02x10 - The Good With The Bad

[bunniefuu]

I like to swing. And I wanted the four of us--

The four of-- No, we f*ck each other.

-Right! -And we not even doin' that

-right now. -Right.

[Zac]Previously on Zatima...

What are you saying, Angela?

I'm saying that we can be friends.

[Zac]Well, you had ole boy diagnosing everybody.

I only did that because I'm desperate.

What are you desperate for?

If Connie walked into your house right now

what...would...you...do?

[banging on door]

-It's your mother, n*gga. -Ma--

-[Zac] Help me, please, please. -[Fatima] Okay, okay, okay.

Fatima, help me, please.

Please, be careful, Ma. Come up slowly.

Okay--whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I got her, I got her.

Just get that side, get that side.

[Fatima] I got her, babe. I got her.

Come on, Ma, backpedal with us.

Get her to the couch.

-You got her? -I got her, I got her.

-I got her. -Okay.

[Zac] There you go.

There you go.

Jeremiah, what happened?!

She fell down the stairs.

We gotta get her to the hospital!

That's why I brought her here to you.

Don't, Jeremiah-- come on, man.

What? I'm tired of dealing with her falling down

and getting drunk and sh*t, man.

Do something for your mother, n*gga, she needs to stay here.

All right, Jeremiah! Ma!

-What? -Ma, ma!

-[Zac] Come on. -That's all you got

-to say to me? -Hey, it's me.

-It's me, Zac. It's me. -Oh...

-Zac, sh*t. Hey, baby. -Hey, hey.

Hey, are you all right?

We gotta get you to the hospital.

I ain't going to no damn hospital!

No, come on, Ma, yes we are.

-We're going to the hospital. -No!

Come on, put your feet down.

Come on...Ma, stay awake. Ma, you can't sleep.

Come on, Jeremiah! Come on, bro!

-I'm out this b*tch, man. -Get your hands off of me.

-[Zac] Come on, sit up, sit up. -Didn't I tell you

-don't put your hands on me. -[Zac] Don't go to sleep!

[Gladys] Is that all got to say to me?

[Zac] Here you go, there you go. Wake up, wake up.

Come on, please, don't--

Can you get her some coffee, please?

I don't want no damn coffee.

Shh, Ma, stop screaming. Just wake up.

Zac, I'm gonna go change, okay.

No, uhm, I got it. You, uh-- You got work in the morning.

I'ma take care of it. Yes.

-You're the b*tch. -No, Ma no, no, Ma.

Jeremiah told me 'bout you.

You're the one took all his money

and keep him from comin' to see me.

-[Zac] No, Ma. -[Gladys] I like...

what that gal name?

Oh, yeah, Karen.

I like Karen.

-[Zac] Ma...ma. - Look, I don't like you

light-skinned b*tches.

-[Zac] All right, all right. -Y'all evil.

-[Zac] All right. -Babe, I'm gonna go change.

-okay? -[Zac] Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

-[Zac] Thank you. -I ain't goin' no damn where.

[Zac] Yes, just stay awake, Ma. Don't go to sleep.

No, no, no, no, please, Ma!

[heavy exhales]

[theme music intro]

* Love ain't perfect *

* But we still work it *

* Ain't gotta be what we see on TV but it's damn sure worth it *

* Uh-huh *

* Love ain't perfect *

* But we still working *

* Don't gotta be what we see on IG cause we still worth it *

* Uh-huh-uh *

* Yeah, yeah *

* Yeah-yeah *

* Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo Still workin' *

[synthesized chords pulsing]

You okay?

[sniffles]

Yeah, I'm good.

[background voices]

No, you're not. Talk to me.

You see how bad she is?

I do.

My whole life, and she ain't do sh*t for me.

Zac, she has a problem.

I know that.

She chose that sh*t over me.

[soft piano chords]

Man, just,

Zac, I'm just tryin' to help.

I don't need no help.

I told you not to come here.

She won't bring up--

Everybody's doin' whatever the f*ck they want--

Jeremiah, you.

Zac, she needs you.

She need me now cause I got money.

Okay, well,

look at it this way,

now you have the money to help her.

She's gotta want the help, first.

Okay, well--

maybe when she sobers up, we can try and talk to her.

You don't get it! She don't give a f*ck!

Okay?! I asked you not to come,

and you keep talkin' to me!

Zac, I'm not leaving you here.

Fatima, can you just please, like--

What are doing? Now you're shutting me out?

This sh*t is embarrassing.

I just don't, wanna hurt you, like--

-Please, just-- -Look, you're not--

-Zac, I can't leave you here. -Can you just go?!

Just do somethin' I'm asking you to do one time, please!

Please!

f*ck! [underlying piano chords]

[phone ringing]

[Dr. Reid] Fatima, hi.

Hi, uhm, Dr. Reid.

[Dr. Reid]I had a feeling you would be calling me.

Did the night get worse?

[deep inhale] You have no idea.

[Dr. Reid]Yeah, he's pretty mad.

Yeah, uhm, we're at the hospital now.

[Dr. Reid]What?! Are you safe?

Yeah, it's nothing like that.

Uhm, he would never do anything like that.

His, uhm, his mom came by the house,

and she was in really bad shape,

so we had to bring her here.

And, uhm, and now he won't even talk to me.

[Dr. Reid]I see,

He's embarrassed by it.

That's exactly what he just said.

I don't even know what to do at this point.

[Dr. Reid]I can come there, if you like.

Yeah, I, he probably won't even talk to you at this point.

[Dr. Reid]Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm. Well, let me try.

Send me the info, I'll come down.

You sure?

[Dr. Reid]Yeah, I really don't mind.

[exhales] Okay, thank you, seriously.

[Dr. Reid]No problem.

Send the address and I'll head over.

[exhales] All right, thank you so much.

[Dr. Reid]Yeah, all right, bye.

Bye.

[synthesized chords pulsing]

Good morning.

Morning.

Thanks for letting me stay the night.

Well, you were really drunk--

too drunk to drive home, so it's fine.

Sofa wasn't bad.

Yeah, it's a good sofa.

Hey, uhm, I just wanna say

again, I'm really sorry about everything.

It's fine, Bryce, really.

I just, I wish it happened a different way.

It happened the way it was supposed to.

What does that mean?

That I'm destined to have a hot girl summer

and really get out here and date.

Mmm, did you ever stop?

Yeah, I did.

So I totally blew it?

You blew it big time.

Well,

I'm, I'm really sorry.

It, it's fine Bryce, look,

I'm just glad you told the truth eventually.

Well,

maybe you'll change your mind?

No, that's not gonna happen.

Okay, well, you know, just, stay open.

Nah, that door is closed.

-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -Yeah.

Okay, okay. [phone buzzing]

Oh, uh, look at that, Fatima's calling, so I should take this.

Yeah, yeah, okay, thanks again, Angela.

[Angela] Yeah.

[phone continues to buzz]

-Hey. -[Fatima]Hey.

-Where are you? -[Fatima]I'm sitting in the car

-at the hospital. -What?

[Fatima]Yeah, Zac's mama.

Girl, what now?

[Fatima]She was drunk and high and we took her to the hospital,

but he told me to leave.

Why?

[Fatima]I called Dr. Reid, and he said the same thing Zac said.

He's embarrassed to have me here.

I don't get that.

Yeah, me either.

[Fatima]I mean, if I'm his woman, he's supposed to be down

with me and I'm supposed to be down with him.

Yeah, but that don't sound good.

[Fatima]I know.

What are you gonna do?

[Fatima]I don't know.

I'm going to let him talk to Dr. Reid, then I'll talk to him.

Do you want me to go with you?

[Fatima]No, no, I'm good.

-Okay. -[Fatima]If I do, you know

I'll tell you.

Well, I'm here if you need me.

-[Fatima]Yeah. -Bye.

[exhales]

Hi.

Hey, how is she?

Well, we stitched her up, and there's no broken bones.

Okay.

She told me that she fell, but--

-Yeah. -I can clearly see that she's

inebriated and she has track marks on her arms.

Right.

Here's a number that can help her.

Thanks.

Uhm, when can I take her home?

Uh, we want to watch her for a few hours,

and then you can take her home.

-Okay. -We just want to make sure

there's no blood clots, and she's been complaining of

pain in her legs.

All right. Thank you.

Yeah. You can go see her if you want.

Nah, I'ma just stay out here, just wait.

-Okay. -Yeah.

Well, I'll let you know when she can be discharged, okay?

-Thanks. -Mm-hmm.

[soft piano music]

Zac,

[whispering] Oh, you're f*cking kidding me.

Fatima called me.

Of course she did.

I told her you wouldn't want to talk to me.

[tongue click] But you came anyway.

She loves you.

[soft piano music]

I don't know about that these days, man.

I think she does.

That's nice. Thanks.

I get it.

You don't get sh*t about this.

I think I do.

Your mother, your father, and your relationships,

I don't...

I don't got time for this now. I'm not in the mood, bro.

Okay.

Can I just ask you a couple questions?

And I'll be outta your way.

You're sitting down already. Go ahead, man.

How many times have things gone great in your life,

and then it all just went to hell?

That's my whole life.

Do you remember the first time?

Yeah.

When was that?

[exhales] Ah, man,

-I was seven. -Seven.

[whimpering] Yeah.

And what happened during that time?

Do you remember?

[sniffles]

That's when my mother started getting high--leaving me.

[sniffles]

And nothin' has been right since.

I mean, uh,

I'll get goin',

and things fall apart.

Uhm,

make some money,

then I'll be broker than I was before.

But you seem like you're doin' well now.

How long that gonna last?

Not long--

Excuse me?

Has it been since you met Fatima?

Are you tryin' to say I'm doin' good now cause of her?

No.

But I want you to think about this,

Your mother left you,

when your life was good.

And it all wasn't the same after that.

Now, i'm not sayin' that this is your fault,

but I've had a lot of patients that have experienced

this exact same thing.

When a mother leaves you, it gives you that feeling that

no one can love you,

especially, no woman.

So when you have something that's going great,

you sabotage it.

-I'm not sabotaging-- -Just, just, listen.

You don't even realize that you're doin' it.

I'ma get as much as I can out of all of it

because it's gonna end regardless.

That's that little boy voice

telling the man that you are today

that you ain't good enough.

That you're not worthy enough of having anything good.

So I'ma tell you right now,

if you don't change that voice in your head,

you will ruin absolutely everything that comes your way--

every good relationship,

and every good moment that comes in your life.

How do you change something that

you don't even know you're doin'?

Well, you know that you're doin' it when you do something wrong

and you gotta ask why.

Having sex with this one, and that one,

and feeling about as empty as a box of used condoms.

You have to change.

And when you feel yourself in these situations,

ask yourself why you did it.

Is it really worth the trade-off that it is?

Because in the elevator, you weren't mad at Paul.

That wasn't about him.

That was about Fatima.

That feeling that she was going to leave you

just like your mother.

And she didn't deserve that.

Neither did he,

and neither did you.

How did you know about the elevator?

They told me about it.

And I saw it on the internet.

Oh.

So she's telling you everything from her point of view.

I'm telling you that I saw it.

And she told you.

Look, I don't like lying to my clients.

I know Paul. He's a friend and client.

I just thought you should know that.

[sniffles]

Let me tell you something, Doc--

first of all, I'm not your f*cking client.

I'm a street n*gga.

I've been inside three years, I'm aware.

He wants her,

so he sent you here to talk this bullshit to me.

-No, no, no. -So that you can--

I'm just tryin' to help you.

I don't know what you tryin' to do.

-I'm tryin' to help you. -f*ck you!

You can't help me, n*gga, you don't know me.

And the last thing I need,

is some quack,

that she got,

to come here and shrink me,

while I'm dealing with my mother.

So you can get the f*ck up outta my face, n*gga.

[sniffles]

Okay.

The f*ck you still sittin' here for?

I'm goin'.

[sniffles]

But I'm still here if you need me.

I don't need you, n*gga.

[sniffles]

Don't need her neither.

f*ck all y'all. [sniffles]

Hey, big dog.

Ah, what's up?

What's y'all doin' here?

Come on, bro, you know we have to come check up on you, bro.

Appreciate that, man.

How'd y'all even know?

Jeremiah told me.

Yeah, how's she doin', man?

She good.

Y'all don't gotta stay, like, I'm good.

-Nah, bro, we stayin'. -We're here, man.

We got your back, bro.

How you holdin' up?

Good, man. You know, Zac, it's what I do.

You say that, but,

Ms. Gladys is like a mom to all of us, so--

we'll be here.

I know. She gonna be all right, though.

You know, she's good.

The doctor say anything yet?

Nah, just waitin'. Says she fine though, so--

just gotta wait.

-All right. -[Connie] What's up?

-What's up? -Hey, babe.

How did you know? Like, what you doin' here?

Cause we was playin' cards and I came up here to check on her.

How Ms. Gladys?

Well, they're checking on her right now, so,

She good, she good. You know Gladys.

Yeah.

Listen, uhm,

you know she be gettin' worse.

You be seein' her?

Yeah.

I was gonna call her from your phone,

but I didn't want you to think I was up to something,

so I just, I didn't.

It's all good.

I know you, it's not all good.

But you gotta remember, like,

Ms. Gladys is mad funny.

Yeah, she's funny as sh*t.

-Right! -Always crackin' jokes, bro.

Always smokin' crack.

-Ah, come on, Zac. -Nah, I mean, y'all wanna sit

here and have a reminiscent of all the good times, what about

the f*cked-up sh*t she did to me?

Hey, yo, we know, man, we remember.

You know I know all the nights you spent at my house.

I'm not takin' that away, I'm just sayin'--

we just sayin' that she was funny.

Bro, we know this ain't easy, man, we get it.

Yeah, man, this sh*t is crazy.

Hey, hey, hey, come on, I don't need all this, like,

come on,

Zac Attack, I'm good. Like, I'm serious, I'm good.

I know you.

Listen, why don't y'all go back to the game?

I'ma just, I'ma stay with him.

Nah, nah, nah, we here to hold down our boy, man.

Nah, it's good.

Zac, you want me to stay, right?

Yeah, yeah, he wants you to stay.

You know, if we not gonna be here, you should be.

-Yeah. -Come on, Tony, let's go.

Yo, Zac, we don't mind stayin', bro, you sure?

It's okay.

I'm good. I'm good.

-Love you, man. -Love you too, bro.

[sniffles]

[anticipating percussion]

What the f*ck is this?

[tongue clicks]

Really?!

Yo, who the f*ck is this?!

Who the f*ck is this? Who the f*ck is this!

Hey, hey, hey, hey, this is Fatima.

Oh, you're the little 'ance.

Yeah, b*tch, I'm the little 'ance,

and all the 'ance.

Can we not do this? It ain't even about y'all.

My moms is sick, bro, can we just...

Fatima this is Connie, Connie this is Fatima.

Oh, okay, so you're Connie.

Yeah, I'm Connie.

What you tell her about me?

Ah, sorry.

I'm just a girl from around the way

that used to be his friend back in the day.

Yeah, I know.

Well, I see you got your little friend here.

But you didn't want me here, it's cool.

I'ma leave y'all to it. I'm going to my parents' house.

Bye, Helima.

She big mad.

Why you gotta play so much?

Because she came here with all that smoke.

Hey.

[clears throat] Hey.

Are you guys back?

-What you mean? -Well, your mother's gone.

-What?! -Yeah, she checked herself out.

She said she was coming to tell you.

How long ago?

Uh, a few hours.

[exhale] sh*t.

All right.

Sorry.

No, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine, this is what she does.

-Thank you. -Mm-hmm.

Appreciate it.

f*ck.

We're gonna find her. I didn't know Ms. Gladys was

still tryin' to do that type of sh*t and bounce.

It's all right. Let's just go.

You could just come over like back in the day,

when I would feed you, we would do, whatever.

Just come over.

I can't, Connie.

I can't, f*ck!

You should think about coming over, though.

[percussion with atmosphere sounds]

-I don't think he's coming. -Did you call him?

Can we just eat?

What's going on?

Can we just-- [knock on door]

Ah, maybe he made it.

Hi, you must be Zac.

-Yeah, I'm Zac. -Come on in.

Do you remember me?

Yeah, I remember you.

We were just about to eat.

-[Mona] It's almost ready. -That's great.

So, Fatima hasn't told us a lot about you.

She hasn't.

No.

I had to do some digging.

I didn't find anything good.

Mm-hmm.

What?

We might as well let him know, dear.

Mom, this isn't the time to do that.

You'd want us to get to know who our daughter is with,

right, son?

Of course.

What you wanna know?

[Mona] Well,

why don't we start with,

your prison time.

I did some time for armed robbery.

Did you learn your lesson?

I don't know.

Y'all got some nice stuff in here.

I might spin the block.

Zac.

[Zac] What?

Did you tell them my mother was a crackhead?

Or they gonna find that in their research?

You don't have to get hostile, son.

I'm not being hostile. I'm just,

learnin' to speak my mind.

You know what I' sayin'?

Since your daughter here thought it'd be good to trick me

into seeing a therapist. And then telling the therapist

to come to the hospital my mom was in.

Zac, I was just tryin' to help.

By getting a therapist from the

guy that's been hollerin' at you at work--

the guy on the elevator?

Can we not talk about this here?

Nah, let's do this here, right?

That's what I got invited here for.

Everybody thinks Zac is f*cked up.

Don't use that kind of language in my house, son.

Because I had a bad life, right? Cause I had it hard.

I mean, everybody had it hard, except for y'all.

This is nice in here.

You know,

but every day I get reminded

that I don't deserve her.

She reminds me.

Her friends remind me--

now y'all too.

Invitin' me here to prove it to me.

Right?

It's cool.

So at least, I know now I might as well

just go back to where I came from,

where people know me. So I'm good on all this.

-[Fatima] Zac. -What?

Zac, don't do nothin' stupid.

The only thing stupid I ever did---

Okay, you know what, watch it.

Was think that somebody like you

could ever love somebody like me.

[music]

Might wanna lock this door,

I know where y'all live.

-Well, now. -Mama.

[huff exhale] We were just asking questions.

Well, the timing was wrong.

What's going on?

What's going on?!

What's going on is you insulting him.

-Look, I gotta go. -Fatima.

[Henry] Wait a minute.

Let me talk to you.

I raised you from the time you were nine.

You know what's right and what's wrong.

You know what's good for you and what's not.

This is your life to live.

Do you love him?

Yeah, I do.

I do love him.

And you wanna be with him?

[exhale] Look, Dad, we're havin' some problems right now.

Every time his mom comes around,

he just gets angry and starts acting differently.

[Mona] Your father was the same way.

I put up with all kinds of things.

All kinds of things, until I couldn't anymore.

Baby, you might think you love him,

but don't let him waste your time like your dad did mine.

You deserve more.

I know you want kids and a good man.

But Zac,

I don't think he's the one.

Are you done?

I'm just telling you the truth.

Look, I gotta go.

-[heavy exhale] -[Henry] We love you.

I love y'all too.

[pensive music]

[whispered] sh*t.

You gotta tell her.

I know.

* Ooh, they say they don't like me *

[background chatter]

Hey, my man's, what's up?

-Yo, you good? -I'm chillin'.

I'll bet, we seen your mom's yo.

-Yeah? -Yeah.

She looks like she doin' better.

She do!

Yo, can I talk to you?

Yeah, go ahead.

-Stop lookin' at my cards. -Yo, yo, yo, not here, upstairs.

You sure?

Yeah, I'm sure.

Eh!

Bye.

Uh, come-- [tongue click]

-Man. -It's over, man.

What you talkin' about bro,

he ain't gonna do nothin' with her, man.

My man's about to bash them cheeks.

Damn, bro, you messed up, man.

I'm telling you, man, Zac and Connie got history.

I got money on it, watch.

Damn, bro.

Hey, you know, I think she uses too.

Yeah.

There's somethin', man. Somethin's been off about her.

I saw that, bro!

sh*t. [tongue click] Yo.

He compared her to every other girl.

I know.

So, you know what that means.

Damn, bro.

He's gonna do it.

Might've f*cked up.

Yeah, you did.

Yeah, he is so pissed about the doctor.

[Angela] Yeah, I knew he would be.

Angela, I don't know how to love him if he doesn't get help.

[Angela]I know.

I mean, what am I supposed to do, just stay in this sh*t?

I don't even care.

[Angela]I know.

You know, it always starts out so good.

And just like my mom said,

you light a flame too quick,

it's gonna go out just as quick.

[Angela]You know, it's taken me a while to warm up to Zac.

Especially the way he been acting--

flying off the handle?

I know.

[Angela]And that doctor said it's all about his mama?

Angela, that makes sense.

Every time his mom comes around, he gets so angry.

And he's so mean to me.

You know what?

That's why you gotta wait and get to know people.

Because all that sh*t starts off perfect in the beginning.

You gotta wait for the real n*gga to show up.

[Angela]Where is he now?

She's getting checked out the hospital,

so I'm assuming he's there.

[knock on door] Hey, uhm, let me call you back.

[Angela]Okay, bye.

[Fatima] Who is it?

[Gladys]Gladys.

Uh, hey, Zac here?

Uh,

no, I thought he was at the hospital with you.

No.

He was with Connie, and he went over to her house.

Uh, I thought he'd be back here by now,

so I came to ask him for some money.

Look, I need some money.

Can you let me borrow fifty til he comes back?

Ms. Gladys, I'm sorry, but I don't keep money here.

Jeremiah told me you was a b*tch.

Uh, look, I know you got some money.

You know what?

Ms. Gladys, I think you need to leave.

You're not talkin' to me that way.

[exhales] I'm sorry, but I just,

I don't think you should be here right now.

I think you should leave.

Hey, Zac.

What you doin' here?

This is my place. What you doin' here?

Uh, I came to get some money,

but this b*tch.

[Zac] Hold on, hold on, hold on,

-I'm not givin' you no money. -How did she let you go?!

What?!

What are you talkin' about?

Okay, I'm gonna tell it.

Ma, go home. I'll call you later.

I know you was at Connie's house.

I saw y'all f*ck'.

And I know you was there for hours.

Are you gonna give me some money, or not?

Ma, go home.

f*ck.

-[Zac] Go home. -f*ck you!

Go home!

[tongue click]

[exhale]

Zac, what is she talking about?

Look at me!

Did you f*ck her?!

Okay.

Got it.

Zac, we're done.

[music intensifying]

[door slams shut]

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