- [♪ Dionne Warwick: "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"] - ♪ Zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ Zip-a-dee-ay ♪
♪ My, oh, my, my, my, what a ♪
♪ Wonderful day ♪
♪ Plenty of sunshine ♪
♪ Heading my way ♪
♪ Zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ Zip-a-dee-ay ♪
♪ Well, Mr. Bluebird's ♪
♪ Zip, zip, zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ On my shoulder ♪
♪ Zip, zip, zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ And it's the truth ♪
♪ Oh, it's natural ♪
♪ Zip, zip, zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ Everything is gonna be ♪
♪ Satisfactual ♪
♪ Zip-a-dee-doo-dah ♪
♪ Zip-a-dee-ay ♪
♪ Wonderful feeling ♪
♪ Wonderful day ♪♪
♪ ♪
What, we're not going to school?
Were you playing the radio, Daddy?
No. Of course we're going to school.
It's Gracie Jean's first day.
[distant] Ready?
[distant chatter]
[Henry] Some folks are what?
- [both] Fools. - That's right.
So we're leaving, and we're not paying fools
or foolishness any mind.
Right?
Walk straight to the car.
Mind your teachers.
[door opens]
[car door opens]
Lock the door.
I know. I know, I know. Baby.
- Baby, baby. Baby, look at me. - Look at this bullshit.
Look at me.
Don't even give them the satisfaction.
- Fuck them. - [shushes]
Okay.
So look, we got three options.
One: I walk back in the house,
I get my .45, I kill all these honkies.
I go to jail, the girls get taken from you.
Look, I got to be honest, I'm not in love with option one.
Two: I stay home with you.
First week on the job?
You get fired, and...
- What was option one again? - Mm-mm.
Eyes on me. All on me.
All that we've been through,
they think some dolls are gonna what?
Hmm? Mm-mm.
Now I'm taking the girls to school,
and then I'm going to work.
You're gonna go inside and lock the door.
Okay.
We got this.
[car door closes]
[engine starts]
♪ ♪
- What do you call this? - A start.
Cross too flamboyant?
I'm sure I don't know what you mean.
- My children had to see that. - Whose fault is that?
This place is my... our home.
I think it's important a person knows her place.
If it were me, I can't imagine living somewhere
I wasn't wanted, all alone.
You're all alone right now.
Be over before they make it off their lawns.
Is that a threat?
I'm sure I don't know what you mean.
Betts? Everything okay?
Just fine, sweetie.
Just fine.
Why would you live somewhere you're not wanted?
Seriously.
Sunshine.
Jasmine in the air.
- It's growing on me. - And a family to consider.
See, there?
You found the answer all by yourself.
I wouldn't want my children growing up in such a...
Good thing you don't have any.
Isn't it?
Find someplace else to live, Mrs. Emory.
Because this is as good as it's going to be for you,
and it'll never be quite this good again.
You know, the good thing about being neighbors, Mrs. Wendell,
is you know where to find me.
[♪ Sarah Vaughn: "Make Yourself Comfortable"]
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Make yourself comfortable ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Make yourself comfortable ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Make yourself comfortable, baby ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I've got some records here ♪
♪ To put you in the mood ♪
♪ Make yourself comfortable ♪
♪ The phone is off the hook ♪
♪ So no one can intrude ♪
♪ Make yourself comfortable ♪
♪ I feel romantic ♪
♪ And the record change is automatic, baby ♪♪
Oh. Thanks, Emory.
[elevator bell chimes]
Well, see you at the shindig.
[elevator whirs]
It's this thing this afternoon.
These parties are such a bore.
Bunch of stuffed shirts.
You wouldn't have any fun.
I wouldn't go if I didn't have to.
So just enjoy your half-day's work.
[elevator bell chimes]
[tongue clicks] Next time.
How are you?
[Lucky] I can say it slower if you'd like,
or write it down: We're selling.
I'd encourage you to take another look
at the agreement that you signed.
It's not a lease in the technical sense.
There's no bank mortgage,
and the debt is amortized without any accrual of equity.
- Amortized means... - Means this is usury.
Same kind of pestering happened to the last colored family
that I placed in Compton.
The Johnson family, over on Thorson Avenue.
There are new Negro families just dying to move here.
I'm sure you'll find, in short order, you're not alone.
You gonna warn them about what's in store?
Huh?
[dial clicking]
[man] [over phone] Compton Police Department.
Sergeant Wheatley, please.
[George] I guess it worked.
What you said the other night.
That woman.
Those... people.
The gall, George.
What happened?
[exhales]
I don't know, Mrs. Wendell.
Betty.
What you said at that meeting...
I'd be lying if I said I didn't...
you know, stay awake all night thinking about it.
Thinking about...
...everything you said.
If words were deeds...
Hmm.
When I was in Korea...
...there were, there were things, sometimes,
needed to be done.
And...
...it takes a certain type of man to...
do certain types of things.
You know what would make me happy?
Mm?
A day off.
[laughs softly]
Just one day where I didn't have to make a single decision.
And then someone else
would just take care of everything.
All this mess.
- I should... - Oh, God, listen to me.
I've kept you. Shoo, shoo.
[chuckles]
Thank you for the delivery and the visit.
Always a pleasure, never a chore.
My mother used to say that.
Betty, if there's anything you ever need
from me,
anything, don't hesitate to ask.
[bird cawing]
[children shouting playfully]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
[students murmuring]
Psst. [laughs]
Let's blow this joint.
I want to show you something.
Come on.
Come on, let's go.
[both laugh]
[shushes]
They know we'll all be at lunch.
- Who? - [shushes]
[both laugh]
[Doris] Right here.
[gasps softly]
[both laugh]
Who's there?
- Run. - Go, go.
[both laugh]
Run.
- Oh, my God. - In there!
- Oh, my God. - [squeals]
[both laugh]
I apologize for dropping in.
No need. I love company.
Back home in Georgia?
Place was full of folks. Door was always open.
Been here long?
Not too long. Few weeks.
Months?
Time flies out here, don't it?
Think it's 'cause the sun's always shining.
Hard to tell where morning stops and evening begins.
Mm. Could tell time by the trees in North Carolina.
My girls always knew when dinner was by the shadows.
- [chuckles] - Trees.
I do miss those.
Hmm.
Well, go on.
I know you didn't come over here to talk about trees.
- You were looking for me. - [laughs softly]
That obvious?
It's not every day you see another Negro
in this neighborhood.
And judging by the look on your face
outside my window, it's been a while.
It has.
I know how hard it can be.
This place.
These... p-people.
They tried all the dirty tricks
in the dirty trick book to get us out of here.
Hollering outside the door all hours of the night.
Nails up the driveway.
Stu... stu... stuck a letter in the mailbox.
"Keep an eye on your little... niggers."
I stopped sleeping.
Eating.
I couldn't leave.
Scared to. [laughs softly]
Does things to you. Your head.
I thought I'd go mad.
But things have a way of coming round. [laughs]
Just like he said they would.
He?
The man in the black hat.
[man over radio] ...we are free from demonic possession,
for no demon can cross the blood line...
[inhales]
I'm gonna tell you a secret.
[man over radio] Amen! Amen!
I've done that before, you know.
What?
What they were doing.
Fucking.
[laughs softly]
Why aren't you on the squad?
I don't know.
They've been begging me since I got here.
♪ ♪
There.
Better.
Okay. Now, pout your lips, like this.
- [pops lips] - [both chuckle]
[whispers] Close your eyes.
You should try out, though.
- Me? - Why not?
You're the prettiest colored girl I've ever seen.
It's like my mom always says.
You can be better.
You can always be better.
What are you doing in here?
Who told you you could be in here?
Um, I have to get to class.
- You got to be better than that. - Get the fuck off of me.
Get the fuck off of me!
- I'm sorry. - It's all right. I...
I shouldn't have grabbed you.
You're a smart girl.
- You don't know me. - No. No, I don't.
But I know your mom and daddy wouldn't have brought you here,
put you in this school, with these kids,
if they didn't want something better for you.
[Ella Mae] I was scared.
At first.
But he... taught me.
He taught me how to see things as they really are.
Now, there I was, wasting all my time
on those mean old white folks outside my window.
What I really needed to be doing was tending to my own home.
Making it clean.
Isn't it clean?
Oh, since I was little, been scared of dirt.
Country girl scared of dirt.
Can you believe that? [laughs]
He knew that about me.
Said I'd been preparing for this day all my life.
Had me start with myself.
A bath.
Every hour. I liked that. [laughs softly]
I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed.
Psalm 51:7.
"I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
[laughs]
And when I was clean and then the room was clean,
and-and-and the kitchen was clean.
Well, then it was time for me to clean my boys.
[man speaking indistinctly over radio]
[Ella Mae] A mother's work
is never done.
They look around my Gracie's age.
[man over radio] ...bows down before him...
How old are your boys?
[man over radio] ...what am I doing?
Mrs. Johnson?
[man over radio] I praise thee, my God.
Thou shall not torment me now...
Are they, are they in school?
Roland, where are the boys?
[man over radio] ...a way out of this land.
The man moved up the mountain
and he saw a great herd of swine feeding.
And the devils besought him, saying,
"Send us into the swine,
that we may enter into them." And forthwith
Jesus gave them leave.
And the unclean spirits entered into the swine.
And the herd ran violently...
[oven timer dings]
There they are.
[man continues indistinctly over radio]
...a blind eye to the devil.
Now raise your hands and praise Him.
Everyone here today
that harnesses the power from the will of God...
♪ ♪
[man's voice distorting]
[choir singing over radio]
...love in the Lord's hands.
Praise God.
Praise Jesus!
Praise His name. Amen.
♪ ♪
♪ When your left eye jumps ♪
♪ And your flesh begin to crawl ♪
♪ Yes, when your left eye jumps ♪
♪ And flesh begin to crawl ♪
♪ You can bet your bottom dollar ♪
♪ You got a mule that's kicking in your stall...
What?
Just never thought I'd see the day.
Don't suppose you got some Old Fitz in the back?
Maybe in my private stock.
[song ends]
[microphone thudding]
Uh, dummy up there, uh, men of honor.
Um, as you know,
uh, back in the Great One, I was a doughboy.
Probably, uh, probably more so now.
- [laughter] - Uh...
It was the Second Battle of the Marne and, uh,
the sum came back breathing with all the parts
that God gave me, no mean feat.
Uh, but as of last week,
we-we won a bigger battle.
Gentlemen, we got the Pentagon contract.
[cheering, applause]
And that's actually thanks to you.
And our way of saying thanks to you is we want to give
all the engineers a percentage of the profits.
- Wow. - [cheering, applause]
All right, guys. Thanks, have a good night.
[panting softly]
[band playing]
♪ If you ever go to a session or dance ♪
♪ And you want the sax man to prance ♪
♪ When the band starts its swinging ♪
♪ Get the crowd to join in singing ♪
♪ Go, go, go, turn them on ♪
♪ And go, go, go, make him blow, man ♪
[fading] ♪ Go, go, go with the beat, man ♪
♪ Go, go, go...
♪ Go...
♪ ♪
[doorbell rings]
[exhales] Miss Betty.
Right this way.
[door closes]
♪ ♪
Elizabeth.
Hi, Dad.
[glass clinks]
How are Jane's boys?
Oh, you haven't kept in...
They're fine.
Annoying.
Like all boys.
And you and, uh...
- Clarke. - Mm-hmm.
And children?
No. We can't.
We can't seem to find the...
Everything's been so busy lately.
Well, don't tell me you've had to find work.
No, nothing like that.
No. Just... neighborhood activities.
O-Over in, uh...
Compton.
You're still there.
[Betty] You still have Ferdinand.
Of course.
I hated to break up the set.
He misses Griselda.
You still have...
No. I got rid of that ages ago.
Betts, why'd you come back?
Consuela told me you were here.
- How are you, Mother? - Fair to middling.
Almost didn't recognize you.
What the years can do to a woman's face.
Answer your father.
Why did you come back, Elizabeth?
♪ Pink champagne ♪
♪ That stole my love from me ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ Pink champagne has stole...
Emory. [chuckles]
I thought you'd be, uh, enjoying your half-day. Know I would.
Yes, sir. I figured a quick snort for the road.
Mr. Stoat, with the toast.
The company, it's-it's very generous, sir.
Yeah. Well, um...
You know, I find myself... ourselves,
in a bit of a pickle here.
- Sir? - I didn't actually tell Stoat.
Do you understand?
That my new engineer was a...
[whispers] Negro.
Exactly.
So I'm just thinking out loud here, maybe now is not the...
Maybe there's a better time...
Sure you're right, sir.
- The pickle. I've got you. - Great. [laughs]
I knew I could count on you. Now I think there's a...
back entrance, I think it's right through here.
If you could excuse me, sir?
Thank you.
[clears throat]
Gentlemen.
Henry Emory, sir. "Hell-raising 370th."
You raise hell?
Sicced the devil on him in '45.
Oh. Oh, yeah.
Hey-ho. [chuckles]
Mr. Stoat, I'd like you to meet Henry Emory.
Yeah. Let me, um... So what is it you do exactly here, son?
I'm an engineer.
Got my degree at Fayetteville.
Yes, Henry's family just settled in Compton, Mr. Stoat.
- All right. - East Compton.
- All right. - Were you at Arles, sir?
I was.
Still some of the trenches you fellows laid down in One.
Did you ever take a shit in them?
Because that's all they were good for.
- [laughs] - [chuckles]
Yeah.
[Berks] Oh, if I could wish for anything, it would be
to be down there in the trenches with you fellas, but, uh,
damn flat feet.
I won't keep you, sir.
Just wanted to introduce myself.
And so you have.
You are a credit, Emory.
- Smarts and bravery. - Thank you.
Any more of you hiding out there in the bushes?
- [laughs] - He's a diamond in the rough, sir.
Noticed it immediately. Won't let you down, Mr. Stoat.
If we manage to sell, even at a loss,
with a small loan from you, we could find somewhere
without all this bother.
Maybe here in Hancock Park.
We could, we could visit more.
Or at all. Hasn't been to see us
in... [sighs] I don't know how long.
And now, same old Elizabeth.
In seven years, I haven't asked...
Clarke works.
We don't want charity. Just a loan.
Before it's all too late.
It's good you've come to me. And of course I can help.
Consuela, would you go and bring me my checkbook, please?
- [Consuela] Right away, Mr. Haber. - Thank you.
You're certain?
She's back, Esther.
I'm sorry.
Thank you, Consuela.
You'll spend the night.
You've come all this way.
We've barely had a visit.
You know, this can wait until after supper.
Why don't I draw a bath for you, uh, wash the travel off.
I should...
Clarke worries if I don't...
Your mother feels you want something.
She thinks that's the only reason that you've come back.
[whispers] It's not...
Excuse me?
I've missed you.
You really have, haven't you?
Could you, could you just write the check?
I wish to God you'd never come back here, Betty.
[water running]
♪ ♪
[insects chirping]
[brakes squeaking]
I have to show you something.
- I have to show you something. - What, now?
- Yes. - What about dinner?
It'll keep. It'll keep.
Girls, come on! Let's go!
Did you get the chicken à la King I left you?
Uh, grabbed a bite with one of the boys, actually.
Always better the next day, anyway, huh?
- Where were you? - When'd you get home?
Um, maybe an hour ago.
Must have just missed you.
Desmond's had a sale.
Uncle on the shopping, Betts.
The kitchen needs new wallpaper.
Their patterns were horrid, anyway, so...
Not that I expect you to notice anything that goes on here.
Told you, I tried to get away for your meeting.
Our meeting.
Everyone was there. I looked like a fool.
Marty said it went gangbusters.
So, what was more important?
J-Just give it a rest, will you, Betts?
No, it seems like there's always something, someplace
- you'd rather... - Oh, hey, look at this.
Oh, a miracle.
[laughs softly]
Electricity, gas, that car you had to have.
It all just is.
"Oh, yeah, Clarke,
you work to pay for all this."
Any of that overtime showing up in our bank account, or...?
Oh, Jesus.
[sighs]
Okay.
I'm sorry I wasn't at the meeting.
I know you needed me there and I'm sorry.
Clarke.
I didn't need you there.
I wanted you to want to be there.
[brakes squeak]
I'll be right back.
Mrs. Emory.
I wanted him to see for himself.
See?
You know what I'm talking about.
Luck.
Apologies for dropping in like this.
[panting]
What?
What? [panting]
Where are your children, Mrs. Johnson?
My-my-my boys?
Well, t-they're at their auntie's for the evening.
- It's bullshit. It's bullshit. - That's enough.
Luck!
But I saw...
What happened here?
Earlier, you were trying to tell me.
- You can tell me. - He couldn't tell you anything, Mrs. Emory.
Hasn't spoken a single word.
Not since he returned.
- Come on, baby. - [crying]
But I saw...
♪ ♪
[Henry] "'They keep good watch,' Dick whispered.
'Let us back to the land, good master,' answered Greensheve.
'We stand here too open, for look, ye,
when the seas break heavy and white out there behind us,
they shall see us plainly against the foam.'
'Ye speak sooth,' returned Dick.
'Ashore with us, right speedily.'"
Old Dick's in a spot, huh?
Greensheve is gonna save him.
Or maybe he'll save himself.
[insects chirping]
[exhales]
♪ ♪