Anybody else have a question?

I just wanna say

thank you so much for
sticking up for me yesterday

in Mr. Ryan's program.

It's no problem at all.

I didn't know you
had that in you.

I didn't, either.

I was thinking,

if you're free later, do
you want to study later?

Yeah, definitely.

Cool.

Maybe I can help you
with your homework?

Oh, you help me
with my homework?

Yeah, what do you mean?

Nothing.

I just don't hear that often.

Yeah, well,

I told you, I'm not like
most girls out here.

You did.

I did.

But can you walk me to class?

Of course.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Cool, let's go.

Everybody,
please, turn your pages to 17.

This is where we go back over

and relearn everything.

It was terrible.

I don't know, he just
isn't who I thought he was.

Ew.

So disgusting.

I can smell your B.O. from here.

No.

What's up, bro, how you doing?

♪ You protect my house

Yo, hop up, hop up, hop up.

You know the drill, hop up.

♪ I don't know

♪ I don't know how
much longer I can go ♪

So you're trying to solve
for the disparity of power.

Yeah, 'cause it's
like I can't get it.

What's up, Maria?

Hey.

I'll talk to you later.

Yeah, see you later.

Okay, so,

what's it like to be so popular?

What are you talking about?

Everybody knows you.

Everyone thinks they know me,

but you can't talk.

Everyone knows you, too.

It's not really in
the same way, though.

Everyone knows me for just
being that weird, smart kid.

But there's a difference
between being popular,

which is you,

and, well, people just
knowing who you are.

Yeah, well,

being popular's not what
it's always cracked up to be.

Yeah, okay.

For someone who is so smart,

you just don't get it, do you?

We're not that different.

You say everybody wants
to get close to you,

be your friend and
use you, right?

Well, the same
thing happens to me.

The only difference is they
think just because I'm pretty

or I have this large
social media following,

that they can be my friend.

But to be honest, I don't
know who my real friends are.

But I can relate to you, Darren,

more than you think.

And I like that.

You know, you remind
me of a Bible verse.

What?

A Bible verse?

Well, yeah.

Random, I know.

And I'm not quite sure how
spiritual of a person you are,

but I think only
words from the Bible

could accurately describe what,

well,

what I think about you.

Well,

you have my attention.

Well, the verse is
Song of Solomon 4:7,

and it says, "Thous art
are all fair, my love."

"There is no spot in thee."

And in not so old English,

you are beautiful, Maria.

Hmm.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

It's just that

I've heard so many guys
tell me I'm beautiful.

But when you said it,

it's different.

I really believe you.

Well, Maria,

you'll always be
able to believe me.

Thanks.

Well, we should probably
get back to the studying.

Yeah, right.

So, you're trying to figure
out the disparity of power.

Yeah, that thing.

So essentially you
just gotta take X

and then divide it
by the variable and.

♪ Love stop

♪ Wobbly wobbly

♪ Fight me if you want to

♪ No

♪ Here comes wobbly Wanda

♪ Here comes wobbly Wanda

♪ Wa wa wa Wanda

♪ No no no stop no
leave me alone ♪

♪ Leave me alone

Wobbly Wanda in the building.

♪ Why do you bully me

♪ I don't know I don't know

♪ Why do you bully me

♪ I am love

♪ I am love love

♪ So why do you why
do you pick on me ♪

♪ Pick pick on you

♪ No pick on me

♪ My name is Wanda

♪ And I get get get bullied

♪ Stop it

♪ Ooh

♪ It's gonna be all right

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ How can you tell

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ I feel it in my heart

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ It's gonna be okay

♪ The sun is shining

Hi, papi.

What's up, mami?

How you been?

Good.

How's school?

Good.

Well, you gonna
graduate this year, right?

Yeah.

That's good.

Yo, that's your daughter?

I follow her on Instagram.

Man, watch out.

I'll DM you later, girl.

I don't know why you
think it's okay for you

to put pictures all
up on social media

so everybody can see.

What?

I saw your page.

And how did you see that?

Don't matter how
I saw it, I saw it.

Oh, now you ain't
gonna talk to me?

I don't have to answer to you.

I don't know where you got
this new, little attitude from,

but I ain't teach you
to be disrespectful.

You ain't teach me nothing.

Are you serious?

Ma, look Ma,

I know you ain't a
little girl no more,

but you gonna have to
learn something for me.

With every decision
that you make now,

you're gonna have to deal with

everything that comes with it.

For example, put yourself
on blast on social media,

it's gonna come
back to haunt you.

It's gonna bite you in
the butt sooner or later.

You heard me?

Ma, you feel me?

Yeah.

I'm sorry, Ma.

I'm sorry that I
just yelled at you.

I love you, nina.

I do.

I just don't want you to end up

on the same bad path that I did.

I miss you, nina.

I miss you, too, papi.

Hey.

Hey.

I was thinking,

if you're free Saturday,
you want to come over?

Uh,

I mean, I know we
ain't beefing no more,

but I didn't know we
was cool like that.

Girl, do you want
to come over or not?

What are we doing?

Well, since you asked,

I was thinking we could
do what I normally do.

So I do manis and pedis

and do a full face of makeup,
do my hair, take cute selfies.

What you think?

That's not really
my idea of fun.

Okay, well, I'm not going
to force you or anything,

but let me just say this.

You gotta make
time for yourself.

We all need that.

Kind of reminds me of
being a little girl

and going into your mom's
closet, putting on her clothes,

going in her makeup bag,
putting on her lipstick

and just feeling beautiful.

Uh, yeah, I never
really did that

'cause I never was considered
the pretty girl to anybody

or like myself,
nothing like that, so.

Stephanie,

you've always been
the pretty girl

and you still are.

Society makes us believe

that we have to fit into
what they call beautiful.

But what really matters
is what's inside

and your confidence.

Don't let anyone take
that away from you, okay?

Thanks.

No problem.

So,

Saturday, girls night, you in?

I'll come.

I'll come, I'll come.

That's disgusting.

Y'all friends now?

Shut up, James.

Nah, nah, nah,
y'all friends now.

I watched that whole
thing right there.

Beautiful.

About time.

It's about positivity.

That's what we're here for.

That's what we
supposed to be doing.

That's what we does.

But where everybody else at?

All right, guys, see, standing
up, I mean, it's important.

That's why we're here, you know?

I mean, if you're
standing up for yourself.

Mr. Ryans, see,
that's the problem.

People always say
stand up for yourself,

but it's like some people
just can't do that.

Yeah, I mean, I tend to
stay away from conflict.

I hear you, Carson,

but standing up isn't always
about initiating conflict,

you know?

Standing up can start
with simply just

not letting someone see you cry

or really just ignoring
them, you know?

Like, have you ever
noticed that bullies,

they just really want attention?

You know, they want an
audience, they want a reaction.

That's what they really want.

But that doesn't
always work, 'cause like

just not letting
them see you cry

or walking away from
those situations,

that don't always be cutting it,

'cause like some people will
still continuously attack you.

True, true, I get that.

But, reality,

at some point,

that's the moment where you
have to do a little bit more,

right?

You actually have
to say something.

You gotta do something.

You can't just let
people walk over you

and have control over you

because that's exactly
what they want.

They want control.

There's a famous writer.

He wrote something,
I just love it.

I wanna share it with you guys.

He says, "Anyone who is
among the living has hope",

"for even a live dog is
better off than in dead lion."

Any thoughts on what that means?

Because the dog
still has hope,

but the lion's dead.

He can't do anything,

but as long as
that dog is alive,

he still has a chance to
do something with his life.

That's it.

You guys have hope,
every last one of you.

Because as long as
you're breathing,

you have hope.

♪ It was cold on the night

♪ You were born

♪ But I kept you
away from the storm ♪

♪ Wind like a side walk

♪ After the night
of nonstop rain ♪

♪ But we slept through
the whole thing ♪

♪ It was cold on the
night you were born ♪

Yeah, babe, I'm on my way.

I just have to stop at my mom's
job and drop off something.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, we actually
haven't started yet.

We're waiting on Mr.
Ryans to get here.

Oh, okay, cool.

I'll see you soon.

Okay.

Excuse me?

Are you not gonna say it?

No, not right now.

Babe, you better say it.

Te amo.

Te amo tambien, mi amor.

Bye, baby.

I knew it.

I knew it.

You a lover, boy.

He a lover.

Lover boy, lover boy.

She look good.

Mm-hmm.

Man got himself a girlfriend.

Got him a boo boo.

A little boo thang.

Y'all gonna get married?

Don't wait too long,
she might leave.

Don't let me catch her.

Listen, you feel me?

♪ Is it gravity

♪ The grace I can't escape

♪ And the trouble with grace

♪ It keeps

Call 9-1-1!

You, call 9-1-1!

Hello?

Hey, can you hear me?

Hey, can you hear me?

Where's 9-1-1?

That's really
what y'all just do?

That's what school today is?

You just download apps in class?

Come on, man.

Hey.

Okay.

I'll be right back.

You guys just hang tight, okay?

Did you guys see
Principal Hanway face?

Must be serious.

I wonder what it is.

So, Maria was
in a car accident.

Is she okay?

She died on the
way to the hospital.

I know you guys are,

I know this is a little hard
for you guys right now and

I know that,

I know that this is a moment

that we can all just come
together as a family.

This is why we're here, okay?

We're here together.

You know?

If you guys just stay after
a little longer, you know,

Principal Hanway's here for us.

We can talk further
about this, okay?

Darren, wait.

Darren.

Darren!

Darren, come here, bro, come
here, come here, come here.

Darren!

Here you go.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Ooh.

So, yesterday.

That for me has got to be

probably one of the hardest
things I've ever had to do

by telling those
kids about Maria.

Yeah.

I can't imagine what they're
going through right now.

We're gonna have an extra
couple of counselors come in

and just really be
there for the kids.

She was so popular.

This is gonna hit hard
for a lot of people.

Yeah.

Oh, you're expecting somebody?

Oh, yeah, that's my mom.

The kids were with her today
and she's dropping them off.

Oh, snap, so I get to
meet the mom and kids today?

I guess so.

All right, about time.

Don't do that.

I've been wanting
you to meet them.

Hi, baby.

Hi, mommy.

Who's this?

This is mommy's
friend, Mr. Ryans.

Hi, Mr. Ryans.

Hi, cutie.

I like your dress,
it's so pretty.

Thank you.

Go get ready for bed.

Okay.

Bye, Michelle.

Bye.

Oh my goodness.

She is too cute.

Thank you.

Donna, you here, baby?

Yeah, Mom, in the dining room.

Oh, I didn't know
you had company.

Yeah, Mom, this is Peter, the
guy I was telling you about.

Oh, hello, Peter.

Hello, how are you?

Fine, thank you.

Yes, Ma'am, nice to meet you.

Pleasure's all mine.

So Peter, would you
like to stay for dinner?

Sure, yeah, I'd love to.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Donna, sweetie, Leshon and I

are gonna bring in the
rest of the groceries.

We'll be right back.

Okay.

All right, honey.

Hey, where'd I put the?

Hey, Leshon.

What is going on?

Leshon!

Peter, what is going on?

Peter!

Peter, please tell
me what is going on?

Peter!

That little boy
killed my daughter.

What do you mean

that's the little boy
who killed your daughter?

Please tell me, what
are you talking about?

That little boy
killed my daughter!

A little over a year ago,

my daughter was outside playing.

There was a bunch of
kids circling around her,

and they were laughing at her,

pointing fingers at
her, clowning her.

And one of them put his
hands on my daughter,

threw her to the ground and
her head hit some metal object

and killed my daughter.

And the same little boy
that threw my daughter down

just ran out your room just now.

I don't get it.

It doesn't make any sense.

All this happened in Virginia.

How did he get here in Maryland?

Well, the adoption agency
gives you a full report

of the child's history
and background.

His dad died when he was a baby

and his mom got sentenced to
prison for 12 years last year.

He moved to Maryland
with his grandfather,

but his grandfather passed
about nine months ago.

The state took him and I adopted
him about three months ago.

And everything you said
about your daughter

was in his history report.

Wait, so you knew about this?

I knew what he did,

but I didn't know that
was your daughter.

I had no idea about
the victim's family.

What are you talking about?

What are you, stupid?

It's easy to figure out
that, you just look online.

You can easily find out who
the victim's family was.

I didn't care to
find that out, Peter.

It wasn't my job
to play detective,

it was my job to give
him a loving home.

I'm so sorry, I had no idea.

Okay.

Well, now you do.

Peter, Peter!

No!

No!

Peter, nothing.

Do you know what he did?

He killed my daughter, Donna.

Do you understand
that the last thing

that my daughter
saw on this earth

was the face of that little
boy spewing hate in her face?

She ain't seen the
face of her father.

She ain't get a hug from me.

I ain't get the chance to
protect her or nothing.

That little boy doesn't
deserve a family.

He deserves to burn.

Oh my.

It just don't make no sense.

How you gonna end
our sessions now?

Listen, guys,

there's just a lot of
things going on right now

that you just don't know about.

All that you was saying,

don't give up and I
won't give up on you,

whatever you were saying,
man, you a hypocrite.

Listen, James, you know,

there's just a lot more going
on than you know right now.

And I'm sorry, but it's just
a little bit too much for me

to be able to be at this school.

But I thought you said
this wasn't about you.

It's about us.

Yeah, Mr. Ryans.

We're all dealing
with Maria's death.

This has nothing to
do with Maria, okay?

Look, you guys, listen.

I know I may be gone,
but just look around.

You guys still have each other.

And not only that,

but you guys came here
every single day together.

You learn together.

We laugh together.

We cry together.

So you guys are no longer alone.

Now, what I think,

I think it's time for you guys

to put everything that
we've learned into practice.

Okay?

It's time to stand
up for yourselves.

It's time to stand
up for each other.

Those days of bullying,

being harassed and mistreated,

they're long gone.

Remember what I said?

Bullies,

they only can bully people
who they have control over.

No one has control
over you anymore.

You're free.

♪ They trying to
hand me the money ♪

♪ I gotta pick up the pace

♪ They throwing
shade but I'm gone ♪

♪ I gotta keep it
up in my face ♪

♪ Taking the gang out of space

♪ Best just stay in your place

♪ They ain't hear none
of my of my songs ♪

♪ I don't know what can I say

Ma?
Oh!

Don't you come up here and
sneak and scare me like that!

You in my house.

Oh, baby.

Oh, sweetheart.

What are you doing here?

I told you I'd come up here
in a few weeks to visit you.

Oh, I forgot about that.

So I wanted to surprise you.

Surprise!

I should've known it was you,

watching hip hop and reading
the Bible at the same time.

Baby, you know that the
Lord is working on me.

Oh, I'm so glad to see you.

But wait, hold on, wait,
wait, wait, hold on.

I locked both doors,

windows was closed.

Alarm was set.

How did you get in the house?

I am from Baltimore, honey,

and I've learned a few
things over the years.

Ah ha!

Gotcha.

So, what's going on?

Hmm.

Yeah, that's a
big question, Mom.

I got a lot to catch you up on.

And,

yeah.

Peter, so that young child

is living here in Maryland

and he is the adopted child
of the woman you like?

So, what are you going to do?

I got to leave her
alone, that's for sure.

And I got to leave that school.

I just got to get up
outta here altogether.

This whole city is just.

Let me ask you something.

Why did you decide
not to press charges

against that child
and his family?

I don't know.

I mean, I figured

I'd be able to show myself
that I actually forgave him.

So you haven't forgiven him.

I tried, Ma.

I tried, I tried.

I tried to drown
him out of my mind,

but I can't.

What you're experiencing,

baby, it doesn't just happen.

Now this is too specific

to be just some
crazy coincidence.

See, you haven't forgiven
that child, yet here,

here is your chance.

Chance for what, Ma?

Forgive him?

At this point, I have no
desire to forgive that boy.

Oh, but you have to.

I don't have to
do anything, Ma.

You don't get it.

And I don't even see how

this is coming out of
your mouth right now.

Brianna was your granddaughter.

And you are my son.

And you know that
I loved Brianna,

but she isn't here anymore,

and I have to focus all of
my love and my attention

on who's sitting right
here in front of me.

Peter,

Peter, baby, you are never
gonna have any peace ever

as long as you hold onto
your hate for that child.

And that poor woman,
Lord have mercy.

Donna.

Yes, Donna.

And it appears that
she really likes you.

And I can see,

I can see that you've
really fallen for her, too.

Yeah.

She didn't sign up
for all of this crazy.

I know right now she's
probably hurt, confused.

Mm-hmm.

And she's not the only one.

I bet that young boy is feeling
the same exact way, too.

And he needs someone,

someone just like
you in his life.

What you talking about, Ma?

This little boy
killed my only child

and you're sitting up here

acting like I need to
not only forgive him,

but somehow accept
him as my own son.

Well, it won't be the
first time in history

that something like
that has ever happened.

Yo, you saw that
game last night?

Yes, man.

Over time?

Crazy.

Man, what?

I thought it was gonna
be like a double overtime

the way they were going.

Yeah, for real.

I was on the edge of my seat.

And those fouls?

Hey, is Mr. Robinson here?

Nah, he's not here.

Okay, well, I'm here
for my last check.

So do you know where he is?

He's not here,
so come back later.

Okay, so do you know
where he puts the checks

so I can sign for it?

Do I look like your
office assistant?

I said he's not here, man.

Just come back later.

Is this for me?

Yo, you don't
work here anymore.

Man, we finally
got a brother here

who actually needs this job

so he can take
care of his family,

so you can take your
white privileged self

and bounce up out of here.

Okay, I'm gonna
call him real quick.

Yo, I said he's not here.

Just leave.

Give me my phone back.

Dang.

You really gonna
do him like that?

Man, you saw what happened.

I had to protect myself.

All right, what you
got going on after this?

You gonna watch the game?

You gonna catch
the game tonight?

I'm a try, man.

I might catch the
fourth quarter.

You know, my wife, I got
to stop at a grocery store.

My wife, she pregnant.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, man.

I done told you about
betting on those games.

Oh, Carson, hold on.

What happened to you?

Who did that to you?

Okay.

Carson, let's go.

Carson, let's go.

♪ Yeah

♪ I'm about to
make it disappear ♪

Hey, I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Bye, Felicia.

Hey, bro, we actually closed.

Which one of y'all Rod?

I am.

Hey, bro!

Sit down!

So,

you like to hit people, huh?

Hit me.

Nah.

I'm not gonna tell you again.

You feel that?

That fight or flight
running through you?

That's how you make this
kid feel every single day.

So, here's what we gonna do.

If I even hear you looked
at this kid the wrong way,

you gonna see me again.

Do we understand each other?

Yes, sir.

Good.

Now, go make me a sandwich.

Club on rye.

Yo, Carson, you want one?

Yeah, yeah.

Make that two.

How much is that?

Darren, hey.

How you doing?

Good.

I noticed you were gone
from school for like a week.

How are you holding up?

Doing better.

Yeah.

I started seeing one of
those new counselors here,

but it's nothing like Mr.
Ryans' sessions we had.

Yeah.

Overall, you're
doing pretty okay?

Yeah.

Hanging in there?

Ooh, it looks like you
did something with yourself.

You're almost cute.

Almost?

I'll see you.

All right.

What do you want?

I just want to say

I'm sorry for what happened
to your girlfriend.

Well, thanks.

Well, hey, now that
you're back in school,

I have this assignment that's
due at the end of the week.

You gonna help me with it?

I'm not gonna help
you with the assignment.

Sorry, correction.

I'm done helping
you with anything.

You know, if you're still
tripping off of Maria,

newsflash, everyone
has gotten over it.

Hey!

Go.

Now.

You know, the principal's
gonna hear about this assault.

Shut up.

Idiot.

Ah, man.

Think I'm gonna get
in trouble for that?

No, no, no, absolutely not.

As a matter of fact,
you might be rewarded.

Don't worry about
your grades, James.

As long as you have
your paper in by Friday,

you'll be fine, okay?

Cool.

All right, I'll
see you in class.

Yes, Sir.

James, wait.

I know you're probably
not about to believe

a word I'm about to say,

but I can't go another
day without saying it.

Like, I'm so sorry.

It was really stupid,
childish, immature.

I was so angry when you
broke up with me, Jay, like,

and then you started
talking to other women.

I was jealous.

I wanted you to hurt just
as bad as I was hurting,

but I was 100% wrong.

I get it if you hate me, you
never want to speak to me,

you never want to see me again.

However you may feel about me,

it's justified and I
probably deserve it.

I made this apology video

and I'm going to post it today

and let everyone
know how sorry I am.

I mean, I'll be embarrassed
and I'll look so stupid,

but it's nothing compared to

how much I probably
embarrassed you.

Here, press play and take a
look at it before I post it.

Wait, what?

All right, class,
I'll be right back.

Hey, Biggie Smalls,

can you pass me
my candy bar back?

Bruh, that candy bar
done already passed through

her bloodstream by now.

♪ I hate this class

♪ I hate all this work

♪ Dang you want
some more candy ♪

♪ Why don't you make
that belly twerk ♪

I ain't never seen

Porky Pig twerk before.

You want me to twerk, jerk?

Okay,

but you go first.

But wait, pop a mint because
your breath is the worst.

I'm sick and tired of you
guys' lame fat people jokes.

So,

that's all, folks.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey.

I don't know what's
going on here,

but I need your
attention, please, okay?

All right, everybody,
take out your textbooks.

Turn to page 15, please.

Hey.

Respect.

Hello?

Can I help you?

I'm Julia,

Maria's mom.

Oh my gosh.

Hi, how are you?

As well as can be expected.

I hope you don't mind me
catching up with you here.

Principal Hanway gave
me your information.

She said she tried to call,
but you weren't answering.

And I just, I really
needed to talk to you.

No worries at all.

I'm just on my way to
the gym, but I have time.

Please, what's going on?

I'm not going to
hold you long, I just,

me and Maria never really
had a great relationship.

And when her father
went to prison,

things really got
bad between us.

But over these past
weeks before she,

I started noticing she
was acting different.

You know, she was reading more.

I even saw her praying.

She seemed more at peace.

You know, like nothing
could bother her no more.

One day she told me that she's
never gonna give up on me.

That as long as she's
alive, she still has hope.

And she's no longer with us,

but she did something for me
that no one's ever done before.

She gave me hope.

And Mr. Ryans, I just,

I just wanted to let you know

that you have such a
big impact on these kids

and I thank you for
helping my baby.

Without even knowing
it, helping me, too.

Come here.

It's good to
see you guys, too.

Y'all been good?

Yeah, I've been good.

I wonder why Mr.
Ryans want us to

put our chairs like this?

I don't know, probably a game.

Something he would have.

Sheesh, Carson, what
happened to your eye?

I don't want to
talk about that.

All right.

Wait, so, each of you guys

got that email from
Mr. Ryans, too?

Would we be here if we didn't?

I guess not.

But where's he at?

He hasn't shown up yet.

Do you see him in that chair?

Come on, man, you're
supposed to be the smart one.

He is the smart one.

What's going on?

Give me your fire,
woman, come on, man.

How you guys doing?

Hey, hey, hey.

Good to see all of y'all here.

Man, look at them smiling faces.

James, you on time?

Hey, man, it's a new day.

Listen, I just wanted
to get you guys here

because I wanted to apologize.

I'm sorry.

You know, I feel
like I let you down,

but somebody reminded me

that there's people
counting on me to be strong.

And those people where you.

You know, Mr. Ryans,

you don't always have
to be strong for us.

Remember you said that
we're all in this together.

I mean, I know that
you're here to help us,

but we're all here to
help you if you need it.

I appreciate that.

I really do, from
all of you guys.

And with that being
said, I got news.

Good news.

Ooh.

So the sessions are back on.

Woo!

Woo hoo.

Absolutely.

So check it out, look,

we're gonna get this thing
popping every single day.

I want to make
sure that you guys

make it through the school
year on top, all right?

Fantastic.

See, I was hoping something
like this was going to partake.

So let me go ahead.

What's he got?

What's he got?

Relax, relax, relax.

Is that an answering machine?

Indeed, it is.

Let me see that bad
boy right there.

What in the world?

Where did you find this thing?

It was in my father's attic.

What?

I know, man.

I couldn't believe my
eyes, but I snatched it.

Hopefully he don't
know I took it.

But, anyway, so I,
my idea was this,

I feel like we should all leave
a positive message on here,

you know?

'Cause I feel like we family
now, and I don't know,

that's what you said
families used to do.

Well, family still
does that today

and it's gonna start today,

right after our little activity.

All right, sessions
start now, all right?

Yes!

So, I wanted us to get
in this little circle

'cause I just
wanted to catch up.

You know, it's been awhile.

You know, let's talk
about your week.

James, how's it been?

You know it's crazy, right?

Everybody know I lost my woman,

but I ain't no quitter.

So I ended up getting two.

I said it.

All right, all right.

Hey.

Hey.

So, you met with
the kids today?

I did.

That's good.

Listen, I know I
already apologized to you

and I just feel like
it's not enough.

I wanted to say that
I'm sorry again.

You know, Donna, you didn't
deserve the way I spoke to you.

I know you were just caught
up in the middle of all this.

Nothing is your
fault and I'm sorry.

It's okay.

I understand.

I've been praying so
hard for you every day.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

And, I mean, God's
been listening,

that's for sure.

I missed you.

I missed you, too.

So, is he here?

Yeah, he's coming.

Okay.

So, are you sure
you're ready to do this?

Yeah.

He's coming.

Okay, he's coming.

It's okay.

Hey, Leshon, listen, man.

Don't be scared, okay?

Relax.

I needed you to be here today

'cause I wanted to
tell you something.

I realized that
you made a mistake,

a very, very big mistake.

But,

you know, I realized
that everybody,

everybody deserves
a second chance.

When I look at you, man,

I see in your eyes that
you've had a hard life.

I know you've had a lot
of bad things going on.

Listen, I wanted to
ask you something.

Will you forgive me?

Forgive you for what?

Will you forgive me?

I was the one that was wrong.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Come here, come
here, come here.

I didn't mean to hurt her.

It's okay, I forgive you.

I forgive you.

It's okay.

It's okay.

♪ Father told me to repent

♪ I had to trash my sense

♪ I done did some
things before ♪

♪ I'll never do again

♪ Lately I been in the zone

♪ I done come up
with some money ♪

♪ That's to pay the rent

♪ Working hard

♪ Sustain the flow

Don't get mad
at me if I strike.

You didn't see that.

All right, you ready?

♪ I been in my zone

♪ Ain't nothing wrong
but you on your own ♪

♪ I ain't mean to bring you
down but now I'm moving on ♪

♪ Ignore the fakery

♪ It was a fantasy

That was good.

Yo, they suck.

They can not bowl.

They really bad.

Y'all seen one Wanda, though?

I ain't seen here her.

Mr. Ryans, you didn't know?

About what?

Wanda got selected to perform

on America's Talented Teens.

Shut up?

Yeah, right?

So this is what she did, okay?

She sent in an audition of
her rapping and beat boxing

and she got selected.

So she's in LA already,
like right now.

That's crazy.

You talked to her?

Yeah, we've been talking,
we've been in communication.

So she's doing really
good right now.

Man, well, if you
just talk to her,

let her know I said hi.

I will.

Cool, cool.

Oh, you up.

Me?

You up.

Come on.

Wish me luck.

You got it.

Go get it.

Yo, Darren, you all right?

Yeah, it's just
one of those days.

I miss her and I wish
she could be here.

Yeah, man.

You know, we all wish
she could be here.

We all miss her.

We all miss her,
but hey, you know,

I feel like Maria wouldn't want
us to, you know, stay down.

So

How about we do something
a little different?

How about we do
something Maria style?

Okay.

Let's do that.

Hey, yo, hey.

Got an idea.

All right, hold on
one, Sir, one second.

Come on, come on, come
on, come on, come on,

get in here, get it
here, get in here.

All right, whenever
you're ready,

you can take a picture, okay?

All right.

What should we say?

Hold on, what should we say?

Hope lives?

I like that.

Hope lives.

Hope lives, hope lives,
hope lives on three.

All right, one, oh,
James, come on, brother.

Come on, man,
this thing heavy.

On three, hope lives.

One, two, three.

Hope lives!

♪ God is good God is good
God is good God is good ♪

♪ All the time all the time
all the time all the time ♪

♪ God is good God is good
God is good God is good ♪

♪ All the time all the time
all the time all the time ♪

So, who's going first?

I don't know,

but what exactly
are we gonna say?

Just say anything.

I'm not going first.

Well, all
the eyes is looking at me,

so I'm a go.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, so
whoever just called Mr. Ryans,

he's not here right now.

So you got to talk to all of
his favorite people first.

No, that's way too sassy.

Whoever just called Mr. Ryans,

he unfortunately couldn't
make it to the phone.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

It's.

Oh, wait, sorry, I
got excited, you guys.

Go ahead.

That was cool, though.

I wish I could do that.

But, man, look, leave
a positive message.

It's all positivity
on this side, ya dig?

That was good.

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

♪ Hello hello
hello I'm the man ♪

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ You can't tell
me anything else ♪

♪ I see y'all looking
real impressed ♪

♪ The way I'm getting
more interest ♪

♪ I can't hear it all

♪ Y'all looking up
at my ascension ♪

♪ I'm always number
one in the liner ♪

♪ Hit after hit after
hit boy walk me ♪

♪ Call me big papi
with the big hit ♪

♪ Yeah that's low key

♪ You can't knock me
down up off my perch ♪

♪ Nah

♪ Big fish on the
mantle go to work ♪

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ No catch and release

♪ Man it's cash in and teach

♪ If you try to boy I'll
knock you out your seat ♪

♪ You can't tell me nothing

♪ I'm winning game
after game after game ♪

♪ I'm never finished.

♪ Cut the competition

♪ Use my feet to
walk your road ♪

♪ You are the reason I go on

♪ And I want everyone to know

♪ Wasn't as good
if it ain't you ♪

♪ Haven't found
anyone more true ♪

♪ Nobody does what you can do

♪ You made this sinner
a brand new world ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than the storms ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than my faults ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than the hate I get ♪

♪ My God is bigger than it all

♪ Ooh

♪ Yeah my God is
bigger than it all ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than the storms ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than my faults ♪

♪ My God is bigger
than the hate I get ♪

♪ My God is bigger than it all

♪ Yeah yeah

♪ My God is bigger than it all

Daddy, the son is setting.

Awe, it's so pretty.