Shots of art. Kevin talks about the kid he's mentoring, and how Morris seemed to require Kevin's immediate attention more urgently than Eric did, and that he could see Eric any ol' time. Hence the reason Kevin is not addressing the situation right away.

Kevin's telling Morris about being abandoned by his own father, and that he wants to give another kid a strong male figure, and that most people in rough circumstances would get some sense of entitlement, but that you need to look out for others. You know, whatever Kevin's problems were, he was certainly smarter than most of the morons in the loft. Oh God. In a spectacularly subtle move, "Rhythm Nation" starts playing.

Back to Eric and his friends. Eric's saying maybe he shouldn't get all up in Kevin's face. His friend says, well, duh, don't do that, just ask Kevin what he wants. Eric says, "But the way I feel right now, I wanna blast him."

At that moment, Kevin and Morris come in. The drama of the impending confrontation makes the hair on my neck stand up. Not. Hey Kevin, way to mentor someone -- show him a bitch fight between you and your roommate!

So Eric says, "So, Kevin, what's that supposed to mean, 'be a man'?" Kevin chews his lip and then says, "Let's step outside and talk about it." Eric says, "Let's go," and you can practically see his chest expand with machismo.

Some song I don't recognize plays, but it has a heavy guitar riff and the chorus, "There goes the neighborhood!" It sounds like Chuck D.

Eric and Kevin on the stoop outside. Kevin keeps telling Eric, "What good would it do me to dis your sister?" Eric says he doesn't know, but he does know what his sister tells him. Eric tells Kevin it's his duty to make his sister feel comfortable. Kevin, showing a whole lot of restraint by not shoving his shoe up Eric's ass until the toe shows up in Eric's throat, says he's not going out of his way, since he's already perfectly civil to Eric's sister, and that he's never called her names or told her to fuck off, and that when Eric's sister comes in, he even asks her if she's uncomfortable and wants him to leave. Eric says that he doesn't need to be like that. Kevin shakes his head and says adamantly, "This is the way I am," and Eric shouts back petulantly, "Well, this is the way I am!" and they both say that a few more times. I get confused -- is this an argument, or a call-and-response session?