Pipe Dreaming

Beulah wakes up in a storage unit after blacking out. Lenny’s dream of becoming Oakland mayor has finally come true but his life couldn’t be more of a mess.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, it's happened again, but this time is different. Agent Evans,
If he knew what was going on with me, i'd
never worked in the bureau again. Not a lot of
room for mental illness. I've got to play it cool. Hello,

(00:29):
where are you? I just woke up where I meant
your grandmother's house, but you're not here. Yeah, I'm gonna
have to call you back, Leaner, tell me where you are, sir.
The blackout started six months ago. Large gaps in my
memory gone. I wake up somewhere, not remembering how I

(00:51):
got there. Sometimes I wake up in my bed, other
times I'm in my car. The first couple of incidents
were really freaking scary, but so far it's been harmless
until now. This is weird because right now I am
in a storage unit I've never seen in my life.

(01:12):
And that smell is that sulfur, gunpowder and this random stuff.
Why would someone be storing huge announcing acidtone, sugar, gasoline,

(01:39):
styrofoam stop remover? Oh my god? These aren't random chemicals,
therefore making I e. D. S. Pipe bombs, molotov cocktails
and worse. But the real question is why do my
hands smell like it? M? Hm, Basil, what the hell

(02:03):
have you done? This isn't I can explain. Last night,
a West Oakland neighborhood held a candlelight vigil at Freedom House,
a halfway house did tragically burn down six months ago,

(02:24):
Tragedy struck when a fire killed Aricelli Gonzalez, the lone
victim of what police described as arson. Gonzalez was the
daughter in law of Mayor Lenny Martelli. Martelli, who is
also owner of the Freedom House property, is under intense
scrutiny for alleged negligence. Despite the criticism, he spoke briefly
at the evening vigil. HARRISSELLI was a good girl. Some

(02:48):
people are calling her a prostitute, a drug addict. Those
are lies. She was a mother. We're gonna find the
people responsible for that. She's dead. Tell turn this carpet off.
You see today's headline in the Tribune. Who cares? I'm hungry? Look,

(03:09):
we had eggs. Look, remind me to pick up eggs later.
But again, remind me to remind my assistant. Tragedy inside
Mayor Martinelli's brothel from hell? Did they seriously call me
martin Elli again? Somebody's got to do something about these typos.
Luckily no one reads the paper anymore, and you need

(03:30):
to take this seriously. What's the point The narrative has
been written, clearly do something. You're the mayor, Yeah so
what so? What good is that? If you have no
influence on how you're perceived, and that being the mayor
means that I have to prioritize important ship. This is nonsense.

(03:55):
Important ship? Okay? And your family, your son, your grandson, me,
this affects us too. You knew what you were signing
up for when you canceled the divorce. You wanted the privileges.
You gotta take the bad too. Did Sebastian sign up
for it? The death of his mother, his dad back
on drugs, and idiot for a granddad. And now this

(04:19):
seems to be taking it pretty well. If you ask me,
open your eyes. Sabby has some serious fucking issues. Well,
then get him to a shrink. Oh hey, where's my breakfast?
Good morning to you too, sweetheart. You want some cereal

(04:39):
m lucky charms? We don't have any lucky charms. How
about cheerios or raisin brand I don't want that ship.
Whoa literally for that kind of language, But find your
own business Mayor Martin Nelly seeing it, and he's making
you don't you try to turn this on, just saying

(05:01):
he used to be a sweet little kid or a
sweet Sebastian and now he's a potty mounted bratum. Excuse me,
Mr Martelly, there's an issue? Of course? When is there
not an issue? Told me eight am, and I already
got a handful of him. Sir, it's Danny. He's back.

(05:22):
Who cares so what? He's not allowed on the premises,
called the police? Yeah, I know, but I thought you
might want to deal with him directly this time. And
why would I want to do that. He's starting to
kill himself on the front lawn unless you do, and
this press outside, sir, drama queen. I want to see dad.

(05:44):
Let him in, please, Lenny, we can't just ignore our son. Fine,
send him in. The last thing I need is another scandal.
Get him in here. This is a bad idea, Okay,
mark my words in it, Sevy. I missed you so much.

(06:09):
I missed you too nice. How can I help you today? Danny?
Where I'm not gonna ask the mayor of Oakland for money?
You want some breakfast? You're you're looking a little thin. Yeah,
that it's called crack tends to do that to its users.
Don't do crack, Dad, I like heroin a little crank

(06:32):
on special occasions. Oh my bad? So again, why exactly
are you here? I just wanted to tell you that
I know what you did and what's that You killed her?
Who as Sully? You killed her? You wanted to make

(06:54):
sure she didn't tell anyone about you, the real you?
Is that? Right? Yeah? You gotta ship he grint on
your face like you think something is funny. But I'm
gonna make you pay and then I'm gonna take my
son back. Danny. Please calm down. Sebastian is right here, good.
He needs to know the truth. Did you hear that?

(07:15):
Sebby don't trust him? Don't you ever trust him, because
he'll ruined your fucking life just like he did. Mind,
don't cry, Daddy, Brandon, Do you think this might be

(07:36):
your cue to get this asshole out of here? Sure?
Go on, time to go. Don't touch my daddy. Daddy
will be back for you. I'll be back for you too,
Dad when I tell you that, huh, the guy is
all drama? Hey, Dad? Next time, violate the restraining order

(08:01):
I'll make sure you never see Sebastian again. Just stop it.
You make everything so much fucking worse. I gotta get
to work. Did you know about Freedom House? What it
really was? No more than you did. But lucky for you,
I'm the only one taking the heat, even though the

(08:22):
house is in both of our names. Like I said,
I have to get to work. Her rimps a lot.
That's original. Get back, stop, back right this way, so

(08:46):
watch your stuff. Back up, Mayor Martelli, I wanted to
go over some items on your agenda today. Please please
let's call me Letty. Sorry, still getting used to that.
It's okay, okay, It's just so damn formal around here.
Stresses me out sweat right, So the city council wants

(09:09):
to meet with you asap regarding the appointment of the
new police chief. However, I told them that your day
is completely full. Actually, you can clear my schedule. You
want me to clear it so you can meet with
the council. No, just clear it all. But why do
I need a reason? I guess not. I need to
do some damage control. I'm sure you've seen the news, Amy,

(09:32):
I did. Yes. By the way, do we want to
coordinate a public statement in response, people are eager to
hear from you. Huh, you're right. We can't afford to
lose the love of the people. I got to remind
them that Mayor Lenny cares. Convince him that I never
knowingly rent a house to team prostitutes. Great idea, it's

(09:54):
time I get back to my roots. Okay, won't happen overnight,
but I think I know where to start. That's great.
By the way, the new intern from Youth Unite starts today.
You're supposed to meet with her. She's actually here now, intern.
That's what we're gonna know. The organization sends over a

(10:14):
new intern every summer. It's tradition between us and the community.
I wouldn't want to piss the community off anymore than
they are, correct, all right, all right, yeah, I can
meet with her for a few minutes, but you'll have
to be responsible for, you know, teaching her stuff and
whatever she has to do. Of course, I'll bring her

(10:35):
in now, Mayor Lenny, this is Lauren. Yeah, hey, I
should get that. I'll let you too, get acquainted. Like
she said, I'm Lauren, and it's so nice to meet you, sir.
It's an honor to work for your office. Yeah, yeah,
I used to think it was an honor to work
for my office too. Don't worry, Okay, that charm will

(10:56):
wear off sooner, No way. I mean, honestly, it's just
my dream to be a public servant. Uh, you're in
college or something, high school senior. But I'm hoping to
get into Berkeley or maybe you see l A or something.
I'll probably apply for some HBCUs if I can qualify
for some scholarships. Great. Sounds like your parents did a

(11:19):
great job raising them. Oh they did, and I owe
them everything. Yeah, I doubt those words whatever come out
of my kid's mouth. He's a crack ahead. Blames me
for it, You're you're funny. No, he's actually a full
blown crack ahead. Oh well, um, that's so sad. But

(11:46):
it's not your fault. Why not? Because he had options, choices,
and you know, some people don't even get that exactly exactly,
but free will isn't free for everyone. I guess. I
hate to cut the short, but there's a Chuck Evans
on the line says he needs to speak with you
right away. Then I guess i'd better take it. Then, Lauren,

(12:10):
it's a really cool meeting you. This one's got a
good head on her shoulders. Amy, I can tell you
know you're not so bad either. I knew the media
had to be all wrong about you. Come on, I'll
show you the rest of the building. Yeah, what did do,
chucky boy? I hope today's headlines got your attention. Yeah,

(12:31):
Brothel from Hell really painted a vivid mental image. A
little hyperbolic, but vivid. That's nothing. Only gets worse from here.
Doesn't matter, bro, you can't get blood from a stone.
I got nothing for you. You're lying piece of shit.
I know you're in contact with Rebecca. The question is why.

(12:53):
It's only a matter of time before I crack you.
It sounds quite erotic. I will make it so ugly
for you and everyone you care about. How is Danny,
by the way, not well from what I hear? You
know what? Fuck you? That's a cheap shot. I mean
if my dad screwed my girlfriend, attempted to have me

(13:14):
wrongfully in prison, then took my son away after his
mother turned up debt at a property was being used
to facilitate highly illegal in amoral activities. Who it's one
of the poor kid hasn't tried to off himself by now,
m let me ask your question you can offer on
this ship just saying today's headlines. Tomorrow it's prison Leonard

(13:37):
for the last time. Okay, listen, clearly, I don't talk
to Rebecca. I have no idea what she gets up to.
I don't even go down to the cafe anymore. Richard
steers the ship. Now, fine, cling to your lies, but
one thing is certain, that town hall meeting better go

(13:58):
is expected. You back to naming strangler cheap and watch
how fast your whole damn life unravels. Right? So am
I Rebecca's Patsy? Or am I yours? This fucking guy amy?
Have Brandon pulled the car out front. I'll be at

(14:19):
it office for the rest of the day. So I
don't understand why we're here. The building hasn't been adequately
canvas to secure the protocols. Okay, this is my home.
These are my people, and when we find yes, let
say so Brandon, you want a coffee, my chreet Come on, no,

(14:42):
thank you? Excuse me, employee, We need some assistance over here,
be right with you? Just finishing this sort wown. What's
a big shot like you doing slimming with us in
the bottoms. I own the place, if you recall, of course,
just as surprised to see you. Who's your friend here?
It's my babysitter. Oh where is everyone? Huh? Who are

(15:08):
all these random people? Uh? Customers don't recognize any of
them except for Ernie over there. Yeah, I guess cafe
met it going on. It really helped us out. Yess,
so place looks good. We did a little cleaning rearranging.
I hope you don't mind. Buell and Bezel life savers. Shoot,

(15:30):
I forgot you never met him. He's a new employee, newish.
I've been here three months now. That's him in the corner,
the dude with the dreads selling jewelry, little of brand
for the neighborhood. We're trying to be supportive by the
arts community. Customers love it interesting. Come on, I'll introduce

(15:53):
you guys. All right, fine, yo, Basil, this is our
boss Manny Hey mine. Let me mart tell your legend.
You make all this stuff yourself? I sure do. Materials
ethically sourced. Plant Bass money goes to a fund for
victims of police brutality. You don't really look like a basil.

(16:17):
What does it bears? It look like I don't know different. Well, anyway,
thanks for letting me tell my art to cafette. I
was actually on my way out, but I'm glad I
finally got to meet you. Sure rich in the future,

(16:39):
make sure you run weird stuff like that by me first. Sorry,
boss seemed harmless. Letty do my eyes deceive me? Hey, easy, falu,
you get a little closer. It's just tirning. Okay. Good
to see a familiar face around here, even if it's
that one. So it's being mayor all that you dreamed

(16:59):
it would be. Yeah, of course it is. Just it
seems like you're having a rough time, at least from
the outside looking in. You know, political bs. It'll all
blow over. I don't know. People seem really very mad
at you, though you're letting my telly the mayor, the
one and only. Could I get a picture with you? Yeah,

(17:22):
of course, come on over, sir, I advise against them.
It's cool, Brandon, Okay, Like I said, I gotta connect
directly with my community. Come on, okay, I'm just gonna
hold my phone up for a selfie. It's with the
middle finger, just to commemorate the time I met the
biggest piece of ship in Oakland. Just as far I'm

(17:42):
selling that's hot coffee, that's just salt color. Still, police,
you can press charge a do it? God? I dare
you pretty sick? Capt take ball here on covering in coffee.
Let him go, you know what, Let him go, Brandon.
I won't give him the satisfaction of being a martyr.
But sir, you don't understand. You just get the car.

(18:05):
Just let's go. Yeah, yeah, he don't literally leave me.
People don't guess how sure? What just happened was so
not cool? Man? That guy is normally so nice. Yeah, well,

(18:27):
I bring out the best in people. What can I say?
I don't want to see his face in here again, Richard.
He's a generous tipper too, you know what, Leave me alone,
both of you. Like geez, Brandon, where's my car? Uh?
I guess he went around the corner and get a
bite to eat or something. They'll be here in a moment.

(18:52):
You see my bay pen. Do you have any smoked you? No?
So I don't smoke cigarettes. Yeah, I'm just talking about cigarettes. Anyway.
You were right. I shouldn't have come back here. Don't
sweat it, sir. It was always gonna be opportunists coming
at you. We're gonna make a name for themselves. Yeah,
that's not what this is. These people hate me as

(19:14):
if I have any control over anything that goes on.
But you're the mayor. Please have you even less say
now than they did as a cafe owner. I guess
you could always go back to your old life. I
don't belong here, probably don't belong often, see that. Fuck it.

(19:38):
I'll just be the douche everyone thinks I am anyway.
Come on, don't do that. You can't let him see
you sweat. Jeez, they're in a rush. That's not ours,
isn't No, definitely not. What the hell get get down,