Transcripts - Forever Dreaming

DRE: As a parent, you
want to protect your baby

from everything.

Like stairs...

Poison...

And White people trying
to touch their hair.

- It's beautiful.
- [INDISTINCT MURMURING]

But once they hit middle school,

the biggest thing you
have to protect them from

is themselves.

JACK: Jack Johnson,
cinnamon challenge, 2019.

Esskeetit!

[COUGHING]

Damn it, Jack!

I'm Jack Johnson,

and this is the flu season challenge.

Esskeetit.

[MOANS]

[THERMOMETER BEEPS]

Damn it, Jack!

2019 Nitro Circus Challenge!

Esskeetit!

[SHOUTS]

[CRASHES]

[GROANS] Damn it, Jack!

- [WEAKLY] Did I esskeetit?
- [TIRES SQUEAL]

So I was on high-alert

for situations where Jack could
get himself into trouble.

Guess who got new outfits

for the school dance!

I don't know why she does
that. It's me and Jack.

It's gonna be so much fun.

Mm-hmm.

No. It's not.

Because I'm chaperoning.

Esskeetit! Esskeetit!
Esskeetit! Esskeetit!

Esskeetit!

♪ ♪

I-I'll pay you $50 cash
if you don't chaperone.

You protesting only tells me

that you plan on doing
some dirt at the dance.

You played yourself.

Damn it, Jack.

Okay, Dad, if you're not going

to back out of it for
him, just do it for me.

If you show up dancing
and being all you,

the kids at school will
treat me like Jack.

[SIGHS] Baby girl, we all
have a price to pay for Jack,

and sadly, this is yours.

It's the Jack Tax.

[SIGHS] Mom...

Don't worry sweetie. I got you.

[SIGHS] Thank you.

So glad I have one parent who gets it.

- Hey.
- Come on, Jack.

Let's go try on your
outfit, and I'll tell you

what's gonna get you roasted
at the dance. Let's go.

I think his outfit is very nice.

Dre, I think maybe

you should pass on the chaperoning.

I don't want you to embarrass Diane.

I get that, but I'm worried about Jack.

- I know.
- Someone needs to be around

to keep an eye on him during
his experimental phase,

especially at a private school dance

where there's dr*gs, alcohol,

and all kinds of other stuff.

You're right. You should be
there to look out for Jack.

Thank you.

But you cannot...

under any circumstances...

- dance.
- What?

I will not let you embarrass Diane.

But what if they play my jam?

- No.
- What if there's a circle

- with no one in the middle?
- No.

What if the spotlight
hits me just right?

No!

Fine!

- I won't dance!
- Thank you.

But just know...

you have robbed these kids of beauty.

♪ Unh ♪

Mm.

Okay, date night!

What do you want to watch?

What do you want to watch?

Let's say what we want to
watch at the same time.

BOTH: "A Star is Born."

Oh, God, I love us.

Listen, have you... Hey, hey, hey!

Make room for Jesus.

Mm-hmm.

Mnh-mnh!

Jesus likes to stretch out.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, yeah, well, that's more like it.

And, Junior, have you
seen Devante's Bubbasnug?

I'm asking 'cause you're
really the only one

looking after that child.

Bubbasnug?

It's a blankie and pacifier in one.

Genius collab. He had it
when we were at the par...

[WHISPERING] Oh, no.

We must have left it there.

He can't fall asleep without it.

Aw, poor little guy.

It's his favorite thing in the world.

We have to go back and look for it.

- Let me grab my stuff.
- Okay.

And then we can get back to
doing what we were doing.

You better not get back to
doing what you were doing.

Mm-hmm. 'Cause Black Jesus
sees you everywhere!

Uh-huh.

So my plan was to lock down Jack

and not embarrass Diane,

as if I even could.

- Hello, Jack's dad.
- Hello, Diane.

You don't know me,

and I don't know you.

Yes, just continue to lay low for me,

or even leave.

- Whatever feels right.
- Okay.

She doesn't get it,

but I bet you're glad I'm here.

Always happy to have a parent help out.

Yeah, well, but these other
parents aren't like me.

I know the difference
between a flash drive

and a [QUIETLY] vape pen.

Do you?

[SCOFFS] Flash drive.

This is the key to my
Civic, Mr. Johnson.

- Okay.
- [CHUCKLES]

- Is that a glitter b*mb?
- No,

- it's two glitter bombs.
- [BOTH LAUGH]

So, what are you boys doing?

Nothing.

Yeah, these are...

are... are dance s-sticks.

Really? Give them to me.

Give them to me.

Ha!

So you thought you could
pull one over on me?

Please.

I'm undefeated against children.

[SHRIEKING] Esskeetit!

[LAUGHS]

DJ: Uh-oh!

Look like we got a parent on the floor!

♪ Let me see you pop them things ♪

- ♪ Shake your... doo doo brown ♪
- Oh, that's... that's my jam.

Come on, Dad. You know you want it.

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

Let the kids dance. It's their night.

♪ I wanna rock my man ♪

♪ I wan', I wanna rock my man ♪

- ♪ I wanna rock my man ♪
- Uh, maybe it's my night, too.

[CHUCKLES]

All right, come on, y'all!

Come on! Ha, ha!

It's a party now! Come on, party!

Party!

♪ Man, man, m-m-m-man ♪

♪ ♪

God is real.

♪ Let me hear you say ♪

- ♪ "Hey, hey, and more hey" ♪
- Come on. Ride the pony! Come on!

Ride the pony! Come on!

Ride the pony! Ha, ha!

- ♪ Let me hear you say ♪
- Come on!

Whoo! Yeah!

[APPLAUSE]

Thank you. Thank you very much.

♪ Doo doo brown ♪
♪ Doo doo brown ♪

- ♪ Doo doo brown ♪
- Diane?

♪ Doo doo brown ♪
♪ Doo doo brown ♪

- ♪ Doo doo brown ♪
- Man, why'd you make me dance?

Diane!

I'm sorry I embarrassed you!

♪ ♪

- ♪ Shake your things, baby ♪
- [EXHALES DEEPLY]

♪ Shake your things, baby ♪

♪ Shake, shake them things, baby ♪

Diane?

Dad?!

Noooooo!

Mr. Johnson,

I'm concerned about your
abilities as a chaperone.

[WHIMPERING] So am I.

♪ ♪

MASON: No one feels like talking, huh?

That's okay. I'm totally
fine with silence.

Dr. Goldberg says I don't
have to narrate everything.

Hey, did you hear

that there were some kids making out?

[WHIMPERS]

I wonder if there's
some pictures of that.

That'd be nice to see.

Oh, but then again,

I also think that young
lovers deserve privacy.

- Mason?
- Mm-hmm?

How about we, uh, don't talk?

You got it.

Does this car have air bags?

Mason, I said please don't talk!

- [DOOR OPENS]
- Hi!

DRE: Go upstairs, and don't
come out until I figure out

what to do with both of you.

Go!

What happened? Why are you back so soon,

and why... why do you have pit stains?

Did you dance?

You know who you married.

I'm never gonna dance again.

Your son set off a glitter b*mb...

- [GROANS]
- ... and your daughter... your...

[VOICE BREAKING] your
daughter, she broke my heart.

How?

[WHIMPERS]

I saw her kissing a boy!

Oh!

That is so exciting!

Oh, my God!

- What a moment!
- It's not a moment, Bow!

- It was gross.
- Oh, come on.

It was a head-wobbling,

open-mouth, public slob down.

How long were you watching?

Long enough. I saw everything.

Damn it! I should've
never got that LASIK.

Dre, Diane kissing a boy

is normal and healthy.

We... We should be excited for her,

not shaming her.

That does not even sound right, Bow!

- What?
- Public kissing is how a girl

- gets a reputation.
- Oh, my God.

And it's my job to make sure she
does not become "that girl."

That kind of talk

is going to make her feel
ashamed about her body

and about kissing and about
natural exploration.

Will you please stop talking, Bow?

No, you stop talking, Dre!

I am gonna go and reassure Diane

about this exciting and special night

that you have made very, very weird.

Unbelievable.

Diane, Mommy's coming!

♪ ♪

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

♪ ♪

I'm Devante. I'm a toddler.

The natural flow of the
park sends me in...

this direction!

[GRUNTS]

Come on, Bubbasnug.

Ah, boom!

- Found it!
- Really?

No... Oh, it's just a
gently used diaper.

Okay, that's the third
diaper you've found.

Can we just run and get
him a new pacifier?

[SCOFFS] Pacifier?

You think I've been acting like a jerk

for a pacifier?

No, he needs his Bubbasnug.

You know what we should do?

- Break into the Bubbasnug factory...
- Get in the car...

- ... in Fontana.
- ... and go home.

I thought we were gonna
say the same thing.

Look, Junior,

I haven't said anything,
but every date night,

something like this comes up.

Last week, we missed the burger pop-up

because you had to watch Devante.

Dad had Clipper tickets.

Against Charlotte!

- He needed a night!
- So do we!

I blew off my friends
to hang out with you.

I don't care about
this stupid Bubbasnug.

Wow. That says it all.

That says what?

That you're like that.

That I'm "like" what?

♪ ♪

Hi.

Is Dad ever gonna talk to me again?

Of course he is.

Your dad and I are so excited for you.

That's not true.

He wouldn't look at me
the whole way home.

Honey, look, your dad is just hung up

on the fact that he still
sees you as his little girl.

But, sweetheart,

what you did is completely
natural for a kid your age.

Seriously.

And I'm here so you can
tell me all about it, okay?

I'm your sounding board.

- Okay.
- So, what's his name?

- Jalen.
- Jalen!

What? [GIGGLES]

He sounds so cute. Is he cute?

- Yeah. [CHUCKLES]
- I knew it.

I have never known an
ugly Jalen. What else?

- He's in eighth grade.
- Okay.

He's on the debate team.
That's how we met.

- So he's smart.
- Mm-hmm.

Nice. I love it. What else?

Well, he's the lead in
the spring musical.

[GASPS] Show biz. Okay, okay.

So, how did this whole thing unfold?

- Well, we met up at the dance...
- Okay.

Hey, Diane.

- Hi.
- You look great.

Thanks.

- You, too.
- Yeah, but you look better.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

...and... then we kissed.

[CRYING] Oh, my God.

- Are you okay?
- Yes, tell me more.

So Bow was trying to get me
to see Diane in a new light,

but I was struggling.

It was my instinct to
protect my little girl,

find out who this boy was,

and how long it had been going on.

But maybe Bow was right.

Nope. Bow was wrong.

Who is the boy?!

What is his name?!

Uh-uh-uh, I don't know!

Uh-uh-uh, figure it out, Glitter Bomber!

You are staring at six
months hard no-screen time.

I'm not rolling over on my twin.

So you're good with not
being able to upload

your idiotic challenge videos.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, th-that's my brand.

Give... me... a... name!!

Okay, okay, Jalen... Jalen Hunter!

Good.

Now, how long has this been going on?

Uh, I don't know,

probably since she and Ricky broke up.

Ricky?

There's another boy?!

Oh, God. I've said too much.

Oh, she's gonna k*ll me and
make it look like an accident.

Oh, you've got to tell her
I-I didn't break easy,

- pl... please...
- Shut up!

Eight months no screen time now.

We don't like snitches.

What?

[DOOR OPENS]

- Damn it, Jack.
- [DOOR SLAMS]

Well, excuse me for being
a Black man in America

trying to do right by a
kid who's not my own.

Exactly! He's not your own.

I didn't sign up to
date a single father.

Didn't sign up for this?

Wow. It... It feels like
you've had that one

loaded up for a while.


You know what?

I don't think this is gonna work out.

♪ ♪

- This is so nice.
- Mm-hmm.

Just sitting here, relating,

being in your safe space.

- Thanks, Mom.
- Yeah.

You know, all my friends
are jealous of me.

Jealous of the bond that we have.

It's about honesty

and keeping that door open.

- Mm-hmm.
- [DRILL WHIRRING]

What is that?

- [THUD]
- [GASPS]

Dad?!

Dre, what are you doing?!

I'm doing what I need to
do to protect my daughter.

And that means no more privacy,

because it's clearly shown to me

that you've had too much of it!

All she did was kiss a boy.

- Oh, really?
- Yeah.

Did she tell you about Ricky?

Who's Ricky?

Sweetheart?

Sweetie?

Who...

Who's Ricky?!

He was a guy I used to hang out with.

Okay, wait a minute.

Did you or did you not

have your first kiss with Jalen?

I mean...

[DRILL WHIRRING, DRE GROANING]

I can't believe this!

You let me believe

that Jalen was your first kiss!

What else are you not telling me?

Mom, it's not like that.

So you didn't have a boyfriend

that you kept hidden from us?

I mean...

Oh, my God.

I thought we were connecting!

I thought I was your safe space!

Hold my g*n, Bow. Hold my g*n.

- [DRILL WHIRS]
- Okay, Diane. This is it!

No more boys!

No more privacy!

You are living your
life out in the open.

You are living in piles now, young lady!

Mom, are you really going
to let him do this?!

Yes, I am! And I am gonna get involved.

No more safe spaces for you.

You give me your phone.

It's right there.

Give me your burner.

What's a burner?

Don't insult me.

Come on!

[DRILL WHIRRING, PHONE CRACKS]

[SIGHS]

♪ ♪

[BELT JINGLES]

- I can't believe it's come to this.
- What?

I don't want to go
through Diane's phone.

W-Why did we never have
this problem with Zoey?

That's because Zoey never kissed a boy.

You know Zoey's done a lot
more than kiss a boy.

- Mnh-mnh.
- We had a huge fight about it

- last year, Dre.
- You know what?

I blocked that entire
period from my memory.

- [QUIETLY] Of course you did.
- Lost a lot of things.

Like, I can't remember
who won March Madness

or Devante's first steps,
but you know what?

- [GLASS THUDS]
- [INHALES SHARPLY]

It was worth it.

Maybe it's because Zoey always acted

like she had everything
under control, you know?

She... Like, she never needed my help,

but Diane always comes to
me with this kind of stuff.

Okay, baby, if she's
not gonna talk to you,

maybe we should just lock her down.

- What?
- She is just a little girl.

- Dre...
- Is she?

She's 13.

When I was 13, I was managing an Arby's.

Yeah. We baby our kids
longer than we used to.

The twins are our babies.

They were your babies.

That's your problem.

You keep seeing them for who they were,

not for who they are.

Now, they're in separate rooms.

Diane's had her period,

and Jack has a training mustache.

You know what? You're right.

I know the kids are getting older,

and I'm okay with that. I just...

[SIGHS] I just wish Diane

wouldn't keep these kinds
of things from me.

Oh, so when you were her age,

you told your mom about all
the boys you were with?

- Oh, no.
- And you're still close with her...

- Yeah.
- ... even though she's terrible.

Oh, my God.

Look, I don't know if
I can keep her safe

if she doesn't tell us stuff.

If y'all keep acting all crazy,

she's gonna tell you less.

Now, like it or not,
she's gonna have a door,

and it's up to y'all

whether it's the door to her room

or the door to her heart.

- Okay?
- Mm.

What are you doing?

- Why are you reading?
- JACK: [SIGHS]

Dad banned me from screens,

- so I got into Grandma's books.
- Mm.

Did you know that women
have rich inner lives?

And a married man's never
gonna leave his wife?

You know, Jack?

I, too, have been waiting to exhale.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

- Niecy dumped me.
- Hang on.

Let me get into real-talk position.

[SIGHS]

You know, I don't know what went...

I don't know what went wr...

[GRUNTS]

Proceed.

I don't know what went wrong, you know?

I took her to the park in
the middle of the night,

we hopped in the sand,
and I made her look

for Devante's Bubbasnug
for two and a half hours.

Mm.

Huh, you know, now that
I put it all together,

I was being a little crazy.

I'm gonna call her and patch it up.

No, no, no, no.

You weren't being crazy.

You were just being Junior.

Are you going to be
somebody else just for her?

Look...

when Gloria finally found
a man that accepted her

for who she was, she found happiness.

That's what I want for you.

I want that for me.

Then what you need to do
is put that phone down

and get into these books, playboy.

Knock, knock.

That's what it would sound like

if I didn't take your door off.

Well, I'm not hiding
anything in this pile.

I'm just trying to find
a shirt to sleep in.

Baby girl, I'm sorry I
went a little nuts.

Me, too.

Just, we thought we had more time.

But you're... you're a young woman now,

and there's gonna be things in your life

that I'm not a part of.

Like kissing.

Well... it wasn't kissing, babe.

- Please focus.
- I can't get it out of my mind.

That's not what we're
here to do. All right?

- Okay.
- Okay. Sweetheart.

We just need open communication,

and we can accept that

you're not gonna tell us everything.

But I really want you to know

that you can tell us anything.

- Okay?
- Okay.

I hear you, and I'll do better.

- Okay.
- And I promise I will talk to... Mom.

- Yeah. Oh, yeah. Definitely.
- [EXHALES SHARPLY]

- That's definitely the better way to go.
- Works for me.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I think I was actually

mad at you for growing up.

That's not your fault. I
can't stop time, baby girl.

I'm sorry. I love you.

Okay?

- Okay.
- Mm.

And here's your phone.

Jalen texted you four times...

- Oh!
- ... to see if you're okay.

He might be a keeper.

Okay. And since you're old
enough to kiss a boy,

you are old enough

to put your door back on yourself.

I've done it before. It's fine.

Yeah, I'll get the drill for you.

You know how to put a door on?

- Mm-hmm.
- Where'd you learn that?

♪ ♪

[LUKE SKYYWALKER'S "I
WANNA ROCK" PLAYING]

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

I was wrong, Dre!

You should have danced!

You should always dance!

CROWD CHANTING: "Dad!"

♪ ♪

Aah!

What you have to ask yourself...

[CAR KEY CLICKS]

... is this your dream

or mine?