[screaming, grunting]
Geez. Jesus.
I... I... I have to see Lady Sarah Billings.
[assistant on TV] Well, she's having her treatment now. May I take a message?
Security.
[Doolittle] Phew. Jesus. No wonder they call it toilet water.
[guard] Ma'am. Ma'am, you can't go in there.
- [Doolittle] What's your name? - [guard] Earl.
[Doolittle] Earl. You look like a smart guy, Earl.
- You see this face? - [phone buzzing]
This is the face of a woman on the edge, Earl. A--
[buzzing continues]
Uh... Hello.
[Shapiro] What's up, Syd?
Hey, how's it going?
Sorry, are you busy? I can call later.
Um...
No, now's good. What's up?
Hey, I'm in the new spot.
Amazing, amazing. Amazing.
Yeah, you wanna come by?
Oh, now? Um... [stutters] Sure.
I would, but I have...
I have a hair appointment in an hour, so, uh... [groans, chuckles]
You wanna swing by after? You gotta check the place out, Syd.
No, no, I know, but I have a hair appointment.
Great. So I'll see you in, what, two hours? I'll set everything up.
No, no, no, no. Um...
No. Not two hours. No.
More than two hours?
Are you getting your hair dyed or something?
Uh... [stutters]
You know what... [grunts] Let me see...
[huffs] Uh, can you text me, maybe?
Text me, and then I'll see if I can make it.
I'll try to make it before. Maybe I can push the appointment or something.
Great.
Okay, cool, thanks.
All right, bye.
Do you want to work here, or do you want to live?
[Earl] I quit. I quit.
Syd! Hey.
[♪ R & B music playing on speakers]
You almost missed us.
- Hi. - Hey.
Come on in.
- Can you believe this? - Wow.
- Sorry, is this, uh, too loud? - Uh... Oh, no. It's--
Do you know this guy? It's East Coast shit, but it's a classic.
And the point is I want you to play what you want. Or nothing.
Yeah. [stammers] This is... This is crazy.
Yeah. Let me walk you around. Play something.
- Okay. - Like, take the reins.
Ignore all this. This is not gonna be here.
[songs stops]
This is not gonna be here.
[♪ "Für Elise" playing on speakers]
[Shapiro] Ooh.
Oh, okay. Yeah, vibes.
[whispers] Fuck.
[Shapiro] A little Mozart.
- Beethoven. - Nice.
So obviously this is just the bones,
but I want the kitchen to be as open and as efficient as possible.
I know The Bear's closed off right now, right?
- Yeah. - Well, listen, there is no right way.
I just feel like when the whole team feels seen
and they're a part of the dining room and the ambience
and they're engaging with the clientele,
they cook better and work cleaner and yell a lot less.
Yeah, it's really true.
[stutters] Um... Is this gonna be for the hearth?
Epic, right? Getting the coding right now.
Imagine this: pizzas, a whole fish, right?
I know we haven't jammed on the menu yet, but come on,
bring in some of those Afro-Caribbean influences?
Yeah, for sure.
Oh, and I talked to the architect, and he's thinking
about putting in these secret little storage compartments
for the chefs and the servers.
- That's actually really cute. - Oh, gee. Thanks.
- That's not what I meant. - I'm kidding, Syd.
But also I'm not, because I'm thinking about
all of the things that you're probably thinking about all the time too.
Because I want to build something that does something about it, right?
And that all starts here.
Here?
This is gonna be the office, right?
Because everything we do outside of service is gonna be just as important.
Right, so I've been working on a budget
to create a comprehensive health-care program.
Oh, that's... that's ambitious.
I mean, it's amazing, obviously, but it's just a little--
No, no, I know, I know, but I think we can do it,
you know, and that's just the start.
We're never gonna have HR in this business as long as we're alive, right?
But why can't there be some sort of learning and development program?
Like training?
Yeah, exactly, but not just developing the restaurant
but the human beings that work here.
Um, I actually... I had this idea...
[clicks tongue] Um...
And we did it. We sent our pastry chef to Copenhagen.
- Yeah. Yeah. - And it was great.
He came back, like... I mean, just changed, like, kind of supercharged.
- I'm sure. - [stutters]
And it was... I don't know... Something like that,
but with actual support and not just... I don't know...
I mean, that is exactly what I'm trying to say.
- You know? Um... - Yeah. Yeah.
I wanna think outside the box.
Like how this place is, and feels, and who we hire too.
And I don't wanna be the only one steering the ship.
And certainly don't wanna be one of those guys that hires a woman
and then everybody else in the kitchen is just guys that look like me, right?
- Unless that's what you want. - No, that is not what I want.
Great. Okay, then it's not gonna be.
Listen, we got the money, we got the space. Let's build this thing.
[hairdresser] So all this time we thought Darnell was a bum.
- [Sydney] 'Cause he is a bum. - And was.
- His name is Darnell. That's a bum name. - But girl. Girl. Girl.
- Never met a good man named Darnell. - He had money.
- He had a second family in Texas. Texas! - What? What's in Texas?
Girl, Darnell's second family. Girl, keep up.
TJ!
- So, Mary flew her ass to Texas. - No.
Mary found this man at a baby's first communion.
- What? - His baby.
His second family baby first communion.
Wait. Wait, isn't that called a christening?
- Hold on. - [phone buzzing]
Hello.
[♪ R & B music playing on speakers]
Yes, this is she.
Oh, thank you.
[stammers] I am so happy she recommended me.
However, this is my only day off, and I encourage you to call and schedule
with the shop instead of calling me directly.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Okay, thank you. Have a beautiful day.
Rude ass.
Thank you so much for doing my hair today. I love you very much.
Mm-hmm.
TJ, if you don't come and bring me this hair...
[TJ in distance] There ain't none! Damn.
[♪ R & B music playing]
I know she didn't just talk to me like that.
I swear to God, if I come up there and find this hair,
I'm gonna break that damn iPad.
I'm gonna kill Christian.
Your father should have never bought you that damn thing.
And you know what? You're only supposed to be using it for math.
But have you even opened the calculator app?
And you better be lucky Syd here 'cause if she wasn't...
You know what? Don't even get me started.
[in distance] When I was your age, I listened to my mother.
I respected my mother.
I helped my mother, but I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm happy.
I'm happy that I have a rude-ass daughter.
Good for me!
Wait till I tell your father. Not like he's gonna do anything about it.
[stutters] Everything cool?
What?
- You good or? - Oh.
Yeah, girl. She was right. Ain't no hair left.
So I'm gonna clip this up,
and go pick some more up from the store.
- Wait, now? - Mm-hmm.
Do me a favor? Watch TJ for me.
Girl, she 11, she ain't gonna do shit but be on the iPad anyway.
Fit check.
Okay. Be back in a sec.
- Okay. Bye. - Bye.
[video game beeping]
- What are you doing? - Huh?
I could hear you coming up the stairs. You walk heavy.
[chuckles]
Yeah, I've never heard that one before, so...
But I was just... Your mom left, so, I was saying hey.
Hey.
How are you? How's, like, school?
- Pretty good. - Yeah, okay, fifth grade, right?
- Yeah. - Bet you're...
Bet you're learning geography, huh?
Not really.
No? Okay. That's not good.
You should... You should know where stuff is.
[video game beeping]
Yeah.
You watching anything, like, on TV?
I don't know, not really.
Okay, I get that.
[huffs]
[sucks teeth]
Anyway, um, cool. I guess I'll be downstairs.
Holler if you need me.
Wait.
I'm hungry.
You coming?
Yeah.
[whispers] Oh, my God.
Uh, okay. Uh, what are you in the mood for?
It doesn't matter. We don't have shit in here.
[stammers] I don't know about that word. Not a good word.
- My mom doesn't give a shit. - I think she does.
Damn. You don't have shit in here.
Yeah, 'cause my mom can't cook.
Well, I thought you'd at least have, like, Hamburger Helper.
What's that? It sounds nasty.
You serious?
Dead serious.
[Sydney] You excited about middle school next year?
[TJ] Yeah.
Yeah? Going to the same school as any of your friends?
My mom wants me to go to this charter school,
- but all my friends are going to Holmes. - All of them?
Yep.
You know, that charter school's a good school.
I got a friend that teaches there.
And I think... I don't know, your mom just wants you to have a good future.
I'm gonna have so much homework, and I'm gonna have to wear uniform.
And Holmes has fries every Friday.
I do think if you had fries every Friday, you'd get sick of 'em.
I love fries.
Well, going to different schools doesn't mean you can't stay friends.
They're already having a sleepover tonight.
Without you?
They only invited me because I walked up to them talking about it,
and they felt bad.
That's... That sucks.
You gonna go?
I don't know.
I get it.
I mean, real friends don't treat you like that, you know.
Really?
Well, not... not necessarily.
I mean, you know, I think, actually, sometimes your real friends can be, like,
really, really cruel to you, like...
Or mean just because sometimes we are mean to the people
that we care about the most, like,
we take 'em for granted or we neglect them
or miscommunicate or just can be not nice,
you know, like...
like, that's how we can treat people sometimes
when we actually care about them.
It's, like, awfully, actually, you know, or... [stammers] I don't know.
I guess.
I'm sorry.
- Can we get these? - No way. They're so bad for you.
I thought you liked them.
How you remember that?
I remember one day you were over when I was little,
and you ate so many your teeth hurt.
Yeah, well, that's why I stopped eating them.
[sighs]
Hey, you know, I'm glad we're hanging out.
I'm sorry I really haven't seen you that much lately.
I've just been busy with work.
It's okay. My mom said you have to fix your credit,
so that's why you've been missing all the parties.
Okay, yeah?
Yeah, like last week it was Auntie Marsha's birthday party,
but you didn't miss anything.
She can't cook. And her house stink.
[chuckles]
Yeah, but did your mom say anything else about my credit?
Can we go now?
Um... No, actually. One more stop.
[Sydney] I do wanna say...
...I am sorry because I think I messed up earlier.
When we were just talking about the sleepover stuff, I think...
I think what I meant to say was that sometimes people can be clumsy
or say hurtful things even when they don't mean to,
myself included, so, sorry.
It's okay. I don't think I wanted to go anyway.
[sucks teeth] Oh.
Just, uh, 'cause of how it all went down?
Yeah, I just think it's complicated.
My mom says sometimes we go with people, sometimes we go without them.
Very smart.
This look interesting?
I don't know. I'm just hungry.
Mmm. [clicks tongue]
Well, I'm about to add some tomato paste to deepen the flavors
and make it taste basically like it did not come out of a box.
So, just like chili then, right?
Yeah, kinda, actually. Hmm.
You decided if you're gonna go to the sleepover, yet?
You wanna do me a favor? You mind grating that cheese for me?
How do I do this?
Grab it this way, right?
And take your grater.
And then just kind of go... down.
But watch your fingers.
Okay.
Yeah, that's great.
[inhales sharply, exhales]
You say you haven't talked to them since school, right?
You think maybe...
Might be nice to break the ice.
Or you could just talk to one of them instead of a group.
Maybe. What would you do?
Remember how you said it's kind of complicated?
[TJ chuckles]
[clicks tongue] Um, come over and help me. I wanna show you something.
All you're gonna do is stir
and just make sure everything is incorporated.
Yeah, perfect.
Actually, I was in kind of a similar situation
where I had to choose between two sleepovers.
That sounds like the complete opposite of my situation.
Okay, just listen, okay?
The first house, right, is like really special.
When things are good at the first house,
it's kind of like the best feeling in the world.
But it doesn't always feel like that.
Most of the time, low-key, high-key, it feels crazy.
[chuckles] It's like legitimately crazy and full of crazy people
and full of people who just show up sometimes,
and I don't know who they are, but apparently they're important.
And also, it's kind of like Auntie Marsha's house, like...
It's clean now.
It is actually very clean and very nice,
but there's just always like a faint hint of stink.
Okay.
And the second house. [clicks tongue]
The second house is pretty cool.
It is shiny and new and has unlimited pizza.
The dad there talks a lot, a lot a lot, but he cares.
And wants me to be happy, I think.
He's basically given me his credit card.
I can get as much pizza, I can get video games.
I can even invite whoever I want to stay there and sleep over with me.
So what's the issue?
Well, my friends at the first house
would be very hurt if I left.
So that's the one you picked, right?
Uh...
No, I actually haven't picked yet.
Can your friends from the first house go to the second one?
No. No, not... No.
It's not really how it works at houses like that.
And... [sighs] ...low-key, if I left, I...
I mean, that's just it, kind of forever.
My friends at the first house would be really unhappy.
Hmm...
Take the pizza house.
Uh...
Okay. But the first house--
- The stinky house. - It's not stinky. It's--
- It sounds stinky to me. - It's not. It's not stinky.
It's really nice. It's more like energetically musty.
Yeah. That house, when things are good at that house,
it is not like anywhere else.
It's... It's just almost kind of perfect. [chuckles]
I don't know, pizza house sounds perfect to me.
Well, it sounds perfect, but it's actually not even finished being built yet.
So we don't know, like, if it would actually end up being perfect.
- So these are both bad choices. - No, they're not bad choices.
They're just, like... They're the choices that are...
that are in front of us.
It's stinky special house
or shiny unfinished pizza house.
Isn't pizza special?
Yes, pizza is special.
But the first house, I didn't mention this,
has a big brother who is--
Oh. You got a crush.
No, no, I do not have a crush.
But the big brother there is like...
He's somebody who I look up to a lot because he is...
he's the best in the world at playing video games.
He's, straight up, like, one of the best in the world.
Like the fact that he wants me to be over at his house
playing video games with him is, like, low-key an honor, you know.
The only issue is that, um, he is kind of a lot and doesn't like to share.
And even though sometimes he'll be like, "Oh, play this video game with me,"
then if I do too well, he acts kind of weird and, like, funky with me.
And it's not always really clear or consistent, like,
when he wants to share and why he doesn't want to,
and like what's going on with his life
and the other people he, like, plays games with.
And also just friends outside of playing games.
Often that comes into the gameplay and the sleepover of it all,
and it's actually like a little bit inappropriate sometimes.
That sounds crazy.
Yeah, well, the house is crazy and full of crazy people.
But, like, also full of goodness and, like, purity and fun and promise.
- But no pizza. - Yes, I'm aware there's no pizza,
but there's, like, still goodness.
And I could fix or... I don't know if I could fix it,
but maybe it could be fixed.
It could be fixed, and I could... [inhales sharply]
It could just... Everything could make sense,
and it would be good and...
And honestly, it's like, "Do I even want pizza?"
Because there's a bed for me, you know. There's a bed for me at that place.
That's my bed, and it's not my house,
but there's a bed that I can sleep in there.
And there could be pizza, you know.
Like we could make it a place where there is pizza.
There could be Thai food if we wanted. There could be video games. And just...
And, like, goodness and chaos and peace and good food.
And, like, that's it, and it would be there
instead of me having to go to another house
and, like, start over all again.
[sighs]
But you just said it's not your house, so what if they don't let you fix it?
- That is a really good question. Um... - [snaps fingers]
Do you mind getting some cheese? And then we'll finish this up.
Great, okay.
[TJ] She didn't wanna give me the point, but then Shlee was like,
"TJ got it right."
And then Mrs. O was like, "Prove it."
So now I had to walk in front of the whole class
and solve the problem twice.
So then her face was all red
because she didn't wanna admit she got it wrong.
So then I was like... [scoffs] ..."Your face is red."
So then she sent me to the principal's office.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
You had to go to the principal's office for getting it right?
I know, right?
Yeah, um, that's a horrible story.
[phone buzzing]
It's Shlee.
[buzzing continues]
What are you gonna do?
Hey. Nothing much. Just hanging with my mom's cousin.
Oh, yeah, I'm about to feed Wanda.
[in distance] What time is everyone coming to your place?
Who else is coming?
[door opens]
[whispers] And I'm back.
Girl, I am so sorry.
- See, I knew I left that damn phone. - [Sydney sighs]
But tell me why I ran into Christian's ass at the store?
I said, "What the fuck you doing here?"
He said, "Girl, picking up extra shifts at the hair store."
And... [chuckles] ...I've been so mean to this man
'cause I thought he was going to the club.
Turn out, he's just been picking up them extra shifts
so he could take me on a birthday trip to Costa Rica.
Feliz cumpleaños, Chantel.
- [gasps] You cooked? - Yeah.
Let me see.
Mmm. That smell good.
- You go shopping? - Yeah, for you.
Bitch, what did you buy me at Adidas?
Don't worry about that. Go and make me a bowl.
Hot sauce too. Thank you.
- Chantel! - You fucked these up, girl.
- Child, stop. - I'm very happy. Thank you.
- They are perfect. - You know what?
What?
You need to try something new next time though.
Yeah, maybe.
For real, though, thank you.
- For what? - For watching TJ.
I mean, she's been having a hard time, you know. And...
[inhales sharply, sighs] All the school stuff is...
She told me a little bit about it. But she was great, really.
Really, really?
Really, really.
- Hmm? - Mm-hmm.
Okay, well...
She was almost kind of nice at one point.
Don't be no stranger then.
Come by The Bear.
That's in the north, right?
Yeah.
[Chantel] Uh...
[Sydney] What's up?
Like you ain't never commuted before in your life?
You know they beefs be different.
Stop, stop. I'm just an employee, okay?
Put some cheese on it.
I can't speak to The Beef, I won't speak to The Beef.
- Dip it, keep it wet. With the cheese. - Listen, I can't have these...
These people will come up here, and they'll be rioting.
But there is an actual restaurant there.
So you'd come to the restaurant
and eat there, have a nice little date night with Christian.
That's cute. "Thank you, Syd. What a nice idea."
- Okay? Okay. - Okay. Okay.
[stammers] Yeah, you...
Listen. We can do... I don't know, like in a few weeks,
let's get a drink or something.
Okay, yeah.
Yeah?
- What kind of night you trying to have? - I just wanna go out.
I see your little IG stories.
Okay, yeah. Okay, well, when I'ma hear from you? Like six months?
No. No.
Three Saturdays from now, I'm off.
So not... So not this next one, but two after that.
You don't even believe me. Text Mary. Text Mary. You have a witness.
- Wait. Oh, you trying to have a night? - Yeah, I am.
'Cause you know I wanna know the mess.
That's what I'm saying.
And you know if she coming...
- Girl. - ...then she gonna be...
- drunk, drunk. - Drunk, drunk.
[both laugh]
- So then hit her! - I'm going. I'll do it right now.
Do it. Bye, TJ.
[TJ] Bye, Syd.
Come out the bedroom and be polite.
- It's okay. - No, it's not.
That's not how she was raised.
- Now please, thank you. Right now. - [phone beeps]
Ooh. [chuckles]
- What? - Mary responded.
What's that... What's going on in the background?
Girl, she in Texas. [cackles]
You better act like you got some sense.
- [Sydney] Don't call her. - [Chantel laughing]
Crazy.
Bye, Syd.
Bye, TJ.
I think I'm gonna go tonight.
Oh, yeah?
I talked to Shlee, and I feel better.
Good, good. You feeling good about going?
[Chantel] And where are we going?
I believe to a sleepover tonight.
[Chantel] Oh. So we going to sleepovers now?
[inhales sharply] Ugh. Mom.
I don't remember giving you any kind of permission.
[groans]
Excuse me?
Is it Shlee's mama?
Okay, well, let me text and find out.
And you better fix them eyes before I cook 'em.
Goodbye.
[Chantel] Look at y'all being all buddy-buddy.
Let me get your stuff.
I think you should work wherever you want. Even if it's scary. You're a good cook.
And not just 'cause you're better than my mom.
[Chantel] Oh, I heard that.
- Huh. - No comment.
- And I can't help that. - [chuckles]
- And I even respect that. - [TJ] Okay.
So give me a break.
I need a break from that cooking.
- Excuse me? Excuse me? - [Sydney] Oh, no. Oh, no.
[Chantel] See what you did?
Listen, I didn't do anything
- that your potato salad hasn't done to me. - What store did you go to?
- I took... I took my... - Garbage salad. Garbage salad.
- Excuse me? - [Sydney] I gotta go.
Hey. I'ma text you.
[Chantel] You better. Three Saturdays, right?
- Three Saturdays. - [Chantel] I'm on you.
- Investigation. - Investigation!
And you.
If you think you're going to this sleepover, you better hurry up.
And you gotta eat my garbage salad.
- No. - Chicago staple. Bye. Hurry up.
[line ringing]
- [Shapiro] Hey, Syd? - Hey.
- How was the hair appointment? - Yeah. It went well, thank you.
- Have you seen Good Hair ? - Um...
No, I've not seen Good Hair before.
I just streamed it! It's so dope!
Wow. Okay, you just watch... That's amazing. Thank you.
Listen, I was just calling 'cause I wanted to know
if you wanted to go over, like, some paperwork?
- Absolutely! - Yeah.
- Incredible. I'm so excited. - Yeah. Okay, me too. Yeah.
All right, Well, stop by the new spot, I'm here.
- Yes, I will see you soon. Okay. - Bye!
[sighs]
[♪ "So in Love" playing]
[groans] Fuck. Ah!