"It's an African word." "Roughly translated, it means "family. "" "The spirit of it is that our creator made us for one another." "To be connected as a family is the essence of being human." "To reach out and tak e care of any one of us  is to tak e care of us all." "And to hurt any one of us  is to hurt us all." "I can't do it, Daddy." "Don't look down, look straight ahead." "I want my training wheels back." "Come on, tyler, don't give up." "Yeah." "Mama." "Mama." "Oh, goody." "Here comes the mailman." "That's our cue, vato." "Let's go." "police, stop right there." "Get out of the car." "Get out of the car." "Let me see your hands." "Look, Daddy, I got it." "Daddy." "Daddy." "tyler!" "You all right?" "Fine." "Let's go, blake, 7:20." "plan on cleaning this place up or are you waiting for FEMA to declare it a disaster area?" "In other news, the Memphis Police Department  conducted a round-up of over 1 00 violent criminals as crime in Memphis continued to drop a reported 1 7 percent  over a three-year period." "Many...." "See how long that lasts." "as the primary reason for this decrease." "This programme identified certain hot spots...." "Is blake up?" "Yeah, doing his morning yoga." "What do you think?" "Who's renting the Johnson house?" "Debbie said he's a mortgage broker." "They're Hispanic." "This used to be a nice place to live, once." "I've got that appointment today." "What appointment's that?" "The counsellor." "What counsellor?" "We've talked about this." "She's a family counsellor." "It's mostly about blake." "mostly?" "I thought you might wanna come along and check it out with me." "No, thank you." "Hey." "Hey, you hungry, honey?" "No, coffee's cool." "I won't be home till dinner." "Why is that?" "Get a job?" "Nick and I are going to South Haven to look for a car." "For him or for you?" "Nick's got a car, Dad." "This one's for me." "And you're paying for this with...?" "I said we'd help him a little." "With what?" "We got one income stream here, and the stream's getting shallow." "How could we forget?" "You only remind us every single day." "Let me put this to you another way." "If you can afford this little recreational vehicle you can afford your own car." "Care to talk about this, Doobie Brother?" "Strike two." "probably bought it from our new neighbours." "Hey, Reverend." "What's going on?" "Doing good?" "What's up?" "bless me, Father, for I have sinned." "I told you before, Johnson, I'm a Nazarene." "Yeah, yeah." "I don't wanna hear no confessions." "especially yours." "He looks like a priest to me." "Y'aII boys go to church last weekend?" "I know you showed up for my sermon, I know that." "roll call." "relax, guys." "We've got two more car break-ins at the Cordova marketplace and complaints about some non-handicapped using the handicapped spaces there." "while we're on the subject of the mail one of us sideswiped a parked Mercedes there Friday." "Not me." "It was me, lieutenant." "And I reported it immediately to the shift supervisor." "I see." "And how did this happen, Sanders?" "See, I was backing the car up when I" "Rookie." "Rookie." "Lieutenant, he just got his learner's permit." "Just be more careful next time." "Yes, sir." "Okay, well, our digital collectors are back." "They sure go for that home entertainment stuff." "ShockingIy, they don't wanna pay for it." "Last Friday, Big Screen Superstore on AppIing was hit about 3 a.m." "The alarm was disabled but the backup surveillance camera got them." "It's the same guys, same MO." "They got about 20 grand in plasma screens and laptops." "probably sell them on eBay on some offshore e-maiI account." "We're gonna have to catch these guys in the act." "Okay, last item, the director's office has issued a promotion." "Yeah, looks like we may be losing our patroIman pastor, Sam Wright." "Sammy." "May I be the first to congratulate you, Sergeant Wright?" "CouIdn't happen to a better man." "Thank you." "AII right, Iet's go to work." "We gonna meet up for lunch?" "Y'aII take care of each other out there." "Oh, mcdonald, Wright, a word, please." "Mac, you've been Ione ranger long enough." "You guys ride together for the time being." "Is there a problem here?" "No, sir, no problem at all." "May I speak to you alone, please, sir?" "Sure." "What's this about?" "It's about you not flying solo anymore." "Yeah, why don't I believe that?" "You're sharp enough to notice you've been passed over." "For a guy with half my time, and he just happens to be black." "What a shock." "That's got nothing to do with it." "I'm as good as any cop in this department and you know it." "Mac, you really wanna know?" "It's an attitude thing." "And I've determined yours needs a little adjusting." "Look, Sam will be reassigned in a couple of weeks." "In the meantime, you might learn a thing or two by riding with him." "Was there anything else?" "No, sir." "Three-two-three." "Three-two-three." "Hey." "pull over up here, The bagel Company." "I thought cops ate donuts." "So are we in a fight?" "No." "You're not returning my texts." "My phone's acting up." "Since you started hanging out with" "Don't come between me and my friends, Jen." "I'm just sorting some things out right now." "I'II call you this weekend, I promise." "Mrs. McDonaId?" "I don't know where to begin." "How about with your son?" "blake's a sweet boy." "Good student when he wants to be." "Which, as you can see, isn't all that much lately." "I think it's just a case of senioritis." "He and his father, they seem to fight a Iot." "What about?" "We lost a child." "There was an accident when blake was just a baby." "And Mac, my husband he's angry." "How long ago was this, Sara?" "Seventeen years." "How is Mac to you?" "Things definitely changed after we lost tyler." "I fell at work." "I've been on disability." "We're not doing well financially." "So we probably can't even afford this." "We'II talk about that later, okay?" "I came here to talk about blake." "But I think I need to talk about a Iot more than that." "Do you always sing at work?" "When I'm in a good mood, I do." "It's a little annoying." "Can we 86 it, please and the Sunday school lesson?" "You're not crazy about this arrangement, are you?" "You know, I'm really not." "I'm gonna be honest with you, man." "I'm not crazy about this arrangement either." "But for the moment, we now are stuck with each other." "I'II respect your wishes." "But we do have a job to do." "So whether we like it or not, we're partners." "Whatever you say, sarge." "I believe I get it now." "Maybe you do, maybe you don't." "Is it just the sergeant thing?" "Or is there a little black in there too?" "You know, I think the less you and I talk the better we get along." "Stop chasing me." "No, Winky's mine." "No, he's not." "will you hold it down?" "Daddy's still studying." "Give him back." "You don't get Winky." "Give me Winky." "Hey, hey, hey." "No." "Daddy, Winky's mine." "No, she's mine." "Wait a minute." "Who bought Winky?" "Mommy." "Mommy." "Right." "With her money." "So technically, Winky doesn't belong to either one of you." "Winky belongs to Mommy." "Mommy, you got anything you wanna say about Winky?" "Oh, I Iike Winky, and she'II go great in my room." "Mom." "And if this fight doesn't end right now, that's exactly where she's gonna live." "Are you with me?" "Now go wash up for dinner." "Sergeant Daddy is starving." "I think you need to be the sergeant, not me." "What makes you think I'm not?" "Are you done yet?" "I'd Iike my husband back, if you don't mind." "Yeah." "Let's eat." "Okay." "And uncle Joseph and Grandpa George and for Winky too." "And, Jesus, thank you for Mama's Iasagne." "You know I don't like lasagne but Mama says children in Africa would kill for her Iasagne." "So, Lord, maybe you can send some to them so they don't have to kill anybody." "And, Lord, please make Gracie's fanny hurt a Iot when I whip it in about 1 0 seconds." "And the Wright family said?" "Amen." "Amen." "If you don't like lasagne, you give yours to Daddy." "Because I'm hun" "Freeze, officer." "Who wants Daddy to live a Iong, healthy life?" "Me too." "Guess what came in the mail today." "Can you girls say " blood work"?" "blood work?" "Oh, no." "Somebody's got cholesterol issues." "Somebody's gotta give up the bagels and the donuts and, sadly Mommy's famous Iasagne." "Ben said you got a new partner." "It's temporary." "Just filling in till he gets transferred out." "Is the promotion gonna happen?" "Not this time around." "Good thing our son is such a screw-up." "I might be worried if I thought we had to afford a decent college." "What does your little counsellor say about our problem child?" "Not much yet." "I do most of the talking." "Terrific." "When do I get his bill?" "Her, and she's going to work with us." "She?" "Nice, just what I need, two against one." "Nobody's against you, Mac." "Work with us?" "Right." "She'II have a programme set up like your wack-job chiropractor so we can go to her for five years and talk." "I'm doing all I can to keep this family under this roof." "Look, I think we need this, as a family." "I'm stuck at my pay grade for at Ieast another six months, okay?" "I'm up to my eyeballs in bills, our son is draining me dry in the most expensive private school in the state." "Now you wanna take what's left and spend it yapping on somebody's couch about all our problems." "Where does it end, Sara?" "So tell me about your family, man." "Wife, teenage son, you know the drill." "He's putting us through it." "Just one, huh?" "By choice?" "Circumstance." "The defendant will rise." "Mr. Rand, the jury has found you guilty of second-degree murder." "I therefore sentence you to the maximum:" "Ten years in the state penitentiary." "Mac." "Mac." "What?" "The light's green, man." "Three-two-three." "Three-two-three." "Domestic disturbance in progress." "Forest Glen Apartments." "These are always fun." "My baby." "He tried to kill my baby for crying." "Who did this?" "Who?" "Just for crying." "Who did this?" "My boyfriend." "I was at work and I just came home to" "Is he here?" "Ma'am, is he here?" "I don't know, but he's got a gun." "Sanders, you take charge here." "Owens, call for backup." "Mac, Iet's go." "police, open up." "Cover." "I got it." "clear." "Suspect James Robert BIeams, black male, late 20s 5'9", 1 90 pounds last seen wearing blue jeans and a grey tank top." "Suspect is believed to be armed." "still here." "Raising a baby in this." "Lord have mercy." "Mac." "Mac." "Be cool, partner." "I ain't your partner, white boy." "Now drop your gun." "Right now." "Now get on your knees." "I said, get on your knees, right now." "Gun's in the other hand now." "How does it feel, boy?" "I said, how does it feel?" "police, drop your gun now." "Don't make me shoot you." "Come on." "I ain't going back to prison." "I will take him to hell with me." "Brother, he was just doing his job." "Don't make this any uglier." "I didn't mean to hurt that baby." "I know you didn't." "I just couldn't take it no more." "We're gonna get you some help." "I promise." "I don't want no help." "I just wanna die, so go ahead, do it." "No, can't do that." "That would kill you both." "This man has a wife and a son." "Come on, brother, do the right thing." "We just" " No, Mac." "White boy?" "Is that what you called me?" "Who's the boy now, boy?" "Mac, put your gun down." "Mac!" "Hands behind your head." "Get up against the wall now." "Get down on your knees." "Sanders, cuff him." "tyler!" "You all right?" "Yeah, I...." "I didn't see it." "I just didn't see it coming." "You never enter a pursuit like that without backup." "You been doing this for how long now?" "I don't know what happened, man, I just...." "Just...." "I didn't see it coming, man." "I just" " I didn't see it coming." "I'm really proud of you." "You know that, right?" "Oh, thanks, baby." "I didn't even know you put in for a promotion." "I didn't." "well, what does this mean to us?" "It's a blessing, baby." "More money, for sure." "That's not what I meant." "I know." "I thought we'd be fuII-time ministry by now." "Me too." "Wasn't the cop thing just until we got the church up and running?" "well, isn't it up and running?" "We can't raise this family on that salary." "The church doesn't have any more budget." "I'm scared, Sam." "Every time I hear a siren, babe, I think it's you, and I worry." "Something's on your mind." "No." "You worked on that sermon every hour this week." "And I've never even seen you make notes before." "Something on my heart, but I ain't got it yet." "I may get booed right off the pulpit." "I ain't buying it." "What?" "You never worry up there because this is what you were born to do." "You tell me every day before you go to work if God is with us, who can be against us?" "Why you always gotta use my words against me?" "Because they're not your words, baby." "I got partnered up with this guy at work." "well, what's the matter?" "oil and vinegar, that's what." "Or is it chocolate and vanilla?" "Yeah, it's a little bit of that too." "You know how it is." "He got something on his mind, that's all." "Let's get some sleep." "Are we forgetting something?" "Oh, yeah, right." "Lord, I thank you for another day, and, Lord, I" "Lord, I" "I'm so hungry." "well, go get yourself some more broccoli after prayers." "Broc--?" "Oh, Iet me do it." "Thank you, Father, for all your blessings for this life and our beautiful children and this wonderful man you've given me." "Speak through him tomorrow, Lord, and let him rest in that." "And his new partner...." "What's his name, honey?" "Mac." "And we know that you brought Sam into his life for a reason." "Mak e yourself known to Mac, Father." "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord." "My strength and my redeemer." "Amen." "Amen." "I am under no illusions, brothers and sisters that my message today will be an easy one to swallow much less to follow." "But when the father lays it on our hearts to speak the truth you're messing with fire if you choose to go mute." "Now, there's actually a bucket full of truths he's laid on my heart this morning, but y'aII don't worry." "I wanna get to Sunday supper just as bad as you do." "We're just gonna talk about one." "What you and me and God gotta talk about this Sunday morning is a crazy little thing called love." "AII right." "Now, when somebody loves you there ain't a thing easier than loving them back, amen?" "Amen." "And there ain't a thing easier than loving one of our own either." "Amen." "Your mama and daddy." "Your brothers and sisters." "Yeah." "Your children." "Your friends." "We love the people God gives us, don't we?" "Yes, we do." "That's because it's easy." "Amen." "But what about when it's not easy?" "What about a stranger?" "Or someone who ain't exactly sweetness and light?" "What if it's somebody who just plain don't like you?" "You love them anyway." "That's right." "You love them anyway." "Do we?" "really?" "Do we really?" "I'm not sure I do." "especially when I can feel white eyes burning through my black skin just because of that black skin." "And a certain word that seems to be on his mind." "I don't feel like loving that man." "And you don't either, do you?" "About the Iast thing in my heart in that moment is loving that man." "And I don't know about you but it sure seems that when God has something to teach me he brings me a teacher." "I don't always like the lesson." "And I usually don't like being taught." "That didn't go like I hoped it wouId." "It was a tad subdued." "Maybe the Lord wants me to be a cop after all." "So you're saying ...?" "At this rate, he won't graduate." "Sorry, Mrs. McDonaId but we've been sounding this warning bell for over a year now." "He can make it up." "If he puts his mind to it" "There's just too much to make up." "So, what are our options?" "At the very least, he's going to have to repeat his senior year." "My husband will be so pleased." "well, it is what it is." "I guess we'II be back next year." "You know, I wonder if we're prolonging the inevitable." "Do you think blake would be happier in public school?" "No." "No, we want blake in a private-schooI environment." "RidgeIake will not be inviting blake back for next year." "I'm sorry." "It's gonna be big." "We'II come get you." "It's gonna be huge." "Later, guys, gotta go." "See you." "Hi, honey." "How was school today?" "It was fine." "Drive away quickly, please." "What's the matter?" "A 1 2th grader getting picked up by his mother?" "hello?" "Oh, of course." "We really have to do this?" "I think you're gonna like Dr. Vines." "She's pretty cool." "What does she wanna talk about?" "Us, our family." "Great." "Or we could go and talk to your father about repeating your senior year if you'd prefer." "So how long were you planning to keep that from us?" "Night before graduation?" "He's gonna kill me, isn't he?" "Not if you do this for me." "Am I supposed to say something?" "Do you wanna say something?" "It's your meeting." "actually it's not." "It's your mom's." "Then why did you leave her in the waiting room?" "Maybe there's something you don't want her to hear." "No, I tell my mom everything." "really?" "Everything?" "More than I would tell you." "Look, I'm only here for her, okay?" "So let's get on with your spieI" "I don't have a spiel." "well, what have you been doing for her?" "Same as this." "Listening." "Listening." "And charging her money." "It's kind of the way counselling works." "Has she told you we don't have any money?" "No wonder my dad's going off the deep end." "He's not happy about this, huh?" "No, and you know something?" "For once I might see his point." "Christian counsellor?" "What a freaking waste." "Like throwing 20 grand down a private-schooI toilet every year for an ungrateful kid who'd rather party than turn in his homework?" "I don't need this." "And now another 20 grand for an extra year." "Oh, my bad." "It isn't." "public school, here we come." "How's old Dad gonna take that one?" "Let's understand each other." "I'm here for your mom too." "I'm aware of your family's financial situation." "She's getting me for nothing right now, blake." "I can't afford that, but I kind of have a soft heart for a family that's coming apart at the seams." "And while we're on the subject of me, I'm not a Christian counsellor." "I'm a counsellor who happens to be a Christian." "There's a big difference and if you ever graduate from high school you might just learn what that is." "So since we're both here for her why don't you and I start all over?" "I didn't exactly nail it last Sunday, Grandpa." "You stunk the place up, did you?" "Oh, man, I did." "You know, I tried to preach love your enemies to some soldiers once." "I wound up getting a bottle thrown at my head." "Man." "Training ain't never over, you know." "Yes, sir, I know." "This grace thing is another tough thing." "It's always easier to receive grace, but it's hard for us to give it away." "And I Iearned that the hard way when I was trying to raise your daddy." "So tell me, what's your choices?" "Stay on it or move on." "What you feeling?" "How much I Iike the path of least resistance." "I feel like I'm falling at what I was put on this earth to do." "AII I'm doing is cheerleading at church." "There's nothing wrong with that." "When I feel like my city's about to burst into flames again?" "You see the same things I see." "I wanna make a difference, Iike you did." "I can't do that spending 40 hours a week in the streets instead of growing my ministry." "What is your ministry?" "My church, of course." "Oh, I see." "You think you're just gonna sit up there in your tower and wait for this divine message you're gonna get from Jesus, huh?" "So you can preach to us how we gonna change the world?" "No." "But it does sound kind of nice, to be honest." "A little classical music, big fire, drinking tea and wearing a sweater?" "What does that mean?" "Jesus' ministry is out here in the streets, boy." "Out here, in the streets." "Yes, sir." "I was hoping you'd tell me to turn down the promotion, quit the police department." "You know, Dr. King used to teach us Sunday, that was the locker room." "You don't leave it in the locker room." "But Monday through Saturday, there was the game." "That's where it all took place." "Hey." "tell me something." "Have you really decided to leave the police department, honestly?" "No, sir." "There's your answer, boy." "That'II be $6, Mac." "Do you remember your brother, Blak e?" "No." "But he's there." "Everywhere." "And I can't get away from him in that house." "This is only one hour, right?" "You're my last session." "I got all night." "Super." "I don't wanna talk anymore." "Okay." "How about I talk, then?" "I thought you just listened." "Oh, I do." "until I've heard enough, and then I can talk plenty." "You're right." "You're not the problem here." "tyler is." "But he's gone, and there's nothing any of us can do about that." "Well, that's great, doc." "I feel so much better." "The issue here is who to blame." "blame?" "Oh, Dad's got the blame game down." "And why do you think that is?" "So he doesn't have to blame himself." "He's drowning, blake." "Someone's gotta throw him a line." "What does that mean?" "Something small." "Say one nice thing tonight." "See what happens." "I know what happens." "When was the Iast time you tried?" "How much do you have to hate someone to let them die in hurt when one kind word can make all the difference?" "It doesn't take a man to fight, blake." "It takes a man to reach out his hand." "Hey." "Hey." "Spurgeon, that's good stuff." "Oh, yeah?" "How long did it take to collect these books?" "Oh, boy." "Fifty years." "And each and every one of these, I'm gonna turn over to you." "I was gonna give them to my" "My son, your daddy, but I don't think he'd have much use for them." "Have you heard from him?" "No." "You?" "No." "Now, you see that bible over there?" "On the fourth shelf." "No, no, no, not that one, the old one." "The old one." "There you go." "That's the one." "See this?" "This was a-- This was my grandfather's." "We was gonna bury him with it but bibles shouIdn't be buried or left up on a shelf." "They should be read." "Here." "Read this." "" Presented to WendaII P. Wright on his 8th birthday from his friend John Escue." "May 31 st, 1 884."" "1 884." "Who was John Escue?" "He was a cotton farmer." "Two thousand acres, 1 00 slaves." "He released all the slaves before the war was over." "almost all of them stayed." "They wanted to remain slaves?" "No, they just loved him." "They loved him for what he did." "He got them jobs." "He got them more pay than they would get outside." "Then he gave them 1 0 acres of land to build a house." "You gotta be kidding me." "Why would he do that?" "He didn't have to, I'II tell you that." "But sit down, Iet me tell you something." "The day he freed those slaves, he lined them all up in front of him." "He had his hat in his hand." "And he was one of the richest men in the state." "He had his hat in his hand and he asked them all to forgive him for what he'd done." "He'd done something wrong." "He asked them to forgive all the people that had done something wrong." "AII slave owners, whether they asked for forgiveness or not." "How'd that go over?" "Kind of like your last sermon, huh?" "Okay." "well, Mr. Escue he taught your great-great-grandfather how to read." "Gave him this bible, and he decided to be a preacher right then and there." "That one act of grace changed history, Sam." "And that's the point." "This is what your 8-year-oId great-grandfather wrote in return." "" I promise to pray for you every day ask your forgiveness, grant you the same and be your friend always." "WendaII P. Wright."" "That's nice." "Nice?" "That becomes his life's work." "God put him on this earth to do this." "probably changed some hearts and some lives probably kept away from some Iynchings some billy clubs." "That's what I'm talking about." "That's my point." "That is grace." "reconciling starts with forgiveness." "That's the only thing that makes a difference, eh?" "You can never underestimate the power of grace, boy." "That's powerful." "Thanks." "Good day, Mac?" "You're actually eating with us tonight?" "It's Monday night." "AII the good restaurants are closed." "A comedian." "Very funny." "Dad?" "When did you know you wanted to be a cop?" "Why?" "I've just always wondered." "You know, is it something you dreamed about when you were a kid or did it just fall in your lap, or what?" "When your brother died." "Thought I couId make a difference maybe stop it from happening to somebody else." "I was wrong." "But it puts bread on the table." "Pass the potatoes." "You're not thinking of becoming a cop." "No." "I just really respect it, Dad." "That's all." "Right." "No, I do." "I do." "well, thank you." "How's school?" "It's fine." "What?" "Nothing." "You got in trouble again, didn't you?" "Dad, I'm" "We'II talk about this later." "No, we'II talk about it now." "Somebody tell me what's going on." "Dad, I'm not gonna graduate." "Come again?" "I'm flunking english and Spanish again, and I" "Again?" "I have an incomplete in Trig." "I'm not gonna be able to make it up." "So we have another year of this." "I'II have to finish up at OakdaIe." "I can make it up by Christmas" "OakdaIe?" "That cesspooI of lowlifes?" "You cannot get into a decent college coming out of a public school." "I'II sell this house if I have to." "I'II take a second job." "You will most definitely get a job and finish up at RidgeIake." "Dad, they kicked me out." "You knew this, didn't you?" "It's not her fault." "It's mine." "Oh, this just in." "Just kill me, all right?" "Just get it over with and kill me fast." "Where does it end?" "Is this your mission in life, to finish me off once and for all?" "Dad, I'm sorry." "" I really respect it."" "Did you expect me to buy that Ioad--?" "I meant it." "I wanted to have a conversation with you instead of another fight." "Why do you think I go somewhere else every night?" "I don't need this." "Strike three." "Sit down." "I don't wanna." "I don't care what you want." "Oh, really?" "This just in." "Stop it, both of you." "tyler never would've acted like this." "blake." "Mac." "Oh, man." "Oh, it doesn't hurt that bad." "I really gotta do this every week?" "Doctor's orders." "And your wife's." "I guess you lie about other things too, huh?" "Come on." "Go ahead, check it out." "You dropped three points in one week." "See?" "We'II get there." "What is LDL, anyway?" "In your case, Mr. Wright, too darn high is what that is." "That's what Davis said." "He was gonna blow that punk away." "He was straight-up crazy." "He's a walking paxil lab, man." "I'm glad the rev's riding with him and it's not me." "Yeah, he can pray over him or something." "Pray over him." "That's funny." "You got jokes." "I'm in a comedy show this weekend." "Okay, Mr. Gerardo, I need a signature here." "This is not an admission of guilt just that I have issued you this citation." "Court date's November 1 0th, or you can enrol in traffic school." "It won't show up on your record." "Have a nice day." "You wanna drive?" "I need to make a couple calls." "Just wondering if blake called." "I can't get through to him." "call me." "You think I'm a racist, don't you?" "I don't know." "Are you?" "That car was speeding." "Five miles over." "Law's the Iaw." "I'd have pulled a thumping Iowrider full of white guys over too." "Lord, please don't let me kill my partner." "Oh, why don't you, man?" "Just put us both out of our misery." "How you doing, Mac?" "Just great." "CouIdn't be better." "Something going on at home?" "Don't go preacher on me, man." "I'm not going preacher." "I'm your friend." "Right." "Come on, man, or I'm gonna sing, loud." "My son walked out last night." "How old's your son?" "Seventeen." "Ever try to reason with a 1 7-year-oId?" "Mine are 5 and 7." "Your day's coming, pal." "So you had a fight." "That's all we have, is fights." "Has he left before?" "Yeah." "But this one's different." "Say something you regret?" "I have a tendency to do that." "I haven't talked to my dad in 1 2 years, Mac." "still alive?" "I guess." "I don't know where he is." "Say something you regret?" "We both did." "Don't ever let it come to that, Mac." "A boy needs his daddy." "No matter what he says to him." "Three-two-three." "Three-two-three." "Possible prowler, 7844 Kirby." "Why do I know that address?" "Three-two-three en route." "So you heard a noise at the window?" "Tapping." "Tap, tap, tap." "And voices." "Sounded like Chinese or Japanese maybe." "We've had a Iot of Mexicans moving in around here with Iowriders and hopped-up pickup trucks." "I wish they'd drive them all back to Mexico, is what." "I Iike the coloureds used to live here." "They were like you." "friendly." "You could talk to them." "Officer McDonaId, you see anything?" "No, I didn't." "No sign of trouble." "Wanna come in for some iced tea?" "I made some fudge too." "No, no, thank you." "The last officer was here took a full report." "He came in and" "Yes, I was here a few weeks back." "Oh, really?" "I don't recall." "We'II make another drive past before we change shifts, and if-- 2 7 1 4 Exeter, Germantown Office Supply, silent alarm, 7-1." "Three-two-three." "Show us taking that call." "Thank you." "We have to get going." "Okay, good night." "lonely lady." "She just needs somebody to talk to, that's all." "It could be our big-screen boys." "Or another low battery in a motion detector like the Iast 1 0 of these calls." "Come out, come out, wherever you are." "Don't they usually leave the lights on in this store?" "Yeah." "Might just be a power outage." "Let's pull around back." "Three-two-three on site." "Zone 1 is clear." "Power is apparently out, possible false alarm." "Checking the rear." "Ten-four." "I don't know, Mac." "AII the lights are out on the block." "They might have cut the power." "Movement." "police, freeze." "police, freeze." "Mac, wait." "Freeze!" "Gun!" "Three-two-three." "Shots fired, suspect down." "Show me your weapon." "Oh, Lord." "No." "Dad." "blake, what are you--?" "I'm so sorry, Dad." "We need an ambulance!" "Three-two-three, be advised:" "Hurry." "The injured suspect is Officer McDonaId's son." "Over." "blake!" "No, no, no!" "Yes?" "Mrs." "mcdonald?" "I'm Sam Wright." "I'm your husband's partner." "Oh, no." "What is it?" "What's happened to Mac?" "I need you to come with me, okay?" "What's happened to Mac?" "It isn't Mac." "Gunshot wound to his right abdomen." "single gunshot?" "Yeah, single." "No exit wound." "I've got a 1 4-gauge in both right arm" "One, two, three." "Okay, what do we have here?" "Gunshot wound to the right abdomen." "Give me that bag." "Yeah." "tell me your name." "blake." "Okay, Iet's get him some anaesthesia." "I need Dr. Duncan here, stat." "Right away." "Know where you are?" "Get him a chest and abdomen x-ray." "Let's prep this kid for surgery." "Hi, blake, you with me, buddy?" "I'm Dr. Curry." "Where's Mom?" "She'II be here before you know it." "You got one thing to do for me." "relax and go to sleep and think good thoughts for both of us." "Okay, Iet's go, folks." "Let's move it." "What have you done?" "Sara, no." "Sara, no." "No, it was an accident, Sara." "Sara, I didn't know." "What happened?" "Why was he there?" "Sara, no." "He didn't mean to do it." "He's all I have left, Mac." "Do you understand me?" "He's all I have left." "Sara." "Sara." "Have a seat, sir." "well, the good news is we're stable for the time being." "He's a strong boy." "Many would not have survived that surgery." "Bad news is we're not out of the woods yet." "That was a high-veIocity bullet, and it left quite a trail of damage." "We've patched him up beautifully but we had to take the damaged kidney." "But can he function with one kidney?" "One healthy kidney, yes." "But there's your issue." "It's not a healthy kidney." "It might as well not even be there." "What do you mean?" "blake has a relatively uncommon congenital condition known as atrophic renal syndrome." "What that means is one of his kidneys is not functioning and the other has been carrying the load." "unfortunately, it was the good kidney that took the hit." "blake is stable now, but that won't last long." "He is in 1 00 percent kidney failure." "Are you saying we're gonna lose blake?" "What I'm saying is to survive BIake needs a kidney transplant immediately." "Give him mine." "It's not that simple, I'm afraid." "I'm the father." "I took the liberty of pulling both your medical records." "You do have type A positive blood, as does your son, blake." "The problem is you've also got hypertension and that keeps you from being a donor." "Mrs. McDonaId, unfortunately, you have type O positive blood." "We're searching the donor networks now but so far we've come up empty-handed." "We're on the clock here." "Look at you." "You've grown into a handsome young man." "Mac." "Hey, Mac." "Nurse said he did okay." "He's gonna make it." "I thought I'd wait around and take you two home to get some rest." "Where's Sara?" "She's with blake." "You wanna go home?" "I'm a really good shot." "Do you know that?" "Fifteen years." "Fired my weapon three times." "I'm three for three." "You couldn't have known." "You were just doing your job." "I did it wrong." "I shouldn't have run into that building." "I didn't have to." "He wasn't going anywhere." "I don't even know the boy." "My own son and I don't know the first thing about him." "It isn't too late for that." "He may not make it, Sam." "What?" "I thought they said" "I couId stay with you." "Or would you rather be alone?" "I am alone." "Been alone since I buried my first boy." "I think I died right with him." "I'm just too dumb to know it." "Doesn't matter anymore." "Thanks for the ride." "Stop." "Now, you listen to me." "You're at the bottom." "You ain't going no lower than right here, right now." "You got two options." "Curse God and die or give up fighting him." "I appreciate that." "really, I do." "I choose option A, preacher man." "Mac, he's not giving up on you." "I know things are bad now, but there's always a reason" "Stop it." "That stuff doesn't work on me, okay?" "If believing in this fairy tale gives you comfort and a side job on Sunday morning, bully for you, Sergeant Wright." "But if you think I'm gonna go all goosefIesh and fall on my knees before your God, who lets a 5-year-oId get run over and killed by some Southside drug-deaIing nig" "still wanna stay with me, Sam?" "I didn't think so." "The old ones say that the cruellest prison  is the one of our own making and solitary confinement may be the cruellest of all." "Hell itself may be nothing more than eternity all alone." "It is also said  that our father will never give up searching or calling for us." "Many is the man who cannot or will not hear that call  until he is completely brok en." "feeI your comfort, Lord." "Thank you for watching over him." "We know you're the ultimate physician and you can heal him if you want to...." "You need anything else?" "Father, you know we need a miracle right now for blake." "We're coming to you asking that you help them find a kidney that will work with blake's body." "You touched him." "Morning, baby." "Coffee first, then talk." "They gonna lose that boy?" "Don't know." "Did I tell you they lost their first child too?" "This is beautiful." "What is this?" "Something Grandpa George gave me." "It was supposed to be a teaching moment but I'm not quite sure I got it." "" I promise to pray for you every day ask your forgiveness, grant you the same and be your friend always."" "Yeah, that's pretty advanced theology." "Must be, because a child wrote it." "You always know just the right things to say." "well, I'm sick about the man's family." "And it's all I couId do to pray for him." "This guy makes me feel things I haven't felt in a Iong, long time." "Like?" "Anger." "Hate." "What's wrong with me, Debra?" "You're a human being." "I'm a pastor." "I was called to minister to people, or so I thought." "What's that supposed to mean?" "It's my part-time job." "I can't focus on it or grow it or really even commit to it because I have to ride around in a cop car for 1 0 hours a day with some guy who hates me because I'm black." "He hates the whole world." "That's his problem." "What's that got to do with you?" "He's showing me where my heart is and where it isn't." "It's not with people." "I thought it was until I met one I couldn't love." "This is just words to me now." "It's not real anymore." "Chasing the bad guys, wearing the badge, that's real." "And I'm growing there, but my church isn't growing." "It's growing stale." "And soon enough, it'II just die because of me." "That's what Mac is doing in my Iife, Debra." "Showing me where my heart really is." "It's carrying a gun, not carrying a bible." "You really believe that?" "You are a good man, Sam Wright, and I'm so glad God gave you to me but I think you've got it backwards, baby." "God didn't bring him into your life." "He brought you into his." "You just gotta figure out why." "You'd think with an organ-donor box on every driver's licence in America you'd find one kidney that would match his." "You gonna survive this?" "Do you really care?" "I'm here, aren't I?" "Because you wanna be or because you have to be?" "I haven't decided yet." "Good answer." "I got" "You're not gonna preach, are you?" "You know how I get when you preach." "No." "But it's interesting you're here." "I just came to sit with you." "I guess the answer is no." "By sunup tomorrow, I won't be a father anymore or a husband." "Sara won't even come home after we bury him." "She'II just keep on going." "Sam, I...." "I didn't mean what I said to you in the car." "I know you didn't." "I say a Iot of things I don't mean." "I hurt my wife every single day with something I say." "I hurt blake, so he ran out on us." "I even made my 5-year-oId keep riding that stupid bike." "He didn't want to." "I made him." "If I just...." "If I just hadn't...." "Just answer me this, Sam." "This good Lord you prattle on about...." "Why would he let two little boys die and let some miserable wretch who doesn't wanna live anyway go on?" "There's no answer to that question." "There's just not." "Then what is there to believe in, man?" "What--?" "What's the use of any of it?" "Every time I think I got it all figured out I get a curveball thrown at me." "I only know we're in this together, Mac." "And somebody put us here." "And it wasn't to make us suffer, either." "We brought that one on ourselves." "You didn't cause either one of them." "They were both accidents, Mac." "I did." "No." "God doesn't want you to carry that burden, Mac." "He wants you to be rid of that pain." "I don't deserve to be out of pain." "I'm so sorry." "I'm so sorry." "God help me." "I'm so sorry." "Then you are forgiven." "Do you hear me, Mac?" "You are forgiven because you asked for it." "I don't want him" "I don't want him to die, Sam." "I don't want my little boy to die." "I'II give anything." "please pray, will you?" "please pray." "I don't want my boy to die." "Oh, God." "You gotta pray with me." "Oh, my Lord, my dear, sweet Lord I'd Iike to swear to submit to you, God." "We pray, Lord, that you lift up...." "Hey, Dad." "could everyone leave us a moment, please?" "I've been wanting to talk." "Every time I come you're asleep or in some Star Wars machine or...." "With Mom?" "Yeah." "Take good care of her, okay?" "She's not as strong as you are." "Hey." "Hey, none of that." "Look, we're-- We're gonna beat this thing, okay?" "They think they found a match in Canada" "Dad." "I'm sorry, Dad." "I'm the one who needs to say he's sorry." "I should've done it a Iong, long time ago." "I am so sorry." "please tell me you forgive me." "You know I do." "Do you realise how much I Iove you?" "I Iove you, blake." "I just wish that there was something I couId do." "He's just gone downhill so fast." "And I cannot find him a kidney." "No family matches, no friends." "What you got there, Sam?" "blood work." "High cholesterol." "Let me look at that." "It'II give me something else to think about." "Sam?" "I know my LDL's too high." "I gotta cut back on my" "Your blood type." "You're A positive." "What's that got to do with my LDL?" "So is blake McDonaId." "So you mean that I--?" "I mean you may have just gotten your wish." "Come on, blake, hang in there, buddy." "You just gotta hang in there." "I thought type A positive meant I was an overachiever." "Who would've actually thought that meant something?" "I would, that's who." "I'II be right back." "You go home and make me one of those big old cheesy Iasagnes." "And don't forget my garlic bread, either." "And, baby, I know why now." "I love you." "I'm sorry, this is as far as you can go." "Mommy, we had a question." "What's that, honey?" "How do they know a black kidney will work in a white boy?" "well, because on the inside we're pretty much all the same." "You'II be fine." "Just a little stick." "At long last we have our senior pastor back." "Now, before we bring him back, get out your grace cards." "Let's see the cards." "Let's welcome back our brother our teacher, our friend and healer Sergeant Pastor Sam Wright." "hallelujah!" "Okay, okay, okay." "AII right, Iet's read that card." "AII right." "I hereby promise to, one:" "Pray for you every day." "Two:" "Ask your forgiveness." "Three:" "Grant you the same." "And be your friend when?" "always." "Now, the next time somebody talks to you about playing the race card you whip that bad boy out." "Sign your name at the bottom and tell them:" "" No, my brother, my sister, I'm playing me the grace card."" "Now, six weeks ago, right here I told you all that when the student was ready the teacher would appear." "Yes, you did." "Yes." "I just didn't think that I was the student." "But I was." "And the teacher, he appeared." "Oh, man, did he appear." "And Brother Mac, you weren't just my teacher." "You were the professor." "Yeah." "Brothers and sisters, I Iove my city." "But she is torn right in half." "Yes." "I don't have to tell you that." "Look around you." "You've been hurt." "Yes." "I've been hurt." "Yes." "And we just keep right on hurting each other, don't we?" "Yes, we do." "Yes." "No justice, no peace." "I hear that every single day like justice is gonna change our hearts." "It won't." "That's right." "It's not justice we need or even want." "It's grace." "Yeah." "It's forgiveness." "Yeah." "You wanna heal a broken city?" "A broken world?" "Yeah." "It has to start right there." "Yes." "And I promise to pray for each of you every single day to forgive you whether you ask for it or not." "AII right." "Amen, now." "And to ask you to forgive me." "Yes." "May I help you, sir?" "In another life I was another man." "I was a thief and a fool." "A policeman, who rightly was trying to bring me to justice, pursued me." "I ran and I took this family's child away from them." "It was prison, finally, that broke me." "I surrendered my Iife to my father and I sought to make amends for the mess that I made of that life." "For penance, I entered the mission field in my ancestors' land of Kenya." "Now it is the thing for which I Iive." "I paid society for my crime with eight years of my Iife." "Justice was served, but not to this family." "I owe them a debt I can never repay." "I cannot and I will not go another day without facing them and accepting responsibility for what I have done." "With all my heart I am sorry." "I beg your forgiveness." "I beg your grace."