A Different World (1987–1993): Season 5, Episode 19 - Conflict of Interest - full transcript

It's Byron. What am I
going to do?

Let him in.

We got grits for three.

Want me to get it?

Dwayne, take this off.

Ooh... nothing
like the naked truth.

I don't want a scene,
Dwayne, please.

If you have any heart,
let me handle this.

Please?

Whitley, please open the door.

Let me just talk to you
for one minute.



UN momento.

Whitley, come on.

It's not that bad.

I'm coming.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm going to wait
until you open the door.

- Byron...
- Hi. How are you?

Listen, these are for you,
and I'm really sorry.

I guess all this
is because you saw the paper.

The paper.

Yeah, the paper.

Yeah.

Oh.

You're very photogenic...



So is she.

She is my old girlfriend.

She's a lobbyist
for trans-Africa.

We ran into each other
at the fund-raiser.

Ran into each other
and got stuck.

No, no.

They just snapped a picture
while we were dancing.

I understand.

It doesn't sound like you do.

No, really I do.

I...

I understand.

What's one night?

A dance or two...

You are...

Radiant in the morning.

I'm... I'm not even dressed.

I don't mind.

Busy morning.

Yeah.

Are you whitley Gilbert

as in dorm director,
as in my hillman hostess

as in hello, class of 1996?

I'm Charmaine taisha brown,
and that's my boyfriend.

Ooh. Lance rodman.
Delighted.

Be delighted, but don't stare.

But you people aren't due
until... today.

How wonderful.

I see you have your hands full.

I'll talk to you later.

Thank you for my flowers.

You're welcome.

I sure wish you was my host.

You look so hospitable.

Lance.

Do you know where I can
find my host... Dwayne Wayne.

Yo.

Oh.

Dwayne, this is Charmaine
and Lance.

You remember when we signed up
for hillman hosts of the week?

Way back when.

Yeah.

Byron had to go.

Life of a politician, you know.

They come, they go,
they're in, they're out.

By the way,
I couldn't fix that drain.

Drain?

Come on, Lance.

Maybe you ought
to get a new plumber.

Catch you
around the campus, baby.

If I don't catch you first.

So...

As your hillman hostess
for the weekend

it's my duty to show you
an educational time.

Well, I'm learning
a lot already.

What do you want to do first?

I'd like to set up appointments
with all the professors...

Especially the famous ones...

Then visit every dormitory
to see what suits my needs...

Although this looks nice.

How's the water pressure?

Did I hear something
about a drain problem?

Hi, whitley...

I'm sorry.
When you have a moment

I need to speak to you
about last night.

Kimberly...

Can you get this girl
off my hands for a few hours?

I got business to attend to...
Personal.

I have a childbirth class.

Oh, sister,
speaking of childbirth

Shazza and I had
the most cosmic experience.

This spiritual retreat
for couples and individuals

and individuals
who want to be couples.

We learned the importance
of one basic

essential, fundamental,
indispensible reality...

- Mm-hmm.
- Truth.

Oh! Speak, daddy.

Every time we tell the truth

we give birth to ourselves.

- Freddy.
- Mm-hmm.

Brainstorm.

I love it.

Why don't you take
little Charmaine

around campus today.

She's a prospective freshman.

How do you feel about that?

Well, truthfully

on this particular
subject matter

I can't be bothered.

I see you giving birth.

I love it.

I don't mean to be rude, but...

You going to leave me with her?

You're changing.
You're growing...

I got to get
the admissions office

to take a chance on Lance.

To that end,
I have several dozen copies

of an impressive
letter of recommendation

from Dr. Heathcliff huxtable.

That waiting list
is tough to crack.

Not for Lance rodman, baby.

I got a secret weapon.

A clip-on power tie?

Absolutely, yes...
And my magnetic personality.

Speaking of which

here's my roommate, Ron Johnson

a man who put party in animal.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the star of our show...

You're born...

You waste time...

And then you die.

Thanks for nothing.

I guess he grows on you, huh?

Yeah, I think so.

Where can I change, b?

Right in there, in my room.

What's the matter with you?

My date last night with Kim.

I've seen cremations
that were less final.

Where did you spend the night?

You won't believe this

but last night,
against my better judgment

I took your advice
and went to whitley's.

Right.

She said some mean things.

Right.

I said some mean things.

Right.

Then we slept together.

Wrong!

No.

It felt right...
That's the problem.

And then Byron showed up.

You know, it's good to know

that someone is more screwed up
than myself.

I know how I feel, but I don't
know if I like feeling this way.

Feeling what?

Her pointy heels in my heart.

Why would I do that again?

Come on, you know why.

Don't make me say it.

You can't even admit it
to yourself.

Come on, it's the "l" word.

"L," "l," "l."

I still... love whitley.

Damn! Damn!

What's wrong with that?

People go their whole lives
trying to find someone to love

and here we are
acting like it's a curse.

We? What, are you
talking French now?

What I'm saying is...
Maybe we ought to go for it.

I don't know about you,
but in 50 years

I don't want to be looking
at your ugly mug

across from some bingo card.

Peace, money.

Allow me to introduce you

to a dazzling,
electrifying new face

coming soon to a campus
near you... me.

Is this the preview
for the coming attraction

or the cartoon before the movie?

Ooh...

Neither, baby.

I'm the best picture
of the year.

Lance rodman, class of 1996.

Lena James... '95.

That's okay.
I like older women.

We have a lot in common, see,
because I like older men.

That language lab was fierce.

I love those headphones.

Je m'appelle Charmaine.

Ich heisse Charmaine.

Me llamo Charmaine.

In any language, I'm beautiful.

Yes, you are.

I need some coffee.

Lance!

Baby! Hey!

Baby, meet Lena, class of 1995.

Lena, this is my...

Girlfriend, right?

Yes.

Thought so.

Baby. Hey, Charmaine.

Listen, things are sometimes
not what they seem to be.

Well, you seem
to be talking to yourself.

Kim, I've got to talk to you...

For once it is my turn to vent.

My date last night.

I don't know what I expected

but I felt like a rest stop

on the Ron Johnson
tour of Booty.

You ran into one
of his old flames, huh?

It was back draft.

He took me to y-vetta's
soul food kitchen.

Hmm-mm. Hmm-mm.

Yes, he did.

I think he'd been
with every woman there

including y-vetta.

But she's...

I know.

I mean,
how can I respect someone

whose idea of commitment
is staying for breakfast?

I mean, how can people
sleep together so casually

without considering
the consequences?

So, what do you want
to talk to me about?

I'll talk to you later.

It's no big deal.

Okay.

Hi.

Hi.

I'm glad you're here, whitley.

We need to talk.

Yes.

Last night was very...

Disturbing.

Disturbing.

Yes, with me and Byron
and everything.

I just don't know what to say.

You don't have
to say anything, whitley.

I guess we both know
what it was.

It was just one night.

Is that what it was?

We never had problems
in the bedroom.

It was the other rooms
we couldn't handle.

Well, at least we know
where we stand.

I think we've known for a while.

A national health crisis

and look at what
these hospitals are charging.

State price for aspirin
is 1 and 1/2 cent.

$5.00.

That's a markup of 3,000%.

Hospital workers eke it out
on salary cutbacks

and these $100,000-a-year
administrators

say they can't get blood
from a turnip!

I'm sorry.

I just...
I get, uh, fed up.

So...

Anything happen
while I was gone?

What have you guys been up to?

Nothing at all.

I was just getting ready
to leave.

I have a lot of data to go over

and if you could stay,
it would help.

I'll buy pizza and tell
you about the conference.

That's sweet, but you know,
I have that house guest.

Right.

So I'm going to have to run.

Okay.
Good night.

I'll stay.

Okay, Dwayne, um...

What... what's up?

Okay, health care statistics,
fiscal year 1989.

How about February 1992?

You and whitley.

It's obvious.

Yeah, it is.

I mean,
when two people have going

what you guys have got going

it's hard to miss.

Byron

what happened last night

came out of nowhere.

It's going nowhere.

It's history so don't sweat it.

Last night?

You didn't know.

No.

No, you, uh...

You just told me.

Why don't we, uh...

Go over all of this...

Tomorrow.

Sure.

Listen, I know whitley
very well, and...

She's much better with you
than she is with me.

You bring out the best in her,
and she deserves that.

Oh, Brad.

Bad day, huh?

No, bad night.

I can't wait
till this baby is born.

It's been too long

since I've been
through all this.

How do I deal
with jaleesa's mood swings?

Well, you remember.

It's easy.

She swings, you duck.

I still can't get used
to the idea of being there.

Being where?

In the delivery room.

Velma was pregnant with Darnell

for 9 1/2 months.

He was born during a heat wave.

She was in labor for 36 hours.

Everything came out all right,
didn't it?

Colonel Taylor?

Yeah?

Lance rodman...
Young, gifted, and wait-listed.

Behold the glow from this letter
of recommendation.

I want to tell you
I'm not one of them people

asking what hillman
can do for me.

I ask you
what I can do for hillman.

Well, you paraphrase Kennedy
very well.

I just saw the movie jfk.

From what I remember

he didn't have much
to say in that movie.

I see. You think this letter
of recommendation

and your sparkling personality
is just going to catapult you

off that waiting list,
don't you?

Dwayne told me you had influence
with the board of admissions.

Dwayne, huh?

Let's finish this conversation

in my office, okay?

I'd be delighted.

Oh, that's what you think.

Ron, you are looking
at a woman on a mission.

You're looking at a man
on a mission.

I have to talk to Kim.

Wait. I want us to get past
our petty differences.

There is something I want
to share with you, brother.

It's from my heart.

Oh.

I don't like you Ron.
I never have.

You're a greasy worm
with the charm of a cockroach.

Whew!

Oh, giving birth, giving birth!

Oh, man, telling the truth
is so freeing

and it's so forgiving
because I forgive myself

for not telling you this
years ago.

Ron.

You don't have some deep truth

you want to share
with me, do you?

No, do you?

Well, yes, I do.

Sit down, Kim.

You think I'm a low form of life

and you're not the only one
that shares that opinion.

I...

Ron, listen...

Hey, hold on.

Let the cockroach speak.

If there's one thing
I've learned

it's that actions
speak louder than words.

From this day forward,
I want you to watch mine.

It may take a week,
it may take a month...

I hope it don't take
much longer than that

but Mark my words

one day, you're going
to believe in Ron Johnson.

One day.

Get you a real dog.

He'd be more loyal.

And then I visited...

Let's make a long story short.

You had a great time on campus.

I visited Gilbert hall.

That have to do with you?

My granddaddy.

Ooh, royalty!

You didn't even have to tell me.

I saw your shoes.

I need some coffee.

See you later, your highness.

Oh, that looks interesting.

Mm-hmm, very interesting.

So, what's your major?

Undecided.

You like to keep
your options open.

Do you have a boyfriend

or do you keep
your options open?

After a year in college

you will realize better ways
of spending time

than worrying
about keeping a man.

You did not have to be

so blunt about it.

We promised
to tell the whole truth

and nothing but the truth.

I thought you loved
my earthiness.

I do. The epilady was just
a suggestion, baby!

Wait a minute!

Lance, what happened?

Colonel Taylor said

to improve my non-verbal skills.

Well, do you have any?

No.

Whitley, you got to hear

the latest Ron Johnson update.

This man was in...

Are you okay?

I made my bed,
and I must lie in it...

Alone.

I guess it's for the best.

What are you talking about?

Oh, Kimberly...

If these walls could talk...

Oh!

You and Byron?

Me and Dwayne.

I'm going out this door
and coming in again.

No need.

The story remains the same.

Girl meets boy.

Girl gets engaged.

Girl loses boy.

Girl meets man.

Girl sleeps with boy.

You slept with Dwayne?

What did I just say?

Of course it didn't mean
anything to him.

To him, it was just a night.

What about Byron...
Have you told him?

Not in so many words.

Not in any words.

Are you and Dwayne over?

Byron is the best thing that's
ever happened to me, Kimberly.

I love what he's done,
where he's going.

I like who I am with him.

As far as Dwayne is concerned

that ship has sailed and sunk.

Not if you can't
tell Byron about it.

Why?

We're not even
an official couple yet.

If you can't tell him

maybe last night
meant more than you think.

Such pearls of wisdom

from one who pines
over that swine Ron Johnson.

At least
I got it narrowed down to one.

But has he?

Oh! Oh!

Uh-uh...

Yeah.

I didn't mean it.

I didn't...

Hi, Byron.

Hi.

I called you at home.

I didn't know
you'd be working so late.

I can take a break.

Good. I'd like to talk
to you if I could.

Okay.

Maybe...

Yeah...

Um...

I never told you this before

but... Dwayne and I used
to be more than friends.

And..?

We used to be
a little bit engaged.

A little bit?

For about five something months.

Then we broke up
during the engagement party.

But...

The... the point is...

I slept with him...

Recently.

As in last night.

I-I didn't want to hide
anything from you.

The point is...

Do you love him?

Dwayne and I
are not meant to be.

That's not what I asked you.

I did love him,
and now I don't anymore.

Last night never
should have happened.

It was a big mistake.

You know, you didn't
have to tell me this.

Uh, I'm glad that you did.

Now you hate me?

Yes.

No. I'm kidding.

No, no.

I just don't want the past
to interfere with the future.

Neither do I, senator.

What was her name again?

Oh... Cynthia.

Well, miss Cynthia,
this is the last dance.

I'm cutting in.