Previously on The Hard Times of RJ Berger...
- Morning, Berger. - Oh, my God!
What are you doing here?
RJ, is that any way to treat a guest?
Are you asking me out on a date?
Yes, I am.
[Hard rock music]
[Ominous music]
♪ ♪
I suppose you're here to tell me
to stay away from your mother.
You suppose correctly.
And if I don't?
Then, Mr. Sinclair...
Life becomes extraordinarily difficult for you.
A threat.
A promise.
There are quite a few secrets rattling around that skull of yours.
Secrets that the school board or your parole officer
might find rather interesting.
With all due respect, Mr. Sinclair,
you have no choice but to obey.
With all due respect, Mr. Berger,
you can kiss my black ass.
[Chuckling evilly]
What the...
[Rumbling]
[Glass shatters]
No, no, no, not yet!
Damn it, Miles.
You pulled me out too soon!
I had him!
Five minutes. Not a second more.
Those were your instructions.
I had him.
Look at you, man.
You're coming apart at the seams.
If I wanted a sermon, I'd go to church.
Have you been cooking bacon?
Miles, what the hell were you doing?
The only thing that'll make you see the light.
[Dramatic music]
â™ª â™ª
Ugh!
- Wakey, wakey. Eggs and bac-y.
Your mama made us breakfast.
My name is RJ Berger.
And every morning I wake up to the same nightmare.
Sync by mczolly www.addic7ed.com
Mm, deeeelicious.
Deeelighted to hear it.
Well, I'm ghost.
Gotta let the golf team in
for their morning workout.
Want a ride to school, son?
No, I'll... I'll take the bus.
This is, um, surreal enough already.
Eh, suit yourself.
I'll see you later.
- Mm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
[Grunting and groaning]
Mm!
Damn!
Yeah.
Whoo.
Mm.
[Fork clanks]
- RJ, honey, we have to talk. - I agree.
Should I change the locks, or should you?
What, Jeriba?
Oh, no, honey. Don't worry about him.
He's just a warm body to fill the void.
No, it's that tomorrow
is your daddy's and my 20th anniversary.
Oh.
So I was hoping you could be here in the evening.
Okay, what for?
So mommy doesn't have to be alone with the sad monsters
that live inside her heart.
Why can't he hang with you?
RJ, we've discussed this. He can't do Friday nights.
- Community service. - Community service.
It'll be fun.
We'll order Armenian and play pictionary.
But mostly we'll just...
Not cry.
- Okay. - Okay.
[Whimpers]
♪ Keep your head up ♪
♪ even when you're falling down ♪
Have you ever hit pause when the Asian guy's naked
in the hangover?
I mean, that's gotta be the world's smallest penis.
- Miles, I... - Dude, seriously.
You can't even see it through the pubes.
My life is falling apart,
and this is what you wanna talk about?
If you were a superhero, that little Asian guy
would be your arch-Nemesis.
He'd be the ying to your wang.
Let me see your hand.
- What? - Let me see your hand.
[Sighs]
How long it take you to write that?
All morning.
Damn, girl.
If you didn't already have a limp,
I would give you one.
I am gonna hump
your overdeveloped brains out your skull.
Mm!
Ugh.
Unbelievable.
Robo-troll has a boyfriend.
I can't even buy a second look from a blind girl.
That's it, man. I'm gettin' in shape.
Miles, you do this every couple of weeks.
You say you're gonna get in shape.
You go home.
You jog half a mile. You vomit.
And then you spend the rest of the afternoon
writing jokes on your hands.
Look, I love you, buddy. But you have the self-control
of Lindsay Lohan's nostrils.
No, I'm serious.
I'm gonna get in shape this time.
I'm gettin' in shape.
RJ, you...
Got a minute?
Okay.
Whew.
Is everything okay?
Uh, not really.
But, hey, I got my first paycheck
as a substitute teacher.
Although after taxes and a week's rent,
it comes to 23 bucks.
Although you'd be surprised at how far that goes
at 7-11.
- I gotta get to class. - Right.
RJ, I was just wondering if, uh,
if you were free to spend a little time
with your old man tomorrow night.
Oh, actually, I've... I've already made...
It's just that I don't trust myself to be alone
on my first anniversary away from mommy.
I'll be honest, son.
$18.50 of that $23 went to five bottles of red wine.
Right now they're the only, uh, company I've got.
Yeah, dad.
Of course I'll...
All right! Oh, thank you so much!
Oh, you have made a sad, sad man
just a tiny, tiny bit less sad.
This is gonna be great.
Now, I'll... I'll fire up the hot plate,
and I'll whip up some Franks,
and I've got this little doohickey from radio shack
that lets you hook up a vcr to a tv,
so we can watch our favorite tape together,
just like old times.
[Giggles]
[Sniffs]
Miles...
I need you to come hold me.
Oh, you're so strong.
[Birds chirping]
Being a male cheerleader
is like having McDonald's and burger king
all at once, Miles.
First you see the golden arches.
Then you have it your way.
Oh, Miles!
That's amazing.
Hands off, bitch! He's mine!
[Boing]
- Uh-uh, girl. He's mine!
[Ploink]
Whoa, whoa.
Easy.
There's plenty to go around.
God gave me ten fingers.
[Girls chanting like a cheer] Keep your hands off him.
Gonna get what I want.
[Chanting continues] Yeah, baby!
Spirit fingers.
So great, instead of one clinically depressed parent,
I get both of them.
Guess if I leave my mom's early enough,
I can make it over to my dad
before he weeps his way through our old vacation photos.
I'm telling you, as a veteran of divorce,
these things never end well.
Yeah, I know, but what am I supposed to do?
I can't let them both down.
Are you kidding me? They let you down.
Listen, RJ, I know what you're going through.
Believe me.
And I know how tempting it is
to play the nice guy.
But you have to stop trying to please everybody else
and start taking care of yourself.
Your parents are grown-ups.
- Not really. - Okay, well, maybe not.
But I do know that it is their job
to take care of you, and not the other way around.
So are you still planning on doing this alone?
- Well, I-I don't really think I have another choice.
Well, I could maybe go with you
for moral support.
You are aware that my mom and coach are...
Crazy.
And completely self-absorbed and psycho.
Yeah, I totally know that.
But that is divorce, RJ.
My parents went through the same thing.
Except, actually, it was my dad that left for a black guy.
Yeah.
The point is, sometimes everybody needs
a little support.
So my mom's apartment, 6:30.
It's a date.
[Bell rings]
- ? Oh oh-oh oh oh-oh ?
♪ oh oh oh ♪
♪ oh oh-oh oh oh-oh ♪
♪ oh oh ♪
♪ wham bam, here I am ♪
♪ gonna start a plan ♪
♪ and raise hell, yeah ♪
♪ got you eating out of my hand ♪
Stop, stop, stop!
What was that?
Um, Robin, what are you guys doing?
What does it look like we're doing?
We're practicing?
I'm team captain. I lead practice.
Well, you were late.
And we got tired of waiting.
- Oh, really. - Hey!
What the hell?
'Sup, chicken heads?
- ? Oh oh-oh oh oh-oh ?
Anybody need a lift?
- ? Oh oh-oh oh oh-oh ?
♪ I can feel it ♪
♪ do you feel it ♪
♪ I can feel it ♪
Morning, bud.
Hey, dad. Can we talk about something?
[Singsong tone] Look what I've got.
Sir homie, the brown knight? No way!
It's one of the few things your mom sent me
that I didn't burn.
- That's good. - Yeah.
Uh, hey, about tonight.
Hey, look, I gotta tell ya.
If I didn't have this to look forward to,
if I didn't have you to depend on,
I-I might die of a broken heart.
- Dad, don't say that. - No, no, it's true.
And someday I'm gonna go to Israel
and plant a tree in your name
because you saved a life today.
No, well, listen to me babble on.
Um, you were gonna say something, sorry.
Go ahead.
I was going to say...
I have something to do earlier in the evening,
so I was kinda hoping we could meet up
a little later on.
Oh, so when you say something,
you really mean someone, huh?
Huh?
- Uh... - Yeah?
Someone.
[Laughs jovially]
Attaboy!
Sure, we can meet later. Absolutely.
[Hard rock music]
♪ ♪
So in other words, you pussed out.
He was desperate, Miles. What else was I supposed to do?
Wait, wait a second.
So y'all mean to tell me I'm the only one here
whose parents are happily married?
170 iq with a stable, upper-middle class home life.
Ha!
Who's your stereotype now, homie?
Well, you are dating a white girl with a huge ass.
True.
If I were you, I'd call his bluff.
I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?
Uh, I don't know.
I mean, he could kill himself.
Bingo.
And you got a spare dad waiting in the wings.
Miles, I don't want coach to be my dad.
I don't even want him to be my coach.
All I'm saying is give the guy a chance.
He's friends with pimps.
- Mm. - Wow.
Another selfless act of friendship.
You know, you'd be a lot cuter if you didn't talk.
Oh, and you'd be a lot smarter.
Ooh.
I like this girl more every day.
Me, too.
Well, I think it's time for me to get
to cheerleading practice.
I am gonna have McDonald's
and burger king today.
And how is that different from any other day?
Ohhh!
- Ohhh! - Hey!
[Laughter]
Well played, baby.
[Intermittent dribbling]
Jeriba.
Hey, Rick.
[Steadily streaming]
Ohhh.
How's it hangin'?
Oh, you know. Alone.
Big plans for this weekend?
- Me? - Yeah.
Nah.
Not a damn thing.
Well, unless you count leavin' my mark
on some fine white ass.
[Laughs]
And you?
Oh, actually, I'm getting together
with RJ tonight.
Gonna have some old-fashioned father-son bonding.
Is that so?
- Mm-hmm.
Good luck with that.
[Dribbles]
♪ Are you ready ♪
♪ are you ready ♪
[Rhythmic claps]
♪ If you don't like ♪
♪ how I talk ♪
♪ just know I'm walkin' my walk ♪
♪ and baby you can ♪
♪ k-I-s-s my derriere ♪
♪ -iere, my, my derriere ♪
Oh, my God. I'm doing it!
Ready to come down? Yeah.
One, two... ah.
- Whoo! - Yes!
Shut up and do it again.
Okay.
Oh, no, wait, wait.
Whoa, everybody stop.
What the hell, Meredith?
I have girl cramps.
Like I care!
Get over there and do it again!
Maybe we should let her take a break.
Maybe you should let me instill some discipline
in these girls,
since you're obviously not capable.
Meredith, do it again.
- Are you okay? - Mm-hmm.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
Oh.
Cheerleading rocks.
Heh, heh, heh.
[Screams]
Agh, blood!
Ohhhhh!
Oh, my God.
[Miles babbling incoherently]
Dude, it's just blood.
Just blood?
Period blood isn't just...
[Sighs heavily]
Period blood isn't just blood.
Period blood is what the devil makes terrorists drink in hell.
Yeah, well, you're gonna give yourself a blister.
Who cares?
I probably need a full face transplant!
Damn it!
Why can't anything just go right for me?
- Come on, Miles. - Seriously!
I just wanted to lose some weight
to get girls to like me.
Now I'm gonna be hearing vampire jokes
the rest of my life.
Miles.
Buddy, come on.
When a girl likes you...
For real, likes you...
It's not because you're skinny or attractive
or chiseled.
It's because you're you.
You're funny, you're cool, you're sincere.
The kind of guy who spends an entire morning
writing jokes on his hand to make his buddy laugh.
Look.
I know this is supposed to be a nice friendship moment.
And don't get me wrong.
I really appreciate it, man.
I really do.
But, uh,
I had a girl's period blood on my face.
Yeah, we should get back to scrubbing.
Put some elbow grease in it.
♪ Hey ♪
[Light pop music]
♪ Hey ♪
Five, six, seven, eight.
Lift, one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
You call that a lift, bitch tits?
Stop shaking!
I can't help it.
My goggles are so fogged up, I can't see anything.
Awww.
I know it's hard lifting that cow up in the air,
but we don't want to drop her, do we?
Keep it up, girls. One, two, three, four.
Five, six... [Screams]
[Crunch] Ow, that hurt!
Are you serious?
Oh, no. Are you hurt, Jenny?
My ankle.
[Whimpering]
Hey, what do you think you're doing?
Practice isn't over.
I'm taking her to the nurse, you psycho hose beast.
You do that,
and you're both off the squad for good!
Oh, I'm really gonna miss the period blood
all over my face!
Oh! You're finished, Swanson!
God. Back to one!
What are you looking at?
[Lounge music]
Mmm, look at that, huh?
Oh, that meat looks fantastic.
Yeah, wait till you see the real thing later.
[Laughing]
Mom.
- [Gasps] - Surprise, mother[bleep]!
I thought you had...
What, community service?
Yeah, I know.
I slipped a crack head five bucks
to clean that synagogue for me.
'Sides, I thought it'd be a good idea
if we spent some quality time together.
You know, some family time.
Aren't you just the sweetest thing?
Oh, I just wanna ungh!
[Suggestive laughter]
So, RJ, why don't you and, um...
Oh, I'm sorry.
Uh, mom, coach,
this is Amy.
- Amy. - Hi.
So you're the older woman Rj's been telling us about.
You are just as cute as a button.
And I can see what RJ meant when he said
you have the curves of a video ViXen.
What? No, I'm... I never said that.
- Uh, no, that was me. - Oh, that was him.
Mm-hmm. Coach Sinclair.
- Hi. - How you doing?
You can call me Jeriba.
Okay.
Mm, okay. Have a seat.
I, uh, cooked up some of papa Sinclair's
famous skirt steak
and bought a few bottles of the good stuff
to go with it.
And RJ,
if it's okay with your mama,
you and Amy can drink as much as you want.
Yeah, a few sips.
Let's pretend we're French for the evening.
[Sirens wailing]
[Upbeat rock music]
♪ ♪
Then the cop looked me dead in the eye,
put down his flashlight,
and said, "you sucked how many?"
[Laughter]
Honestly, that story gets funnier
every time I hear it.
Oh, God.
Oh.
[Sad rock music]
♪ Stop ♪
♪ this is where you get off ♪
♪ you can rattle your bones ♪
♪ but the hammer will drop ♪
[Sobbing]
You don't know how I feel.
I can't believe it!
I'm...In...
[Drunken laughter]
Oh, these are tears I don't mind crying.
Tears of laughter. Yeah, laughter and camaraderie.
[Laughs]
- Awww. - Yeah.
Ah, cin-cin.
[Warped rock music]
[Grunting]
♪ ♪
Yahhhhh!
♪ ♪
[Line ringing]
We're sorry.
Your cellular account has been suspended
due to nonpayment.
To speak...
[Head thumping on wall]
Hey, keep it down!
Ow.
[Laughing deeply]
I love that I just, like, caught RJ
eating his own poopy.
- Mom, enough. - You ate your own poop?
- Oh, that ain't right. - It was Thanksgiving.
You know, I think my little gobbler
just wanted a pre-Turkey snack.
- Okay, mom. - Goddamn, son.
Well, remind me never to kiss you again.
I honestly thought it was pumpkin pie.
But what are you gonna do?
11-year-olds, you know?
- Uh, you were 11? - It was a bad year.
It was. It was a bad year.
Well, it's getting kinda late.
Um, we should be...
Opening up another bottle.
I completely agree.
[Giggling]
[Tinny medieval music]
Pray tell,
what strange manner of dress is this?
[Visor squeaks]
Oh, snap!
I done ended up in olden times.
[Visor squeaks]
[Screaming]
Hey, quit it!
No!
[Laughter]
[Doorbell rings]
I'll get it.
If that's the neighbor telling us to keep it down,
I'll kick... I'll kick his damn ass!
I bet you will.
Dad.
- I counted on you, RJ. - Son of a bitch.
I counted on you, and you weren't there for me.
Good evening, Amy. Hi, Mr. Berger.
- Jeriba. - Mm.
Guess who's coming to dinner.
You're drunk, Rick.
- Ohhh. - Now, honey.
You're pretty [bleep]ed up yourself.
Jeriba, please.
Dad, I understand that you're mad.
I'm not mad.
I'm just...
Broken-hearted.
Dad, I'll go with you right now,
and we'll watch the movie.
Don't bother. You have a new brown knight now.
Hey!
That's some racist bull[bleep] right there, Berger.
Dad, it's not like that.
Mm.
Enjoy each other.
- Well, one thing worse than a run-in
with your drunk daddy.
That's a run-in
with your drunk daddy and a cold skirt steak.
My name is RJ Berger,
and please let me wake up from this nightmare.
Sync by mczolly www.addic7ed.com