Original subtitles

(projector whirring)

♪ ♪

(Che)Dear dad, it's been15 years since we last met.

I doubt if you could imaginewhat I look like today,

but I rememberyour face as clearly

as the dream I had ofyou last night.

(fast rewind)

I wonder if my dad,if he's heard of me.

Like, I wonder if he knows that,like, I'm Rhymefest.

(DJ)Hey, y'all make some noise formy man, Rhymefest!

♪ I don't like it unless it's(Brand-new) ♪

♪ You might see me inmy (brand-new) whip with my ♪♪ (Brand-new) ♪

(Carson Daly)He's from Chicago,you might not know

that he won a, uh, Grammy

for co-writing "JesusWalks", the Kanye West song.

(crowd cheering)

Rhymefest... ♪ I walked through the valley ♪

♪ Of the shadowof death is ♪

♪ Top floor the view alone willleave you breathless ♪

(Che)Dad, I needed you in my life.

Where were you?

Did your father abandon you?

Or had you forgotten thatI'd even existed?

(laughing)

I want legacy.

I owe that to my children sothat they can have legacy.

I want to give him allthe things I ain't have,

you know what I'm saying.

I didn't have a pop todiscipline me.

I was just offthe chain automatically.

♪ ♪

(Che)I hate this.

(Donnie laughs)

You look cute.

No, I don't.

Aww...

Oh, yeah, we canhang this one up.

Solomon was chunky.

He was so chubby.

(Donnie laughs)

Hmm.

Ow.

(Che)Very good.Thank you.

This is mywife, Donnie.

The angel who came inand saved my life,

and we finallymoved into our new home.

(projector whirring)

♪ ♪

(Che)I grew up with my mom.

When my mother had me, you know,she was 15 years old.

It was like achild raising a child.

My grandparents took over.

So, I was going back and forth

between my motherand my grandparents.

Basically I met my popsmaybe three times.

Three or four timesin my whole life.

(fast rewind)

And the last time I sawmy father,

I had to be, like,maybe 12 years old.

And he wasn't a fresh dude likealcoholic, drug addict,

you know what I'm saying.

And I justnever saw him again.

He faded to black, you know.

And my wife and I were lookingfor a home to purchase.

And I rode past the housethat my father grew up in

and it was for sale.

And the way my wifelooks at it, is like,

it's an inheritance,you know, like,

something that was owed to mefor my pops never being around.

And hopefully, my children canhave the memories

in this crib thatI never had, you know?

This house right here,where my man is.

♪ ♪

(Donnie)People need to knowwhere they come from.

I think that's so important.

It's almost likeputting a puzzle together,

exploring the past and tryingto find some resolution.

(Che)When I was young,

the few times I met my father,this was his room.

And all I can remember is himwatching George Clinton videos,

drinking beer.

And now it's mine.

I only met my father a few timesduring my conscious years.

There was a time hecame over to my mom's house

to take me to a movie,

and I can hear him talking tomy mom in the other room.

He didn't have any money.

And he had to borrow money fromher to take me to the movie.

And he hadblood on his pants.

But none of that mattered,you know what,

that day I wasjust happy to be around him.

Around another man.

(DJ) Give it up for Rhymefest!

(Che)I know I didgood without my father.

I got that two million dollarrecord deal.

I got a chanceto travel the world,

win Grammys, have fans allaround the country.

But there's the emptiness.

There's still anemptiness.

Babe, I'm about to go.(Che)All right, I'm ready.

(Donnie)When we first moved in, for Che,it just brought up all of these

feelings about notgrowing up with his father.

So many negative thingsthat had happened.

He justhad all these questions.

What kind of man was he?

And why did heabandon me?

And so, finally I just saidyou have a lot of questions.

I think that you probablyshould try to find him.

(phone ringing)

(Lorna) Hey!

Hey, Mom, how was church?

It's all good.

But, you know what's funnythough,

now that I,like, got this house?

I be feeling like something istelling me to go find my father.

Do you care?

But how do I knowhe ain't dead yet?

Mm-hmm.

So, Trenton is Brian's brother?

(Lorna) Yeah.

Give me his phone number,

and I'mgoing to call him.

Okay.

(phone ringing)

(Trenton) Hello?

Trenton.

I'm good, Unc.

You know,I bought the house right?

Yeah, and I want to find Brian.

Do you know where he is?

Well...

Tom Willoughby?

(phone ringing)

(Tom) Yes?

How you doing Mr. Willoughby?

Yeah,I assume you got my message.

Yeah, how is he doing?

What is his state?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, lock my number in

and thank youso much Mr. Willoughby.

No problem.

(man)In three, two...

(Che)Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Have you ever met yourgrandfather before?

I have never metmy grandfather.

What do you thinkmeeting your grandfather

will be like forthe first time?

I, I don't--I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't really feel anyconnection

because he hasn'treally been in my life.

♪ ♪

(Che)Today, I got a phone callfrom Tom Willoughby.

He was like,I got your father.

And before I knew it, he justthrew Brian on the phone.

And it's funny 'causeI don't know whether or not

to call him Brian or likewhat to call him.

I really don'tfeel like saying, like-

like saying Dad is, like, um,a term of endearment.

And I don't know howendeared I am at this point.

I mean he had this thing in hisvoice where he was like,

I'ma be here atthis library until 7:00.

He's like please, please meetme, like, please don't not come.

And then I start questioningwas this a mistake?

'Cause I might noteven like this dude.

(Donnie)What do you hope toaccomplish today?

Seeing what I could be.

I mean at the endof the day...

I'm a... I'm...if I'm going to be honest,

I'm a piece of him.

You know I'm a-I'm a piece of him.

And maybe part ofwhy I'm here

is to maybe eventurn that around for him.

Because maybe that meanssomething for me in the future.

(Brian)Don't you know who thisis, don't you?

Don't youknow who this is?

This is, this is mymain man, my son.

This is Rhymefest.

What's up man?

(laughing)

Come on, come onwith me, man.

Oh, come here.

Can he come with me?

Yeah, come on.

I'm going crazy, man.

What's wrong with you?

I can't get over this.

Come on.

That's your what?

(Che)Let's go, let's goeat man, hop in.

You good?

I'm happy, Che.

All right.

(Che)Did you know mewhen you saw me?

I almost didn't,I almost didn't.

Or did it takeyou a minute?

I almost did not recognize youbut then, guess what.

What?You had my walk,you had my walk.

(laughing)

(Wayne)You got a walk?Yes, I got a walk.

(Wayne)Even with a limp.

(Che)Let me ask youa question.

(Brian)What's up?

Do you gotany more kids?

Or am I the only one?

No, that'swhat I knew--

I knew that was goingto be the first one.

You the only one.

Che, youthe only one.

You is the onlyson I have.

(Brian)This is the restaurant rightthere, across the street.

Yeah, right there...

♪ ♪

(chatter)

So how youfeeling, man?Che...

Tell me how youfeel right now.

I'm nervous!Why?

(Wayne)That's true tothe point.

Why you nervous, man?

Man...It's all good.

You-you-you isa billionaire, man.

I ain't nobillionaire.

Call-call on up.

I did, she didn'tanswer the phone.

I want to see whatshe look like now.

I can show youa couple pictures.

That was my boo.

That's your grandson.

Oh, no!

That's what my motherlook like now.

She didn'tgot fat?!

(laughing)

(Wayne)No, she ain't fat.

That was the best girl Iever, ever, ever, ever,

ever, ever, ever, ever,ever, ever, ever, ever had.

Now what do you wantright now, in your life?

If your man-- if you couldhave anything in the world,

what would youwant right now?

A nice job and a-and a nice crib.

I don't want towork outside.

I want an inside job,run an elevator.

They don't dothat no more, man.

(laughing)

Run an elevator?

(Wayne)Something simple, right?

(Che)I want to pushthe button on the elevator.

Because that'sall I can do.

(Brian)Before you takeme home...

Which store?

The what?

Don't buy no liquorwith that, man.

Listen, I ain't buying,

I'm just buying me,I'm buying, I'm buying...

I'll take youstraight to the spot.

Oh, man.We ain't going tothe liquor store, man.

I ain't gonnahave no sleep tonight.

I love you, man,but damn.

You hurting me man,you hurting me.

I could buy me one doggonething before I go in tonight.

At least a pintof something.

Oh, man, you gonna do me like--you going to make this...

Do one night,one night without it.

All right,one night.One night.

All right,make a left.For me.

All right, all right,all right.

Can you do it?I can do it.

(Che)Be good, man.

All right,all right, man.

Stay out of trouble.

You stay up, man.Don't do nothing wrong, man.

I'm going to seeyou this Thursday.

I'll see youthis Thursday.

This Thursday, thisThursday, we gon'-- hey.

We'll get haircutstogether.

Yeah.

Okay, okay,I got you.

All right.

I got you.

Take it easy man,good to meet you. brother.

(Che)I actually like the dude.

Like, I want to go wash myhands, take a shower.

But, that's justthe asshole in me talking.

I can't be mad.

Like, hefell on hard times.

I mean, sometimes it ain'tnobody's fault.

It's just life.

Now, he waiting.

(Donnie)I think that the nightwent a lot better

than I wouldhave anticipated.

Like I'm just excited about,for both of us,

being able toexperience a healthy family.

Because Che and I, we hadvery similar childhoods.

Both of our mothers,you know, had drug problems.

And both of our fathers hadbasically abandoned us.

I think that African-Americanculture can be very secretive

when it comes to someof our life experiences.

There's a lot of hurtand pain.

And I want my lifeto kind of be an open book.

This is an article that talkedabout me and my mom.

Um, it was aboutparents being incarcerated.

My mom was in prison fromthe time I was four

to about ten or11 for armed robbery.

She was a getawaydriver.

The closest personto me was my grandmother.

Because when my momwent to prison,

no one includingmy father, would take me.

And if it hadn't been formy grandmother,

I would havebeen in foster care.

And that's why I've alwayswanted to be a mom.

It's like a chance to dodifferent and to do better.

I don't have anychildren.

I have stepchildren.

But I'm ready to takethe next step to have a baby.

It's my legacywith Che.

I think in orderto break a cycle,

you have to dealwith the pain

of whatever traumathat you've been through.

♪ ♪

(Brian)Oh, boy.What?

This bringsback memories.

What does?

Look at the house.

Where?

Right there.

Let's go in.What?!

Let's go in.Go in?

That's myhouse.That's what?!

I bought the house.You bought the house?!

No.

I bought the house,it's my house now.

You couldn't have.

Come on, man,stop it, man.

There where I grew up.

It's my new house.

(Brian)Get the heckout of here.

Come here, walk in.

Open the door,oh, no, open the door.

Oh, man.

(Donnie)How you doing?

Alright, alright.Good to see you.

What's up, what's up,big guy?

Hey, do you know me?

You know who I am.

(all laughing)

It can't be Lorna?

That you, Lorna?

Yeah, it's me.No!

(laughing)

Yeah.

It's you?It's me.

Oh!

(chuckling)

What's up, Brian?

Oh, man,what the heck.

(Che)Hey, give me yourhat and coat, man.

Ooh, man.

You want to stayfor dinner?

Yes, sir.

(laughing)

Oh, you shocking me.

Oh, okay.

I wouldn't haverecognized you.

I wouldn't haverecognized you either.

Because we wasteenagers.

Yes,yes we were.

Teenagers.Back in the day.

Back in the day,a long time ago.Mmm, mmm, mmm.

(Che)Hey man you want to leave my momalone and get ready to eat.

Stop eyeing my mama.

And in all places,this house.

Uh-huh.What the heck.

Come on, let me show you.You want to see the basement?

Yeah, I got tosee the basement.

Hey, hey, hey,watch that.

Watch out, hey,come on this way, man.

(laughing)

Oh, man!

Yes, sir.

This gon', this gon'be a library.

This gon' be a--this used to a bedroom.

This used to be mylittle brother's.

This is all the people thatI've been hanging with and know.

And this is meand Kanye.

And me and Chuck D fromPublic Enemy, you know?

(Brian)Man, man!

This is me andthe president of England.

The presidentof England?

Yeah, the Prime Ministerof England.

Man.

That's when Iran for office.

That was my sign.

Doggone it,man, man.

♪ ♪

(chatter)

(laughing)

(laughing)

You look good witha haircut man.

Thank you.

I'm so glad tosee both of y'all.

I don't know whatI'd do.

It's a miracle,it's a miracle.

(Lorna)It's a blessing.

I never thoughtthis would happen.

(projector whirring)

(Brian)Yeah, they stillout there, cold.

(Che)All right, I'llpull over up there.

Yeah, see where allthe people at?

Yeah, they gonnacall me again.

Hey, man, yoube good, be safe.

All right, man.

You gon' walk me tothe door, make sure.

Make sure everythingall right.

Hey, did y'alldo the recall yet?

Can I get my nameback on the list?

(shelter supervisor)Doing the wait list right now.

Back up and give us some room.

All right.

Hey.All right, man.

Take it easy.All right, man.

Y'all stay up.

All right, man, y'all stay up,y'all stay up, people.

(Che)I heard my father saysomething earlier

when I was coming downthe stairs, and he said,

"Man, the only thingI did right was Che.

I didn't think I coulddo anything right."

(chuckling)

Like, and Idid that right.

I want my dadin my life.

But I grew up with addicts,

and I know how addictscan tear a home apart.

So now he's got a chance.

He's got to makethis happen.

♪ This is your life ♪

♪ Yo look at here ♪

♪ These the thingswe all go through ♪

♪ It's everydaylife for me and you ♪

♪ Don't feel bad ♪

Don't feel bad.

Can you get inthe car?

Come on.♪ Things that happen every day ♪

♪ Around the worldor around the way ♪

♪ We just tell a story ♪

♪ Tell the story... ♪

(Che)Good afternoon, Chicago.

This is Che Rhymefest Smith onthe "Speak Up" show, WVON.

I want to talk toyou about something today

that has been heavyon my mind.

I'm looking atnews stories all week.

You know black mengetting shot.

Yesterday, nine-year-oldboy killed in our city,

and I started to think

where doesfathering come in?

We got Jimmy on the line.What do you think, Jimmy?

(Jimmy) It's just one of those things that we have to ask ourselves

on a personal level, what are we doing to help our community?

Mm-hmm.

I mean if we don't fight for our own,

then nothing can help us.

You know, whenwe look at violence,

when we look atincarceration.

We've got young people,they don't have a father,

they don't have a mother,and in fact,

when you lookat many gangs,

that's why youngpeople join them,

because they believe thisis the support system.

So, we have to bebetter role models.

We have to be evenmore than mentors.

We have to be the fathersand the mothers

of the children whodon't have them at home.

Thank you for tuninginto the "Speak Up" show.

This is Che Rhymefest Smithsigning out.

What up, brotha?

Rhymefest! Oh, shit!What's up, baby?

Man, how you feeling, man?Welcome to the Chi, baby.

I live upthe block.

Hey, what you doin'out here, man?

Turnin' up thepositive movement, man.

I love that inyou, bro.

Alright.

Alright, take it easy.

What up, what up,what up, what up, man?

(man)Hey, how y'all's doin'?

(Che)Growing up in Chicago,

I was that kid hangin' outon the corner.

Gangbanging,with no purpose.

I felt like a failure becauseI didn't have a father.

(student)♪ This is backwards ♪

♪ I'm not supposed tobe the man of the house ♪

♪ It's not like she triedto trap you ♪

♪ You played by the mouse... ♪

(Che)When you become a teenager

and you realize that

none of your friendshave fathers around,

You become angry.

♪ The fatherless ♪

♪ How does it feelto be kidless? ♪

Mmm.

(applause)

Thank you.

(Darrius)♪ Welcome tothe strip of death ♪

♪ Where you see the reaperat his best ♪

♪ Black hood isstrapped up with his TEC ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm lost gotnothing to lose ♪

♪ So I mappedout my best move ♪

♪ I'll put you on your kneeswhile my guys grab everything ♪

♪ 911 emergency ♪

♪ Hurry before they buryme because I can't sleep ♪

♪ There's somethingwrong with me ♪

(applause)

(Che)Let me ask you a question.

What is that about?

It's about basically,this is what is it's come to.

Robbing somebody and maybetaking their life.

Your daddy diedwhen you was young.

Your brother justdied, right?

Yeah.

I ain't heardthat story.

It's sittingin there.

That's your mostprofound rap

sitting inside of you.

And you're talking aboutkilling somebody else.

(sobbing)

It's hard.

You see all thesepeople right here.

When we ain't here, we-we-we your family.

Ain't we family?

(all)Yes, sir.

We gon' take careof each other.

You always gotsomebody to call in here.

It's just like growingup with no parents,

you don't really knowwho you are some days.

It's like youdon't know...

you don't know whoyou get this from.

You don't knowwho you get that from.

And then it's just likeI keep losing people.

Everybody around youis dropping

and you got tobeat whatever that is.

You got to be the leader thatleads your family out of that.

You gotta conquerwhatever that is man.

Do you got somebodyto talk to?

Who you gotto talk to?

Nobody.

You got a phone?

Put my numberin your phone.

We gon' talk,alright?

But you could callme whenever, man.

Stay consistent.

(Che)One thing I realized todayis that everybody has a story.

And my personal experiencesare not unique.

75% of black children are borninto single parent homes.

75%.

That's crazy.

But we have the same goalfinding out who we are.

(Che)Do you think meand you look alike?

Well, I think we do.

You got-you gotmy eyes, bro.

I got togive you that.

You got my eyes.

Did you likeyour father?

Yeah, but he crazy.

He was kindof abusive.

Like beat on you?Yeah.

It was like atorture chamber.

You're a veryemotional guy.

You're asensitive man.

Yes, I am,very sensitive.

(laughing)

I be watching "Little House onthe Prairie", man, a lot.

Mm-hmm.

That gets to me,you know?

That's the kind of guyI wanna be like, you know.

I just...

I just wish youwere there more man,

when I was growing up,you know?

I wish I wasthere more, too.

But Che...

I really wasn'tgrown up, man.

I really wasn't.

We got to get youa place to stay.

You got-you gotto get off the street.

Yeah.

Well, that's whatI'd like to do.

And I'm doing...

But you gotta,you gotta stop drinking.

I got to what?

You got tostop drinking.

Whoa, now...

You telling abird not to fly.

You tell a fishnot to swim.

(laughing)

I mean, I've beendoing this for so long.

How can youchange now?

You know?

Shit.

(Solomon)So what you do isyou open it up.

You putthe clothes in here.

(Brian)Okay.

After you put theclothes in here.

It's gel packsright here.

Uh-huh.

Put the gel packsin there.

Power and then start.Power and then start.

Okay, got it,thank you.

See you later, man.

Alright, right on,right on.

Alright,alright, okay.

So many messedup clothes.

Okay, I knowI got to wash that.

Well, I haven't been doingthis for a long time.

(Che)♪ I want to see my father ♪

♪ I think I got to save him ♪

♪ Yep, I already love him,I already forgave him ♪

♪ I do my thing,I save the children ♪

♪ I'm like a hero running intoburning buildings ♪

♪ Except I'm runninginto shelters ♪

♪ To save people whoare related they my elders ♪

There he isright there.

(Brian)Hey, man!What's up, man?

We have anappointment today

'cause he's supposed to be goingto a transitional home.

Yeah.

(man)You're going to go around thatway, sign your name over here.

(Che)Yes, sir.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

I got it,I got it.

Man, come on man.

You're going upthe steps, man.

You gimme that bag.

Give it here.

Don't thatfeel better?

Man, itfeels great.

(laughing)

(Che)So basically, they said that

they're goingto give him a shower.

They going to do some thingsto make sure

you don't have no bedbugs or stuff like that.

And, um, they're goingto keep you.

Yeah, they gonna...

How youfeel about that?

Well...

It's cold out here so it betterthan being outside in the cold.

When you get settled,you got a phone.

Charge your phone.

And make sureyou call me, man.

All right.

(Che)They ain't goingto keep you prisoner.

(Brian)Well, I hope not!

(both laughing,door buzzing)

(Che)♪ It's for all my blue collarniggas in the Midwest ♪

♪ Going through our struggle ♪

♪ We know thingscould be better ♪

♪ And we just want alittle more ♪

♪ No matter howmuch I get I want more ♪

♪ Even when I talk my shitI want more ♪

♪ Every party on every list ♪

♪ And everybodywant a life like this ♪

♪ And I ain't going for theoki-doke you owe me dough ♪

♪ You better pay me likeyou know we broke ♪

♪ This industry be trying tostrangle niggas in the choke ♪

♪ You think these rappers rich ♪

♪ These niggas out hereselling dope ♪

♪ You think it's crazylike more ♪

♪ No matter howmuch I get I want more ♪

♪ Even when I talk my shitI want more ♪

Hello, I'm a little baby!

I don't really do things,and I move side to side.

And I can't controlmy neck right now.

And my fingers liketo throw up gang signs.

Throw up a gang sign.

Pow!

Look at that, lookat that... folks.

Ha!

(doing baby talk)

That's my baby girl.

See all these yearsof being a womanizer,

and you see whathappens?

You see what happens?

When men become womanizers,they have little women.

And I gotto chill out.

I got to chill out andshow you the game.

(Che)When I first got my record deal,I became selfish.

I forgot about Solomon,I forgot about Essence.

I had to go offand be Rhymefest.

I was 29.

And I was goingthrough this thing

where I felt like Iwas getting old.

I tried to fuckeverything.

I did fuck everything.

(man) Rhymefest!

(Che)Everything thatI worked for in my life

was to not be like my father.

I mean when Solomon'smom got pregnant,

I was like,"I'm gonna be different

"than the father I had.

I'm going to bethe greatest father."

Say, "Mama."

But, boy howthe universe works.

(phone ringing)

(Joli) Hello?

(Che)Hey, what's up?

So what's, what's all of thisyou telling me about, like,

you know, when I'm done.

The text message youjust sent me.

"What are yourintentions on raising Amina?"

And it's just like...

Hold on, but why--but, Joli, Joli, Joli.

Number one, we have toget a DNA test.

I-- that-that's something thatyou don't feel is important.

You describe it as...

No, I don't, becauseI'm looking at-- Joli.

Joli, you gota brand-new ba--

(disconnect beeping)

(operator) Please leave your message for...

(Joli) Joli.

(Che)Joli is a womanthat I was dating

right before I met Donnie.

And when Joli gotpregnant,

I was going throughstruggles, I was poor.

I didn't want a baby.

You know, and I told her, Isaid, you had this baby.

This baby isgoing to be fatherless.

You're going to go throughthis alone.

But she hadthe child anyway.

And so, for the first year,I wasn't there.

But I called her and I said,okay, I'm going to do better.

Try to come seethe baby.

You know, I hadto explain it to my wife.

Because during this yearand nine months

I got married to Donnie.

But, I found out some thingsthat made me not trust

when she evensaid it was my child.

(fast rewind)

Like Amina doesn'tlook like me.

And she doesn't movelike me or act like me.

I mean, when I look at Essence,when I look at Solomon,

I see myself,I feel myself.

But when I look at Amina,I don't see me.

But I'll tell you sinceI reunited with my father,

I'm trying to do thingsdifferently,

and I need to know,is she mine?

(woman)Good morning, everybody.

We're going to start thismorning with our earth science.

And if you will turnto page 239.

Do youhave it, Brian?

No, not yet.

Page 239.

The earth science areais very, very enriching.

And it is about rocksand mountains.

And we're goingto be talking about

the oceans of the worldand meteorology.

I know you'venoticed on television

that they aremeteorologists...

♪ ♪

(water running)

(Kevin)Hey, Che, how are ya?

(Che)Good, good.

I want to talk to youabout my father.

(Kevin)Health-wise, he'sin good shape.

Mentally, he seems to be comingout of the fog and he's sharper.

He just finished, uh, GEDclass so, uh, he knows

that the next step he'scloser to getting that job.

He's really looking forwardto finally being

in his own littleone-bedroom apartment.

He is.He really wants that so...

He really wants that.

Coming from 20years being homeless

and being onthe streets,

it is overwhelming, buthe's eager to get back to work.

Yep.

When I come around him, hedoesn't smell like alcohol.

I know the difference ofwhen he's been drinking

and when he hasn't.

Something'smotivating him.

Mm-hmm.

(Brian)Come in!

(Kevin)Hello, Brian....

(Che)I brought you somestuff, man.

Oh, man.

Now, which bedis yours?

That's my bedhere, man.

Okay, okay.

Hey, man, where, where'dyou get this here from?

Somebody stoleyour mug.

Yes, they did,they stole--

Oh, man, this is better thanthe mug that they took, man.

Yeah.And you can't have that

without something to drink.

So I brought yousome of these.

Now this ain'tHawaiian Punch, but...

Oh, hey, man, that'sjust as good.

Deodorant, soap.

Oh, man, man,thank you, son.

Always.

Oh, man, I just gotme a-a CD yesterday.

That's from the damn'90s, man!

Don't nobodyuse that no more.

It only cost me,it only cost me $3.

Three-- that's why,because nobody use it.

I want to throw that shitout the window, man.

Don't do it!

(laughing)

Where arewe going, man?

Well, I wasthinking this.

Me and you playchess, eat lunch.

Yeah, let's do that.All right.

Man, I been wanting to playyou for the longest, man.

Let's get it.

You beenavoiding me.You've been avoiding me!

Ain't no moreavoiding.

When was the last timeyou beat me, man?

(Che)Today.Yee!

(Che laughing)

♪ ♪

Scaring me, man.

Don't be scared,just be ready.

I gotta befocused.

Let's see what happenswhen you focus.

Oh, no, no.

I got totake that.

Holy!

(laughing)

(Brian)I learned how to playchess at an early age.

And that's my favoritegame, chess.

Out of check.

Chess is like life.

It's like youthe king and whatnot.

And every piece onthat chessboard

is supposed toprotect the king.

Every piece.

I ain't gonnaplay with you.

And every piece isyour family.

Your family can help youor your family can kill you.

But, uh, I'm defending myselfat the same time.

I'm protectingmyself at all costs.

♪ ♪

(Che)♪ Straight out of high schoolwe didn't know what to do ♪

♪ Wanted to go to collegebut no money was nothing new ♪

♪ Wanted to get away go see theworld and do something new... ♪

Hey, do you thinkI'm famous?

Yeah!

Like, when my album first cameout, I couldn't go nowhere, man.

Oh, man.

Now see, that's why--that's why I got that CD.

I know you got some, some,some of your first, uh,

rapping thingsand whatnot.

I want to hear, I want to beable to hold on one of your CDs.

Man, you're noteven going to understand

what I'm talking about.

I want to be able to singthe song just like you do.

I want to play that thingover and over and over

and over andover and over.

Until I say I don't wantto hear no more, you know.

That's what I done did.

(laughing)

♪ ♪

(Brian)"Blue Collar", aye?

(Che)That was the nameof my first album.

This, like, allthe crowds,

all the peopleI performed for.

And that's me andEminem battling.

Yeah, yeahI seen this one.

Rhymefest...

You know who that is?

Kanye West.

(Che rapping)

I've known Kanyesince I was like 16, 17.

...throw them up in the air

Let them all come down... right there...

(Che)I met Kanye because hecame up to me and was like,

yo, you one of the toprappers in the city.

The one thingyou're missing is tracks.

You need beats and I gottracks and I got beats.

♪ Kanye to the unh West ♪

♪ Said you from the outfit I told her yes ♪

(Che)And I tell my friendsabout him, and I be like,

there's this really arrogantdude named Kanye.

And he's crazy and he's...

And Kanye heard that I wastalking mess about him.

And he came over myhouse, he called me one day.

He said, "Yo, I'm going tocome pick you up,

let's go out and kick it."

And we havelike the best time.

Went girl hunting, and laughedand rapped and all of this.

And when he droppedme off, he said, you know,

"We picked you up 'cause we weregonna jump you and beat you up,

"and leave you somewhere.

But, like, you'reactually a cool dude."

We've been friends likebrothers ever since.

("Jesus Walks" playing)

Somebody had gaveme a tape.

And the tape hadthis gospel song on it.

(singing with song)And it was, like,♪ Jesus walks ♪

♪ Jesus walkswith me, with me ♪

It really shookme up.

Brought me to tears.

And I said Kanye,I called him up.

I said yougotta hear this song.

♪ Jesus Walks... ♪

He said, "Oh, my God."

♪ Because the devil tryingto break me down... ♪

We must writethis immediately.

♪ Harass and arrest us ♪

♪ Saying we eat pieces ofshit like you ♪

♪ For breakfast unh ♪

♪ Y'all eat pieces of shit... ♪

(Che)He said,I want you to know

this is for my album.

But, I'm going togive you credit on it.

And we're going to writeit together.

'Cause it wasoriginally for my demo

for me to get arecord deal.

Kanye West.

(Che)It was up forBest Rap Song of the Year.

And everybody who helped writethe rap song gets a Grammy.

And I was likeyo, it's dope, dope.

Yo, this is Rhymefest.

Right now you need to dropwhat you're doing.

Punch out and goclock my new album.

"Blue Collar."

Time magazine named this albumof the six summer albums

to play nice and loud with thesong "Fever" from his debut CD.

Rhymefest!

♪ ...Stuffy head coldleaving you aching... ♪

I put out Blue CollarJuly of 2006.

♪ Rhymefest coming through ♪

♪ Jimmy Kimmel next timelet me sit on the couch yo ♪

It was highly anticipated.

♪ Fever ♪

♪ Put your hands in the sky ♪

♪ Fever ♪

And we came out withthe album, and it bombed.

It-- it bombed.

(sighing)

♪ This isthe story of a comeback ♪

♪ Know a lot of hatersdon't want that ♪

♪ Now I don't actI overreact ♪

♪ That is the shitthey wanted me back ♪

♪ In the streets... tell 'em. ♪

♪ Don't tell 'em...Tell 'em... ♪

(phone ringing)

Hey, what's up.

(woman) I was returning your phone call

from the other day.

Yeah, uh, doI have court Friday?

'Cause, you know,I paid last month.

But when it went up,

like it had kind of made mefall behind in child support.

So right now, I'm a,I'm a month behind.

But, I'm going tocatch that up pretty soon.

All right, well, thank youfor your help, goodbye.

Bye, Che.

You know, people ask whathappened to all your money.

Where is all your money?

When these recordlabels give you a check,

the one thing they don't giveyou is-- and a lot of rappers

and young guys fromthe hood never had,

was financial training.

You know what I mean?

I bought housesthat got foreclosed on.

I bought cars.

You know, Iinvested in my career.

You know, there were times whenthere was no record label.

I had to press upCDs and give them away.

Pay to go on tours and you know,try to get things restarted.

And I had to keepup that reputation

that nothing's wrong,everything is good.

I got it.

That's a partof being a man.

This is Che Rhymefest Smithfilling in for Matt McGill.

And it is truly a family affairas we discuss black fatherhood.

And in this discussion with me,I got my father and my son.

Three generationsof black men.

We're going to go toa caller on the South side.

David, you have a quick--you there, David?

(David) Yeah, how you doing Rhymefest?

I'm a first generation father because my father,

I consider him a bum because he didn't do

what he needed to do as a man to raise his child.

I'm not trying to put your father on the spot,

but I would like to ask him,

what does it take for a man

to walk away from his child?

It-it wasn't notmeant for me to do that.

The thing was thingswas hard, and David,

I'm sorry thatyour-- father, you know,

didn't come through foryou but you know what?

You need to go see him andfind him like my son found me.

I just want to sayto David,

you can never have a properrelationship with your children

until you learnto forgive.

(beep)

I want to take anothercaller, let's go to Faheem.

(Faheem) God meant for boys to have fathers.

Boys need fathers.

Father knows best.

(woman) My father was an alcoholic

but he was still there for his family.

And that's why I'm making that statement.

We need our men in our lives.

(man) There are no excuses for any man to abandon their children.

If you can survive on the street and homeless,

then you could have survived with your children.

(Che)See, you knewyour dad, man.

You spent timewith him.

You grew up with him, badgood, whatever the times was.

Y'all have.

But see, if you'd seenhow my dad was, man...

He wasn't apretty picture.

Why?

Some things he-- youknow done to me man,

I wouldn't do tomy enemy.

Man, he put, he put, youknow, shotguns to your head.

Not his kids?

Oh, yeah.Over what?

About 45 cents was missing outof his pockets and whatnot.

And he don'tknow what happen--

45 cents?45 cents.

Oh, man.

Back in the days

we used to have to hangfrom these pipes and whatnot.

All night long.

That was yourpunishment?

That wasmy punishment.

How could you love somebodylike that, man.

There you go,tell me that.

You tell me that.

Yeah.

Daddy.

(Che)Hey, boo.

(Brian)Hey, hey.

You know whothis is?

This my dad,this my dad.

Grandpa!

(Brian reading quietly)

(Brian)Yeah, I goto school.

(Che)What kind of fishyou want?

Uh, get mecatfish.

(Essence)I didn't know youlike catfish.

I love catfish, too.

You do, you gonna havesome catfish with me?...

Uh-huh.I see.

(Che)If this is true, that like hegets a GED, he stops drinking,

it's the most amazing thingI've ever seen,

like thatI never expected.

And-and, man I gota father.

Like a real father.

(Judith)I don't thinkwe've officially met.

My name is Judith Ball, Centerfor Workforce Development.

Um, Kevin was kindenough to give me your resume,

so can you just answer a coupleof these questions

for me real quick?(Brian)Sure, sure will.

What's your date of birth?

11-24-58.

Are you a veteran, sir?

No.

And do you havea driver's license?No.

When was the last time thatyou had a job interview?

Well, I... I mean, I've beenout of a job for about 20 years.

Right, so you didn't get a lotof interview chances, huh?

(laughing)

No, I didn't get--I didn't have too many chances.

Do you have a criminalbackground of any kind?

No, no criminal...

You've never beenin trouble?

I've been in trouble,

but I don't haveno criminal background.

I never been convictedof any crime.

Okay.

So how much clean timedo you have right now?

Clean time?

Well, uh, fromthis day to here.

So, you got about two--2-1/2 months.

Right.

Okay, that's great!

It's like, you know,I'm still dreaming.

(Kevin)Right.(laughing)

(Judith) Have a great day.(Brian) All right, you too.

I've been heretwo months man, ooh-wee.

It only seem likeabout two weeks.

I ain't drinking.

I'm clearing up,my skin is clearing up.

I'm gaining weight.

Man, if I go around people that,you know, that I hang around,

they wouldn'teven recognize me.

They'd say..."Brian is that you?!"

(laughing)

Man, they say... you lookingbetter and better every day.

Every day youlooking better and better.

I say and youcould, too.

All you got to dois follow the rules.

Man, it's hard, butthis is the thing

that gets me alongfrom not drinking.

You know, I fillthis up with with pop.

And... hey,I'm cool.

I'm straight.

♪ ♪

(Brian)I'm going to pickup my boy, Wayne.

One of my best friends.

Me and him, you know, we-we-we hanged out a long, long--

It's like,we like Laurel and Hardy.

(horn honking)

Right there.

Hey, buzz buzzin!

(Brian)Man, you can't be doingthat shit, man, damn.

You fucking me up, man.

Shit. If I hadn't known you beenlike this here man, damn.

Hey, man!

Hey, hold on,hold on, hold on.

Don't come inhere, man.

I got to check what'sin that cup first.(laughing)

All right.It's agua.

You in here.

It's agua.

(laughing)

Come on, man, don'tbe scared.

Come on, man.

Come toyour buddy's crib.

How you feelin', man?

Hey, do me a favor.

Uh, go back andwash your hands

so we can get readyto eat, y'all.

(Brian)Yeah, yeah.

Let me show you wherethe washroom at.

Man, controlyourself man.

I know, you knowwhat I...

Oh man.

I should haverolled them back

to see how my boyWayne was doing.

How hewas feeling.

I didn't know he wasfeeling that good today.

That's my boy.

And I used to, I used to actlike that boy back in the days.

Man, that's somedifferent day, though.

(Che)What's goingon with you, man?

I'm just, I'm just..

What's the wordI'm looking for?

I don't know whatthe word is.

What's the wordyou're looking for?

Situation, it ain't-it ain't-it ain't...

Okay, what I'mtrying to say--

Why youquestioning me?

Brian?Yes?

What's up withyour man?

(laughing)

Yeah, he want to, hewant to know the truth.

Why nigga is tripping.

Che, he's a nut,man, you know.

I know he a nutfrom day one.

Now you feel me.

(laughing)

Now you feel me.

This your bestfriend.

This my bestfriend.

He's confused.

I'll tell youwhat though.

What that?

I'm glad youmy father.

Yeah, oh, man.

You know what I'mtalking, you know...

Would you shut up.

I got to get somepaper towels, man.

Yeah.

Boy, you are lostin space, ain't you?

Wasted.

Yeah.

Man, you, yousomething else, man.

(Wayne)But, you know, I gon',you know...

(mumbling)

(Kevin)The first step youhave to realize that

you're not in control ofyour life anymore.

Alcohol, cocaine, drugs,whatever your disease is.

It's biggerthan you.

When youfirst get sober,

you have this feelingof, I got this.

I'm never going togo back to that lifestyle.

But at the endof the day,

the age that you start usingmarijuana, cocaine, and alcohol

is the age that you stopdeveloping mentally.

I mean, that's why yousee a lot of these people

that are older andimmature.

But how is it thathe's going cold turkey.

And I'm concernedabout that.

Like he goes andhangs with the guys

that he was hanging withwhen he was drinking

and they'restill homeless.

And they're drinkingand he says,

"Well, I just pretendthat my Hawaiian punch is,

is the Richards,you know? "

How is thisworking that he's not--

It seems like he's a littleahead of his time on this.

He hasn't gone through theups and downs and the emotional.

Yeah.Everything's calm, cool.

I'm gonna get a job,I'm gonna get an apartment.

Does thatworry you?

It's-it's...

mind boggling at somepoint, I mean, Che.

Yeah.

But it can happen,it's not unheard of.

I mean, maybe there'ssomething going on deeper,

peeling back the layers ofthe onion with him.

He's got some stuff that hewants to get off his chest

that he's harboring.

But you can't readanother person's mind.

Yeah.

Let me show you,let me show you.

Look at my wheelsout there.

That's youright there?

That be me, man.

Aw, this niceright here, man.

This up, man.

Brakes aregood?

Yes, sir.

And thegears work.

So how'd you getyour bike?

Over there by whereWayne be at.

Sold it for $15.

Keep it locked up sodon't nobody try to get it.

Yes, sir, man,I got to.

Let me get out of herebefore it rains, man.All right, man.

Walk me to this back door,if you don't mind.I sure will.

I'll make sure thatthey don't jump you, man.

(laughing)

♪ ♪

(Brian)What a day,what a day.

This is great,this is beautiful.

(phone ringing)

(Che) Hello?

(Brian) And I'm scared to go outside now, you know how come?

If I go outside, man, the way I'm feeling.

Man, I'm, I'm ready to get my groove on, man.

(Che) You get your groove on,

and I think you know what happens, man.

You-you lose everything.

(Brian) Oh, man.

(Che) Everything that me and you been building,

it don't mean shit if you relapse.

I'm asking you not to have a drink.

I will get you a bike, man, I will get you a bike.

Just relax.

(water running)

(Brian) All right, all right.

(Che) Listen, man.

I love you, I love you, I love you with all my heart.

(Brian)What's up, Craig?

Hey, what's up,man.

All right.

They're gonna workthe heck out of me today.

Oh, Heavenly Father, God.

We come giving you thanks.

Thank you foranother day's journey.

Lord, I ask that you show mybrother how to work unto you

and restore all that hasbeen taken away from him.

Amen, amen, amen.Amen, amen.

(Kevin)Hey, Brian, comeon in.

(Brian)What's up, what's up?

How is the housekeepingjob going along?

It's-it's-it'sdoing all right.

You know, I don't haveno complaints.

Well, I have asurprise for you here.

Since you worked,this is your...

your firstpaycheck, Brian.

Oh, it is?!

Compliments of the housekeepinga Safe Haven Program.

Okay.

Don't spendit all today.

I can't spend it all today,

but I guess I'll get me abirth certificate with it.

Good, that's whatI want to hear.

All right, soI wanted to talk.

We have a copy of the Chicagopolice department background.

Oh, oh, oh,oh, oh...

Okay.

You had said that youhad never been in trouble.

I have, I've never been toprison, that's what I said.

Ohh...

Now see it's a lot--Okay.

There's a lotof arrests on here.

Oh, yeah, but do youknow what it was for?

Drinking.

You know I can't, I can'topen up a-a-a-a can of beer

without going tojail, you know.

There's a lotof aliases.

You've used a lot of fakenames when you get locked up.

Well, sometimes I'm alittle bubbly, you know.

Who remembers theirname when they're--

(laughing)

Right.

There's a robberyon here, though.

A robbery?A robbery.

Well, I was neverconvicted of it.

Well, hopefully thisis where it ends.

The staple'sin it, and hopefully

this is it forthe lifetime.

This is it forthe records.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think you'redoing so good.

I'm so proud of you.Oh, yeah?

You're halfway there,do you realize that?

You have fourmonths sober.

One foot overthe halfway mark.

Yeah, well,I tell ya...

Don't get me-- hey,I'm grateful for it.

But believe me, man.

A cold one would surefeel good right about now.

(laughing)

But you know,I'm biting the bullet.

You know, I'm bitingthe bullet, man, you know.

I'm proud of you,all right?

Keep it up, okay?

(laughing)

What up, man?

What's up, man?

How you doing,brother?

Oh, pretty good, man.

Pretty good.

Last time we was here.Yeah.

I said, man, you gon'stop drinking, man,

so you can getyour thing together.

You was like, no.

(laughing)

You said, would youask a fish not to swim?

(laughing)

Or a birdnot to fly?

Yeah, I rememberthem words.

It was like you tradedone life for another one.

I did, man.

And you madethe decision.

All right, I want tobe with my son.

How youfeeling now, man?

Hey, man.

Are you missing it?

Yeah.

I'm, yeah, I ain't gon',I'm not gonna sit up there

and tell no lie,yeah, I'm missing-

I'm missing my cocktail,you know.

I seen my boy Wayneyesterday, you know.

How was that?

Man, he was toastedlike a big dog.

(laughing)

Yesterday?

I don't know,maybe because of me.

Maybe, 'cause Iwas high,

I see him in adifferent light now.

You want to get yourown apartment.

I'm aboutto, man.

They said itwon't be long.

Hey.

There's an apartmentright next door to me.

$400 a month.

You can come over,cut my grass.

Yeah.

If you lived nextdoor to me,

that'd be incredible.

Well, yeah.

♪ I found youI found me ♪

♪ This is howit was supposed to be ♪

(rapping over beat of song)♪ Never had a fatherso I blamed my mama ♪

♪ She -- she had bad karma ♪

(music stops)

♪ Never had a fatherso I blamed my mama ♪

♪ She made bad choicesand had horrible karma ♪

(music starts again)♪ She couldn't even pick a realman to have honor... ♪

♪ The street thatwas my alma mater ♪

(music stops)♪ She couldn't even finda real man to have honor ♪

♪ I got my degree from thestreets that was my alma mater ♪

♪ Call myhomies my brothers ♪

♪ Call the hustlersmy cousins ♪

Call my homiesmy cousins.

Call the hustlers 'causethe two 'H' thing is dope, too.

♪ Call my homiesmy cousins ♪

♪ Call the hustlersmy brothers ♪

♪ We made our own family ♪

♪ We were right foreach other ♪

Whoo, you know whatI'm saying there?

Please go and tell me ifyou think it's weak, though.

I will.

♪ I found you... ♪

(Che)You know, music for me is likea soundtrack to life.

And as my life evolves,so does that soundtrack.

That's why my newer stuff iscoming from a different place.

Very intimate,not so angry.

Because of what I've learned,how I've matured,

like I'm growing up.

♪ It's easy to make them andit's hard to raise them ♪

♪ Why did Daddy leavewho created the mayhem ♪

♪ Don't even matter no moreI already forgave him ♪

♪ I got kids of my ownand I currently raise them ♪

(Che)So you thinkyou're pregnant?

Yes, I do.

Is thatthe pee pee dance?

Now, you're going tomake me go.

This is Donnie doingthe pee pee dance.

To come out anddo the baby dance.

I'll be out in a moment.

Can I come in?

No, not withyour camera.

(laughing)

(Che)Where is the thing at?

(Donnie)It's on the thingover there.

Right here?Yeah.

If it's pregnant whatwill it say?

Pregnant.

And if it's notpregnant what will it say?

Not pregnant.

It's says you'renot pregnant.

Oh, all right.

Let me turn this off.

(Donnie)This is the baby bookthat covers my first pregnancy

that lasted five months.

I asked the Lord to pleasetake control of my womb,

help me to befertile, ripen my eggs,

and create inside of mean environment

that will safely andhealthily house a child.

(Che)Donnie and I are tryingto have a baby,

which will be her firstand potentially my fourth.

The doctor told her she'dnever have a baby.

So, Donnie had an operation

where she's able to carrya baby to term.

You got a bighump right here.

I want to do thingsdifferent with Donnie,

like this woman is my chanceto not mess it up.

To have thisbaby intentionally,

it makes me feel likeI'm doing it right

for the first time,in 35 years.

(Che)How do you feel now?

Like, do you feel inside,

in your spirit and soul, like"Yo, I can have a baby now?"

I do, I do.

Although, I dofeel like until

I pass the period wherewe lost the first baby,

I'm going to benervous, you know?

Mm-hmm.So...

We'll seewhat happens.

I'm going to have atotally normal pregnancy.

(Brian)Yes.

Oh-- shot.

Man.

A lot of work.

(sighing)

Can't go nowhere withoutmy trusted thing here.

Aw, shit.(Brian)What?

(laughing)Yeah, man.

It's movein time.

It's time tohead for the hills.

(laughing)

(man)Take care ofyourself.

(Brian)Oh, I'm goingto try, man.

I'm going todo the best.

I see-- I--you know what?

I ain't never had an apartmentwhere I had to sign for a lease.

Really? What'd you do withyour other apartments?

I rent outa room.

Mm-hmm.

Now that'sanother thing.

I don't know no soupkitchens around 79th street.

Well, you ain't goingto need none.

Oh, well, I'm usedto the streets, man.

That's the thing,man.

Like you not inthe streets no more.

So you don't have tolive like that.

You got to get out ofthat way of thinking,

you know what I'm saying?Okay, okay.

Shoreline.

Right here.

(woman)This the application.

I got your ID,you fill it out.

All right.

What the hell?

What is this?

Look at this.

Hey hey, man,don't, don't...

This is, this isridiculous, man.

(woman)I need yourinitials here.

Okay.

Okay?

All right, thank you.

That's yours.

Thank you.

Okay.Thank you very much.

No problem,nice meeting you.

Shake the lady's hand.Good luck.

Okay, thank you,thank you.

What the heck is this.

Oh, this is mine?

(laughing)

(coughing)

Whee!

You look likeyou got Tourette's.

You going to gethit by a car.

(Brian)Oh, man.

(Che)You got a nicelittle red fern tree.

(Brian)Whoo!

All right, now tofind my place.

All the wayto the top.

Yes, sir.

Okay, open sesame.

Oh, man, oh, man.

I got anair conditioner.

Oh, man, look atthe ceilings.

They're clean.

This is mybedroom, man.

Hey, can I useyour bathroom?

No!

Go ahead, usethe bathroom, man.

Oh, look at thishere.

Look at this here,look at this here.

Oh man,is it Christmas?!

Yeah.

That stays on there.

♪ ♪

I can't believethis.

Oh man, this is,this is, this is dynamite.

Man, ooh, I'm aboutto blow up.

(laughing)

Thank you, thank you,thank you.

(Che)I want you to dome a favor.

(Brian)What's that?

I want to throwout some things.

Hold it, holdit, man.

Some of the things you talkabout throwing away, man,

have been with mesince I've been... man.

You about to starta whole new life.

Start over.

Throw outsome of that shit

that was with you on thestreet and homeless.

You don'tneed that.

Like this bag,torn up.

It don't smell good.

That was my houseon wheels.

Throw this bag away.

Man, I lovethis bag.

This bag got methrough the winter.

Well, not no more.

You don't needthem bags.

I got them in here.

What is that?

I don't know,memories.

Ain't nothingin there.

You don't knowwhat's in here...Trash.

...until you lookin here, man.

Okay, look,garbage can.

Man, some of my friends mightbe sleeping in there, man.

(both laughing)

(Che)Well, not you.

Okay...oh, man.

(TV chatter)

(Brian)I've been living onthe streets a long time.

A good-a good20 years.

And I'm coming backbut, you know, it's hard.

I'm kind of lonely, you know,I'm-- I mean,

I'm here bymyself and whatnot.

You know, I go out andjust walk around.

Then I, you know,come back, turn right on in,

and you know, do the thingsI do and whatnot.

Call it a day,wait for the next morning.

(music playing on TV)

(distant siren blaring)

Hey, buddy!

Buddy!

Hold it, hold it,hold it.

Come here.

You, you readyfor your drink?

Yes, sir.

Man, we're going to walkdown there and get one.

Hi, Brian.

What's up,what's up Rosemary.

How you been?

I've been okay.

Oh, yeah?

That, that, that'sa good thing ain't it.

How about 50 cents then?

Yeah.

Let me see if Igot 50 cents.

You got a dollar?

I don't gotno money.

I'm zero broke.

Here.

There baby,get to hook you up.

Man, Wayne can'tyou let a friend

watch the bags while wetake care of the business?

I'm going to pass,I'm going to pass.

All right, bro,

I'll stay herewith you, man.

Hey, I don't want tosee you neither G.I. Joe.

(man)I'm draggingthe bill on this one.

All right, then,all right, man.

Wayne, I'll be backwith you man.

(Brian)Yeah?

That's cool.

(Che)There's a lot ofstuff happening, man,

that I'm not happy with, youknow what I'm saying?

Like, you say youwant a job.

But you sit and watch movies allday and sleep in your clothes.

Don't nobody want toget you a job if you smell.

You got to getyour hair cut.

Get back to when youfirst got cleaned up.

How much money do yougot on you right now?

What, about $8.

Go get a haircut,man.

Tell methe truth, man.

You been drinking?

Tell me, no, don't...No, I ain't been drinking.

Look at me, man.

I'm looking atyou, man.

And I ain'tbeen drinking.

Do I smell like I'vebeen drinking, man?

From what I'm hearing,you're not taking AA seriously.

Oh, well, see-see,that's what it is.

You hear, youhearing from them,

but you ain'thearing from me.

I'm doing somethingevery day.

I want you todo better, man.

I feel like you'regoing backwards.

And if you don'tdo nothing about it,

you going to be right back therein fucking Franciscan, man.

Or you going be right backin the street with Wayne.

You don't wantto be that.

Uhh...

You don't wantto be that.

What's the problem?

I got-I got thingsto do, too, man.

All right, giveme my money, man.

That's what that'sfor, a haircut.

I'm done, man.

That's what I wassaying, man.

Holla at me whenyou get right, man.

Shoot I told you, man,I can't-I can't-- look.

I'm tired of you doggoneaccusations of me.

You're not takingthis serious, man.

I'm taking it too serious,but you ain't--

You not takingit serious.You ain't taking me serious.

I want a father that I'm proudto walk down the street with.

You have to be betterthan what you was.

You got tobe better.

(car alarm blaring)

(car starts)

♪ ♪

(whispers)Okay.

(Che)Everything that needto be done with my father,

we have to oversee and makesure that it's done.

(Donnie)He can't be trained,but he can be controlled,

the same way that when he was atSafe Haven, there was control.

Even when hewas on the street,

if you don't get to the shelterby 7:00, you sleep outside.

You knowwhat I'm sayin'?

Like, that's whathe understands.

Mm-hmm.I know his apartmentis paid for

for two yearsthrough that program,

but that time is goingto come quickly.

In two years,if he's not employed,

he's going to have tocome and live here.

Mmm-mmm.

Or...Mmm-mmm.

But after two years,you're not gonna want him

to go back ontothe streets.

So, you have tostart now, like, now.

Yeah, you're right.Getting him prepared.

So, how do we control him?

Let's justmake a list.

So, Brian, your apartment iscovered for two years, right?

Right.

So, what wewant to do is

develop a plan so that oncethat two years is up...

Uh-huh.

You'll be able topay your bills

and maybe even stayin the same apartment.

Uh-huh, okay.

So what'sthat plan?

Just tell methe plan.

Okay, so, Che do youwant to go over it?

Yes.

Number one, youknow you got to attend

Heartland Allianceevery Thursday.

Right.

But, we alsohave to find you a job.

A five day a week,janitorial job.

Because that'swhere you want to work.

Right.

The next one,food stamps.

It has togo into the pot,

because I know you'regoing to go buy beer.

No, no.With your food stamps,you will.

I want to buy foodwith my food stamps.

No, no, no.

Uh, the next one, attenda rehabilitation program.

And I think that...That's AA.

No, you gotta go to aplace that got counselors.

They got programs...

No, no, no...

I've...

That's-that's takingtoo much of my time.

No.Yes.

No, listen, listen.

I already spoketo your counselor.

If you don't dothis stuff...

Uh-huh.

You won'thave an apartment.

So these are things you-you,hold on-- you have a-- hold on.

You gotta listen.

I have to go to mydoggone GED classes.

No, no, no, no!

You wasn't worried about youreducation for 40 fucking years.

Hold on, hold on!Listen to what I'm saying.

You got to go torehabilitation.

Uh-huh.

Dad, look at me.Huh?

Do you understandwhat I'm saying?

Do you understand thatyou have an alcohol problem?

Uh, no, youseem like...

You think that I havean alcohol problem.

But-but I mean,hey, you know.

Hold it.

Well, listen, this righthere is non-negotiable.

If it's not done,

the apartment goes away and youjust go back to the West side.

How, how can youdo that?

You want to see?

How can you...

Don't ask me,do you want to see?

You want to test me?

Until you get a job, you'retotally dependent on me.

Right.

I need you tosign that.

Where it sayBrian Tillman.

Mm-kay, sure.

Now remember,no drinking, man.

Mm-hmm.

Can you file thatin the super important?

Uh, that's his copy?Yeah.

Oh, that contractthing just got me all mad.

What-what the hell.

He's saying, hey manwhatever you get,

give it to me!

You know, I don'twant you-I don't want...

If I see you with a penny inyour pocket, give it to me!

You know?

But-but, uh, can I?No.

He's gonna-he'sgonna keep it where I'll,

I'll never have anickel or dime.

If I want something Igotta-I gotta act like a kid.

I gotta act likea kid.

Hey man,can I have that?

Can I have that?

No!No, no.

You know, I getall that all the time.

No, no, no,no, no.

(groaning)

Uh, something says,something tell me

that I moveda little bit too close.

A little bittoo close.

Damn.

Ugh.

On 47th andKing Drive.

Man, why in thehistory of you working

couldn't you reallyjust keep a job?

I can keep a job.

I had that garbage truckjob over 5 years.

So, why you ain't come lookingfor me when you had a job?

I did!

You didn't.

Man, believe me.

I don'tbelieve you.

Believe me, man.

'Cause I wasright over,

you knew where I was rightover at Aunt Dale's house.

You knew Iwas over there.

Well, how come you didn't comeover-over, uh, to my house?

I was ten!

Uh-huh.

It's not the child's jobto go find the parent.

Usually... usually.

Uh, well...

(mumbling)

What the hey.Forget it, man.

♪ I found you ♪

♪ I found me ♪

♪ This is howit was supposed to be ♪

♪ When I was 16I started to add ♪

♪ I subtracted the painand divided the bad ♪

♪ Multiplied my grind withthe fraction I had ♪

♪ And all the multiple mennever equaled to dad, dad, dad ♪

♪ I found youI found me ♪

♪ This is howit was supposed to be ♪

Hey, start over.

What you thinkabout this song, man?

It's...

You don't like this song?

I don't like thebeginning of the song.

Why not?

Well, it's uh, you know, it-it-it depicts me, man.

As what?

As a no-good, as,as a beat-down dad.

You don't thinkyou's a deadbeat?

No, man,I wasn't...

I didn't start offa deadbeat dad.

You know.

(laughing)

(Brian)I just wantto hear it.

But you don't even knowwhat you're listening to.

I'm just saying, it's sayinglost and found, ain't it?

What'd I'd loseand what I'd find?

You lost your-your-your father.

And you found yourfather, ain't it?

Yeah, I guess.Okay, what the hey.

♪ I found you ♪

♪ I found me ♪

♪ This is howit was supposed to be ♪

♪ My mama boyfriend taught mehow to womanize ♪

♪ How to work fromthe truth to tell women lies ♪

♪ Never had a fatherI blame my mama ♪

♪ She made bad judgmentto have horrible karma ♪

Do you hear that,Mr. Tillman?

Yeah, yeah.

What am I saying inthis song, Mr. Tillman?

Hey, man, you-you makingit on your own, man.

That's what you'resaying in the songs.

And what does that meanto you to hear this?

You know, wait,you-you, uh...

Where was you at, nigga?

I was around.

Oh, all right,let me finish this verse.

Second verse.

♪ This is howit was supposed to be ♪

♪ If I said that I loved youI be telling the truth ♪

♪ If I told you I hatedyou I'd be telling the truth ♪

♪ So when I call you a cowardI'm just letting it loose ♪

♪ Don't look shockedyou being gone is proof ♪

♪ Yeah it's easy to make themand it's hard to raise them ♪

♪ Why did daddy leavewho created the mayhem? ♪

♪ Don't matter no moreI already forgave him ♪

♪ I got kids of my own andI currently raising them ♪

(fast rewind)

(phone ringing)

(woman) ...clinic.

(Che)Hey, how you doing?This is Che Smith.

I had the, uh, paternity testdone for Che and uh, Joli.

Yes, I have those results.

(food sizzling)

I made it, a lot.

What's that?

The, This is the,this is the DNA letter.

(Donnie)You know youhaven't told me.

I know,I was waiting.

Let me see.

All right, well here.

Okay.

Wow.

(laughing)

Now we knowthe truth.

Right?

How do you feel?

I mean, you know, I wasalready paying on the package.

I know.

Good thing Iwas, right?

Yeah.

It's a goodthing.

Mmm...

The truth.

It's not like Iwasn't doing nothing.

Right.

And it's not likeI didn't, like,

try to go downand do the things

that I was supposedto do anyway.

Right.

And so, uh...

I's hot andI'm sweating, um...

But that's okay.

I mean, I don't seeit being a problem.

Or why it shouldbe a problem.

Uh-huh....

I'm not saying it'sa problem, I'm just...

Mm-hmm.

What do you mean,mm-hmm?

I was saying,yeah, okay.

Can I have a hug?

What's wrong?

(Donnie crying)

What's wrong?

Nothing...(crying)

It's gonna burn.

(sniffing)

(food sizzling)

(alarm clock beeping)

♪ ♪

(Brian)That's what you got to do.

You got to go to rollcall and whatnot.

They got to be shined.

♪ ♪

(recorded voice) 79th street.

(Brian)I'm working,I'm trying to, you know,

make it so that I can have atleast another place,

you know, when thistwo years is up and whatnot.

But, it's, it's kindof cold out there.

The way I heard,you know from my boy, Blue,

most of my friends died,you know.

I'm surprisedI ain't dead.

But to tell you the truth,I'm still in the streets.

I'm still doing the things thatI was doing when I was homeless.

Picking up trash.

(horn honking)

That's what I do.

So, apparently, uh,

apparently...my sister just called me

and told me that, uh,my father called my mother,

and he had been drinking,so she thinks he's drunk.

I'm at his apartment, andI'm going to walk in and see.

(voices from TV)

(Che)What you doing?

You scaring the hellout of me, man.

What you doing, man?

What you doing?

Why are you in thedark with your coat on?

You scaring me, man.

Coming to my house, man.

You didn't ringthe bell, nothing.

I got a key.

Turn the TV off.

What is this,what the fuck is this, man?

Pour it in the toilet.

Pour it in the toilet.

Do you see whatI'm doing?

This is for you, and...

(splashing)

I'm disappointed in you.

No, no, no,no, no.

Listen, listen!

I helped fixyou up.

I gotyou in programs.

I helped get youan apartment.

I broughtyou in the family.

And this is how yourepay me.

Hold it, man,let me tell you something.

I'm-I'm-I'm the daddy!

I am the daddy!

So whatdoes that mean?

It means this ismy house.

You going tolose your apartment.

I pay-I pay-I pay...

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey!

When you, hey!

When you end upback on the-- listen!

When you-- listen!

When you end up backon the street...

That's the firstthing I do...

When you, when youend up on the street,

I'm not going to comeget you again.

You're going to come getme, you're gonna find me...

No, I'm not.

You go to lostand found.

You're going tofind me.

And I'ma find you.

No.

All right, I'm done.

Yo, yo, yo, yo,I'm done.

Che!

Don't come tomy house.

Che!

You don't need it.

♪ ♪

(distant dog barking)

(Che)After I saw myfather drinking,

it was like a spark wentout inside of me.

It was him choosingalcohol over me again.

And it was too much pain.

I came into an understandingof why my father

had been gonefor 28 years.

And that pain nevergoes away.

And I had tomake a decision on

could he be in my lifefrom this point on.

Did I lose him again?

And the first time I was-I was young, so he abandoned me.

This time...I abandon him.

I was delusionalabout what a father was.

I was trying to make Brianbe something that

I dreamed of as a child,instead of accepting who he is.

I have to love my fatheras an alcoholic.

I started somethingthat I can't turn back.

Hey!Hey!

What's up dog?

What's up, man?

You, man.

How you feeling, man?

Aw, pretty good.

You watchingJerry Springer?

Yeah.

I got my cable on, man.

I got somethingfor you.

What's that?

I got a goodold-fashioned ass whooping.

Oh, no!

Right now.

Here, you grabit, old man.

Old man?

Stop your madness.

Because I'm gon'sure put it on you.

(Che laughing)

Yeah.

Okay, I gotsomething for you now.

Oh, no.Oh, yeah.

(Donnie)When Che went looking for Brian,he just had a lot of questions.

Man, you got mein a pickle here.

(Donnie)And many of thosehave been answered.

(dog barking)

(Brian)Merry Christmas!

(Che)Happy holiday.

(Donnie)Brian's presence hasreally helped make Che feel

like a more whole person.

And because ofthat he's more engaged

in every other familymember's life.

Here we go.

Almighty God, thank youfor keeping us healthy

and safe on this day.

And thank you forthe best gift of all,

which is bringing ustogether as family, amen.

(all)Amen.

(man)All right!

(laughing)

(chatter)

(Che)What I needed in knowingwho my father was,

I received that.

And he's a partof this house now.

My father has someone to lovehim for the rest of his life.

(fast forwarding)

(all)Yay!

Oh, no!

Oh, no!

(fast forwarding)

(Brian)All this is, like,new to me and whatnot.

All right.

There's so many things yougot to remember

and so many thingsyou got to do, it's, ooh...

Okay, cool, cool,cool, cool, cool, cool.

When I'm taking one day at atime, slowly but surely,

until I perfect this stuff.

We're in a chess gameof life right now.

It's like we'rein the middle of a game.

And I'm coming straightat ya.

(Che)Let me see you smile.

(laughing)

Yeah, man.

That's a beautiful smile.

I know!

I feel ten years younger.

I mean, uh, I'm a lotmore confident in myself.

I'm seeing if I canget me a better job

than what I'm doing nowand whatnot, so...

I hope-- I can't waittill the world see me now.

♪ When I found you, I found me ♪

♪ This is how it wassupposed to be ♪

♪ When I found you, I found me ♪

♪ This is how it wassupposed to be ♪

♪ When I found you, I found me ♪

♪ This is how it wassupposed to be ♪

♪ ♪

♪ My mama boyfriendtaught me how to womanize ♪

♪ How to run from the truthand tell women lies ♪

♪ Never had a fatherand I blame my mama ♪

♪ She made bad judgmentsand had horrible karma ♪

♪ Couldn't even finda decent man for me to honor ♪♪ Nope ♪

♪ Got my degreefrom the streets ♪

♪ That was my alma mater ♪♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Call my homies my cousinsand the hustlers my brothers ♪

♪ We had our own clique,we roll for each other ♪

♪ They taught me how topick locks, how to ditch cops ♪

♪ And how to break the coke downinto small rocks ♪

♪ And told me if you got apistol, you ain't gotta box ♪

♪ Put his brains in the streetsand make 'em all wiser ♪

♪ But at 16 I started to add ♪♪ What? ♪

♪ I subtracted the painand divided the dad ♪

♪ Multiply my groundwith a fraction I had ♪

♪ And all the multiple mennever equaled a dad ♪

♪ When I found you, I found me ♪

♪ This is how it wassupposed to be ♪

♪ When I found you, I found me ♪♪ Oh... ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ This is how it wassupposed to be ♪

♪ So glad, I'm so gladthat I found you ♪

BRIAN: I-I just... I just wanted us to get...

get along, you know, and do some things

that we haven't done, you know,

wh-while we was, you know, apart.

That's what I'm saying. But hey.

Now, see, the thing is, I-I'm steadily working,

and I'm trying to be with my grandchildren

as much as I can.

You know, I-I live right... right down the street from 'em.

So that I can visit my grandchildren.

I got my crib. I'm... you know, I'm-I'm moving on, and...

you know, th-there... there is no excuses.