David Makes Man

David has a physical altercation at school with his best friend Seren. At home, David is a lookout for The Ville at the request of Raynan. Plus, the truth about Sky is revealed.

David and JG prepare to visit JG’s grandfather Saul and Raynan insists on joining them. David and Raynan then visit the house of Raynan’s uncle Tio Teo where the two reminisce about Sky. Tio Teo reveals to David that he wants David to participate in a bigger operation at The Ville. The subject of Sky comes up, and Tio Teo laughs at David’s insistence that Sky never wanted him to move drugs. Sky was, he says slyly, a dealer himself. Later at the block party, Raynan hands David his bookbag, now filled with drugs, to take back to The Ville, and David is dumbstruck by Raynan’s ulterior motives. Feeling as if he cannot say no, he takes it home. When he arrives at The Ville, he delivers the bag to Shinobi (Jordan Bolger) who happens upon David’s one-sided interaction with a nonvisible Sky. Finally, David enters his home just before his mother arrives to wake him up for school.

David meets with Dr. Bree, the county-approved clinical psychiatrist. David walks Dr. Bree through his last 24 hours, with his imagined alter egos sitting behind him, revealing his true feelings. He starts his story in Dr. Woods-Trap’s class who assigned Seren to be David’s project partner. They enter Seren’s home in the suburbs, where David sees that Seren is fearful of his mother. David and Seren chat about girls, their biological fathers, and compare their parents’ styles of discipline. Meanwhile, at The Ville, Ms. Elijah watches as Shinobi and Raynan are arrested. The next day at school, David gives a presentation about his mom and 17-year-old Gloria appears through a flashback confronting David’s father, who denies paternity. Enraged, Gloria insists that she will raise David herself. When David finishes recounting his day to Dr. Bree, she inquires as to why David didn’t choose to focus on his late friend Sky instead. David’s answer reveals more about his relationship with Sky.

Told through her daydreams and the stark contrast of reality, we learn more about Gloria’s past and difficult present. After calculating her budget in hopes of moving closer to David’s dream school, Gloria asks Jay about a new position at the diner. Jay reminds her of her past and touches her inappropriately. While disentangling from his grasp, she hurts herself. When she later offers a patron free dessert, Jay fires her. Soon after, Gloria enters a pharmacy for pain medication, but she averts temptation and instead selects medicated patches. When she finally arrives at The Ville, she encounters the building manager, who is complaining about JG’s burned, soiled sheets in the laundry room. Though Gloria is angry with David about keeping JG’s issue a secret, she realizes that she puts too much responsibility on him. Meanwhile, David encounters Raynan, who reminds him that his involvement in the drug operation is not a choice. Finally, Ms. Elijah asks Gloria to join her at the ball.

Marissa and David get ready for school at their respective homes. Marissa dresses the way her mother forces her and David and JG find their mother Gloria in an overly positive state. At school, David asks Marissa to the school dance, but she declines and asks Seren instead. David has another session with Dr. Bree, who offers David a prescription for sleep medication.Following his school day, David sees Sky and they enter a fantasy sequence. David is jolted back to reality by Shinobi and the other corner boys, who make fun of him. David ultimately asks Tare to the dance. At the dance, David feels uneasy about his two worlds colliding and Tare accuses David of being embarrassed by her. Sky helps David apologize to Tare, and David walks Tare to her door. When David finally arrives home feeling good, he is alarmed to discover a “rent past due” notice nailed to the door.

We see a pre-Ville Raynan at an upper-class high school. Following Sky’s death, any semblance of Raynan’s preppy self is gone. He is no longer an outsider at The Ville, but rather its center of gravity. Gloria arrives at the unemployment office, but she is turned away because she doesn’t have a Social Security card. Upon arriving home, Raynan gives her something to help with her hip pain. Later, JG sells his sneakers to help pay the rent but when the money disappears, Gloria is back to square one. She later sells the drugs provided by Raynan to a fellow addict for rent money. To help with his family’s financial issues, David visits Dr. Bree and steals his prescription pad as a means of obtaining drugs to sell.