[spacey music playing]
♪ ♪
- Shit. Um...hey, all,
I don't have a bottle opener. I thought I did.
- Damn. You got a lighter?
- I-I do somewhere, maybe, but it's in one of these boxes,
and that's gonna be a whole thing.
- Yeah. No, it's cool.
Well, this place is nice.
- It just feels very divorcey in here.
- That's because I got a divorce.
- No, no, no, no.
It feels like I got the divorce.
Like, when I walked in, it got on me,
like it's in me. - Yogi, no. Come on.
It's gonna be fine, you know? Clean slate.
You know, to be honest,
Emily didn't have a great design sense.
She's a nice girl, but, you know,
there were so many fucking pillows.
- Okay, let's slow down there, new money.
I mean, like, you just leveled up
from having six roommates.
- Bro, I'm just trying to give you a win.
It would take a lot more than an emotional affair
to get me to leave the West Village.
- Oh, God, I'm gonna miss that location.
- I told him to stay with her. Nobody listens to Yogi.
- Okay, Well, thanks for your support, guys, uh...
[cell phone ringing]
Hey, do y'all wanna watch a movie or something?
[cell phone continues ringing]
- Yo, what's up?
- Hey, bro, you get your ticket to Michigan yet?
- Uh, mm, you know,
I-I don't think I can go.
- What are you busy with? - [clicks tongue]
[exhales] Okay. I don't want to go.
- Are you serious? It's their 35th anniversary.
- Yeah, and I love them, but if I go,
it's gonna be nonstop questions about my divorce,
and I cannot be in that environment right now.
The judgment, the shame-- I can't--I can't do it.
I'm out. I'm out.
- Marcus, Mom and Dad got other shit going on.
They ain't worried about you.
Okay, Mom is worried about you,
but she's always been that way.
I'm bringing Keiko, if that helps.
- How does that help me?
- You just better be in Michigan next month.
They'll never forgive you if you miss it.
- [whispering] This place is fucking dark.
- [whispering] Yeah. As fuck.
- Hey!
- That's my good side? - Uh-huh.
- Okay, get one where I'm laughing
and lost in the moment.
[laughing loudly]
- Can you look at the road, please?
- Can you shut the fuck up and let me get my shine on?
[phone vibrating] - Tom Gilbert is calling again.
- His bitch ass can't manage by his self for one day, baby.
- Okay. I'm gonna reject it.
- No, no, no. I got it. I got it.
Yes.
Hi again, Tom.
It's an irrevocable trust.
She can't just change the beneficiary.
Okay. Bye-bye.
Back to the business. [both giggle]
Hold up. Diagonal.
Make sure you catch my ear lobe.
- Oh, honey, your skin is looking a little dry.
- What you trying to say? I'm ashy?
- No, but did you use the lotion that I made for you?
- I can't just use strange lotions, boo.
- Well, you gotta use something.
[Marcus chuckles]
- Oh, shit. Destiny Mathis left a comment.
- Who?
- Destiny Mathis from high school?
I used to tutor her in geometry.
- Oh, my God. Destiny.
I used to call her Eternity, remember?
- Yeah, I remember she didn't like it.
- Well, she should be mad at her parents, not me.
- ♪ Groove ♪
♪ And an atmosphere ♪
♪ That's sure to please you ♪
♪ Ooh, baby ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I gotta get you home with me tonight ♪
♪ ♪
- They're here! [laughing]
Hey! - [laughs]
[both squealing]
narrator: For the first time in nearly seven years,
Marcus was going home without Emily
and he was bracing himself
for the inevitable "I told you so's."
When his parents had rejected Emily,
they had rejected him as well.
And as a result, he felt like an outsider in his own family.
- Oh!
Oh, Benz look good on you, kid.
- You know how I do. [laughter]
Well, Mom and Dad, this is my girlfriend, Keiko.
- Ida has told me so much about you.
I'm so excited to finally meet you.
- Keiko, pleasure to meet you.
I'm glad you could make it down.
- Yes. We've been looking forward to meeting you.
Ida doesn't bring too many girls--
- Mom. - Oh.
- [gasps]
Get over here, my baby.
- Hey, Mom. - Oh, my goodness.
- Hey! [laughs] - Hey!
- Good to see you.
So what's going on with your hair?
Is this one of those Brooklyn haircuts
where they don't do nothing,
but they still charge you a hundred dollars?
- It is. - Well, I like it.
It's natural. - Thanks, Mom.
Happy anniversary.
- Happy anniversary. - Happy anniversary.
Speaking of anniversaries,
this is to thank you for inviting me
to celebrate with you.
- Oh, thank you. [inhales]
Fancy soap. - Handcrafted by me.
- That's real cute, babe. - Kirby.
You and Marcus get the luggage out, okay?
- Yes. - Okay.
And you and Keiko come with me.
- Ida, your Benz unlocked? - Sorry.
[car chirps]
- Uh...you do know it's a rental, right?
- Still impressive.
[laughter]
- Keiko, those soaps! Really, really love them.
You know, you should sell them. - Thank you.
I mean, it's more of a hobby,
but I've been thinking about starting an Etsy business.
- That is such a great idea.
- Mm-mm, don't pump her up like that.
She already have enough of her homemade stuff
in my apartment already.
Essential oils, twine, damn candle wax.
- Okay. - Mm-mm.
- Well, maybe if I sold some of it, you wouldn't have so much.
- Well, she got a point.
- Well, if you like it, I love it.
- And you, did you get everything squared away
with that Emily situation?
- My divorce?
Yeah. I just let her keep whatever she wanted.
I mean, she bought most of it anyway.
- Well, I hope you've taken her off all the accounts.
The credit's where they get you.
- Kirby, Marcus is an adult.
He knows how to handle his affairs.
- You wouldn't know it by looking at that hairline.
- [chuckles]
[cell phone buzzing]
- No, no, no, I wanna help. - I can't wait for dessert.
[laughter]
[both murmuring indistinctly]
- You are so lucky, you know that?
- Happy anniversary to me!
[mellow R&B playing]
[indistinct chatter, laughter]
♪ ♪
- ♪ I almost blew my mind ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Trying to make ♪
♪ You love me...♪
- Hey, I think I'm gonna head into town for a little bit.
- But you just got home. - I know.
I just wanted to unwind.
- Okay, honey, go ahead. Have fun. Be safe.
- Thanks, Mom.
Ida, keys?
- Where you gotta go?
- Just out.
- You meeting up with Destiny. Desperate ass.
- Destiny who?
- Uh, Destiny Mathis.
She's a friend of mine from high school.
It's the girl I used to tutor.
- Destiny. Oh, she was a sweet little thing.
And she had a cute little figure too.
- Mom. - What?
Okay. Give her a hug for me.
- I will.
Keys? - They're on the stand.
But if you scratch it, I'ma beat your ass.
- Okay.
narrator: Marcus never felt more like a New Yorker
than when he was in Michigan.
While his parents were making him feel
like a shell of his former self at home,
out in the world,
he embodied all of the swagger of a superior coastal elite.
- Hey. - Hey.
- Can I get a Bulleit, rocks?
- Oh, a top-shelf man.
[funky rock music playing]
♪ ♪
- What's up, smart guy?
[both chuckle]
- I can't believe you still call me "smart guy."
- What? I love that nickname.
♪ He's a smart guy ♪
- Ah!
That theme song ruined my life.
- Uh-uh; look, you were a whole year younger than me,
teaching me geometry and chemistry.
I needed to even the playing field.
My ass was getting roasted.
- Well, I mean, if it makes you feel any better,
I always looked forward to our sessions.
- Oh!
[stiffly] Well, I always looked forward
to our sessions, too, Marcus.
- All right. All right. - [laughs]
- I don't remember you being this cute
in high school though.
- Yeah, you either.
I'm kidding. I'm kidding. - I know you are,
'cause I was the shit in high school, okay?
- Yeah. You still dated some bums though.
- A habit I am still trying to break.
♪ ♪
So how long are you in town?
[Marcus and Destiny moaning]
[Destiny laughs]
- I was not expecting that.
- I'm glad you messaged me. I really needed that tonight.
- Oh, me too.
- Okay.
Well, I'll call my Uber.
- You didn't drive?
- No, I got a boot on my car.
Long story. - Do you want a ride?
- No. It says it's like a minute away.
So...am I gonna see you again?
- Yeah. I-I'm just hanging with my folks, but,
yeah, I'll hit you up.
- Better.
[cell phone buzzes] It's here.
- All right. - Mm-hmm.
- [small laugh]
narrator: After a brief sex-induced moment of clarity
with Destiny, Marcus felt like a fraud.
He had presented himself to her
as the same studious, good-humored Marcus,
not the recently divorced
and demoralized hot mess with no furniture
that he actually was.
Though he felt extremely guilty,
he would not call her.
His plan was to simply slink back to Brooklyn
and hope that she wouldn't one day curse him out.
-...crashing Maria's car. Let's go to the core drill.
- Pushed out of bounds, and the Pittsburgh...
- Oh, come on!
- A big game and 24 yards on that run.
Paul's gotten blocking from the blue line,
especially from Slater.
- Uncle Jovan.
- What it do, nephew?
Want some juice?
- No. No, I'm good.
Aren't you early?
- Your mother said it was a all-day event.
I'm here all day.
- And the snap. Dixon fades back.
- Oh, come on!
[scoffs]
Give me a hug. - Oh, hey.
All right. All right. Good to see you.
- [chuckling]
I heard you split
with that bad little white girl you was with.
- Yeah. Yeah, we split up.
- My boy Duane got a divorce couple months back.
Tried to kill himself.
- Thanks, Uncle.
[cell phone buzzing]
-...three touchdowns and no interceptions.
And Holey's been on fire. Holey has four interceptions
on the year, guys, and only been sacked eight times.
- Their outside lineman is huge
on the Pittsburgh team.
And the center of the field...
[announcer continues indistinctly]
- [groaning] Mom.
Mom, why did you invite Destiny to the party this afternoon?
I told you I didn't wanna bring anyone.
- Okay. I know that.
But I remembered that we used to go to church
with that family.
So I called the mother, we started talking,
and she told me that Destiny was single.
- Oh, Jesus, Mom. Oh, my God. - What?
I'm surprised you didn't ask her yourself
after seeing her last night.
- Well, I--I just-- I didn't want to invite her
and now it's gonna be awkward.
- Well, it doesn't have to be.
- Mom.
- [murmuring] Come. Come on, you. Go on.
- Hey. Glad you're finally up.
Go make yourself decent and then go to the basement
and bring up those extra chairs.
- Okay, but--
[cellophane crinkling]
- Yo, you not trying to sell that stuff
to my family today, huh?
- No. I made them as gifts.
- Gifts or samples?
- Gifts.
I mean, if someone was interested, may...
- [scoffs]
- What?
[spacey music playing]
♪ ♪
narrator: As Marcus stared down
the barrel of his adolescence,
he began to assess his life one box at a time.
- "Mark Twain uses the N-word over 200 times
"in 'Huckleberry Finn.'
I think that is way too many times."
narrator: Why did he move to New York?
What was it he was fleeing?
And why did he marry Emily,
only to neglect and eventually divorce her?
Had he ever loved her? Could he love anyone?
- Marcus, I asked for those chairs over a hour ago.
- All right. Yeah. Sorry.
Sorry. I just got caught up.
- And that Destiny girl is here.
[door closes]
[upbeat music playing]
♪ ♪
- Hey.
- I didn't know if guests should bring things,
so I brought pie.
- Oh, that's great. I love pie.
So, yeah, just...
- I just forgot the sticker. So...
- Oh, no, it's fine. No, it's very nice of you.
Welcome. [laughs]
- Ooh! - Hi.
Oh, I'm so glad you're here. It's so nice to see you again.
- Oh, thank you, Ms. Donna.
Thank you for having me. You look amazing.
- Oh, thank you.
Ah, I told you to bring nothing but yourself
and you bought a pie.
How thoughtful.
Why don't you put it on the table over there, okay?
Oh, she looks good.
- Mom, don't. Please. - Don't be dramatic.
- Ooh, you invited Destiny. - I didn't invite her. Mom did.
- I don't see what the problem is.
You brought Keiko.
- 'Cause Keiko is my girlfriend.
That's a very big difference, Mommy.
[indistinct conversation]
Fuck. Fuck.
- Do not make her feel unwelcome.
- I don't even-- - Mm-mm-mm.
- [groans
- I see you reeled in a bad one, Nephew.
Big dogs gotta eat. [chuckling]
♪ ♪
- So. - So. Ha.
- She loves my soaps.
She wants to buy all of them.
Can you believe it? My first order.
- No, Natasha is on a fixed income and she broke.
I was surprised she didn't try to hustle you first.
- That's so fucked up! My gift.
Somebody put it in the trash.
- This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.
I brought you here so you could spend time with me
and my family,
not try to get your line off the ground.
- Cool, great.
[soap thunks]
- [whispers] Damn.
- Boom.
I got a plug on a contractor too.
Cuts me a deal. - Dang, man.
I mean, like, my mom told me you were in real estate,
but I didn't know you had it like that.
- You kind of inspired me, to be honest.
- Damn, for real?
- Fuck, no, man. I was just trying to get paid.
- Wow! - Uh...
I'm Destiny, by the way.
- Oh, snap. Sorry.
Vince, this is Destiny.
Destiny, this is my cousin Vince.
- Hi.
- I'ma leave y'all to-- - Oh, no, no, no. Stay, man.
No. We cool. - You sure?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- So I see you finally got some style in New York.
- Oh, come on, man, I always could dress.
- No, no, no, no, no, man.
Remember, I told you to stop wearing
them dumb-ass leather trench coats.
- Oh, that was for, like, one week.
- Was not. You're lying.
- All right, I'm out. - Wait.
Hang on a second. Wait, wait.
Wait, you're leaving?
- I've been here for, like, two hours.
You said, like, two words to me.
- Right. Um...
but can I--can I at least give you a ride home?
My mom would kill me
if she saw you out there waiting for a car.
- Whatever.
- Look, if it means anything to you,
I really am sorry about today.
- Don't trip.
I'm over it.
- Cool.
[bounce music playing] - Hey, hey, hey, hey!
What ya got, Tasha? Whoo, whoo!
Come on, now!
♪ ♪
- ♪ Get in there! Yeah, yeah ♪
♪ Get in there! ♪
- So... [exhales]
See you in another ten years? - Ha. If you lucky.
[cell phone buzzes]
[brakes screech] - Who is that?
- You gotta go. You gotta--you gotta go now.
- Go? Go-- - You gotta go.
- Where? Why? What's going on?
- Hell, nah! - What's happening?
- Hell, nah!
- Hey, are you dumb? Go somewhere.
- I can't. He's got me pinned.
- Darnell, what are you doing here?
Oh, shit.
Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh-uh.
- Fuck that. - No!
- Lord, Jesus.
[cheers and applause] - Thank you.
[ahem]
Welcome, family and friends.
- Who the fuck is this motherfucker?
- He is nobody, D.
He's a friend from high school. He's harmless.
- To put it plainly...
I couldn't be a luckier man.
Donna, who would've thought that the first time we met
at that musty-ass Detroit disco
that we'd end up married...
both tenured professors at the same university...
And yes, she is the smarter one.
[laughter] - That's right.
- Could you just stop? - We take a week off,
and now you fucking with dark-skin Don Lemon.
Get the-- - Stop!
- Get out the fucking car.
- And look at this beautiful family we have built together.
Ida, I can't even begin to express what I've learned
from you over the years.
Your courage and willingness to be authentic
in every situation has made me a better man.
- Wait a minute. No.
But when you go to Six Flags with your baby mama
and I'm upset, then I'm being extra?
- Is that what you want right now?
You know that's different. - No, it's not, D.
I said, "Let's take TJ to Six Flags."
And then you go with her.
- That's his mother. - What am I?
Some bitch he see now and then?
- Don't talk like that. - Uh-uh.
Why can't I be something to him too?
Why am I not good enough?
- Is that what this is about?
- And to my son Marcus.
Uh, where are you, Marcus?
- Where is he?
- You know that boy think the world of you.
- Shut the fuck up, Darnell. - Yo, I'm serious, girl.
Just the other day, I tried taking the bikes out.
You know what this boy said to me?
- What'd he say?
- He said, "I ain't biking without Dez.
I want Dez."
I wasn't trying to be disrespectful
with that Six Flag shit.
All this boy do is watch me and Bianka fight.
I just wanted to have some moments to look back on
when we felt like a family.
I'm sorry. I shoulda talked to you first.
- No. No. Maybe... [quietly] I overreacted.
- ♪ This day ♪
♪ This day ♪ - Missed you, sweetie.
- I missed you too, boo. - You missed me?
- Yeah. I love you.
- ♪ This day ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Yeah...♪
♪ ♪
- [exhales]
- Where did you disappear to?
You need to go upstairs and apologize to your father.
He gave a beautiful speech. - Oh, my God.
[laughing] Are you fucking kidding me with this?
- Excuse me?
- Mom, I missed Dad's speech
because I was taking home the girl you invited.
- She's a nice girl. I was just trying to help.
- Ha. Oh, my God.
Mom, why are you so desperate to see me with somebody new?
I was with Emily for like seven years,
and it's like that was nothing, like it didn't even count.
- No, that is not true. - Mom, you literally said,
"Do not cut off all your options just yet"
the second I proposed.
- I just never thought she was right for you.
- I know you didn't,
but what does it matter what you think?
It's my life.
You're pushing me to just get over it all.
"Ah, you're a free man. You deserve a fresh start."
- You do. - She is not disposable.
She was my wife.
And it ended because of something I did.
- I didn't know that. - Now you know.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe, um...
I just wanted everyone to back off
so I could do my own thing.
But, Mom, I hurt her and I hurt myself
and it is a big old fucking mess.
- I'm sorry, baby.
Can I show you something?
- Yeah. [both chuckle]
- Come here. Sit down.
[hopeful music playing]
- And to my son, Marcus. Where are you, Marcus?
Jovan, my son is MIA. You getting this?
- [laughing]
- To Marcus, who has the biggest heart
of anyone I know.
We all go through a tough season every now and then,
but just remember that life is an annealing process.
If there's no pain, then you're just sleepwalking.
You've had your knocks,
but only because you have taken some swings, son.
We love you, and we are there for you.
♪ ♪
- Thanks, Mom.
- I'm sorry about the Benz.
- You may enter.
Mm.
You're so dramatic.
[chuckles]
[mellow funk playing in background]
♪ ♪
- Man, Keiko made some good soaps.
- Yeah, I know. Take 'em home.
Take 'em all.
- Ah, shit. Is it over?
- [exhales]
100%.
You know, these young bisexual girls with these dreams,
they just keep sucking me in.
But she was--she was so cute.
[both chuckle]
- Yeah, it was really sweet to see Mom and Dad celebrate
their long haul, you know?
And sometimes I forget that they're actual people
who love each other,
flaws and all.
- This weed is for chilling purposes, okay?
Not for your poetic ruminations.
- Yeah, you right. You right.
Yeah, it'd be nice to have what they have, though.
♪ ♪
- Yeah, it would be.
- ♪ Girl, it's all because of you ♪
♪ ♪
♪ You've got me trippin' out ♪
♪ Trippin' out over you, babe ♪
♪ Over you, little mama ♪
♪ I'm tripping out ♪
♪ Trippin' out ♪
♪ Over you, come on ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Come on ♪
♪ It's a good feeling ♪
♪ Baby dear, come on ♪
♪ ♪
♪ All over you ♪