Smoke

- -

- Hey. -

What?

Purity Supreme motherfucking fire.

Get over here right now.

- All right. - Watch this.

Come here.

- Pay atten... Okay. All right. - Locked in.

Watch this, watch this.

Right there!

What am I missing?

Really?

Watch again. And...

there.

Where's the limp?

Oh, dude. What? Come on.

Okay, I'll slow it down. Watch.

Slow it down for you.

Come on. Seriously?

- Oh, he's not limping. - No.

And people who limp don't miraculously not limp for four full strides.

You know what?

I'm just gonna have to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one.

- You are smart. - You're goddamn right I am.

Hot today.

What's this?

Huh?

- What's that? - Oh, no, no.

You know, i-it's nothing, I mean, I-I don't wanna rain on your parade.

- Steal your thunder. - Fucking Gudsen.

What do you got?

Well, you know, last night our Milk Jug asshole torched a house

with a baby inside.

- The baby's fine. - Shit.

Father will need a dozen skin grafts to resemble anything adjacent to normal.

And the mother's out of a house.

But, before the couple's house was torched, they went for dinner.

Hmm.

They had a fine old time.

They were happy.

This guy was seen watching them.

This our guy?

This is our guy.

Freddy. Freddy.

Freddy Fasano!

Ooh! Gimme two of those fresh cheddy chickas, baby.

And some Cajun tots.

How you doing today, Freddy?

I'm okay, Miss Cephus.

As many times I'm in here,

is as many times I told your shy ass to call me Brenda.

So do it. Call me Brenda.

Thank you for choosing Coop's...

Brenda.

When you gonna let me cut that hair?

There's a handsome face under all that.

Yo, white boy.

He called me Brenda.

I always call you Brenda.

Yeah, but he shy.

How come he's so shy?

- How come you so shy? - I'm not shy, I'm just...

- Huh? - I'm just not used...

He ain't shy.

You gotta watch out for the quiet ones now.

Lot of times they hide their intelligence

'cause the world is filled with dumb assholes consumed with jealousy.

Maybe he'll be the new manager.

Taylor's our manager.

Little bitch got a job at a start-up.

He's leaving us.

Freddy Fasano, Manager.

- No. - What?

Don't let her trip you out, man.

There ain't no ladders built for the likes of us.

I can't help you.

You sure?

Look, I never saw that guy.

What... ...you think he was at the restaurant?

Yeah, we do.

Why?

Well, we think he sets fires to people

whose lives he's jealous of.

When you were at the restaurant, were you having a good time,

joking around?

Enjoying yourself?

So you...

You're telling me I'm gonna look like this for the rest of my life...

because I laughed?

Donald had never known love.

Even his mother poured her love into other things.

Boyfriends mostly.

And the cheap gifts they bought her.

Booze.

Whoa.

Do you need help?

Nope. No, no. I got this.

You, read.

It's good. It's good.

What, the pasta?

The pasta, yeah, honey.

No, the book.

It's good.

What'd you like most?

I like all the fire stuff.

It's so real, it feels like you're there.

- At the fires? - Mm-hmm.

- Yeah. - And in the office,

the sense of the job was... was great.

Hmm.

Anything else?

Maybe a few women characters to balance out the...

I don't know, dude-ness.

So you're saying it's dude-heavy?

Very dude-heavy.

Like dude-centric.

But otherwise?

Like, overall?

It's good.

Yeah.

Fuck yeah.

When I started at Coop's, I was a fry cook.

Back then, I had no idea I had what it took to be a manager.

Coop's believed in me when I didn't believe in myself.

What makes Coop's different is that we're not just about chicken.

We're about community. Diversity and inclusion.

There's room in this henhouse for everyone.

If you care about teamwork, safety, and sanitation,

and you believe customer service is no yolk,

then fill out our online management application.

All you need is a high school diploma.

Join the Coop's family.

Where birds of a feather, flock together.

You didn't graduate high school?

Nah.

Even I pulled that shit off.

Got my GED in my 20s.

So there you go.

It said "high school diploma."

Yeah, well they left off "or equivalent"

'cause I know at least three managers in this company that only got GEDs.

That's for real, man.

D'Ondre Walker?

Runs the one on the corner of Avon and 16th. GED.

Kendra what's-her-name?

Who used to run the one on Robertson

till she got caught fucking that 16-year-old cashier?

GED, brother.

Ah, but Coop's, they start their managers off

at less than what an employee with your time in makes already.

So time you make any real money, it's, like, 2035, man.

And you're like, what... ...60?

Huh?

No...

I'm 43.

43?

That's been a tough four decades, dawg.

Damn.

Oh, okay, well...

You're 43.

That's, like, 600 in the corporate world.

All right, just best... stay where you're at.

I don't wanna stay where I'm at...

Enunciate, motherfucker.

You don't have dreams...

what do you have?

This.

I don't like this.

No one does.

Hey, what's up?

Guess how many times I've been to McDonald's today?

How many times?

- Twice? - You're psychic.

- - Say "hi," Sophie.

There's my monster.

Sophie got a burger for lunch today,

but we had to go back because they put a pickle in it.

- Girl threw a fit. - I didn't threw a fit.

You acted like they were trying to poison you.

- No. -

So, what time can I bring her over on Thursday?

6:00 too early?

Uh, no, 6:00 is fine.

- Mmm. My queen. - Um.

I got a letter from the parole board.

Right. Benji told me about that.