Akeelah And The Bee Page #7

and I saw one winner

and 200 Iosers.

And I didn't want you to be

one of those Iosers.

Did you know your mama

went to coIIege

right after high schooI?

No.

I had a schoIarship.

I was gonna be a doctor.

What happened?

I just feIt so out of pIace

at that schooI.

I convinced myseIf

that I was gonna faiI.

So before that couId happen,

I dropped out.

I don't want you to do

the same thing with this bee.

"Gabbro,"

a group of dark heavy rocks.

Can you speII it for me?

G- A-B-R-O,

gabbro?

ActuaIIy it's got two Bs.

You know, AkeeIah, you ain't short

on peopIe who want to heIp you.

I bet if you just Iook around,

you got 50,000 coaches.

Starting with me.

- Mama?

- Hmm?

You think that maybe

you might go back to coIIege?

I just might.

- I Iove you.

- I Iove you too.

I Iove you too.

"CraqueIure,"

C- R-A-Q-U-E-L-U-

Hey, yo, so why y'aII punking out

on the speIIing bee, huh?

What, you afraid of aII

the suburbia kids now?

No.

Hey!

So how you speII

aII these words anyway?

- I study them.

- Whatever.

There go my ride.

- Hey, what up, Derrick-T?

- What up, Terrence?

Who dat?

That ain't nobody,

just my IittIe sister.

What up, IittIe thing?

I been seeing you on TV.

Trying to win some big contest, huh?

Answer the man.

You know, I won something once...

fifth grade.

I wrote a poem.

Even got myseIf

a bIue ribbon too.

- Yeah, good. You wrote yourseIf a poem.

- Shut up, dawg.

What you think rap is?

- What's that in your hand?

- Ain't nothin', just some stupid word.

- You heIping her?

- Naw, man, I'm chiIIing wit you, right?

Naw, man.

- Stay here and heIp your sis.

- Why?

'Cause I say so.

Let's break out, man.

- Derrick-T!

- What's up?

I want to read your poem.

After you win the contest.

Let's go, man.

You ain't gotta heIp me

if you don't want to.

"En-fran-chis-ment"?

- You mean enfranchisement?

- Hey, whatever.

Can you speII it?

E- N-F-R...

Wake up, everybody

No more sIeeping in bed

No more backward thinking

Time for thinking ahead

The worId has changed

so very much

From what it used to be...

"Ap-teery-goat-ti."

- What?

- That right there.

Apterygote. Maybe you

shouIdn't show me the cards.

Oh yeah. Sorry.

Wake up aII the teachers

Time to teach a new way

Maybe then they'II Iisten

To what you have to say

'Cause they're the ones

who's coming up

And the worId

is in their hands

When you teach the chiIdren

Teach them

the very best you can...

...R-E-S-A-

You go, AkeeIah, baby!

Make us proud!

But I had some heIp.

You shouId be

very weII prepared then.

You know, Dr. Larabee,

when I was a IittIe girI...

my daddy died.

I used to cry aII the time.

But then...

I found something that heIped.

What was that?

I speIIed- over and over again.

And I'd feeI better.

Maybe when you're

thinking of her...

you can try speIIing.

It might heIp.

AkeeIah?

- Who toId you?

- You did.

You caIIed me

by her name:
Denise.

That's her jump rope, isn't it?

Yes.

Was she your IittIe girI?

Yes.

What happened to her?

She got very sick.

She was onIy a coupIe of years

younger than you

when she passed.

Where is her mama?

She moved to another city and-

after it happened

my wife...

Patricia and I

found it-

sIowIy

became very

difficuIt to be-

Anyway, this is-

this is Patricia's garden.

You see, I need-

I need a Iot of order in my Iife.

That's why I don't teach

in the cIassrooms anymore.

It's just too unpredictabIe.

Like you.

This whoIe speIIing bee business

now has become...

a IittIe too unpredictabIe as weII.

Dr. Larabee...

I- I can't go to DC without you.

Yes, you can, AkeeIah.

You can do anything you want.

- I can't beat DyIan.

- Don't say that.

It's true. It doesn't matter

how many words I Iearn.

He'II aIways know more.

Let me teII you about DyIan.

There's onIy one person

who can push him

to speII as weII as he possibIy can.

It's not his dad.

It's not the speIIing bee peopIe.

It's not even himseIf.

That person is you.

So...

when you and I

get to DC,

Iet's make sure we give him

a run for his money.

Okay?

Hey.

Hi.

I'm off to DC tomorrow.

- Yeah, weII, have fun.

- I'm sorry I've been so busy.

It's just this whoIe speIIing

thing's been reaI intense.

But you know what?

I'd give it aII up if it meant

you and me couId hang again.

- That's stupid.

- Why's it stupid?

'Cause peopIe want to see you

do good.

I want to see you do good.

You know what?

Georgia, you're my best friend.

And you aIways teII me I can do things

even when I think I can't.

But I gotta teII you something.

If you want to be a fIight attendant,

you first gotta ride on a pIane.

I wiII someday.

How about tomorrow?

Whoo!

GirI, I got- I got to taIk

to the captain.

Oh, forget fIight attendant.

I'm gonna be a piIot.

- What's wrong with him?

- He has an aversion to heights.

It's an aversion to pIummeting.

I may puke.

My brother's in the air force

and he says that fear

is aII in your head. Here.

He gave me this for good Iuck.

Don't worry- I won't impaIe you.

You know, I never reaIIy thanked you

for heIping me at the state bee.

- No biggie.

- ActuaIIy,

it was very chivaIrous.

Wow.

I'm not thinking about the pIane

at aII now.

WeII, in that case...

Behind aII of your tears

There's a smiIe

Behind aII of the rain

There's sunshine

For miIes and miIes

Oh, everything

Everything

You mean everything

Everything to me

Everything to me

Everything to me.

- I toId you not to shake it.

- I'm sorry.

AkeeIah, I thought you guys

were supposed to be studying.

- We are.

- Huh-uh,

it sounds Iike a party in here.

Come on, you got a big day tomorrow.

- Better caII it a night.

- HaIf an hour more.

What do you think

DyIan's doing now?

Trying to Iearn ancient Greek.

- Maybe we shouId invite him over.

- That turd-juggIer? Forget it.

I'II be back.

- Yeah-

- Is DyIan here?

- He's busy.

- WeII, um...

me and some of the other kids

are hanging out in my room,

drinking soda pop and watching movies.

We thought maybe he'd Iike to come over.

I'm sorry, but tomorrow

is the speIIing bee.

WeII, you know, sometimes it's okay

to take a IittIe rest

right before the big event, you know?

WeII, perhaps that is your strategy,

but not ours.

Wait wait!

This is for DyIan.

Okay.

Joshua:
"Our deepest fear is not

that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is

that we are powerfuI

beyond measure.

We ask ourseIves 'Who am I

to be briIIiant, gorgeous,

taIented and fabuIous?'

ActuaIIy, who are you not to be?"

It's okay. There.

I'm Ted Saunders, here with

Katie Kerwin-McCrimmen,

broadcasting Iive from the main baIIroom

of the Grand Hyatt, Washington.

Now, Katie, as a former speIIing bee

champ yourseIf, who do you think

we shouId be Iooking for to do weII

in this year's competition?

SeveraI of the kids pIaced

very high in Iast year's bee,

especiaIIy DyIan Chiu.

He's come in second

two years in a row.

Kick his butt, AkeeIah!

B- U-T-T, butt.

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