Script 02: I Am My Brother's Keeper
Logline
Young man comes home from prison and is offered his job back selling drugs, but he is now a Christian. They don't need him because his younger brother has picked up where he left off. After standing up to the local drug dealer to rescue his brother, their mother is murdered. Before she dies, she asks her new born-again son to keep his brothers and sister together and lead them to Jesus. Every week is a part of their journey forward together.
Synopsis
Steven Adam is released early from jail for good behavior. He first visits his mom and his 3 siblings Patricia (12) Abraham (6) and Dennis (16). It’s morning, mom is cooking breakfast, and Abe is sent to wake up his brother Dennis who hits Abe knocking him to the floor which gets Dennis smacked by Mom. Patricia wishes Dennis was in jail like his brother. Mom prays but apparently not enough. Speak of the devil, there’s Steven (21) at the door. No happy reunion to say the least.
Later, Steven walks through the neighborhood announcing his return and end ups in the alley. Willis (drug dealer) offers Steven his job back because he didn’t snitch when he went to prison. But, Steven has a surprise for him and his family … he’s a Christian!
After making a shopping list mom looks for her money but can’t find it and guess who just got out of jail. Mom’s suspicion results in Steven falling hard on the floor from a slap. He thought being a Christian would be a wonderful moment to share with his mother and not him telling her while lying on the floor. “Watch what you pray for, you just might get it.” Steven realizes Dennis has picked up where he left off.
After knocking the money and drugs out of Willis’ hand, Steven demands Dennis to come with him. Willis pulls a gun on Steven which scares everyone in the alley but Steven. Steven grabs Dennis with Willis yelling and pointing his gun at him but doing nothing. The other hood rats tell Willis he has to get Steven or the hood will lose respect for him.
After the incident in the alley, Steven and Dennis goes back home. Patricia and Abe are watching TV. Mom isn’t home yet which scares Steven. Steven and Dennis go looking for her and get there just in time to see Willis stab her. Steven sends Dennis back to church to get Pastor and to call for help.
Later, Pastor brings the children to the hospital where mom is fighting for her life. She calls for Steven and tells him to take care of his family and bring them to Jesus, then dies. Filled with rage, Dennis runs home to get his gun for payback. Steven runs after him and confronts him at home. “Shoot me if you want to kill somebody. It’s my fault anyway.” Dennis finally calms down.
At Pastor’s house, Abe is having nightmares. Patricia can’t comfort him but Pastor can. Meanwhile, Steven has prayed all night for his family. In the morning, Steven and Dennis go to the police precinct and offer to wear a wire. Willis finally confesses and is arrested.
At mom’s funeral, everyone is surprised and upset seeing Steven come into the church. Pastor speaks words of encouragement. After a few others come forward, Steven comes forward and gets a lot of whispers from the congregation. When he is finished, there is complete silence. Afterward, Pastor rebukes him for his speech and his timing. The church is outraged because even though Steven is a Christian now, he was a drug dealer who went to jail for killing someone. Pastor is skeptical about Steven being guardian over the family.
Patricia and Abe are staying at Pastor’s house. Pastor and his wife have become attached to the children and desire to make this arrangement permanent. After church, Steven accepts an invitation to have dinner over Pastor’s house. They continue their conversation about the morning message, “I am my brother’s keeper.” Apparently, Pastor didn’t tell Steven that they were thinking about adopting the children in spite of what their mother said which causes Steven to get up to leave. They clear the air and Pastor realizes how serious Steven is and decides to help him.
Steven goes to a job interview but lies about being an ex-con and he doesn’t get the job. After Dennis jumps on him about it, he goes back to the job, apologizes, tells the truth, and gets the job. Dennis is seeing changes in Steven especially since Steven would rather pray than watch the Eagles play.
In family court, Pastor says he will help Steven look after his family to respect their mother’s last wishes. The court reluctantly allows Steven to have guardianship over his siblings to everybody’s liking except Patricia. The judge will keep special watch over this family to see how it’s going.
At the house, Patricia is modeling in the mirror with a cigarette. Steven confronts her and they both get a lot of things off their chest. Just maybe Steven will be his sister’s keeper too. Abe has another nightmare. Steven comforts him while staying in his bed. The next day, Abe, Patricia, and Dennis are getting ready for school while Steven is making breakfast. They all have breakfast together. Mom would be proud.
