American Hero Page #4

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- Yes, sir.

- Can you by my nurse tomorrow?

- Sure.

Alright. That's what I'm talking about.

I got a little pain down below

and, you know...

He's been dead for a while.

I was wondering if you could

bring him back to life, you know...

a little mouth to mouth resuscitation

would help me right now.

- Stop, don't listen to that.

- We apologize for him.

- That's okay. We get that all the time.

- I was just having fun with you, girl.

Just being serious.

Sir, is your full name Melvin Hesper?

That's me, doc, but call me Mel.

We cannot seem to find

any medical records on you.

Any type of history?

- I never go to the hospitals.

- Never?

Never broke a bone, a bad flu, anything?

What about medical insurance?

Are you covered?

Why would I be covered

if I don't go to hospitals?

These scars, they look like gunshot wounds.

What can you tell me about them?

- They're gunshot wounds.

- That's very funny. How did you get them?

A gun.

Tell me about this one.

This? It's nothing. Just some cap

stuck me a few years back.

You didn't get medical help?

I don't have insurance, doc.

Sir...

you just suffered a serious

cardiac arrest.

Your heart stopped beating

for several minutes.

You were certified dead.

Look, we're gonna need to keep you under

observation for at least forty-eight hours.

Our preliminary tests produced

some particularly interesting results

that may be personal to you.

Lying there in the hospital,

I realized something.

I got it all wrong.

I've been a total a**hole.

- You on some kind of narcotic, n*gger?

- No, I'm being serious.

I got a gift here, man.

I gotta start using it.

Use it for the good. I'm gonna change.

I'm gonna start fighting crime,

not committing it.

- I've been saying that sh*t for years.

- I know. I wasn't ready to listen, okay?

But lying there with my whole life

flashing in front of me, it came to me.

I'm gonna do whatever it takes for Rex.

No more drinking.

No more weed, pills.

I'm even gonna stop cigarettes.

P*ssy, cheating, hustling, stealing.

I'm even thinking

about stopping jerking off.

- Yeah, I wouldn't go that far.

- No...

- Maybe that's a bit too much.

- Yeah, that's too much. Sh*t.

From this day forward...

I'm going straight, brother.

I am.

Well, alright.

I'll tell you what, I'm with you, Melvin.

Melvin, this is your calling.

What you got is a gift.

It's from the heavens.

So is Rex, brother. So is Rex.

F***.

It's okay.

He got the plan inside his hand.

Understand that he's the man.

Each and every time abide the sign.

Press the rewind in your own mind.

Kick it one more time.

Hey, Mel. Can you bend

his mouth to shut up?

See he got the master plan inside his hand

Understand that he's the man, got the plan

Surprise.

- You gotta be kidding me.

- Drink it. It's robiatic.

It's what?

- Healthy.

- You mean macrobiotic.

Whatever, man. Just drink the sh*t.

It's good for you.

I can't drink this sh*t, man. I'll start

voting green peace and dating guys.

Alright.

It's good.

You know, I read this book about health.

I put some celery in there.

They said to clean out the lungs,

you know, reduces mucus.

And you'll spit all that tarred-nicotine

from them cigarettes out.

And then I put some ginger in there

that'll clean out the blood stream.

Help get all that alcohol and whatever else

you been putting up your damn nose.

And you gonna piss a lot.

Just understand that.

- But that's a good thing.

- I taste the ginger.

Yeah, it got a little heat on it.

I put some rhubarb in there, too.

- Rhubarb?

- Rhubarb. Yeah.

- What the hell is rhubarb?

- It clears the mind. It's a root.

- I know. Yeah, yeah.

- I ain't put no voodoo or nothing on this.

It's just to clean you out.

Yeah! One more, one more.

Come on, champ.

I care about you, brother.

I wanna see you get better.

I wanna see you do better.

Thanks, buddy.

- We was fourteen?

- We was twelve actually.

Yeah, just about to turn thirteen.

We met in California.

I hadn't seen my boy for some years

and then I come back

and he's able to do

all this stuff like, you know...

make spoons move across the table

and sh*t like that. You know.

Black people don't usually, you know,

get along with that kinda stuff.

That's why you don't see a lot of black

people at magician shows.

'Cause they think

it's like voodoo and the devil.

Yeah, I remember I called you

and I was like, where's Lucille?

I asked your mom, and she said, Melvin,

he's... he's gone. He's in the military.

- I said, what? What the f***?

- Slap him. Slap him.

Two peas and a biscuit.

Two peas and a biscuit.

Hit that motherf***er. Drop the b*tch.

I left dodging bullets and ending up

dodging more bullets.

And one of them got me.

You have no idea what's in that box

of yours, do you, motherf***er?

That's what I'm talking about.

Muscle memory. Like riding a bike.

You don't know what you're made of

'til you test that heart. Put it to the test.

What he can do around

these neighborhoods, around the world,

around the country with that gift,

could fix a whole lot of sh*t.

- What the f***!

- Sorry!

- What the hell just happened?

- Hey, pipe down.

- We're training over here, motherf***er.

- F***.

I knew he was paralyzed, you know.

I mean, he told me that.

You know, I didn't quite know

how I was gonna handle it,

but my main thing was I was gonna

treat him as I always treated him.

As my equal, as my friend,

and as my brother.

F***. Lucille,

this is some heavy sh*t, man.

Five more.

It's that green juice, man. That sh*t

taste nasty, but it's doing something.

It's something else.

It's running through my blood.

It's a new energy.

I don't know what it is. It's scary, man.

Don't be scared of it. Let it flow.

You doing this sh*t again, ain't you?

See? He can do anything, man. Anything.

That's what I'm talking about, Melvin.

You getting back to yourself.

Look like you did

when you was in your twenties?

That's right.

Stop showing off, motherf***er.

- Are you sure this is the block, or...

- Yeah, man. She come this way all the time.

Wait 'til you see her.

What?

I'm just looking at you.

Is that a problem?

- You looking at me like you don't believe me.

- Of course I believe you.

You said you see her every day,

she's obviously late.

Just give it a little time, man.

Give it a little time.

Something that fine need

a little time. It's like wine.

You know, we could just

come back another day, too.

It's no big deal.

Damn.

I really thought I had a shot

with this one, man.

You may, Luc. Come on. Maybe she's sick.

She's at home. She... You'll find her.

- Man, f*** it, man. Come on. Let's go.

- Really?

- Yeah, man. F*** it.

- You done?

- What?

- There she is.

F***. Which one is she?

The one that don't look

like a water buffalo.

Stop laughing, man. They looking.

They looking. Chill. Chill.

- Hey, ladies, what's cracking?

- What you doing?

Just chilling, baby.

- What's your name, baby girl?

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