Slam!

Despite Slam’s bad mood, Derek gets him to go up to the rooftop with him to shoot film for the school project. They film people’s morning routines in the neighborhood: people milling about, going to work, a beer delivery at the corner store. They go back inside, where Slam notices that his dad is in a bad mood. He’s having second thoughts about Slam being tutored by Richie Randall.

At school, Ducky and Slam talk about the fight. Ducky says Nick is ready to move on. Later in the day, Margie reviews some of Slam’s early footage for the project. Margie, fascinated by what she considers to be “ghetto,” inadvertently makes Slam feel as if his life is something to be marveled at, a spectacle for Margie’s entertainment. He angrily walks out of the room with the tape. Later, Slam expresses some of these frustrations to Mtisha, who tells him he has to relax and find a better, more productive way of dealing with his emotions rather than letting every little thing get to him. They talk about how they haven’t seen Ice in a while. Slam starts doubting his relationship with Mtisha, wondering if she’ll break up with him one day because she is so smart with a bright future ahead of her—namely, college—and he feels weighted down by his struggles in school.