Everyday Black Man Page #3

And l take it you've had the time

to think about my proposal?

l've been thinking.

But you have reservations.

Around here

everybody knows everybody.

We don't take candy from strangers.

What about me

not being a stranger?

We don't know who you are.

Who are you?

Okay. Fair enough.

l'm somebody who's working

in the community just like yourself.

Let me show you something.

Take the lead.

So, we have where A equals

the length of the first side--

See, Brother Moses, in the past,

the tutoring program

was only offered to the Muslims.

But now we offer it to everybody

in the neighborhood.

That's nice. l like that.

That's decent of you.

Thank you, brother.

Leroy Monroe.

And his whole gang, too.

Of course, he's Brother Abdul

around here now.

His rival's here, too.

Slim boy?

Brother Mahoud.

Actually, Brother Abdul recruited him.

No wonder

nobody's seen them around.

l thought they finally

put his ass in for life.

They tried to, but Allah

gave him a second chance.

Allah know the boy kills?

He's a killer.

Allah knows he was a bad man.

Now he's a good man of faith.

Just like all the brothers

around here.

Let me show you one more thing,

Brother Moses.

All right.

You won't be sorry, brother.

l'm telling you.

l can see you're very ambitious,

but looks like you're making it work.

What's this?

Planning another expansion, brother?

Not expand -- reinvent.

Reinvention! You so full of it!

Oh, hear me out.

-Hear me out.

-Go.

Under this plan,

the mosque will serve

as the center for this neighborhood,

offering benefits and services

to everybody.

Just doing all that

seems like you put your money

in the plan, not in my store.

l fully intend to.

l fully intend to,

but for now, any plans of--

of growth, or expansion, as you say,

Minister Khan

has to make those decisions.

And he's not yet ready

to implement thts plan.

But still my faith says

l have to serve you.

And if l can help you

with your store--

Then Minister Khan

can see the rewards

and give you a shot at the mosque.

That's impressive.

So will your store be. . .

if you and l work together.

Yes.

Come on.

l'm coming.

l'm here, l'm here, l'm here.

You made me a happy man.

You?

This is cool.

Do you mind if l. . .?

No, take your time. Have a go.

Way cool.

And l-l can assure you

that you will not be sorry,

Brother Moses.

Yeah.

Brother Malik.

Yep.

-ls everything all right?

-Everything's cool, brother.

Uh, no, everything ain't.

l hate to mess with y'all,

but, first off, um,

the finished side has got to be

up front, like that.

-Okay?

-Okay.

You got to hurry up,

though, brother.

You got to start it out straight.

The products for the bakery are here.

The sooner we get this started,

the sooner we start making money.

Exactly.

Oh, cool.

Well, hello.

Hey.

Good morning, Sister Claire.

Morning, Moses.

Hi, Claire.

So, you're going to be

working here now, huh?

Yeah, Brother Moses and l decided

to become business partners.

-And Brother Yusef, too.

-Good.

-What?

-Nothing.

You just didn't mention it,

that's all.

You haven't been here.

l haven't seen you.

Yeah, l've been real busy

with school.

Good.

You teach, sis?

No, l'm just a--

l'm a teacher's assistant.

And a damn good one at that.

-Almost there.

-Yeah, well, it's true.

l'm, uh, over at New Horizons.

Well, you know the mosque

is starting a school pretty soon.

Tutoring is not the same

as running the school.

No, l said ''pretty soon''.

That's why l said that.

Oh.

Yeah, maybe you should think

about applying for a job.

l'm still in school right now,

but thank you.

Okay, well, you can be

an assistant at the mosque

just as easily as you can be

at the school.

Claire's fine where she's at, man.

But that's

a white person's institution,

so she can't really grow there.

New Horizons is practically

an all-black school, though.

Yeah, but the foundation is white.

The money is --

it's run by white people.

That's why New Horizons got some

of the weakest numbers in the city.

Right?

See, white people, they're not really

interested in educating our people,

so, we're going to have to build

our own schools

if we're trying to get

a stronger community.

Claire will find her way.

Okay. l'm sure she will.

-lt's good to see you.

-Claire.

Claire?

l have some things in the back here

for your grandma.

You want to come and get them?

l think it's really good

that you're working with Malik.

Oh, you think so?

Yeah.

Why do you say it like that?

Well, you know what l see?

Young man moving real fast

trying to get over.

Now, l'm not hating on him for it,

but that's what l see.

Well, even if he is,

l think it's working for him.

Yeah, maybe.

l don't know, Moses.

l think he's different.

What?

Well, just, he moves fast,

so go a little slow.

What's that supposed to mean?

Don't get too close too soon.

What makes you think

he even wants to get close?

Good question.

l've never seen this picture before.

You never come back here.

When did you get it?

Oh, you know,

me and your grandmother --

We go way back.

Yeah, l know, but--

l think this was taken

before we moved here.

You sure were cute back then.

Yeah, well, l was a baby.

Well, all babies

are not so beautiful.

ln fact, some of them

are down right ugly.

Little crumb snatchers.

l always thought you knew

my grandmother from here.

So, l guess you knew

my mama, too, then?

[ Crashing ]

Damn!

That's what l get

for not paying attention.

That's okay.

Where's the mop?

l knew her a little.

Wh-- what-- what happened?

Nothing.

Sonny, can you bring a mop in?

lt's just an old picture.

l didn't even realize l had it.

You can keep it if you want.

No, it's okay.

l was just surprised, is all.

You and grandmother

never talk about anything

but life here in Oakland.

Well, life didn't seem like much

until l came here.

Yeah.

You know, my grandma always says

that her life became special

when l came into the world.

Well, maybe she's right.

Maybe.

Sonny, can you--?

Can you carry this box out

to the car for Claire?

Oh, no, Moses.

That's too much food.

Grandma isn't even back

from the hospital yet,

and l can't eat all that.

Well, she's going to come back,

and you guys have to eat, so. . .

l don't want you starving.

Eat, drink, be merry.

Go, go, go.

Okay.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

-Thank you, Sonny.

-You're welcome.

He's late.

-YUSEF:
He'll be here.

-He better be.

He want to do business with us,

he's going to be here.

He wants to show us who's boss.

Fat f***.

-There you go, right there.

-About damn time.

Brother Malik, my main man.

Darcy, my main man.

Yeah.

-You're late.

-What? You gotta be kidding.

l'm on time as usual, motherf***er!

We ready to roll?

We gettin' there.

l'm going to need

about another week or two.

Another week?

N*gger, l thought we was good to go.

l got people expecting things

to move, man.

You're going to end up

costing me money!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes