Cam Calloway grew up in the roughest section of a tough town.
There were plenty of ways for him to go wrong,
but he kept turning right.
35 million for five years.
This is an advance.
Get me to the nearest bank.
And we still got Nike next week.
It's your call.
Whatever you think, man. I'll ride with you.
- You know what you doing, right? - I sure as fuck hope so.
♪ I can't give a fuck ♪
♪ I'm just living like, so what? ♪
Man: Ladies and gentlemen,
Cam Calloway.
♪ Full of guilty pleasure ♪
♪ I can't give a fuck ♪
♪ I'm just living like, so what? ♪
♪ It couldn't get much better ♪
♪ Only guilty pleasure... ♪
Take care. No problem.
Sign it "To Trish," please.
These Atlanta names slay me.
So after f-i-n-e, how do I spell Trish, please?
S-i-n-g-l-e.
You want to wake up at your place or mine?
- I live with my mom. - There's benefits to that.
My mother's close by, but not for much longer.
- I'm sorry. Is she sick? - Nah, she's just moving.
- I can't wait. - Okay.
How about we keep the line moving?
Sorry, ma'am. What's your name?
"Trish's mother."
Mm-hmm.
♪ I live a life of leisure ♪
♪ Full of guilty pleasure... ♪
Please, let Da Chen Bao know that we are thrilled to sit down.
(imitating Reggie) Be thrilled to sit down.
Jolly, and we would love nothing more than a good-seated sit-down.
Uh, no, we're all set.
We're all set and we will speak soon.
Yes, speak soon, pumpkin. Ciao for now.
(laughs)
- Jay Holbrook? - (normal voice) Reggie V, man!
Brand-new, looking like you got an album coming out.
What the fuck are you doing in Atlanta?
Can't a brother get a "Yo, good to see you"?
A brother, yes. A brother that's supposed to be
in Massachusetts State Penitentiary gets a
"What the fuck are you doing in Atlanta?"
While I'm looking around for the SWAT team.
Man, I got out of Walpole three weeks ago.
I didn't hear about a prison break.
Overcrowding is a fella's best friend.
Now, thankfully, they got a ton of folks
in there doing some sick, unforgivable shit
that's way more criminal than what I did,
so they let me out on time served.
Well, thank God for psychopaths.
God's the one that keeps making them.
- Sick fuck. - Hey, well, congrats, man.
You heading to a Mexican beach to hug Morgan Freeman?
Actually, no.
I'm here because I was released a month too late
for the D-League tryouts in Boston.
Oh, and the Atlanta D-League tryouts are next in line?
Look, man. I took a 17-hour bus ride
'cause I wanted you to look me in the eyes
and see that I'm not the same fuckup you remember.
I'm asking you to help me help myself.
A tryout.
Now I'm trying to do this shit correct.
I was told that you running Cam's show,
and out of respect to that, I didn't sit outside his building
and I didn't get in that autograph line
because I actually didn't want his damn autograph,
but I didn't want to spring myself on him and piss you off.
Hey, man. A 17-hour bus ride, man.
- The least I can do is make a call. - Thank you, man.
Like, real talk... thank you.
You down to go say what up to Cam right quick?
That's my boy right there.
I know, Jay, but let's see if we can make the tryout happen
before we mix Cam up in it.
I get it. I get it.
Hey, you need some cash?
I didn't come here for that.
But how much you talking about?
No, I'm joking, man. Thank you, man.
All right, all right.
Ripped By mstoll
Look, man, we'll be gone a while.
Yes, and I will give Cam your message.
Okay, we'll grab a steak, man, at Abe & Louie's when I get there.
Okay. All right. I will load you up with tickets
when we playing up in Boston, okay?
I gotta go, man. Okay, yeah.
God bless.
"God bless"? Who you blowing off?
Just some dude from home. Wants a D-League tryout.
Oh. Is he any good?
Well, in high school, yeah.
I was good in high school.
M-Chuck says you were ninth man.
Hey, varsity was deep my senior year, okay?
M-Chuck can go fuck herself.
Is this guy any better than ninth man?
In high school, he was better than Cam.
It doesn't matter, though.
Isn't that the only thing that matters in sports?
Well, that and not being a colossal fuckup.
Well, what's he been doing since high school?
Time.
This idiot, Missy, he steals a car,
he drives it into Quincy Market.
Doesn't stop to see the baby in the back.
Full ride at Syracuse out, ten years at Walpole in.
- First offense? - (laughs) First offense.
He could be different now.
Yeah, leopards don't change stripes.
The idiom is leopards can't change their spots.
- Tigers have stripes. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the idiom.
I was... I'm adjusting the idiom, okay?
Ex-cons, they excel
in making it look like they've moved past who they are.
Like they're leopards that can change their spots.
Like they turn over a new fucking leaf.
Like they found God.
They saw that good light and they deserve
some of that good light shining on themselves.
And they're good at being witty and seeming appreciative.
And they're great at unleashing their brand-new them on you.
But at their core, their stripes,
like that invisible shit that you can't see on a leopard,
their stripes never change.
They are who they were.
And who they were is who they revert to being.
You stand too close, you'll get fucked.
Why can't you just admit you didn't know the idiom?
If I judged you on some of the shit you've done in the past...
Okay, you know what?
You want to welcome a bunch of ex-cons in our day-to-day life,
I will charter a bus from Boston.
Look like a boat of Haitian refugees.
I believe in redemption.
So everyone looking for redemption
deserves a minor league basketball tryout?
Mm-mm. I got too much going on.
I'm dealing with Nike, Da Chen Bao.
I got to take Aunt Cass and M-Chuck house shopping.
What about that apartment Cam just bought them?
I leased it month-to-month. Never told them.
'Cause I knew one month of Cam living in the same building
with his mother and sister...
two months too long.
The main house was built in the 1830s,
but it's been completely modernized.
(exhales) Isn't this great, Reggie?
- Feels a little small. - (laughs)
Mary Charles, Stacey, take Reggie on the tour.
M-Chuck: Come on, guys.
I wanna show you where I wanna put the pussy playpen.
Beautiful.
Ooh. Look at this.
That one sticks, honey. Don't mind me. I'm the owner.
Stacey told me you'd be coming back.
- I don't want to leave. - Glad you're interested.
It's a great house.
I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes.
Got to get this pie.
Oh, wow. Did you make that yourself?
No, this neighborhood's plagued by a criminal
who sneaks into people's houses and bakes pies.
I'm going to check this one for fingerprints.
Ooh.
You better hide it 'cause I could eat a whole one.
Well, let's eat one of these that's already cooled.
We Calloways are a baking family and a sharing family.
Is that Calloway with an O or an A?
C-a-l-l-o-w-a-y.
Us, too.
- Where y'all from? - Boston.
Well, Boston Calloway, try my pie.
Oh, I'm trying to stay away...
Girl, is that cayenne in there?
Honey, cayenne's the secret ingredient.
What kind of super palate are you working over there?
Don't play with me.
I knows how to work it in the kitchen.
- (laughs) - Oh.
This is the palace, Reggie.
This is my dream castle. We got to get it.
Let's not seem too eager while the owner's here.
It's a sweet spot. Admit it.
- Auntie, you got great taste. - Look at all this space.
I'm going to put a bunch of bird feeders out here
and feed the birds and shit.
Wait, what do birds eat anyway?
I don't know. Worms, seeds.
Shit, Netflix "Sesame Street."
- You're stupid. - What?
I love the high-rise,
but this is a back-motherfucking-yard.
This is a motherfucking forest.
I mean, I bet you there's wolves and monkeys and shit out there.
We're going to have to get a shotgun.
Hey, don't be shooting my birds, though, Ma.
Reggie, make it happen.
Okay. I'll get the comparables from Stacey and I'll talk to Cam.
(laughs, squeals)
Stacey: Multiple bids already on the table.
It's up to 3.6. Really competitive situation here.
That's never a good negotiating position.
Oh, come on, Reggie. Don't deny me the opportunity
of churning out pies out of that oven on a daily basis.
Auntie, I ain't denying you. I'm just noting the parameters
that will ensure that we ain't never broke again.
Look, I want to give you the sun and the moon.
I just don't want the stars to break the budget.
- You can't take it with you. - You can't take debt with you either.
- It's just an expression. - Man working on a commission
is going to school me on the spiritual nature of money?
Take a hike, Stace. I'll call you when we make a decision.
- All love, ladies. - Thank you, Stacey.
- Julius. - Stacey.
I will take it with me. I was back there listening.
Cassie: So how much is she asking
over what you want our budget to be?
The budget is what the budget is.
It's not about what I want the budget to be.
No, it's about what I want the budget to be.
You're over by half a mil.
You're just going to have to give us raises.
- I don't disagree. - Cam: Reggie.
Cassie: Baby, we found the dream house and I love it.
When were you going to tell me Jay Holbrook reached out?
- The moment he left town. - Jay Holbrook from Dorchester?
His daddy owe me some money. Where's the motherfucker at?
I was leaving practice
and he jumped in front of my fucking car.
This stalking motherfucker.
It's not like you gave him a choice,
shutting him down the way you did.
- Jay Holbrook is in Atlanta? - I didn't shut him down.
I respectfully gave him our answer.
- Who did you consult for our answer? - Myself.
And he should have took his no and kept it moving, not crawl to you.
No, he didn't crawl.
He jumped in front of my car at a red light.
- He have a gun in his hand? - You know what I did?
I got out of my car and then I gave my boy a hug.
I took him to lunch and got him a room at the InterContinental
because that is what you do when one of your boys
just did a bunch of years in Walpole.
He's one of the last boys I wished was my boy.
Sexy eyes. Dick like a museum piece.
That boy had crazy eyes and his mother did, too.
Crazy eyes that would just roll up in the back of her crazy-ass brain.
She wasn't crazy, she was bipolar.
- She was a buyer of cocaine. - (laughs)
Yeah, I know 'cause I sold it to her.
Them was the salad days. Time of innocence.
When local boys made it big like Bell Biv DeVoe, New Edition.
Your uncle was caught in the middle of that New Jack Swing.
I miss it, man.
Cassie: Cam, you know how much
I've always wanted a gazebo.
- And this yard is perfect. - Always wanted a gazebo?
Ma, you always wanted a second bathroom
so people wouldn't have to wait to shit.
And I got that.
Now I'm going to get me a gazebo with a big bug zapper.
Big enough for the birds you feed
so we can enjoy the outdoors.
This ain't some no-name.
Jay's one of us. He's one of the original squad.
Cam, it's not like y'all was a band of fucking brothers.
I mean, come on, fuck. Maybe a band of idiots.
He ain't asking for a kidney.
He's just trying to feed his family.
Feed his family? He father kids from prison?
Yeah, what dumb bitch would go get knocked up
by a dude that's already in prison?
A dumb bitch who enjoys her alone time.
Reggie and I need some alone time.
Let's go, cuz.
When the fuck did you start drinking juice boxes again?
This is a pouch. This ain't no box.
- Ma, Capri Sun is the shit. - 100% real juice.
That's why I put it on the list.
You know what I mean? This is God's nectar.
Hey, you know the D-League tryouts on Tuesday?
Can you squeeze one of my boys onto that list?
His name's Jay Holbrook.
Great player.
Hey, he'll be there.
I appreciate you.
22 seconds.
22 seconds, is that so hard?
No, no, no. That's the easy part.
The hard part is multiplying those 22 seconds times 10,000
and then maybe you'll get a fraction
of the phone calls I get every month.
See, you think Jay is the only person
calling from home that wants something.
Only difference is he's the only one trifle enough
to launch his ass at your windshield.
If that's what you do...
say no to every request that comes to you...
- then let me see everything. - You want to...
Let me see everything so that I can decide for myself.
Absolutely. Let's open the floodgates.
Cam, you can sift through it all.
The texts, the emails, the fucking Facebook posts, the tweets...
no, this just in.
"Urgent, it's Antawan from Roxbury Boys Club.
Please hit me back.
I want to patent some new sweatbands
that will change the way basketball is learned."
- Hey, let's do it. - Let's do it.
Let's sit down with Antawan the toothless genius
and lose a mint patenting the way hoops are learned.
- This is Jay. - See, I thought you knew what I do.
See, I steer our family raft through the constant, endless,
white-water rapid river of bullshit piped into our lives.
It's just some distraction, man. That's all it is, man,
to keep you from focusing on what it is we came here to do...
play ball. I'm trying to prep you for Nike.
Tryouts is happening when I'm in practice.
Can you just make sure that he gets the royal treatment?
(laughing)
Well, you're the only bidders that brought a pie.
And the only one that made a pie that I wish I'd made myself.
That shit is good, ain't it?
My sister can bake.
- We didn't mean to ambush you. - Yes, we did.
We just love your home.
We've looked at a slew of homes
and I know that there are a lot of people that are interested in yours.
Well, their bids seemed to prove that.
We were wondering if there was any wiggle room in the price
from one Calloway to another.
Well, we have a budget that we need to stick to.
Well, these other homes you're looking at,
are they within your budget?
Well, we want this home.
So is there a little wiggle room?
You know, from one Calloway to another.
There's a Silverstein family that's wiggling the price
a little higher than what it was this morning.
Thank you for your compliments.
I love my house.
I'm selling it to the people that show that love most.
You love your house,
but you can't love its history, though, can you?
That's why you're leaving, ain't it?
The basement could stand to be rewired.
Talking about the people who lived here once.
Your people inside, our people outside.
I beg your pardon?
I Ancestry. Commed our shared last name.
And it turns out your
great-great-great-grandfather Cleophus Calloway
owned our great-great-great-grandfather "Chicken" George Calloway.
Our great-granddaddy was "Chicken" George?
I have no idea. I am making a point.
His name could have been "Pig" Tyrone or "Turkey" Brahim.
It don't matter. It wasn't his African name.
His African name was stolen from him by Delia here's ancestors.
Cassie: Delia, this is a painful revelation for all of us.
I mean, my God, you know?
We are sitting here in the middle of your dining room
eating pie, living Dr. King's dream.
But truth be told, it still lingers in the soul.
It's in the air.
(whispers) It's on the land.
I think you should accept our offer as a way of, you know,
- making up for things. - Right.
- Reparations. - Reparations, yes.
Slave reparations for one Calloway's abuse of another.
Yes.
Well, I don't know what to say.
You can start off by saying you're sorry.
We know it's not you.
I know what's in your heart.
What racist on this Earth would make a pie like you?
You know, the Nazis were known for their strudels.
Delia, you are about love.
- You love black people. - Ma, you're right.
This ain't got nothing to do with Delia here or her heart,
and everything to do with her lynching-ass ancestors.
I mean, Delia, peel out that window there.
You got a lot of poplar trees on your property.
And we ain't gotta sing no Billie Holiday
to drive that point home, do we?
I appreciate your ability to be frank.
Thank you, Delia.
Folks, if you will, follow me.
Well, okay.
Hey, sorry I'm late.
Tryouts are over.
Call Cam. Get him to put it back on.
You four hours late. Where the fuck you been, man?
I was trying to get over here. I took the MARTA.
- From where? Orlando? - Come on, man.
What? I'm just... listen, Cam called me.
He told me to send a car to take you to and from here, so I did.
I called you to give you the heads up. I texted you.
I made sure that the concierge left a message under your door,
but you weren't there, Jay.
- I'm here now. - Four hours.
That's how long I've been standing here
because Cam asked me to to help out an old friend.
Shit, man. I put together some swag for you.
And Cam will send more up at your sister's place
and I can take you to the bus station.
Or if you got an I.D., I'll take you to the airport.
I'll get you a flight.
Okay. I lied.
- Oh. - I was with friends.
Yeah? Jay, look, it's your life, huh?
You got your freedom. It's your prerogative.
Spin it how you want.
- I'm feeling pressure... - Oh.
...to not disappoint.
- I had a drink. - Right.
Smoked a blunt with these Irish girls.
Yeah? Did you?
Did you have fun? You're a friendly guy.
Hey, here's some money, Jay.
Look, I'm trying to come clean here, Reggie.
But it don't change the fact there's no more I can do for you.
- Here. - Do for me?
Nah, man. All you did was smug me.
- I smugged you? - Man, I was getting laid.
Honestly, like, I lost my charger at the hostel.
- Yeah? - I don't know where my phone is.
- Yeah. - Okay, I fucked up way back when.
Shit.
But remember, I used to be the playmaker.
- Okay. - Cam was just a spot-up shooter.
- Mm-hmm. - And, yes, he worked on his handles,
but if little skinny Cam can get paid, believe I can, too.
You're leaving town.
Go home, get your life straightened out.
Learn yourself some of the ways things work out here.
Cam don't need any bad influences here.
Nestled up in Cam's ass must be comfy, huh?
Make your way back to that MARTA station, Jay.
You got all the time in the world to make that next train now.
This is my great-great-great grandfather Lucious Calloway.
Not Cleophus.
If you'd actually gone to Ancestry. Com, you'd know that.
Wait, wait, wait. This man is your grandfather?
Great-great-great.
He look like Chris Paul, not you.
Time has thinned the blood, but rest assured,
I am the trickle-down result of his seed.
How did Civil War Chris Paul turn into this Betty Crocker?
My assumption is that back then,
just like now, people liked to fuck.
All kinds, all the time.
We're all just out of the melting pot.
We had our DNA tested.
We got Cherokee and Irish in us, too.
And a smidgen of French.
Well, you white-passing, steel-ball negotiating bitch.
The Silversteins' offer has been accepted.
And as a strong Nubian queen,
I promise you, my half-pint of black blood
has rendered me immune to white guilt.
Help yourself out.
See you at Essence Fest, sisters.
- You started this. Reparations? - I was trying to get the house.
- I was going along.
Eva says she's en route.
Asking us to meet her on a street corner got certain implications.
Nike doesn't do things like other brands do things.
Yo, so how'd my boy do?
- Boy didn't do. Boy was late. - What?
- It's not the time or place. - I'm just trying to get the full story.
The story's four words... your boy fucked up.
With no explanation?
None that made time go back four hours
so he could make the tryout.
Man, you know how big this was for him.
This is a life changer.
But when that change is on the line,
you can't show up four hours late.
And I waited the entire four hours
because somebody wanted me to give him the royal treatment.
Let's just drop it. Get our heads in the game, please.
Reggie. Cam.
- I'm Eva Robles. - Hi.
Nice to put a name with the face.
I know meeting on a street corner is rather unconventional,
but walk with me, would you?
Uh, there's like a million "no parking" signs.
Nike will pay the tickets.
I'm not going to waste time
reminding you of the roster of greats
Nike's launched into the marketing stratosphere.
You're the kind of athlete Nike wants to fashion our future with.
The kind of star worthy of a building.
I know you're talking to the competition.
Listen to them.
And when they're finished,
remember me saying this, "We're Nike."
- (shutter clicking) - The world is ours.
Everyone else is just the answer to some fucking trivia question.
This building here is one of many future buildings
where your photo will be draped
to inspire, to celebrate, to anoint you.
Building after building, town after town.
You'll be next in line after Jordan, Kobe, LeBron.
30 million for five years.
Now you gentlemen may need a minute
'cause your dicks are hard. So is mine.
When you're done listening
and you're ready to take your deserved spot in Nike's pantheon,
call.
Cam.
You say anything other than "we're in," and you're dead, Reg.
- Under Armour offered 35. - It's Nike. The pinnacle.
And Da Chen Bao, he's flying 7,000 miles to sit with you.
- Call him and cancel. - He's already in the air.
Yo, call his pilot. They got reverse in them damn planes.
Cam, Da Chen Bao, that's like the Nike of China.
They're global, hungry. They deserve a serious listen.
And I don't?
Look, you wouldn't let me say yes to Under Armour,
you going to deny me now?
If I had let you say yes to Under Armour,
your ass wouldn't be standing here right now.
Look, you disagree, you want to hash it out, fine.
But we got to do it someplace
not under a building-size poster of you.
- It's hard to talk sensibly. - All right, cool.
Hold up. I mean, I may need a minute.
My dick actually was hard.
Is hard.
All right, you know what? I'm going to let you go in front of me.
- Good idea. - Great idea. Thank you.
Fuck it. Look at this shit.
At least 30 million for wearing some shoes
that I've been wearing my whole life for free.
- Yeah, boy. - Come on.
Damn.
You ever thought about where'd we be
if none of this ever happened, man?
Shit. Hopefully edging out Xavier Davis
for night manager job at the Olive Garden in Natick.
Probably dead in a ditch.
I'd probably be in that ditch with you.
Ah. Nah.
(cell phone chimes)
Jay says he's on his way to Ireland.
You tried to help him. You did.
He couldn't make use of your help.
We just playin' about being in a ditch.
Jay ain't no different from us.
Maybe no different than me,
but he's definitely different than you.
Come on. I know it. You know it.
He knows it.
- I'ma call him. - No.
Come on, cousin. Huh?
Listen, man,
it's your heart that got you to where you're at.
Your heart is big. It's inexhaustible, man.
Your heart's got you practicing,
it's got you driving, it's got you eating right.
Got you not doing stupid shit like getting in cars that weren't yours
or mistreating women or picking up guns.
Not doing blow.
It's got you appreciating people.
Making sure that when you get in spots
where you might succeed, you did so.
You don't owe anybody else
for you busting your ass to become you.
Busting your ass and being on time
and not committing crimes, man, that's a life available to everybody.
Look, where we from, yeah, sometimes it's harder than most,
but you did it.
Ain't your responsibility to make sure other people do it too.
You helped him. Now he got to help himself.
He got to take his hand out of some Irish girl's titties
and set an alarm.
And maybe he will, maybe he won't,
but he can't hang out in this city until he get his shit straight.
You paid him to go away, didn't you?
I can't make anybody do anything that they don't want to do.
You're getting at least $30 million.
We about to go next level, Cam.
(music playing)
Ripped By mstoll