"*" "*" "(all shouting)" "Who the hell are you to tell me that we're not qualified at The Hive?" "!" "I may have too many aches rolling off my tongue, but I can tell you this..." "I know that these boys are only in danger of... (all shouting)" "And I know that they'll be extinct if we leave it up to you!" "Now, you check the stats!" "(all shouting)" "I'm trying my best to wrestle them away from the jailhouse guard and the graveyard dog, because those are the only two options y'all are giving them." "(all shouting)" "I'm up at 5:30 in the morning, cooking for 'em and here I am on a Friday night fighting for 'em!" "(all shouting)" "Why don't y'all go and take some money from some of them white programs and leave us the hell alone!" "We trying to make a difference." "What the hell kind of difference are y'all making?" "!" "Leave my school alone!" "Enough, enough!" "(man) Yeah, nigger, do something. (Man) That's how you do it." "(woman) That's it!" "That's what I'm talking about, man." "Y'all straight?" "Yeah." "We're straight." "Go on, partner." "6-8." "Y'all know the 6-8, right?" "(man) 6-8 for life, for life." "Making real niggas out here in these streets, right?" "Yeah." "(woman) That's right." "That's what we do." "Go to the ground for you." "(children shouting in distance)" "*" "(woman) I said, if you ain't got a school or a job to go to, you need to get your asses up out of here." "Every last one of you, trifling." "Don't make me have to get up." "Move out of the way!" "No, you move out the way." "(boy) Come on, Gem, wake your ass up." "Shit, X." "Do what you wanna do, but I'm still gonna be asleep." "Just turn your ass over." "(girl) Ooh!" "What y'all doing?" "Y'all nasty..." "Stop it, X, why you always starting stuff with me?" "Move." "I got to beat y'all asses day in and day out, huh?" "Y'all know I had to wipe 100 old wrinkled asses last night?" "The least y'all could do is let me sleep." "(X) I live by a few simple rules." "First one:" "Live in confusion and never with a confused mind." "Yeah, uh-huh." "Told you, partner." "That's your probation officer." "You don't want to go to school and be somebody?" "Okay!" "I'm gonna have him take you down to jail and put you with your daddy so y'all can be stupid asses together!" "You and baby mama ain't gonna lay up on me like I'm the hotel keeper." "(baby crying)" "Now this baby's up." "Mama, that ain't his probation officer." "It's some other white man." "*" "Now, the way this thing works is," "I'm the head of all the schools in the county and there's not a one who will let you enroll, but you four are lucky." "Your probation officers believe in second chances, so now consider me and The Hive your last chance, fellas." "You can either go to 117 County Farm Road and learn from the books, or you can go down to 119 and learn from the crooks." "Trust me." "I'd bet on 117 if I were you." "So are you boys helping us out or you in trouble?" "Now, over there is the technology room." "We got boys designing their own video games, taking computers apart." "State of the art." "They've earned all the big-screen TVs in there and the PlayStations, everything you see." "We partnered with a DC company." "And then some of the boys take what they've learned here and they go back to Birdie High and they are placed in advanced... (man) This is neutral ground, young man." "You don't rep Crip, Blood," "C-Block, Cherry Lane, 6-8s or any other gang." "It's all Hive up in here." "Ah, Mr. Hawk." "These four were just telling me how sorry they were that they missed the first week of classes, but they are happy to be here now." "Aren't you, gentlemen?" "All Hive boys call me Mr. Hollis." "Any of you boys have jobs?" "Okay, well, in a class that we like to call Wise Guy, we're gonna be learning how to fill out job applications." "Your name, sir?" "Que." "Que what?" "Always introduce yourself with your entire name." "Que "Kick Your Ass" Patterson." "Good to meet you, Mr. Patterson." "Let me tell you something." "You're big, but it would take you, your mama, your daddy and his daddy to kick my ass." "I'm Rack Robinson." "Middle initial "R."" "Wow, man." "How tall is you?" "6-6 and some change." "What kind of business you in to pay for all this razzle-dazzle?" "Oh, you know, it's all legit." "I'm a businessman of the highest order." "Some people call me C-note 'cause I know about 100 ways to make them dollar signs." "Well, I'll be calling you Mr. Robinson." "Wasn't there a Rack Robinson used to play football?" "Yeah, he's supposed to be my father, but I ain't never met him." "His loss." "I'm glad you're here, Mr. Robinson." "I can come back to you." "Man, why you keep looking at me like that?" "Shaking hands is gay." "And you would know all about that now, huh?" "(Rack laughing)" "Consider this, gentlemen." "A real man is one who is never afraid to look another man straight in the eye and shake his hand, unless he's hiding something or he's scared of something." "Everybody sign in." "Assembly in five minutes." "Hey, big man." "I ain't scared of nothing." "Especially you." "Oh, really?" "Well, the day is still young, Mr. Whoever You Are." "Gentlemen, please." "This way." "*" "(woman) I'm sure you've heard of Whitmore Investment." "My family is richer than dirt but I want more for my life than identifying the next investment." "I'd rather invest in kids, do you know what I mean?" "Oh..." "Did I tell you that I got a flat tire in Jersey and then when I finally got here," "I couldn't find the teacher's house?" "Here it is." "This is the address that I had." "Oh, that course is wrong." "You have to get off at 17, not seven." "Oh, but that's okay, don't you feel bad about it," "I got a little ADHD myself." "I'll excuse your lateness this time, but just don't make it a habit." "Excuse me, but I am an experienced teacher." "Folks are late in these boys' life all the time." "We here at The Hive, we show up on time." "Sorry." "Did you say that there's a teacher's supervisor or a principal that I could speak to?" "I didn't say." "You know, Teachers for America usually send me some good people, so if you come, you gonna have to come correct." "And if you stay... you better be sure and pray." "So... the teacher supervisor is where?" "(chuckling)" "Honey, you looking at her." "I am executive director of The Hive." "Family Resource Center." "Now, there's a washroom right down that hallway." "I know you may want to freshen up because assembly starts in a few minutes." "You being such an experienced teacher, you're gonna want to wash off that New York face and put on a fresh Hive face." "Now go on, sweetheart, it's right down there." "(man) Morning." "Oh!" "Some new boys for The Hive." "Y'all come on in, fellas." "(man) I'm late for a meeting, so I'm gonna leave these four here with you, but I'll probably come back here for a plate." "On second thought..." "And don't forget about the school board meeting tonight." "All right, let me look at you fellas." "Good-looking young men." "Every last one of you." "You hungry?" "Yes, ma'am, I am, I'm... (laughing)" "Would be, the littlest one." "Yeah, but I eats big." "My sister said it goes straight to my feet." "My feet big." "Oh, I'm in love with you already." "What's your name?" "Courvoisier Carter." "Oh..." "I swear on it, it's my birth significant name." "Well, Mr. Courvoisier, "everything go to my feet,"" "you like technology?" "Maybe, but what is that?" "Well, you're gonna find out." "Okay, now, everybody give me a hug." "We gotta go to assembly and then tell me your name." "Okay." "I don't like to be touched." "Well, honey, you're just gonna have to humor me, young man, 'cause I plan to love the hell out of you." "They call me Ms. Inez." "And, um..." "Oh, yes, and this is your new" "English teacher, Ms. Whitmore." "She's here all the way from." "Upper East Side Manhattan, New York." "Did I quote you right, Ms. Whitmore?" "Yeah." "Hi, I'm Parker." "No, no, no." "Please call me Ms. Whitmore." "And I have a lot of fun things planned for us this year." "Why don't you plan on sucking my... (Mrs. Inez) Oh, no, no!" "Don't bring that kind of hell up in here." "You can get on your knees too, bitch." "Oh, you done bucked up to the wrong person!" "(clattering)" "Now who's the bitch?" "Now, you apologize to me and Ms. Whitmore." "Today, I will listen." "(all) Today, I will listen." "I will speak." "(all) I will speak." "I will see." "(all) I will see." "I will think." "(all) I will think." "I will feel." "(all) I will feel." "And I will reason." "(all) And I will reason." "I am not a no-name statistic." "(all) I am not a no-name statistic." "I am a man who is too smart to waste today." "(all) I am a man who is too smart to waste today." "(banging)" "Second rule:" "Never let disrespect go without being addressed." "Revenge is like the air." "Always necessary." "(clattering)" "(spray paint hissing)" "*" "*" "Look, I already know the answer." "Please just let me call the sheriff." "(sighing)" "Yeah, well, he's typical." "Numerous suspensions since kindergarten." "Stabbed a boy with a pencil in third grade." "Fourth grade, he brought a BB gun to school, expelled for kicking a teacher in the seventh, was shot in the eighth." "Broke into a neighbor's trailer last year." "His father's in jail, awaiting trial on armed robbery and manslaughter." "Shall I continue?" "Oh, baby, use the coffee pot in my office." "New kid?" "Mm-hmm." "What's the atypical on him?" "Uh..." "His reading level's not bad, fifth grade." "Well, he can't spell worth a damn." "It says here he should be in his junior year." "He'll be 17 in a couple months and he's got zero high school credit." "Oh..." "But it does say he has an aptitude for math." "I knew that boy had something on the ball." "Look, don't read me no more." "Baby... now you go on out of here." "Have yourself a nice day at The Hive, all right." "Oh, bless her heart." "She going somewhere and pray behind this." "You know what?" "I gotta give it to Ms. Christa." "She may look terrified, but at least she's committed." "Now, Ms. Parker punk rocker?" "We may have to take the hook out of her and throw her back in the creek." "Does she ever even comb her hair?" "Ms. Parker, she got all style." "She just like these kids." "Just needs somebody to believe in her." "Well, come on, drive me over there." "I'm gonna have to lasso in this crazy mother for ya." "X, there ain't nothing to eat and Mama didn't come home again last night." "Ain't no food stamps coming for another week." "How many times I gotta tell y'all to seal this shit up?" "Don't you have any money?" "Do I look like I got any damn money?" "You know what, you always crying." "(all shouting)" "No, X, don't, don't!" "What you gonna do now, punk, huh?" "Stop it, X!" "Cryin' little bitch!" "(baby crying)" "Remember me?" "Your worst nightmare." "The black cunt you can't even spell right." "(girl) Thank you again, Mrs. Inez." "I'm sure Mama's at the grocery store right now." "She usually makes sure we don't get this low." "Oh, that's all right, baby." "At The Hive Research Center, we have a food pantry." "You tell your mama that nobody in this county has to go hungry as long as Mrs. Inez has something to do with it." "Oh, look at this little rascal." "He is smart just like his daddy, ain't he?" "Xtra's not smart." "I'm the one doing good in school." "Oh, I can see you're smart." "What you wanna be when you grow up?" "I don't know." "Just somebody going somewhere out of here." "Shit, rest in prison or rest in peace!" "We all in the express lane going towards one of 'em!" "You a knucklehead, you know that?" "If it were up to me, you'd be up under somebody's jail." "But Mrs. Inez, she sees something in you, and once you root in her heart, she ain't giving up on you." "Even after what I've done?" "Even after what you've done." "But you will make restitution." "Man, you using too many big-ass words." "Whatever you've done wrong, you gotta make it right." "Whatever it takes." "You got a son." "You want him fighting everybody he loves like you?" "Man, Deuce ain't gonna be like me, 'cause I'm the one raising him." "Yeah, you are." "And kids repeat what they know and they do what they see." "So one day he gonna beat his son and his chest, the same way somebody did you." "Is that what you want?" "Look, we got a punching bag down at The Hive gym." "It does wonders for anger." "I ain't no dummy." "Remember that." "First time somebody treats me like a dummy, I'm out." "(Mrs. Inez) I always keep this around in case we get a creative sort, like you." "You see the outside of The Hive?" "All the paint's the same because we've never been tagged." "Every OG knows..." "Oh... oh, yeah." "I got a PhD in your little gang slang." "(sighing)" "The Hive is neutral territory." "Anybody knows to mess with it is to ask for STS." "Street takes care of street, and I know you know what kind of justice I'm talking about." "See, you may be a Blood or a Crip or a 6-8 for life, but banging' is always a choice, boy." "You already been shot twice." "I know you've heard about three strikes." "Look, I ain't afraid to die." "No." "Your type is afraid to live." "I'll heat you up something to eat for when you're done." "Oh, just for the record." ""Cunt" is spelled with a "C," not a "K."" "And "pussy" has two "S"s in it." "So, yesterday, I took Polaroid pictures which I scanned to create your individual stationery." "Now, you should see your picture in the top right-hand corner." "So today, we will continue to work on your bios, okay?" "So who completed the "Who Am I?" survey?" "Come on." ""Who are you?"" "How hard can that be?" "Age, name, hobbies." "We ain't never seen a white woman like you." "Except on TV." "Is you related to Lady Gaga or..." "Do all white women where you're from switch up their style like you do?" "Uh... no." "And that's what this assignment is about today, gentlemen." "You know, what makes you unique?" "Different from others?" "I never wanted to be like everyone else." "So you in a white woman gang or something?" "(all laughing)" "(Que) Nigga, they don't got no white woman gangs." "Too busy getting 9-1-1 on speed dial." "And how you know, fat ass?" "You ain't never been nowhere to see no white women!" "Okay." "No women, period!" "Okay, shh!" "Just sit down." "Oh, I guess you getting up." "(Ms. Whitmore) Stop it!" "Guys, stop it!" "(Mrs. Inez) Good afternoon!" "Stop." "You miss me?" "(Ms. Whitmore) How am I supposed to teach someone who's..." "The harder the child, the greater the need to find a soft place in him." "And that ridiculous platitude is supposed to do what?" "Certainly not reassure me." "Look, there is no way that I can teach some..." "All right." "You're right." "You can't teach what you don't respect or what you're afraid of." "So don't teach him." "First, start off by caring for him." "Until these boys know you care for them, they won't care to learn." "(crickets chirping)" "Look at you." "You up waiting on your mama, hmm?" "This used to be our favorite time of the day when you was a little boy." "Remember?" "Yeah." "So tell me all about your dreams." "You still dreaming?" "Not really." "What you mean?" "!" "Dang, Mama, why you always gotta hit me?" "You're still not going to that school?" "Yeah, most times." "Well, make it all the time." "Shit." "I'm thinking about going back to nursing school my damn self." "(sighing)" "You know, X... sometimes... sometimes I don't even wanna greet the morning." "You know that ain't me." "Yeah, otherwise you get backed in the corner before you know it." "Back me in the corner?" "You know me." "I just come out fighting." "Yeah." "Mama, don't you ever get tired of fighting?" "*" "(humming)" "(clattering)" "(humming)" "(clattering)" "Who that out there?" "(Courvoisier) Mrs. Inez, that thing had to be about ten feet long." "You should have seen me get up from under there, that's what you should have seen." "Now, why would your mother make you sleep under the porch?" "She didn't." "You know, my mama, she lives in some city named Connecticut." "It's in New York, I think." "But, you know, she coming to get me so I can live with her and my new twin brothers." "See, my stepdaddy played for the Seahawks, some name like that." "You know, I got pictures of him in a magazine he sent me." "Come on, I do, Mrs. Inez." "You know, we got the same last name and everything." "When the last time you saw your mother?" "You know, my sister said she saw me when I was a baby." "Hmm..." "What about your father?" "Man, he in the wind." "Half the time, he think he a helicopter." "You know, he mostly leave me and my sister to get along the best we can, but it's like every day she yelling about sending me away somewhere." "My mama better hurry up and come get me, I know that." "Did your mama tell you she was gonna come and get you?" "Not exactly, Mrs. Inez, but you know a mother always come back for her baby sooner or later." "Yeah." "Mrs. Inez?" "Yeah, baby?" "Look, I don't care what nobody say." "I don't never want you to put me out of here." "You know, I can tell you kind of care about me like my mama would." "You know, real tender-hearted like." "That's why I'm watching you so I could learn to cook." "Maybe if I learn to cook, it wouldn't matter that I didn't read so good." "How well do you read now?" "Like in the first grade." "You know, kids always laughing at me for being little and stupid." "Why I'm always fighting." "I mean, I can't help it when I read, my letters do jumping jack." "Boy, when the last time you had your eyes examined?" "Never." "'Cause you think in my eyes they'll be able to tell me why my brain's so bad?" "Oh, stop talking about yourself like that." "You are not dumb and there's nothing wrong with your brain." "Now go ahead and wash up and we'll fix you something real special to eat and don't you tell nobody 'cause these folks around here get very jealous when they found out I made someone my favorite." "*" "(Ms. Whitmore) How are they ever gonna catch up?" "They have..." "no critical thinking, no impulse control." "Everything is a joke or a cause for a fight." "Their vocabulary is rudimentary at best." "They have no interest or respect for anything other than... smoking weed... waving their gang flags or banging bitches." "You know, I'm drinking right now, so I'm probably not being very PC at the moment, but frankly... they scare me." "You know..." "I'm starting to believe that black boys... really are innately more violent." "How are you gonna learn anything if you can't even control yourself?" "You learn that in kindergarten, for Christ sakes." "My hero is my son, Deuce." "You're Daddy's hero, little man." "(man laughing)" "See, it was that last rib." "That last rib, I've got to tell you." "Hey." "How's my little man, huh?" "I thought you went to work tonight." "They didn't need me." "Jake, this here my oldest boy." "How you doing?" "Don't he look just like me?" "'Cept he ain't as friendly." "(laughing)" "That's his baby boy, Deuce." "Can you believe I'm a grandma?" "Working with all of this?" "Girl, this beer running straight through me." "Daddy gotta relieve his self." "All right, big Daddy." "Bathroom's straight back there." "Right back there?" "Right back there, Daddy." "I'm gonna be with you in a minute." "All right." "Go, make yourself at home." "You coming?" "Oh no." "(laughing)" "We gonna go round for round, round for round." "Don't you keep me waiting!" "(door closing)" "Here, go to the store and buy some milk, cereal, eggs, lunchmeat and bread." "That ought to hold us for a minute." "I got fired tonight." "Patient said I was stealing." "He crazy." "But that damn supervisor believed him over me." "(Jake) Billie!" "Be there in a minute!" "Hold on!" "Mama, you know I been going to that Hive school all week." "You have?" "You like it?" "Yeah, it's straight." "Long." "I don't get out of there 'til 6:00!" "Billie!" "But they got computers there and they're gonna teach me how to take one apart." "You even earn points for showing up." "See, look." "It's called an incentive." "They gonna take us to some Bobcat games if we earn enough points." "Take us on some other trips, too." "They got you reading this?" "Billie!" "Yeah, some slavery book for social studies." "Billie, bring that ass on in here, baby." "Be there in a minute, Daddy." "Hold on now, get ready for me now." "I know you ain't judging me." "How else am I gonna feed your asses, huh?" "That's my slavery." "Billie!" "Baby, please!" "Baby, I'm coming, baby." "Come on, baby." "Hold on, big Daddy!" "Ha-ha-ha!" "Got my live-and-die-by rules, but ain't never came up with one that works for Mama." "Women, period." "That's why I don't like to feel nothing." "Way too much work to love somebody and hate 'em at the same time." "*" "(giggling)" "Extra points will be given for the best invitation design." "Now you can go online and get some ideas." "But I want the focus to be on The Hive invitation dinner for your families." "The dinner's gonna be here at The Hive, so to give you a chance to show what you've learned and also get you prepared for the big school board banquet in November in which you will be the student hosts and servers." "Mr. Hollis?" "Yes." "I just wanna say, if you need an emcee of ceremonies," "I'm your man." "Are you ready to write a speech?" "Already written." "Oscar, Grammy." "MTV, BET." "I'm ready to orate on any day." "Anytime on your dime." "(all laughing)" "Ladies and gentlemen, holla back at Mr. Rack!" "I'll keep you in mind, Mr. Robinson." "(yawning)" "Oh, my God." "I'm sorry but it's after 4:00, and my body says that school's supposed to be over." "If you plan to achieve grade level for all your subjects, Mr. Keys, you will need to fully participate in the afterschool program." "I'm already at my grade level, bitch." "(all) Ooh..." "Please refrain from using profanity in my class, because I can assure you..." "I am not your bitch." "(all) Ooh..." "And now since you've disturbed everyone, why don't you come up here and read your grade level for us." "Wow." "Shh!" "(clearing throat)" ""Even as a..."" ""you..."" "Youth." "Youth." ""Youth..."" ""Tupac... die..."" ""Tupac discerned."" ""discerned..."" ""the price paid for..."" ""revo..."" "Revolutionary." ""Revolutionary."" ""And then the people say" ""I'm trying to make a dollar out of" "(school bell ringing) 15 cents."" "Oh, look at my boys, all working hard!" "Well, if y'all hungry, I got some collard greens heated and some hot corn bread and some fresh baked cookies, so come on with me." "You can take your break now." "*" "Why you do that for?" "You knew I wasn't reading the right words." "Yes." "But I respected your resourcefulness." "Why you lying?" "Look, every boy at The Hive looks up to you." "And one day," "I'm hoping that you will channel your considerable gifts for their good as well as your own." "You have chutzpah." "I'll give you that." "That ain't foreign for calling me a "nigger"" "on the sly, is it?" "No." "Look it up." "C-H-U-T-Z-P-A-H." "It's a Yiddish word." "Describes you perfectly." "(Que) Mrs. Inez, I'm trying a diet, so how many calories you think be in corn bread and greens?" "Boy, I don't know." "But try eating with your mouth closed and take smaller portions." "Every time I see you going through the line, you heaping up food on your plate like you can eat three times Mr. Hollis." "I heard that." "I'm cutting hair out back for the next hour or so." "Some of you guys' naps look like they need tending." "So if you're caught up with your schoolwork, meet me out back." "Oh, Lord." "That was yummy." "I've never had stewed greens before." "Que?" "Hi, could I see you outside for a minute?" "(boy 1) Mm-mm." "(boy 2) Uh-oh." "Oh, hush, y'all, now go on, finish eating." "Stay out of other folks' business." "Ahh!" "What'd I tell you?" ""I am..." ""am a..." ""multi..." ""ti... ti..."" "The word is "multitalented."" "You plagiarized it." "I know you didn't write it, Que, and I do not tolerate cheaters." "Do you understand?" "I only did it because I don't have that many points earned, but I really want to go on the trip." "Ms. Whitmore, I've never been anywhere except two miles each way from here." "I don't want to go to another foster home." "Please." "I'm asking you." "Don't tell on me." "Please." "(Xtra) Chutz..." "Chutz... chutz..." "Chutzpah." "Chutzpah." ""Shameless... audacity..."" "Audacity?" "Audacity." ""The willingness to take bold risk."" "Yeah, that's me." "Bold like a motherfucker." "(man) I'll never disparage books, but, y'know, I've had some of my most meaningful connection with the boys on the basketball court." "I'm a teacher, Aden, not a jock, and basketball worship is part of their problem." "Their only aspiration is to be in the NBA or the NFL and probably none of them will make it." "*" "You know, you the only one to ever see what Daddy created." "Check it out." "You like it?" "Now I'm gonna take it and get it printed out so your granddaddy can see it." "(Deuce cooing) Yeah." "(cell door rattling)" "You ain't got no love for your daddy?" "You ain't seen your daddy in two months and you ain't got no love for your daddy?" "Come here, boy." "Boy... huh?" "Your mama must get mad every time she see you." "She carry you, I sure enough spit you out, though, huh?" "True that." "She says I'm you inside out." "Yeah, yeah?" "Yeah?" "Yeah." "How come you going soft?" "I'm not." "Just been kind of going to this new school." "I was gonna show you this." "See, at the school that I'm going to, they're teaching me technology, and how to live in the world like a man." "Mm-hmm." "Ain't no school can do you that." "That's my job." "How's your leg?" "It's okay." "Doctor said I lucked out." "Just missed my artery." "Yeah?" "Luck ain't got nothing to do with it." "You got my blood running all through you." "Bullet can't do nothing but ricochet on you." "(laughing)" "Keep on laughing through this thing I'm gonna tell ya." "I'm gonna tell you a little something-something, all right?" "I heard you been messing up, huh?" "You're not handling your business out on the street." "You been breaking the rules and shit, huh?" "Maybe it's this so-called school that you've been going to, huh?" "Keep on smiling through this thing." "Smile through it." "Yes." "That's it." "Now, what'd I tell you about these peckerwoods out here, white people?" "Huh, playing puppet games on your head, turn you soft." "The folks that are running The Hive are black." "Oh, yeah." "Well, you know, niggas, they good with delusion." "Huh?" "Look at this." "See?" "She drew that for you." "You see that?" "Look at that, look at that." "Creek, pond, they got a dead tree on it." "(laughing)" "That's nice." "Uh-huh." "So when you take the shovel out there, son, stick it in, for yourself, not for nobody else." "I need some money up in here." "Anything else?" "What, I thought you were gonna show me something?" "Nah." "It's nothing." "All right." "Careful, Mr. Hollis." "Messing with my glad rags!" "I worked hard to look this good." "Boy, what kind of weed are you smoking where it makes you can never shut your damn mouth?" "That sheriff only needed half an excuse to charge you with possession." "The only reason he didn't because you part of The Hive and Mrs. Inez went to bat for you." "What?" "Possession, me?" "I don't smoke no marijuana." "But I do engage in a little bit of commerce." "You like my compound word?" "Get out of here." "*" "Oh, man, Xtra." "This is good." "You know, you got a real knack for design." "I took it to show my father, but... he had other things on his mind." "I guess I should tell you now" "I ain't coming back to The Hive no more." "Why?" "You've been doing so well." "You cool people, Mr. Hollis, but where I come from, stink still lives on shit." "Xtra, you know why I like your name?" "Because you got a whole lot of extra." "Extra smarts, extra talent." "And extra capacity to lead others." "It only takes one bright light to lead out of darkness, and that's what you can be for the other boys." "And with you and only you," "I definitely see college." "I took one of the laptops." "Oh, I know." "I got eyes all over The Hive." "You broke the honor code, but I'm proud of you." "Not for the stealing part, but because you told the truth like a man." "I'll make you a deal." "You come in Monday early with that computer, and we'll consider you had a special permission for a weekend loan-out." "You gonna use my design?" "I doubt if one comes in any better." "But you will also write me a letter of apology with a signed promise that you won't steal from The Hive ever again." "So don't let me down." "'Cause, boy, if you don't show up with that computer," "I will hunt you down and deliver you to the jailhouse myself." "(crying)" "Xtra, you okay?" "Why don't you just stop playing puppet with my head?" "!" "I ain't never gonna be nothing!" "(frogs croaking)" "*" "(car approaching)" "(police radio chatter)" "(zipper unzipping)" "*" "*" "(Rack) Hey!" "What you up to?" "Life's been good." "And business even better!" "Got a little extra." "Hey, let's go find us a party." "Nah, man." "I got something else I gotta do." "What, man, I gotta do my laundry." "So you're at the gas station?" "Come on, man." "You gotta think about what Mr. Hollis call it." "You know, the repercussions." "Shit, nigga, when you ever start talking about some repercussions?" "Nigga, just now." "Here." "Here, take this." "Man, take it, 'cause I don't want you to have to shoot me tonight." "Stop, I'm good, man." "You will, nigga, 'cause I ain't gonna let you mess yourself up." "Shit, if I had half the brains that you got," "I wouldn't be out here selling this shit every night." "I'd be an astronaut, or like that California doctor Miss Christa be telling us about." "You know, the one that drill holes in your brain." "Yeah, Dr. Benjamin Carson." "He's a neurosurgeon, man." "See, that's what I'm saying." "You don't forget shit." "I'm gonna keep it 100." "I ain't never seen a nigga that got a computer mind like you do." "So you gonna have to step over me tonight, 'cause I'm gonna be laid out in that gas station doorway if you insist on doing your laundry." "Don't aim for my face, though, 'cause I'm gonna need all kinds of women crying over my casket, like, "Rack!"" "Rack!"" "(Gem) Your new friend sure got plenty of money." "We could have us a car like that." "Maybe I need to go to a Hive school for girls." "Why you looking at me like that?" "I used to be good in school." "I'll try again if you wanted me to." "If I wanted you to?" "Damn, Gem." "You got a mind, why don't you think for yourself?" "Ever since you been going to that school, it's like I ain't good enough." "You don't want me no more, do you?" "I'm letting you live here, ain't I?" "You?" "Since when you paying the rent?" "(Rack) Hey, I'm gonna take a little of this pizza with me, but I left most of it in there for y'all." "I can order more for y'all if y'all want before I go." "All right." "No." "*" "Hey, I gotta go chase that paper." "Hey, this was a good time, man." "*" "If we still alive, see you at The Hive." "Rack!" "Baby, come dance with me." "Go ahead, man." "(Rack) You know, I really gotta go." "Come on, give me a quick little two-step, come on." "Come on, you got... (laughing)" "That's why I hate the weekend." "No good ever comes to me on the weekend." "I'm trying to remember what Mr. Hollis said about believing in me and me going to college and what my dad said about me playing the game, and Mama, who I know loves me, but..." "She got a whole lotta "but" s." "And Rack with his crazy ass talking about repercussions and Gem... needing everything I can't give her." "During the week at The Hive, life has order." "It makes sense." "(cupboard creaking)" "On the weekends, nothing ever does." "*" "(zipper unzipping)" "*" "*" "(bell ringing)" "Sounds like somebody's pies are ready." "In Jesus' name!" "Amen." "Boy." "Oh, my goodness." "Mm-hmm." "Your release hand is bad." "Use your other hand as your guide hand." "Okay." "Whoop." "That's why you're the teacher." "Ms. Whitmore, can I ask you a question?" "How come you changed how you looked to look like everybody else?" "I mean, I liked the way you were different and unique in yourself." "I didn't copy that." "And I worked on it all weekend." "(Que) My grandfather always telling me to trust my gut... but he don't know my gut sometimes lies." "Like a double-headed snake." "Even though I ain't never seen one of them." "I want to be good and not lie or cheat or do any of the bad things I do, 'cause I like The Hive." "And the teachers who teach me to think and talk like people on TV and Mrs. Inez and Mr. Hollis, they like a mama and a daddy to us who ain't got that." "See..." "I ain't never been able to hold on to no family." "They always leaving me behind." "But, Ms. Whitmore, please don't let it happen to me again." "I need you to teach me how to express myself better so people don't always leave me behind." "I know you somebody I can learn from 'cause you're unique and different in yourself." "P.S." "This took me 11 hours and 37 minutes to write... and then check all the spelling." "The end." "Que." "Man, what you looking at?" "Can you... help me with my homework?" "Kids at school, they laugh at how I read and..." "I want to quit school." "Listen, first off, you don't ever quit something because of somebody else." "You hear me?" "It takes chutzpah to keep going at something when it's easier to quit." "Yeah, look it up." "Here." "Here's a dictionary." "Now, go get your books." "You read, I'll listen." "Now hurry up, come on, 'cause we gotta get to school." "(Mr. Hollis) All right." "Good morning." "I got some more awards points to give out." "I'd like to tell you we've reached the halfway semester point and we've almost earned our overnight stay to Charlotte to see the Bobcats." "All right, all right." "Okay, okay." "For perfect attendance..." "Courvoisier Carter, 50 points." "(boy) That's right, little bro." "Congratulations, Mr. Carter." "(all clapping)" "All right, just two more." "For always being meticulously pressed and dressed." "(all) Rack Robinson!" "Congratulations, Mr. Robinson." "Thank you, Mr. Hollis." "Yeah." "And our last award goes to someone who has demonstrated not only competence in math and technology, but has also exceeded his own personal goals." "Xtra Keys, 100 points." "(applauding)" "Good job, Mr. Keys." "*" "You the man, Xtra Keys!" "(Mr. Hollis) All right, settle down." "I was watching a weekend special, talking about the state of African-American boys." "Talk about depressing." "That's why I don't watch the news." "(all laughing)" "I don't need nobody broadcasting how messed up my life is." "Like I don't know." "Come on, man." "What was alarming was them saying that white boys your same age are twice as likely to graduate than you." "So you know what that means." "What it means is, Mr. Hollis, it means we don't count." "(all laughing)" "Gentlemen!" "Teachers, will you excuse us, please?" "We're about to have a special Wise Guy." "All right." "Half of you over here and half right here, come on." "Move." "Okay now, where I put these chairs, we're gonna call it, to use Courvoisier's words," ""The No-count Corner."" "So this half of the room, the laughing 50% of you that won't graduate school, get to stepping to "The No-count Corner."" "Come on, dropouts, step in the corner where you belong." "Come on, let's go." "Come on, move, y'all moving too slow." "Move!" "Get in there, get in there." "Not so funny now, is it?" "Don't you dare move an inch." "Don't sit." "Don't lean." "Don't move a chair." "You made the choice, so stand there and represent." "Come on, no-counts!" "And get used to that label, 'cause somebody's gonna be calling you that and telling you what to do for the rest of your lives!" "Hey, Mr. Hollis, there ain't enough room!" "And what do you want me to do about that?" "!" "You made that choice, so stand there and deal with it!" "Okay, those of you who are left standing, 5% are gonna go to college." "There's only ten of us left." "That's a half a person unless you base it on the percentage of everybody in here." "You come over here." "Since you so smart, you stand right there as our one and only college-bound." "Okay, now those of you still standing, half of y'all going to prison, so you five, get to stepping to the no-count corner and assume the position." "That's right, raise your hands in the air 'cause you about to spend the rest of your life being friends." "Get to the corner, come on, all y'all." "I said, crowd in the corner, gentlemen!" "'Cause that's what it's gonna be like in prison." "Overcrowded." "And that's what your families are gonna feel, 'cause they couldn't count on you to do something different, to be something other than a statistic." "Now don't you dare move an inch!" "And if you feel like fighting, you're gonna have to fight me first and I mean that." "Okay." "So there's four of you left and our one college man over there." "Since you two will likely kill the other two or die by some violence, let's just do this as random as your choices." "All four of you join your comrades in the corner." "Come on, go." "You want me to play "D"?" "Okay." "So how does it feel to be the only one destined to make it?" "I don't know how I feel." "'Cause I don't feel for nobody." "I just know it ain't fair for me to be over here and for all of them to be over there in the corner." "I mean, part of me wants to make it, the other part wants to be over there with who I know and what I know." "Really?" "How many of you want to take Xtra's place?" "You just a lot." "Put your damn hands down!" "'Cause even if given the opportunity, you gonna crawl right back to what you know!" "To what feels familiar, and that's being a bottom-feeder!" "Laughing at yourselves, perpetrating you in charge of something and you ain't in charge of one damn thing." "Not even yourself!" "Anybody still laughing?" "(all) No sir." "I can't hear you!" "(all) No sir!" "All right, now take your behinds back to your seats." "You definitely don't give a damn about your past, gentlemen." "It only cares about the choices you are making right now, all of which add up to your future." "Now let's see if we can't get this day started correctly." "It didn't get wrong overnight and you certainly ain't gonna get it right overnight." "So let's start the day over with a purpose." "I believe in myself and my ability to do my best." "(all) I believe in myself and my ability to do my best." "Louder!" "(all) I believe in myself and my ability to do my best!" "Louder!" "(all) I believe in myself and my ability to do my best!" "(clearing throat)" "I wasn't trying to scare you," "I just wanted to know if you had any books for really little kids?" "But it's okay, I can just go ask Ms. Christa." "No!" "Come in." "I'm in school almost nine hours a day." "And it's paying off." "Your reading has vastly improved." "You're almost at an eighth-grade level." "First I was just trying to read to my son, but now I got this brother..." "He's struggling, too." "He's kind of nervous-like." "Cries all the time." "I don't really want him to know that" "I can't read that good." "Okay, wait here." "I got something in the car." "*" "Only way to get better at reading is to read all the time, all kinds of books, not just the ones assigned here at The Hive." "When do I have to give them back?" "You don't." "Not for a while, anyway." "I bought them with my own money." "You're the first boy..." "Young man... who might really read them." "Why you doing all this for me?" "I thought you hated me." "I never hated you." "Don't take this the wrong way." "I kind of like the way that you got your hair right now, all crazy-like." "You look fresh." "Uh... so, speaking of fresh," "I have a proposition for you." "What would you think about starting a school newspaper?" "It would help you boys with reading and writing as well as show the community how we do it at The Hive." "Okay." "Okay." "Yeah." "Call it "The Buzz."" "Excuse me." "Hey, hey, hey, hey, only one "horse" d'oeurve a piece, fellas." "You ain't gotta be so greedy." "Excuse me, you all have as many as you want." "Courvoisier... the food is here for them." "It's not just to sit and look pretty." "And the word is "hors d'oeuvres."" "There's no "horse" in it." "Mrs. Inez, my sister ain't coming." "I don't think she coming." "You think she coming?" "*" "Aw, shit." "Excuse..." "Shoot." "I forgot something in the kitchen, I'm..." "Boy, you better go and greet your father." "Do you know how many boys here wish that their father had shown up?" "Now, he may look a little torn up, but he is still your father." "Take him to that closet and get him some clothes, a clean shirt, but first, you're gonna go over there and tell him how happy you are he came." "I said go." "Use your feet to pray the way." "Yo, Pops." "Pops." "*" "When you get glasses?" "Mrs. Inez took me to the eye doctor." "Sorry I ain't get all dressed up for you." "I hope I didn't embarrass you, man." "I'll wait for you outside." "No, no." "No, I'm glad you came." "You too, Tina." "Come on." "I got something I want to show you." "(Rack) Looks like you and me the only ones that ain't got nobody." "Yeah, my mama's supposed to be coming." "Hey, how you doing?" "All right, thank you." "Welcome, welcome." "Gem, too." "Her ass better be bringing my son." "They probably waiting on a ride, though." "Don't think I'm hanging around." "Why?" "You supposed to be giving the opening speech." "For who?" "You don't see nobody wearing my nametag." "My mama, she want to come, but, you know, she thick." "(laughing)" "And she worried about everybody laughing at her." "I'm sorry." "All she do is sit around all day watching stories pretending she in one." "How you doing?" "(woman) Hi, good." "How are you guys?" "All right." "Come on, Rack, man, that's your mama, man." "I know, and for real." "I love every ounce of her 400 pounds, but... sometimes I just wish she'd get up and do something instead of expecting me to do everything." "At some point, you gotta get over what some man did to you and get on with it." "Man, sometimes I gotta even help her wash her own butt." "You know that ain't right." "How you doing?" "Welcome, welcome." "Thank you." "Have a good time." "There they are." "You lucky, X." "You have a mom that takes such good care of herself." "Hey." "How you doing, what's up?" "Hey, son." "I told you I was coming." "What?" "(cheers and applause)" "Remember, here at The Hive, we just don't measure test scores." "The true measure of a man, we believe, is in the total of his character." "Where's my mama at?" "She left." "What you mean she left?" "Where'd she go?" "Who knows?" "She got in the car with your boy Rack." "Mr. Xtra Keys." "X, get up there, everyone's waiting." "Good evening." "Mrs. Inez is always saying that there's always a savior in every group." "You just have to know which one is meant for you or meant for somebody else." "Or not meant at all." "See, we got real saviors here at The Hive." "Mrs. Inez." "Mr. Hollis." "And our teachers." "And we have each other." "But most important... we have you guys, our families." "Thank you." "(door opening)" "What you doing sitting here in the dark?" "Waiting for somebody to come home." "It's just me and Deuce." "Shay ain't here yet." "X, where'd you get a gun?" "Can I hold it?" "Hey!" "Don't you ever ask nobody to see no gun!" "Do you hear me?" "!" "Do you understand me?" "!" "Don't you start that crying." "I ain't crying, X, I ain't." "*" "Oh, shit." "Look who it is." "Where the fuck you been hiding, nigga?" "I been here, there, you know." "You been here?" "No, the truth is, you been everywhere but where you need." "Just say the word, X." "I can keep you busy." "Yeah, I know you can." "You know, I promised your daddy" "I'd look out for you." "I kind of owe him." "See, X... one hand washes the other, but don't nobody tell the left what the right is doing, but then again, some of us... don't always know which is our left and which is always right." "You understand me?" "Yeah, I got you." "Look, man, I'm just looking for Gem, man." "Oh, Gem." "Man, you better take care of your woman." "'Cause these bitches will stray on you." "You feel me?" "Man, go home." "These streets ain't for you tonight, playa." "Hey, yo, X!" "One more thing." "You better check your sister." "She out here trying to get loose a little too soon." "You feel me?" "Bad night?" "You want some cereal?" "X, Mama come home yet?" "Boy, why are you talking so loud?" "That's your bowl of cereal right there." "You made me cereal." "Shay, come on, so we can eat!" "Goddamn, X!" "Why you gotta be so loud?" "Go wash that shit off your face." "And change your clothes, too." "Tony, take Deuce in the back for me." "Listen, I'm trying not to hit you, but you're moving a little too fast." "And just because your mama hangs out all night doesn't mean you supposed to." "It wasn't all night." "I was home by 2:00." "Yeah, that's five hours too late." "What?" "You playing daddy now?" "You trying to play ho now?" "Who you calling a ho?" "Look, I need you to stay on track, Shay!" "I don't need you out there trying to hang, bang, or none of that shit!" "You leave that for them girls who wanna play skank." "Yeah, 'cause he talking about skanks like me." "You so full of shit, X." "I liked you a lot better before you started going to that punk-ass school, perpetrating like you something." "Like you some Obama and shit?" "Doing damn speeches and shit?" "Well, you ain't no Obama." "You ain't shit." "You know, you lucky I'm going that school." "They teach me how to control my temper." "Otherwise I'd be choking the shit out your ass right now." "Yeah." "I'm really proud of 'em." "Mmm..." "Now next is the banquet and then I have to deal with those school board members." "Oh, don't worry about them, they'll be all right." "But you know who I am worried about, though?" "Rack and Xtra." "You know, something just ain't right with them." "Good morning." "Oh, I am so jazzed about last night." "Honestly, wasn't it, like, every shade of wonderful?" "Oh." "Hey, I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but some of the boys are wanting to help me start a Hive newsletter." "They would write the articles, take the pictures." "Xtra's agreed to design the layout and Que's going to be my assistant editor." "Aden and Christa would help the boys fashion articles from their respective disciplines." "You know, maybe a monthly math problem to solve or a social studies winning essay." "What do you think?" "You think it'll work?" "Great, 'cause we've already started." "I am so jazzed." "Okay, have a blessed day." "Okay." "Okay." "Bye." "Hollis, have I ever told you how much I love The Hive?" "I mean, every day, a new adventure." "Ain't that the truth." "(car approaching)" "Ooh... (giggling)" "(Xtra) Where you been for two days?" "You been waiting up for your mama?" "Again?" "Thank you." "Lord." "Sorry I had to cut out early on your little shindig, X." "It was nice, though." "What I saw of it." "Seem like they teaching y'all a lot over there." "So what kind of things Rack been teaching you?" "Who?" "Rack." "My friend Rack." "Mama, please don't do this." "He's my age and I gotta see him every day at The Hive." "He ain't nothing but a two-bit hustler." "Why don't you just let him be?" "You don't run my life." "I'm the mama." "And if I want to see him, or anybody else, ain't nothing you can do about it!" "You understand that?" "!" "Ain't shit you can do about it, you understand what I'm saying?" "!" "Dammit!" "(Shay) It looks a little better, but it's gonna take more than just two days to heal." "It'll be all right." "Maybe if she hadn't lost her job." "I thought Mama liked working at the nursing home." "Mama always like something in the beginning." "Pretty sure she used to even like us." "When?" "I must have missed that." "I can't believe Mama left out of here last night after she did this and got arrested." "I want a mama, X." "Somebody I can count on instead of somebody trying to act like she my age." "I hate her." "No, you don't." "It's embarrassing." "How many times you gonna go to jail for something stupid following behind some man or in this case, some boy?" "As soon as anybody find out, we gonna get evicted again, they gonna split us up, put us in some foster home." "You and me, we'll be all right." "Tony, you know he can't survive." "He won't have to." "I promise." "Your promises aren't worth shit." "She wouldn't be sitting in jail if it hadn't have been for you, that damn school and your little friend." "Can't your father do something?" "Call in a favor to get the money to get Mama out or maybe I could talk to Shoot, somebody told me..." "You stay your fast ass away from him!" "You hear me?" "!" "Or you'll end up right where your mama is." "That's if I don't kill your ass first." "In the meantime, what am I supposed to do?" "Look, you got a sister, don't you?" "You got a brother." "Billie had two kids with some other fool, right?" "So you get your family in business." "You get that boy, you get that..." "You get that little girl and you get..." "What do you call it, huh?" "A website." "Get you a little sexy website going on with these kids, get paid." "That's my brother and my sister." "I can't even believe that you would even say that." "I can't believe that I have a son that I raised who don't know how to get paid." "You see, that's the thing." "You didn't raise me." "I can remember every beating." "The ones you gave mama and the ones you gave me." "Throwing us into walls and shit?" "I guess I didn't throw you hard enough, did I?" "I really wanted to love you." "You know I still have very long reach." "So?" "!" "You brought me in this fucked-up world, it might as well be you to take me out!" "They turned it off today." "Electricity's next." "You go by the jail yesterday?" "Gem, this ain't easy for me to say, but..." "I need you to stay here with me." "For what, X?" "To wrap my legs around you whenever you need to relieve yourself?" "That ain't love." "Love would be me trying to wrap my heart around you, but that ain't never gonna happen." "You don't even give a shit." "Those are our pots, you stupid ass bitch!" "You know, living with you, X, has been worse than living at home." "At least at home, I knew nobody loved me and I didn't care." "But here..." "you made me care, X." "I ain't never forgiving you for that shit." "Gem." "I'm trying to change." "I'm not." "I don't want to stay at home, watch you do homework, playing patty-cake." "You don't like the streets no more?" "Well, I still do." "It's in my blood, 6-8 'til I die." "You think 'cause your mama's in jail so now you expect me to play mama to everybody up in this piece?" "You better call dial-a-mama, 'cause that ain't me, X." "You got somebody else?" "What does it matter?" "Bottom line, I stay here, we kill each other." "What about my son?" "Our son." "You're not taking him away from me, Gem." "I'll beat the shit out of you." "Shit, do it, then, X." "Beat the shit out of me and get it over with, 'cause I'm still leaving, now or when you asleep, but I'd rather do it now before I have to play out this scene again in front of Tony and Shay." "Please." "Don't take him away from me, Gem." "You can't go to school and take care of him, too, X." "I'll quit school." "Don't do that." "I see how it's changed you." "And I hate it." "Maybe Deuce needs at least one parent to be an example for him one day." "Come back and get him when I get straight." "*" "I think we should print a couple of hundred more, though." "My roadie brothers can hand them out." "It'll do wonders for our PR." "You really think it's that good?" "Are you fishing for a compliment?" "(Courvoisier) Mr. Hollis!" "Mr. Hollis, Mrs. Inez needs you right now!" "Now what's wrong?" "Everybody come right now!" "*" "(all) Happy birthday!" "(Mrs. Inez) Surprise!" "Surprise!" "(laughing)" "*" "Make a wish." "Come on, make a wish!" "(yelling)" "I got you!" "(panting)" "Oh, my goodness, you okay?" "Oh, the last time I tackled you, you wasn't too happy about it, was you?" "No." "Ooh... ooh..." "So... here's how it's gonna go." "I want you, Shay, Tony and little Deuce to come on and stay with me and my husband for a few days 'til we can figure out how to get your mama out of jail." "I don't know, Mrs. Inez." "I mean, I need to be back at that trailer." "Oh now." "You can go by that trailer every day if you want, do check on it." "I'll come up with a plan to get your mama out of jail sooner than later." "This is how it's gonna go." "You gonna go home, pack up some of your brother's and sister's things just for a few days and then I'm gonna come over and pick you up this evening, all right?" "It's a deal?" "Thank you." "Oh." "X, the door's open, somebody broke in." "*" "Y'all stay here." "Let me go in with you." "I said stay here." "(gun cocking)" "(grunting)" "Tony." "That gun is loaded." "I want you... to slowly... put it down." "Boy, didn't I tell you never to touch one of these?" "Never!" "Man, you could've..." "You know what, I'm taking these out of here tonight." "I should have done that in the first place." "What were you thinking?" "!" "(car approaching)" "*" "That sounds like Rack." "(car doors closing)" "X, are they the ones that broke in?" "Your brother in there?" "Yeah, he in there." "His daddy want us to come have a little talk with him." "You know." "Look at this little dude, huh?" "Give 'em to me." "Come on, come on to papa, baby." "Yeah, give him to me." "Yeah, look at you, boy, how you doing?" "Yeah." "Little boy, huh?" "You're big, hey." "Lookee here." "There's your daddy." "Give me my son." "We all 6-8 family out here." "You know that, X." "The 6-8 don't tolerate no disrespect, do we?" "Yeah, I know." "True that." "So when we got a message from 1-1-9 saying that you had been a little disrespectful... we thought we'd come have a little talk with you." "I said give me my son!" "*" "Come on, Shoot." "You already know I'm gonna be 6-8 'til I die." "I delivered your message." "Now here's mine." "I ain't scared of dying." "What I am scared of is dying on him, 'cause he don't deserve that." "There's rules to this shit, X." "You ought to know that." "Yeah, I hear you." "Now I'm just trying to make a few new ones for myself." "So if you gonna shoot me... you gonna have to do it through my back, 'cause I'm out." "(Xtra) As I said..." "I always live by a few simple rules, but I've learned a real man realizes his rules have to work not just for him... but for all the people who count on him." "All you gotta do is stay alive... just one more day." "*"