Black or White Page #4

shaking her tree for a week and a half

and believe me, a lot more bad apples

are gonna fall out, no doubt about it.

The point is,

are you OK getting ugly, Elliott?

We can get a lot uglier than they can.

Remember that, Elliott.

You wanna keep your

little granddaughter,

damn well bet

you're gonna do just that.

Just give us the go-ahead.

Something else I wanted

to talk to you about before you go.

It's your drinking.

This is my brother-in-law,

my sister's husband.

He's in Alcoholics Anonymous.

I don't have a drinking problem, Rick,

all right?

I enjoy drinking.

If it were a problem, I'd stop.

Yeah, what do I know, right?

I'm just the guy you brought along,

dragged up through the ranks,

- I couldn't possibly know anything.

- I hope that's not the case.

I picked you to represent me, right?

You're about ready to get

dragged into a street fight here,

with both hands tied behind your back,

and the booze is gonna do its best

to make sure you lose Eloise.

All right?

Just call my brother-in-law.

All right.

- What are you doing?

- I'm gonna make you pancakes.

You're not the only one

who can make pancakes.

Set the table, please.

Puppy, do you ever...

...you ever think about

living somewhere else?

Where?

I don't know, maybe...

over there with Grandma Wee Wee?

- With your cousins?

- Would you want that?

For us to go live there?

No, it wouldn't be me,

it'd just be you.

I'd visit, you'd come back here, visit.

But... you'd live with them.

- Would that maybe be better?

- No.

I don't like that.

I like it here.

With you.

- With Rosita and my friends.

- I know, but maybe I'm like a...

...you know, I'm...

You know, I'm just like an old guy, El.

Don't you think a seven-year-old

should be hanging out with other kids?

I'm with other kids all day long.

You're talking silly, Papa.

Set the table, please.

"'Who are you?' I ask,

and aim my watch light at the voices.

The light reveals a mermaid.

No, five mermaids, all with green

and orange swishing tails.

The tops they're wearing look familiar,

but I can't figure out from where."

- What?

- I love you, Papa.

"'We're Lana's sisters,'

the one in the middle says.

'She has short, butter-colored hair

and she's wearing a white..."

Are you OK, Papa?

I'm good.

It's just a really sad story.

It's not sad. It's about a mermaid

that takes her family on a vacation.

No, I... I know.

It just reminds me of another story.

A sad one.

I just got sad.

It's fine.

"'We've been spying on her but we can't

get too close to the shore. Is...'"

"'Is Lana OK?'

'Not exactly,' I say,

before explaining the whole story."

Oh

It's been such a long

Long time

Look like I'd get you

off of my mind

But I can't

Just the thought of you

Turns my whole world misty blue

Papa! Come brush my hair!

Papa, are you sure you're OK?

You seem like something's

wrong with you.

No, baby, I'm fine.

Papa... Papa just had a rough night.

OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

Let's go.

Where are you going?

You seem like something's wrong.

Where are you going?

Why is Duvie all dressed up like that?

I have a business thing this morning.

He's coming with me, OK?

It's fine, honey, all right? It's fine.

You've been drinking.

That's why Duvie has to drive.

I told you.

I told you that I had a hard night.

- What?

- Where are you going today?

Just a business meeting, Puppy,

now get inside. Go on.

Go on in the school.

- What's she doing here?

- Who, Fay?

Oh, she's never been in a courtroom.

You really are a piece of work.

This is their brief.

You need to derail all this for me,

Rick.

I don't know where Reggie is, OK?

But when he comes back,

he's gonna want to take her.

And I can't let that happen.

- You've been drinking again?

- What makes you say that?

Well, Hadji drove here,

your breath smells like Binaca,

and you look like you spent the night

getting dragged through

cobblestone streets by angry villagers.

Other than that, I'm just guessing.

- Hey.

- Fay, my name is Fay.

I said, "Hey." As in hello.

Hey.

You gonna be all right in there?

You go in there, all right?

And you get this done.

You understand?

- What's his problem?

- Ah, he's under a cloud of crap.

- Hey, you excited?

- Yeah.

- I'm so proud of you.

- Thank you.

Who is the lead counsel

for the Jeffers family?

- I am, Your Honor.

- And who is the lead for Mr. Anderson?

I am, Your Honor.

Rick... Rick Reynolds with Stacy,

Vertell, Anderson and Beighan,

- on behalf of Elliott Anderson.

- OK.

And I assume this is

Ms. Jeffers, your sister?

Yes, Your Honor.

Pleased to meet you.

OK. Um, I have your brief for parental

custody on behalf of Ms. Jeffers

and I want you to know up front,

I think it's a bit of an overreach.

Why aren't you asking

for shared custody?

Well, Your Honor,

we feel that the child's environment

is not conducive to her growing up

with a strong sense of self-esteem.

We feel that she is in need of much more

support, community and history

than she's currently getting

living with her grandfather.

Well, unless you're gonna be making

some pretty serious claims

about her grandfather,

who she's lived with her whole life,

that you don't seem to be making here,

I don't think we have enough

to warrant a hearing on full custody.

I mean, not when we're talking

one grandparent to another, right?

Uh... OK, anything else, Mr. Reynolds?

Anything other than your briefs?

Yes, only Your Honor, if I can quickly

tell you that Mr. Anderson and his wife

went through a life-altering tragedy

when their 17-year-old daughter,

completely unbeknownst to them,

became pregnant

by Mr. Reginald Davis, Jr.,

who at the time was 23 years old.

The pregnancy was hidden

from them by their daughter

for the first several months,

and then she was gone from them

for the last several weeks,

hiding away at a friend's in shame.

When she had the child,

the Andersons were not informed,

and as such, were not at the hospital

when their daughter died,

in a case of indirect maternal death

that they felt would've been preventable

had they been present during the labor.

Your Honor,

as horrible as this may be,

it has no bearing on the custody

of the child at this time.

Actually, it does, Your Honor,

because it speaks loudly to the roots

of Mr. Davis' track record as a father,

starting from the night she was born.

Your Honor, our petition

has nothing to do with Reggie Davis.

It's on behalf of his family.

His mother.

His mother has nothing to do with him?

Not at this time, Your Honor, no.

My boy is in pain, Your Honor.

He's a good boy.

He's lost. He's trying.

But he isn't the issue.

The issue is this man doesn't want

our family in our baby girl's life,

and we just need to be.

Now she has to be living with us.

That's all there is to it.

Also, Your Honor, sad to have to say,

he's got himself a drinking problem

that needs to be looked into.

Just as a side note, your people

got some work on their hands

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