WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.780 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:02.410 align:middle line:90% Thank you guys for coming. 00:00:02.410 --> 00:00:04.737 align:middle line:90% I'm sick. 00:00:04.737 --> 00:00:07.320 align:middle line:84% I can't believe all you people came out in the rain to see me. 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:11.550 align:middle line:84% I could see Prince or Anita Baker, somebody. 00:00:11.550 --> 00:00:12.850 align:middle line:90% But thank you. 00:00:12.850 --> 00:00:15.690 align:middle line:90% I am grateful. 00:00:15.690 --> 00:00:18.930 align:middle line:90% And I'm also wet. 00:00:18.930 --> 00:00:22.260 align:middle line:90% I'm going to read-- 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:24.690 align:middle line:84% I won't apologize but I'll just-- 00:00:24.690 --> 00:00:26.880 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read the first two, what's 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:32.070 align:middle line:84% called monologues and then what's called or considered 00:00:32.070 --> 00:00:36.270 align:middle line:84% a dramatic chapter, the first chapter of this book 00:00:36.270 --> 00:00:39.750 align:middle line:84% that I'm working on called Disappearing Acts. 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:40.250 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:43.037 align:middle line:90% 00:00:43.037 --> 00:00:43.995 align:middle line:90% Who's laughing already? 00:00:43.995 --> 00:00:47.965 align:middle line:90% 00:00:47.965 --> 00:00:48.465 align:middle line:90% Franklin. 00:00:48.465 --> 00:00:51.360 align:middle line:90% 00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:54.780 align:middle line:84% And although I don't look like it, I'm nervous. 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:58.960 align:middle line:84% So it takes me a few minutes to get going here. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.480 align:middle line:84% All I can say is this, I'm tired of women. 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:05.790 align:middle line:84% Black women in particular because that's about all I 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:06.930 align:middle line:90% ever deal with. 00:01:06.930 --> 00:01:10.620 align:middle line:84% Maybe a fine Puerto Rican here and there, but not much. 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:12.840 align:middle line:84% They're all the same, that's for damn sure. 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:14.850 align:middle line:84% Want all your time and energy, want the world 00:01:14.850 --> 00:01:16.260 align:middle line:90% to revolve around them. 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:19.860 align:middle line:84% Once you give them some good loving, they go crazy. 00:01:19.860 --> 00:01:22.350 align:middle line:84% Start hearing wedding bells, start thinking about babies, 00:01:22.350 --> 00:01:25.170 align:middle line:84% and want you to meet their whole damn family. 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:26.730 align:middle line:84% They'd make you cum and you'd swear 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:28.440 align:middle line:90% they struck gold or something. 00:01:28.440 --> 00:01:30.510 align:middle line:84% But they claim the mind for themselves. 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:32.850 align:middle line:84% And the prettier they are, the more they want. 00:01:32.850 --> 00:01:34.980 align:middle line:84% Well, I don't play that shit no more. 00:01:34.980 --> 00:01:38.220 align:middle line:84% I try to make it clear from Jump Street I ain't serious. 00:01:38.220 --> 00:01:39.747 align:middle line:84% I got enough on my mind right now 00:01:39.747 --> 00:01:42.330 align:middle line:84% without getting all hung up and twisted up with another woman. 00:01:42.330 --> 00:01:44.250 align:middle line:84% Every time I turned around, my phone 00:01:44.250 --> 00:01:45.690 align:middle line:90% was ringing off the damn hook. 00:01:45.690 --> 00:01:47.250 align:middle line:90% Hi, Franklin, one would say. 00:01:47.250 --> 00:01:49.770 align:middle line:84% And I would sit there and try to guess which one it was. 00:01:49.770 --> 00:01:51.090 align:middle line:90% What you doing? 00:01:51.090 --> 00:01:54.180 align:middle line:84% What a stupid ass question to call up somebody and ask. 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:57.090 align:middle line:84% It would seem quite obvious I wasn't thinking about her 00:01:57.090 --> 00:01:58.620 align:middle line:84% or else I'd have called her, right? 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:00.300 align:middle line:90% But no. 00:02:00.300 --> 00:02:01.570 align:middle line:90% It don't work like that. 00:02:01.570 --> 00:02:02.640 align:middle line:90% They hedge. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:03.930 align:middle line:90% You feel like some company? 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:05.400 align:middle line:90% And don't say, no, I'm busy. 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:06.990 align:middle line:90% All hell would break loose then. 00:02:06.990 --> 00:02:08.497 align:middle line:90% You got somebody over there? 00:02:08.497 --> 00:02:10.289 align:middle line:84% I want to say none of your fucking business 00:02:10.289 --> 00:02:12.190 align:middle line:84% but that would be too cold-blooded. 00:02:12.190 --> 00:02:14.190 align:middle line:84% They want to know what you're doing every minute 00:02:14.190 --> 00:02:15.482 align:middle line:90% of the day you ain't with them. 00:02:15.482 --> 00:02:18.000 align:middle line:84% Can't just be by yourself, they always 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.270 align:middle line:84% think if you don't want to see them, 00:02:21.270 --> 00:02:23.920 align:middle line:84% then it's got to be another woman. 00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:27.210 align:middle line:84% And I've been out with some of the stupidest women, I swear. 00:02:27.210 --> 00:02:30.990 align:middle line:84% Usually don't find this out until after I've 00:02:30.990 --> 00:02:32.250 align:middle line:90% did it to them. 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:33.180 align:middle line:90% What was her name? 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:33.780 align:middle line:90% Gloria? 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:34.860 align:middle line:90% Yeah, Gloria. 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:37.133 align:middle line:84% This chick had an ass like butter, moved like a roller 00:02:37.133 --> 00:02:38.550 align:middle line:84% coaster but when it came to brain, 00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:40.305 align:middle line:90% she was missing about 16 cards. 00:02:40.305 --> 00:02:42.870 align:middle line:90% 00:02:42.870 --> 00:02:44.730 align:middle line:84% Worked at the welfare department but she 00:02:44.730 --> 00:02:46.200 align:middle line:90% should have been a case herself. 00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:48.090 align:middle line:84% I should have known better when all she talked about 00:02:48.090 --> 00:02:50.298 align:middle line:84% was getting her nails done and was forever blowdrying 00:02:50.298 --> 00:02:51.450 align:middle line:90% her fucking hair. 00:02:51.450 --> 00:02:53.610 align:middle line:84% She couldn't even figure out the easiest puzzle 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:55.050 align:middle line:90% on Wheel of Fortune. 00:02:55.050 --> 00:02:58.825 align:middle line:84% I remember one night we'd had a pretty serious session 00:02:58.825 --> 00:03:00.450 align:middle line:84% and I had to go to work in the morning. 00:03:00.450 --> 00:03:02.520 align:middle line:84% But since it was election day, Koch 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.020 align:middle line:90% was running again for mayor. 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.300 align:middle line:84% I got up extra early so I could go vote. 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:09.270 align:middle line:84% I look down at her, you voting today, I ask. 00:03:09.270 --> 00:03:10.980 align:middle line:84% I ain't voted in years, Franklin, 00:03:10.980 --> 00:03:13.620 align:middle line:84% she said, just grinning and shit like she was proud. 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:18.300 align:middle line:84% You stupid bitch, I wanted to say but I didn't. 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:19.290 align:middle line:90% It wasn't worth it. 00:03:19.290 --> 00:03:21.570 align:middle line:90% You gotta go, I said, now. 00:03:21.570 --> 00:03:25.830 align:middle line:84% She acted like her feelings was hurt but I didn't care. 00:03:25.830 --> 00:03:28.500 align:middle line:84% One chick, I liked her a lot, her name was Theresa. 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:30.780 align:middle line:84% And she hated it when you called her Terri. 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:32.550 align:middle line:84% Now, Theresa has something on the ball. 00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:34.950 align:middle line:84% Worked at a bank and not only could she cook her ass off, 00:03:34.950 --> 00:03:36.270 align:middle line:90% but she liked sports. 00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:38.730 align:middle line:84% We used to lay around all day on a Saturday or Sunday 00:03:38.730 --> 00:03:40.260 align:middle line:84% and just make love during halftime 00:03:40.260 --> 00:03:42.450 align:middle line:84% and watch every game that came on TV. 00:03:42.450 --> 00:03:44.820 align:middle line:84% She knew a call when she heard one too. 00:03:44.820 --> 00:03:47.285 align:middle line:84% And she gave the best head I ever had in my life. 00:03:47.285 --> 00:03:48.660 align:middle line:84% I don't know who taught her but I 00:03:48.660 --> 00:03:51.460 align:middle line:84% wish she'd give lessons to a lot more of them. 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:54.180 align:middle line:84% The only thing about Theresa was she wore a wig 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:56.280 align:middle line:84% and I couldn't stand to hear her talk. 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:58.900 align:middle line:84% She had this squeaky ass voice that drove me nuts. 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:01.770 align:middle line:84% It was real high, like Alvin and the Chipmunks or something. 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:04.680 align:middle line:84% Sometimes I wanted to say, would you just shut up? 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:08.885 align:middle line:84% And when the girl came, I swear to God it was embarrassing. 00:04:08.885 --> 00:04:11.260 align:middle line:84% I don't remember what happened to her, to tell the truth. 00:04:11.260 --> 00:04:14.190 align:middle line:84% She just faded out the picture just like Karen, and Maria, 00:04:14.190 --> 00:04:16.680 align:middle line:84% and Sandy, and Amina, and all the rest of them. 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:18.930 align:middle line:90% All except Pauline. 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:21.033 align:middle line:84% Pauline, now that woman, she was the last one. 00:04:21.033 --> 00:04:22.200 align:middle line:90% The one that broke my heart. 00:04:22.200 --> 00:04:23.490 align:middle line:90% Don't ever fail. 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:26.340 align:middle line:84% The one you always want is the one that always leave. 00:04:26.340 --> 00:04:28.500 align:middle line:90% Pauline was soft and sexy. 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:30.420 align:middle line:84% She had the prettiest breasts in the world. 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:32.280 align:middle line:84% They was round, and full, and stood straight out. 00:04:32.280 --> 00:04:34.113 align:middle line:84% She was the only woman I ever met that could 00:04:34.113 --> 00:04:35.520 align:middle line:90% cum from me just licking them. 00:04:35.520 --> 00:04:37.830 align:middle line:90% Pauline was 100% grade-A woman. 00:04:37.830 --> 00:04:40.650 align:middle line:84% Lived in the projects with her two-year-old son, 00:04:40.650 --> 00:04:43.110 align:middle line:84% but she treated me like a whole man. 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:44.850 align:middle line:84% She was going to secretarial school 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:46.530 align:middle line:90% so she could get off welfare. 00:04:46.530 --> 00:04:48.300 align:middle line:84% That's one thing I really liked about her. 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:49.290 align:middle line:90% She tried. 00:04:49.290 --> 00:04:50.840 align:middle line:90% And Pauline had pride. 00:04:50.840 --> 00:04:51.870 align:middle line:90% She never called me. 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:54.780 align:middle line:84% It was always me doing the calling and I didn't mind. 00:04:54.780 --> 00:04:58.307 align:middle line:84% Some women you just want ain't satisfied till you get them. 00:04:58.307 --> 00:05:00.890 align:middle line:84% Don't ask me what happened, but a few weeks ago when I called, 00:05:00.890 --> 00:05:02.420 align:middle line:90% she said she was busy. 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:03.570 align:middle line:90% Busy? 00:05:03.570 --> 00:05:04.640 align:middle line:90% I let it go. 00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:05.900 align:middle line:90% The next day, I called back. 00:05:05.900 --> 00:05:08.540 align:middle line:90% She still busy. 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:10.490 align:middle line:84% What the fuck is going on, I ask her. 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:11.990 align:middle line:84% She didn't say nothing for a minute. 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:13.430 align:middle line:90% My chest was heaving. 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.385 align:middle line:90% Pauline, don't play with me. 00:05:15.385 --> 00:05:16.760 align:middle line:84% Then I heard her mumble something 00:05:16.760 --> 00:05:19.130 align:middle line:90% like, I met somebody else. 00:05:19.130 --> 00:05:21.170 align:middle line:90% Met somebody else what? 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:22.037 align:middle line:90% Who? 00:05:22.037 --> 00:05:23.870 align:middle line:84% I heard her say some shit like she was sorry 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:25.078 align:middle line:90% but I just hung up the phone. 00:05:25.078 --> 00:05:27.020 align:middle line:84% A man don't need this kind of shit. 00:05:27.020 --> 00:05:28.760 align:middle line:84% What kind of dude could she possibly 00:05:28.760 --> 00:05:31.370 align:middle line:84% have found that could make her feel better than me? 00:05:31.370 --> 00:05:32.930 align:middle line:90% I hate this shit. 00:05:32.930 --> 00:05:34.183 align:middle line:90% I wanted to marry this woman. 00:05:34.183 --> 00:05:35.600 align:middle line:84% To tell the truth, my head was all 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:37.642 align:middle line:84% messed up because I kept sitting around wondering 00:05:37.642 --> 00:05:41.030 align:middle line:84% who it could be and what was he doing for her that I wasn't 00:05:41.030 --> 00:05:42.230 align:middle line:90% doing, didn't do. 00:05:42.230 --> 00:05:43.820 align:middle line:90% I kept drawing a blank. 00:05:43.820 --> 00:05:45.320 align:middle line:84% Because when I love a woman, I try 00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:47.720 align:middle line:84% to treat her like she's the only one in the world. 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.210 align:middle line:84% Sometimes, I guess that ain't enough. 00:05:50.210 --> 00:05:53.327 align:middle line:84% That's when I decided to take a vacation from all of them. 00:05:53.327 --> 00:05:55.910 align:middle line:84% They think they're the only ones who can go without sex, well, 00:05:55.910 --> 00:05:57.140 align:middle line:90% that's a lie. 00:05:57.140 --> 00:05:59.030 align:middle line:84% A man's mind is about the strongest thing 00:05:59.030 --> 00:06:00.110 align:middle line:90% he's got going for him. 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:02.210 align:middle line:84% Let women tell it, you'd swear our brains are all 00:06:02.210 --> 00:06:03.830 align:middle line:90% in the head of our dicks. 00:06:03.830 --> 00:06:06.380 align:middle line:90% Sometimes, this shit is true. 00:06:06.380 --> 00:06:09.680 align:middle line:84% But right now, I'm trying to get my constitution together. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.600 align:middle line:84% I've made too many stupid mistakes, too 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.130 align:middle line:90% many bad decisions. 00:06:13.130 --> 00:06:16.040 align:middle line:84% I guess dropping out of high school was the biggest one. 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.410 align:middle line:84% I ain't never liked people telling me what to do. 00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:20.780 align:middle line:84% I couldn't sit still for another two years listening 00:06:20.780 --> 00:06:22.610 align:middle line:84% to that boring shit about America, 00:06:22.610 --> 00:06:24.080 align:middle line:90% how to write a damn sentence. 00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:26.570 align:middle line:84% Couldn't just learn to add, subtract, and multiply. 00:06:26.570 --> 00:06:28.340 align:middle line:84% No, they had to complicate this shit. 00:06:28.340 --> 00:06:31.640 align:middle line:84% But wood shop, didn't miss a class. 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:35.600 align:middle line:84% This was just one more reason for my moms to despise me. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.120 align:middle line:84% I truly believe that her whole purpose in life 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:39.800 align:middle line:90% was to castrate men. 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:43.160 align:middle line:84% She started with my pops and worked her way down to me. 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.470 align:middle line:84% But he's so damn henpecked, I still 00:06:45.470 --> 00:06:47.195 align:middle line:84% don't know what he feel about me really. 00:06:47.195 --> 00:06:49.820 align:middle line:84% To tell the truth, I ain't never been all that crazy about them 00:06:49.820 --> 00:06:50.940 align:middle line:90% either. 00:06:50.940 --> 00:06:54.140 align:middle line:84% But when you're 16 years old and already 6 foot 2, 00:06:54.140 --> 00:06:55.670 align:middle line:90% ain't much they can tell you. 00:06:55.670 --> 00:06:58.520 align:middle line:84% My moms would lay it on thick, just running her damn mouth 00:06:58.520 --> 00:06:59.540 align:middle line:90% to hear herself talk. 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:01.790 align:middle line:84% You're going to end up with a bullet hole in you, boy. 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:04.070 align:middle line:84% You stupid, just like that sister of yours. 00:07:04.070 --> 00:07:05.360 align:middle line:90% Y'all should have been twins. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:06.830 align:middle line:90% Can't do nothing right. 00:07:06.830 --> 00:07:08.060 align:middle line:90% Sit up straight. 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:09.500 align:middle line:90% Nah, just get out of my face. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:12.290 align:middle line:84% Make me want to shoot you my damn self. 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:13.970 align:middle line:84% Pops usually stood in the background, 00:07:13.970 --> 00:07:16.095 align:middle line:84% pretending like he was doing something else like he 00:07:16.095 --> 00:07:17.060 align:middle line:90% didn't hear nothing. 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:20.720 align:middle line:84% He always ended up in the pantry where he kept his scotch. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.450 align:middle line:84% But there was only so more stupids I was going to be. 00:07:23.450 --> 00:07:27.140 align:middle line:84% One day, I was going to punch all her lights out. 00:07:27.140 --> 00:07:29.180 align:middle line:84% I did what I wanted to do anyway, 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.520 align:middle line:84% shot dope, played hooky, fucked whatever was pretty 00:07:31.520 --> 00:07:33.060 align:middle line:90% and was willing to give it up. 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:37.070 align:middle line:84% It took me 15 years to get my GED but I got it. 00:07:37.070 --> 00:07:40.340 align:middle line:84% Didn't take me that long to give up dope, that shit got old. 00:07:40.340 --> 00:07:42.740 align:middle line:84% Had to scramble for it in five nights in jail once 00:07:42.740 --> 00:07:44.090 align:middle line:90% and that was enough for me. 00:07:44.090 --> 00:07:46.370 align:middle line:84% It wasn't the kind of life I pictured for myself, 00:07:46.370 --> 00:07:47.750 align:middle line:90% that's for damn sure. 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:51.000 align:middle line:84% Neither was marrying Pam when I wasn't but 20 years old. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.320 align:middle line:84% She was so fine and so sweet, I really could not get past it. 00:07:54.320 --> 00:07:56.090 align:middle line:90% Everybody warned me. 00:07:56.090 --> 00:07:58.520 align:middle line:84% Leave them West Indian women alone, man. 00:07:58.520 --> 00:08:00.050 align:middle line:90% She was from Jamaica. 00:08:00.050 --> 00:08:02.510 align:middle line:84% Two babies later, Pam was a different woman. 00:08:02.510 --> 00:08:04.070 align:middle line:90% Fat as hell. 00:08:04.070 --> 00:08:06.020 align:middle line:84% Never felt like making love no more. 00:08:06.020 --> 00:08:07.710 align:middle line:84% We stopped that after Derek was born. 00:08:07.710 --> 00:08:09.260 align:middle line:84% And by the time Miles got here, we 00:08:09.260 --> 00:08:10.850 align:middle line:84% wasn't doing nothing but screwing. 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.100 align:middle line:84% I was working two jobs, post office at night, 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:14.480 align:middle line:90% construction during the day. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:16.970 align:middle line:84% She took care of the kids, I busted my ass. 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:18.980 align:middle line:84% And what kind of thanks did I get? 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.320 align:middle line:90% I'm too tired. 00:08:21.320 --> 00:08:23.390 align:middle line:90% She was too damn fat. 00:08:23.390 --> 00:08:25.370 align:middle line:84% Them thighs always felt like blubber, 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:27.050 align:middle line:84% her waist looked like an old inner tube, 00:08:27.050 --> 00:08:28.945 align:middle line:84% and what used to be firm, full breasts that I 00:08:28.945 --> 00:08:30.570 align:middle line:84% used to love to suck and massage, shit, 00:08:30.570 --> 00:08:33.860 align:middle line:84% now they fell down flat and limp on top of that gut. 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:35.659 align:middle line:84% It got to the point that I didn't want her, 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:37.940 align:middle line:84% couldn't stand the thought of touching her. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:39.679 align:middle line:84% The only thing she had energy for 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.059 align:middle line:90% was them soap operas and food. 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:45.050 align:middle line:84% It took me three years to leave because the kids was growing up 00:08:45.050 --> 00:08:47.360 align:middle line:84% and wasn't going nowhere no time soon. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:49.520 align:middle line:84% But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. 00:08:49.520 --> 00:08:51.380 align:middle line:90% This was about my sanity. 00:08:51.380 --> 00:08:53.360 align:middle line:90% That was six years ago. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.430 align:middle line:90% Never did get the divorce. 00:08:55.430 --> 00:08:58.310 align:middle line:84% I'm waiting for her to do it, she's waiting for me. 00:08:58.310 --> 00:09:00.080 align:middle line:84% I see the kids once in a while but don't 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:01.952 align:middle line:84% want them to see me like this, living 00:09:01.952 --> 00:09:04.160 align:middle line:84% in a rooming house with a whole bunch of other dudes. 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:06.410 align:middle line:84% But all I need right now is a room. 00:09:06.410 --> 00:09:09.800 align:middle line:84% I ain't no woman and ain't no interior decorating neither. 00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:13.520 align:middle line:84% What I got is what I need, a bed, a dresser, a TV, 00:09:13.520 --> 00:09:17.270 align:middle line:84% a work table for my woodworking, my fish tank, and my music box. 00:09:17.270 --> 00:09:19.100 align:middle line:84% I can't see spending my whole damn check 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:22.070 align:middle line:84% on no rent, especially some weeks when I don't get work. 00:09:22.070 --> 00:09:25.395 align:middle line:84% Now, the dudes that live in this rooming house is real losers. 00:09:25.395 --> 00:09:27.020 align:middle line:84% Some of them been put out, some of them 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:29.000 align:middle line:84% got a habit, some of them just fucking lazy. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:30.980 align:middle line:84% Wouldn't work if you gave them a job. 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:33.860 align:middle line:84% The rest of them just lost, don't know what else to do. 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:35.370 align:middle line:90% Grown men on welfare. 00:09:35.370 --> 00:09:37.070 align:middle line:84% Now, that's some ridiculous shit. 00:09:37.070 --> 00:09:38.930 align:middle line:84% I ain't nothing like them and they know it. 00:09:38.930 --> 00:09:41.495 align:middle line:84% I've got definite plans for my life. 00:09:41.495 --> 00:09:43.950 align:middle line:84% They ain't crystal clear to me right now, 00:09:43.950 --> 00:09:46.510 align:middle line:84% but that's where I'm working on my constitution. 00:09:46.510 --> 00:09:50.180 align:middle line:84% A man needs one, needs to get his priorities straight. 00:09:50.180 --> 00:09:53.720 align:middle line:84% Right now, it don't feel like I got no foundation. 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:56.545 align:middle line:84% I feel more like sheet rock, like mortar. 00:09:56.545 --> 00:09:57.920 align:middle line:84% Can't nothing make your life work 00:09:57.920 --> 00:09:59.420 align:middle line:90% if you ain't the architect. 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:02.150 align:middle line:84% Took me long enough to realize this shit. 00:10:02.150 --> 00:10:04.440 align:middle line:90% My life is pretty simple. 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:06.440 align:middle line:84% I like to get drunk on Friday nights 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.120 align:middle line:84% but only if I worked a full week. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:09.890 align:middle line:90% No play, no pay. 00:10:09.890 --> 00:10:11.570 align:middle line:90% No pay, no play. 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:13.420 align:middle line:84% Usually go to the bar but I don't socialize 00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:15.170 align:middle line:84% too tough with none of these dudes in here 00:10:15.170 --> 00:10:18.050 align:middle line:84% because they ask too many damn questions, just like women. 00:10:18.050 --> 00:10:19.940 align:middle line:90% Want to know your whole history. 00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:22.010 align:middle line:84% But I don't give up no information. 00:10:22.010 --> 00:10:23.360 align:middle line:90% You got a lady, man? 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.780 align:middle line:84% I look at them like they faggots and say, why? 00:10:26.780 --> 00:10:27.950 align:middle line:90% Nosy motherfuckers. 00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:29.390 align:middle line:90% You got any sisters? 00:10:29.390 --> 00:10:31.790 align:middle line:84% I got two but I'll be damned if I'd introduce Darlene 00:10:31.790 --> 00:10:32.900 align:middle line:90% to these losers. 00:10:32.900 --> 00:10:35.810 align:middle line:84% Christine is married, which is where she should be. 00:10:35.810 --> 00:10:37.460 align:middle line:90% Nah, I ain't got no sisters. 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:38.120 align:middle line:90% Why? 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.100 align:middle line:84% They look like they ready to run and then 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:41.930 align:middle line:90% say, I was just wondering, man. 00:10:41.930 --> 00:10:43.070 align:middle line:90% That's all. 00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:44.720 align:middle line:84% On the weekends, I like to sit in here 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.850 align:middle line:84% and watch whatever game or fights is on TV 00:10:46.850 --> 00:10:48.320 align:middle line:90% and do some woodworking. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:50.870 align:middle line:84% Pussy don't even cross my mind when I got a piece of wood 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:51.920 align:middle line:90% in my hand. 00:10:51.920 --> 00:10:54.020 align:middle line:84% Get myself a ball and stay up all night, 00:10:54.020 --> 00:10:56.450 align:middle line:84% chiseling, measuring, sanding, making a scale model. 00:10:56.450 --> 00:10:57.890 align:middle line:90% Don't make me no difference. 00:10:57.890 --> 00:11:00.590 align:middle line:84% You tell me what you want and I can build it. 00:11:00.590 --> 00:11:03.470 align:middle line:84% Beds, couches, lamps, tables, wall units. 00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:06.860 align:middle line:84% And the more complicated, the shit is the more I put into it. 00:11:06.860 --> 00:11:09.830 align:middle line:84% Ain't nothing like a challenge, especially when it turns 00:11:09.830 --> 00:11:11.820 align:middle line:90% out prettier than you expected. 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.060 align:middle line:90% But I'm slow. 00:11:14.060 --> 00:11:16.040 align:middle line:84% I like to take my time and not rush 00:11:16.040 --> 00:11:17.900 align:middle line:84% when I'm working on a piece, which 00:11:17.900 --> 00:11:20.810 align:middle line:84% is one reason I don't make big pieces for people no more. 00:11:20.810 --> 00:11:24.410 align:middle line:84% They started bugging me, wanting me to hurry up and finish it. 00:11:24.410 --> 00:11:26.450 align:middle line:84% Christmas was coming up, something. 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:29.510 align:middle line:84% How can you hurry up when you trying to create a work of art? 00:11:29.510 --> 00:11:31.820 align:middle line:84% If the shit turned out all ugly, then I'd 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:32.990 align:middle line:90% have to hear that shit. 00:11:32.990 --> 00:11:35.150 align:middle line:90% I paid all our money for this? 00:11:35.150 --> 00:11:38.480 align:middle line:84% These days, I make what I feel like make it for anybody 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.100 align:middle line:90% I feel like making it for. 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:42.050 align:middle line:90% Mostly myself. 00:11:42.050 --> 00:11:44.600 align:middle line:84% At least three days a week, I work out at the gym. 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:46.370 align:middle line:84% Hell, working construction, I can't afford 00:11:46.370 --> 00:11:48.360 align:middle line:90% to get flabby and out of shape. 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:50.160 align:middle line:84% No, there's more to it than that. 00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:53.210 align:middle line:84% I love my body and want to keep it that way. 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:55.085 align:middle line:84% Faggots seem to love looking at it too. 00:11:55.085 --> 00:11:58.520 align:middle line:90% 00:11:58.520 --> 00:12:00.770 align:middle line:90% Basically, I guess I'm a loner. 00:12:00.770 --> 00:12:02.660 align:middle line:84% Ain't got too many friends, ain't too many 00:12:02.660 --> 00:12:03.920 align:middle line:90% people worth trusting. 00:12:03.920 --> 00:12:06.710 align:middle line:84% Jimmy, a dude I grew up, with stops by every now and then 00:12:06.710 --> 00:12:07.970 align:middle line:90% to borrow a few dollars. 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:09.650 align:middle line:84% But I don't ever have to worry about catching up 00:12:09.650 --> 00:12:11.275 align:middle line:84% on nothing with Jimmy because all he do 00:12:11.275 --> 00:12:12.775 align:middle line:90% is deal dope, cocaine. 00:12:12.775 --> 00:12:15.542 align:middle line:84% He's small time, thinks he's big time but he ain't. 00:12:15.542 --> 00:12:17.000 align:middle line:84% Because if he was, he wouldn't have 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.490 align:middle line:84% to borrow no money from me, would have a permanent address, 00:12:19.490 --> 00:12:22.460 align:middle line:84% and drive something besides some curled up Stacy Adams. 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:24.080 align:middle line:84% He don't offer me none of that shit 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.125 align:middle line:84% because he know as far back as we go, 00:12:26.125 --> 00:12:27.500 align:middle line:84% I don't want to be around nothing 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.330 align:middle line:90% that even smell like dope. 00:12:29.330 --> 00:12:31.400 align:middle line:84% Lucky is the only dude in this building 00:12:31.400 --> 00:12:32.990 align:middle line:90% that I do associate with. 00:12:32.990 --> 00:12:35.540 align:middle line:84% He's also the only male nurse I ever met in my life 00:12:35.540 --> 00:12:37.580 align:middle line:90% and he ain't no faggot either. 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:39.050 align:middle line:90% But he always in white. 00:12:39.050 --> 00:12:41.210 align:middle line:84% Worked the midnight shift at some old folks home. 00:12:41.210 --> 00:12:44.570 align:middle line:84% We play cards, spades, poker, sometimes dominoes. 00:12:44.570 --> 00:12:46.430 align:middle line:90% Lucky is smart as hell too. 00:12:46.430 --> 00:12:48.350 align:middle line:84% He reads everything, which is why 00:12:48.350 --> 00:12:50.300 align:middle line:90% we get into some heavy debates. 00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:52.670 align:middle line:84% Like the shit that's going on in the Middle East, 00:12:52.670 --> 00:12:55.520 align:middle line:84% should Jesse Jackson run for president in '84 or not? 00:12:55.520 --> 00:12:56.720 align:middle line:90% That kind of shit. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.700 align:middle line:84% I like being around people who think, 00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:00.110 align:middle line:84% who read the damn paper every day 00:13:00.110 --> 00:13:02.030 align:middle line:84% and know what's going on in the world. 00:13:02.030 --> 00:13:04.880 align:middle line:84% Lucky's biggest problem is that he lives at the track. 00:13:04.880 --> 00:13:06.770 align:middle line:90% Horses is his middle name. 00:13:06.770 --> 00:13:09.980 align:middle line:84% When he gets off work, he'll catch two buses, four trains, 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:12.020 align:middle line:84% whatever's running to get to a track. 00:13:12.020 --> 00:13:14.870 align:middle line:84% I hate to take his money, but, hell, when you play and lose, 00:13:14.870 --> 00:13:16.340 align:middle line:90% you lose and pay. 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:17.810 align:middle line:90% He's got a hell of a record. 00:13:17.810 --> 00:13:19.310 align:middle line:90% Music collection too. 00:13:19.310 --> 00:13:20.270 align:middle line:90% I mean, serious. 00:13:20.270 --> 00:13:22.340 align:middle line:84% That's another reason I like to sit in this room. 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:24.530 align:middle line:84% Shit get us a bottle, order some Chinese food, 00:13:24.530 --> 00:13:26.780 align:middle line:84% debate about damn near anything that come on the news, 00:13:26.780 --> 00:13:29.630 align:middle line:84% and listen to Herbie Hancock or Cole Porter in the background. 00:13:29.630 --> 00:13:31.520 align:middle line:90% You can't beat it. 00:13:31.520 --> 00:13:35.147 align:middle line:84% And I play my music loud as hell because that's how I like it. 00:13:35.147 --> 00:13:36.605 align:middle line:84% Once in a while, one of these dudes 00:13:36.605 --> 00:13:38.510 align:middle line:84% will knock on my door to complain. 00:13:38.510 --> 00:13:41.360 align:middle line:84% Say, man, would you mind turning it down a taste? 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.370 align:middle line:84% If I'm drinking scotch, doing some woodwork, 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:45.020 align:middle line:90% and I'll say, maybe. 00:13:45.020 --> 00:13:46.100 align:middle line:90% Or just ignore them. 00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:47.450 align:middle line:90% They don't mess with me either. 00:13:47.450 --> 00:13:50.690 align:middle line:84% Maybe because it is-- maybe it's because I 00:13:50.690 --> 00:13:52.850 align:middle line:90% am 6' 4 and weigh 215. 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:54.270 align:middle line:90% I don't know. 00:13:54.270 --> 00:13:58.100 align:middle line:84% I do know I can be a pain in the ass but that's my nature. 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:00.620 align:middle line:84% I just like to test people, see what they made of, 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:01.940 align:middle line:90% where they coming from. 00:14:01.940 --> 00:14:04.670 align:middle line:84% I got discharged from the Navy because of my temper, lack 00:14:04.670 --> 00:14:05.840 align:middle line:90% of cooperation. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.270 align:middle line:84% Couldn't carry out, let alone follow orders. 00:14:08.270 --> 00:14:10.100 align:middle line:90% And didn't give a shit. 00:14:10.100 --> 00:14:11.900 align:middle line:84% Didn't want to go in the first damn place. 00:14:11.900 --> 00:14:14.360 align:middle line:84% A Black man got enough wars to fight at home. 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.750 align:middle line:84% When they said draft and they meant army, I said, not me. 00:14:17.750 --> 00:14:19.700 align:middle line:84% Let me go somewhere halfway exciting. 00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:21.710 align:middle line:90% Submarines, and ships, and shit. 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:24.050 align:middle line:84% Everybody thought it would do me some good. 00:14:24.050 --> 00:14:26.870 align:middle line:84% But how can taking orders from the white man, killing people 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:30.920 align:middle line:84% that ain't never done nothing to me personally do me some good? 00:14:30.920 --> 00:14:33.350 align:middle line:90% It took me two years to get out. 00:14:33.350 --> 00:14:35.450 align:middle line:90% My whole family disowned me. 00:14:35.450 --> 00:14:39.350 align:middle line:84% If I was white, I probably would have been disinherited. 00:14:39.350 --> 00:14:42.860 align:middle line:90% My mom said, you just lost, boy. 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:44.810 align:middle line:90% Always was, always will be. 00:14:44.810 --> 00:14:47.780 align:middle line:84% Why don't you just go somewhere far away and leave us alone? 00:14:47.780 --> 00:14:48.680 align:middle line:90% The bitch. 00:14:48.680 --> 00:14:52.310 align:middle line:84% And my pops, I don't know the right word to describe him. 00:14:52.310 --> 00:14:53.120 align:middle line:90% Meek. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:54.495 align:middle line:90% That's close enough. 00:14:54.495 --> 00:14:56.120 align:middle line:84% You could have had a future if you'd've 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:57.680 align:middle line:90% followed the rules, son. 00:14:57.680 --> 00:14:59.650 align:middle line:84% That's all it takes to make it in this world, 00:14:59.650 --> 00:15:00.820 align:middle line:90% playing by the rules. 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:02.200 align:middle line:90% Yeah, right. 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.480 align:middle line:84% Look how far it got you, I wanted to say. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.000 align:middle line:84% A longshoreman, his dream in life. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:07.720 align:middle line:90% Shit. 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:10.270 align:middle line:84% I didn't get no dishonorable, just a general. 00:15:10.270 --> 00:15:12.070 align:middle line:84% I can still get some of the benefits. 00:15:12.070 --> 00:15:14.860 align:middle line:84% And Christine, she's a year older than me, 00:15:14.860 --> 00:15:16.900 align:middle line:84% the perfect word for her is dumb. 00:15:16.900 --> 00:15:18.760 align:middle line:90% Just plain old dumb. 00:15:18.760 --> 00:15:21.850 align:middle line:84% How she graduated from high school, I'll never know. 00:15:21.850 --> 00:15:24.250 align:middle line:84% My folks worshipped Christine and you'd 00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:26.650 align:middle line:84% swear she was the only child they ever had. 00:15:26.650 --> 00:15:28.930 align:middle line:84% That's because she'll lick the ground they walk on. 00:15:28.930 --> 00:15:31.300 align:middle line:84% You got too much anger in you, Franklin. 00:15:31.300 --> 00:15:33.070 align:middle line:84% That's your biggest problem, she said. 00:15:33.070 --> 00:15:36.070 align:middle line:84% You're hostile and you don't know what the words cooperate 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:37.330 align:middle line:90% or compromise mean. 00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:39.490 align:middle line:90% Why you so mad at everybody? 00:15:39.490 --> 00:15:41.110 align:middle line:90% She don't even know me. 00:15:41.110 --> 00:15:43.685 align:middle line:84% Maybe if I was high yellow like she was, and didn't ever have 00:15:43.685 --> 00:15:46.060 align:middle line:84% to worry about dealing with white folks scaring them half 00:15:46.060 --> 00:15:47.860 align:middle line:84% to death because I'm so big and black, 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:50.440 align:middle line:84% I would be happy as a little fucking lark too. 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.440 align:middle line:84% That's what it boiled down to-- color. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.930 align:middle line:84% Me and Darlene was the black sheep in the family. 00:15:55.930 --> 00:15:58.780 align:middle line:84% Took after my pops and we got treated like that too. 00:15:58.780 --> 00:16:01.690 align:middle line:84% Even now, Christine lived right across the street from moms 00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:03.730 align:middle line:84% and pops in a Leave it to Beaver house 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:06.520 align:middle line:84% with a Father Knows Best husband and three little baby Brady 00:16:06.520 --> 00:16:09.850 align:middle line:84% Bunch kids in dull ass Staten Island. 00:16:09.850 --> 00:16:12.243 align:middle line:84% And Darlene: if you'd have just made it 00:16:12.243 --> 00:16:13.660 align:middle line:84% through high school, Franklin, you 00:16:13.660 --> 00:16:15.520 align:middle line:90% could be playing for the Knicks. 00:16:15.520 --> 00:16:18.220 align:middle line:84% They've got hardship cases and you know it. 00:16:18.220 --> 00:16:20.860 align:middle line:84% You wouldn't have had to go to college, 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:23.620 align:middle line:84% could be making bookoo cash right now. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:25.690 align:middle line:90% She pissed me off. 00:16:25.690 --> 00:16:28.280 align:middle line:84% Thinks just like everybody else in America. 00:16:28.280 --> 00:16:30.130 align:middle line:84% Why is it that if you happen to be Black 00:16:30.130 --> 00:16:31.660 align:middle line:84% and over six feet tall, everybody 00:16:31.660 --> 00:16:34.930 align:middle line:84% thinks you're supposed to play basketball or football? 00:16:34.930 --> 00:16:36.490 align:middle line:84% But I'll let Darlene off the hook 00:16:36.490 --> 00:16:38.440 align:middle line:84% because she nutty as a damn fruitcake, 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:40.180 align:middle line:90% thanks to my parents. 00:16:40.180 --> 00:16:43.877 align:middle line:84% She changed jobs like some people change their clothes. 00:16:43.877 --> 00:16:45.460 align:middle line:84% Don't know whether she coming or going 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:48.247 align:middle line:84% and ain't never got no man, living up there in Harlem 00:16:48.247 --> 00:16:49.330 align:middle line:90% drinking herself to death. 00:16:49.330 --> 00:16:53.280 align:middle line:84% And she don't think nobody know it but I know it. 00:16:53.280 --> 00:16:56.170 align:middle line:84% I ain't seen none of them in almost a year 00:16:56.170 --> 00:16:58.060 align:middle line:84% and that's just the way I like it, really. 00:16:58.060 --> 00:16:59.350 align:middle line:90% All except for Darlene. 00:16:59.350 --> 00:17:00.670 align:middle line:90% I worry about her. 00:17:00.670 --> 00:17:02.320 align:middle line:84% Every now and then, I'll call her just 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.180 align:middle line:90% to make sure she's still alive. 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.190 align:middle line:84% She already tried to kill herself once 00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:09.099 align:middle line:84% and you think my folks would go up there and see her? 00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:11.500 align:middle line:84% All they ever want from us was to go along 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:14.109 align:middle line:84% with their program, which meant don't ever disagree with them 00:17:14.109 --> 00:17:15.220 align:middle line:90% about nothing. 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:17.950 align:middle line:84% Shit, they forgot that kids had opinions too. 00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:20.470 align:middle line:84% And it ain't no secret that they had it in for me 00:17:20.470 --> 00:17:21.730 align:middle line:90% from Jump Street. 00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:26.020 align:middle line:84% All they ever felt for me was disappointment, not love. 00:17:26.020 --> 00:17:27.670 align:middle line:84% And me being their only son, you'd 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:29.380 align:middle line:84% think they'd be more understanding. 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:31.480 align:middle line:84% But that would be too much like right. 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.270 align:middle line:84% They would love to see me drive up in a brand new car, 00:17:34.270 --> 00:17:35.770 align:middle line:84% walk in their house wearing a suit 00:17:35.770 --> 00:17:37.890 align:middle line:84% and tie, flashing credit cards, and proving 00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:40.390 align:middle line:84% to them that I didn't turn out to be the fuckup they thought 00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:41.230 align:middle line:90% I would. 00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:43.870 align:middle line:84% But even if I ever got to that point, 00:17:43.870 --> 00:17:46.090 align:middle line:84% I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing it 00:17:46.090 --> 00:17:48.280 align:middle line:90% since they never gave me none. 00:17:48.280 --> 00:17:51.160 align:middle line:84% But time can do some wild shit to your mind. 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:53.410 align:middle line:84% For one thing, it can put you in check, 00:17:53.410 --> 00:17:56.140 align:middle line:84% make you stop and realize on your 32nd birthday 00:17:56.140 --> 00:17:58.540 align:middle line:84% that your life is going down the fucking drain, 00:17:58.540 --> 00:18:01.720 align:middle line:84% that you ain't moving, ain't headed nowhere in particular. 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:03.970 align:middle line:84% You're drifting, pretending like you on your way 00:18:03.970 --> 00:18:06.670 align:middle line:90% but you don't know where. 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:09.220 align:middle line:84% And when you sit in a tiny ass room, smoking one 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:11.740 align:middle line:84% Newport after another, playing Solitaire 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:14.715 align:middle line:84% with a bottle of scotch, looking across the room at a piece 00:18:14.715 --> 00:18:16.090 align:middle line:84% of wood that could turn out to be 00:18:16.090 --> 00:18:18.970 align:middle line:84% a beautiful piece of furniture, and you 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:21.640 align:middle line:84% know what you're doing is good, but don't know what 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:23.770 align:middle line:84% to do about it or where to go from here, 00:18:23.770 --> 00:18:26.050 align:middle line:90% you sort of get scared. 00:18:26.050 --> 00:18:28.540 align:middle line:84% And who are you supposed to tell? 00:18:28.540 --> 00:18:31.840 align:middle line:84% A man don't run around telling everybody that he's scared, 00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:34.600 align:middle line:84% especially when they don't know what the fuck he's scared of. 00:18:34.600 --> 00:18:36.610 align:middle line:84% And for some reason, don't nobody 00:18:36.610 --> 00:18:38.500 align:middle line:84% seem to think that Franklin Swift should 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:40.150 align:middle line:90% be scared of nothing. 00:18:40.150 --> 00:18:42.220 align:middle line:90% But time scares me. 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:45.040 align:middle line:84% It feels like it's running out, like I got to go ahead and make 00:18:45.040 --> 00:18:46.750 align:middle line:90% a move, a big move. 00:18:46.750 --> 00:18:48.010 align:middle line:90% Hell, something drastic. 00:18:48.010 --> 00:18:50.330 align:middle line:84% And if the white man would give a Black man a break, 00:18:50.330 --> 00:18:52.790 align:middle line:84% maybe I could get in the union once and for all, 00:18:52.790 --> 00:18:55.445 align:middle line:90% making $14 to $17 an hour. 00:18:55.445 --> 00:18:57.820 align:middle line:84% They tearing down and putting up new buildings everywhere 00:18:57.820 --> 00:18:59.230 align:middle line:90% you look in Brooklyn. 00:18:59.230 --> 00:19:01.390 align:middle line:84% Italians will renovate anything for a dollar, 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:05.620 align:middle line:84% but be black and try to get in the union and what do they do? 00:19:05.620 --> 00:19:08.500 align:middle line:84% Lay your black ass off right before the cutoff date or want 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:10.900 align:middle line:84% to pay you hush money or go-home-and-don't-show-up 00:19:10.900 --> 00:19:11.470 align:middle line:90% money. 00:19:11.470 --> 00:19:15.850 align:middle line:84% Anything to stop from paying your union scale. 00:19:15.850 --> 00:19:18.250 align:middle line:84% And who can afford the dues when they're paying you 00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:19.570 align:middle line:90% 6 or 7 bucks an hour? 00:19:19.570 --> 00:19:21.820 align:middle line:90% So, yeah, I'm just a laborer. 00:19:21.820 --> 00:19:24.490 align:middle line:84% If I can get in a few weeks of steady work at a little higher 00:19:24.490 --> 00:19:27.040 align:middle line:90% than slave wages, I could join. 00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:28.660 align:middle line:90% They give us 30 days to do it. 00:19:28.660 --> 00:19:32.650 align:middle line:84% Shit, I could buy a decent car, be out of this dingy ass room. 00:19:32.650 --> 00:19:34.705 align:middle line:84% I could afford a one-bedroom apartment then 00:19:34.705 --> 00:19:37.360 align:middle line:84% and send the kids more money, let them spend a night, 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:38.950 align:middle line:84% take them to Coney Island, the movies. 00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:39.940 align:middle line:90% Shit, I don't know. 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:41.480 align:middle line:90% I don't need much. 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.160 align:middle line:84% And even though this is 1982, the white man 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.520 align:middle line:84% still love to see Black men lift that barge and tote that bell. 00:19:48.520 --> 00:19:50.447 align:middle line:84% If I didn't do nothing but sit around 00:19:50.447 --> 00:19:52.030 align:middle line:84% here all day like some of these dudes, 00:19:52.030 --> 00:19:55.180 align:middle line:84% then they'd call me a shiftless, lazy, no-good nigger. 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:57.550 align:middle line:84% Almost begged the motherfuckers for a job and they 00:19:57.550 --> 00:19:59.670 align:middle line:90% still feel threatened. 00:19:59.670 --> 00:20:02.700 align:middle line:90% A man gets tired of begging. 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:04.560 align:middle line:84% After a while, you feel butt naked, 00:20:04.560 --> 00:20:07.170 align:middle line:84% stripped of anything that even looked like pride. 00:20:07.170 --> 00:20:09.540 align:middle line:84% And they love that shit, which is 00:20:09.540 --> 00:20:12.780 align:middle line:84% why I resent every brick I pick up, 00:20:12.780 --> 00:20:15.720 align:middle line:84% every wheelbarrow I push, all the mud I sling, 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.550 align:middle line:84% every wall I've ever put up or torn down. 00:20:17.550 --> 00:20:20.940 align:middle line:84% And one day, I would love to just say, fuck you. 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:22.800 align:middle line:84% But I made the bed, now I'm laying 00:20:22.800 --> 00:20:26.310 align:middle line:84% in it, which is why I'm looking into night school. 00:20:26.310 --> 00:20:28.830 align:middle line:84% I can't work construction for the rest of my damn life. 00:20:28.830 --> 00:20:31.620 align:middle line:84% Muscles wear out, and the mind act like it want to follow. 00:20:31.620 --> 00:20:35.100 align:middle line:84% And out of all the things I may be, stupid ain't one of them. 00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:37.680 align:middle line:84% One day, I'd like to start my own business. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.220 align:middle line:84% Be my own man, give the damn orders instead of taking them, 00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:44.340 align:middle line:84% have some money in my pocket and money in the fucking bank. 00:20:44.340 --> 00:20:47.290 align:middle line:84% That's what it's all about, ain't it? 00:20:47.290 --> 00:20:51.810 align:middle line:84% And that's exactly why women ain't in the picture right now. 00:20:51.810 --> 00:20:53.580 align:middle line:90% They complicate shit. 00:20:53.580 --> 00:20:55.680 align:middle line:90% Fuck up my whole program. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:57.690 align:middle line:84% All they do is throw me off track 00:20:57.690 --> 00:21:02.573 align:middle line:84% and it takes me too goddamn long to swing back. 00:21:02.573 --> 00:21:03.240 align:middle line:90% That's Franklin. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:05.410 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:21:05.410 --> 00:21:10.640 align:middle line:90% 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:11.210 align:middle line:90% Thank you! 00:21:11.210 --> 00:21:13.790 align:middle line:90% 00:21:13.790 --> 00:21:15.190 align:middle line:90% Whoa! 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:16.000 align:middle line:90%