"Your Honor, Mr. Massey is asking for a drastic reduction... in spousal support and child support." "Mrs. Massey has continued to overspend and has not looked for work." "Here are her last month's financials." "I have three kids at home." "Mr. Massey's clientele has weaned drastically... since the collapse of the housing market." "He already gave her the house." "I get the picture, Counselor." "I'll take the matter under advisement." "We'll reconvene in three days, and I'll give you my decision then." " That's good." " Great job, right?" " Yeah, I agree." " It's looking good. it's looking real good." " Is he going to win?" " I don't know." "What do you think?" "Look, just remain calm, all right?" "I'll get this straight." "You're gonna be late for your meeting at your daughter's school." "Oh." "Thank you." "I forgot." "Good-bye." "Well, Jan, we've been looking over your performance reports... over the past few months... and compared to a few years ago... they have declined by almost 40%." "Well, the publishing market has changed dramatically." "We understand that, but this decline is particularly based... on a bit of a difference we've noticed in your commitment." "I'm confused." "We want you to make partner." "But we're just not sure you have the time." "I'm here 9:00 to 6:00 every day, just like everyone else." "Yes." "But as you know, this job requires a lot more time than that." "Case in point... you've looked at your watch several times since you've been here." "Do you have somewhere to go?" "No." "Not for about 30 minutes anyway." "Oh." "Let me guess." "An appointment with your daughter." " Yes." " Well, if that's the case... you'd better go and take care of it." "We'll discuss this when you get back." "Go ahead." "Thank you." " Your 11:00 a. m. has been waiting." " Oh, I forgot all about her." "This is May Miller." " Oh!" " Jan Malkovitch." " Hi. it's so nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "Thank you for taking the time out today." "Um" " I'm a writer." "I work for The Avonda/e Times." "I've been a writer for a really long time." "Um, I really appreciate you" "Oh, and you know what?" "I found out a bit of interesting trivia." "Our kids actually go to the same school." "Merryville." "Your daughter's there." "My son is there." " I thought that was kind of cool." " Oh." "Interesting." "Well, urn, I'm actually short on time because I have a parent-teacher conference." "So do I. With Principal Walters?" " Principal Walters, yes." "Yes." " Yes." "So do I. Interesting." " Yeah, I'm supposed to be there at 12:00." " Oh." "So am I." "Let me just get right to the point then." "Um, this was great, but it's not for us." "We won't be publishing it." "But thank you so much for submitting it to us." "Well, do you think that you could, um, maybe tell me what's wrong with it?" "Uh, there's nothing wrong with it." "It's just the publishing houses I deal with would never take it on." "Um, the subject matter is a little off the grid." " Is it too black?" " I never said that." "Well, you can say that, but I can't say that." "I would never say that again." " So thank you." " Oh, thank you." "Um" " Okay, well, maybe you can point me in the right direction." "Well, the elevators are to your right, she'll validate your parking... and thank you so much for stopping by." "Wow." "Oh, my God!" "Baby, get up." "Get up." " Why?" "What's going on?" " He does this to me all the time." "Veronica's here." "Veronica's here?" "All right." "Good." "I can meet her." "Let's go." "Meet her?" "Are you crazy?" "You're naked." "Well, I'll get dressed." "I don't have a problem getting dressed." " Baby, go." "Go, go, go." "Get dressed." " Wait, wait, wait." "What's going on with you?" "Are you crazy?" " Take your socks!" " We can get up and we can have breakfast together." " Breakfast?" " I can say hi to her and we can get to meet each other." " Come on." " Wait, wait, wait." " Come on!" " I'm trying to leave, but" "_ Baby Hu ' God?" "' up'" "This thing won't open!" " Baby, I'm so sorry." " No, I'm going." "Put it on!" "Put it on!" "I found it." " Give me a kiss." " All right, honey." "Bye." " It doesn't have to be this way." " Baby, I'm so sorry." "I'll make it up to you." "I'll be at the restaurant tonight." "Okay, baby." "I'll see you tonight." "Okay?" "[ Sighs 1" "What took you so long?" "I was sleeping." "It's almost noon." " What are you looking at?" " My house." "Your house?" "What are you doing here, and where's Veronica?" "She's still at school, but I needed to tell you that I can't make the conference." " You're gonna have to go." " When it's time for you to discipline her, you leave." "Get dressed." "You've got to be there in half hour." "Next time call before you come over too." "What fun would that be?" "Kick me when I'm down." "Okay, positive, negative" "Just breathe, May." "Breathe." "You got this." "Hey." " Oh, hi." "Can you help me?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "Please." "I" " I think my battery's dead." "The car's been cutting off all day." "I don't really know what's going on." "Oh, no, the battery's not dead." "This is loose." " Oh." " Yeah." "Why don't you try it?" " Really?" " Yeah." "Oh, my gosh, thank you." "You have no idea." "I'm late for my son's school." "I have a meeting." "Where you want these?" "Just throw them in the backseat is fine." "Thank you." "What's your name?" "TK." "You should get somebody to tighten it up, and then" "And your purse is on top of the ca" " How you Gem"?" " Thank you." " Can I get you more coffee?" " Sure." "Okay." "d Hey, Lytia d d How's the most beautiful girl in the city-ya?" "d Ooh, I like the way that apron wraps around your titty-ya d" "Hey, Branson." "Stop wastin' my time." "What do you want?" " I want a date with you." " I don't like you!" "All right." "Ain't gonna never happen." "You don't have to be all mean about it." "What y'all laughing' at?" "Make your eggs." "Uh, where you goin'?" "Told you I've got to go to my son's school today." "And I told you I need you on the?" "oor." "It's the lunch rush." "I know, but I have to go." "You actin' like you don't want this job." "Look, I'll make it up to you, okay?" "I'll work a double." "Got to get my kids to my sister's- Oh, hell!" "That's the bus!" "Come on, babies!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Baby" " Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait a minute!" "You know you see me runnin'!" " Come on, babies." " You need a ride?" "You know I need a ride." "Okay." "Come on." "I'll take you." "One, two, three, four- We seem to be missing a parent... so maybe we'll wait just a few more moments." "I'm really tight on time, so can we just get to the meeting?" "Right." "If I ain't got a car and I can get here... these people with cars can get here." "Uh" " Uh" " Certainly." "I'm Principal Walters." "I've met all of you, but I'm not sure if you've met each other." "So would you all please introduce yourselves?" "I'm Jan Malkovitch." "I'm Kathryn's mother." "I'm Lytia Wright." "Hakim my son." "Hillary Massey." "Jennifer's my daughter." "And I'm Esperanza Luego, and Veronica's my daughter." "So, where are the fathers?" "I'm a single parent by choice." "My husband's in court." "What'd he do?" "He's a lawyer." "Oh." "Oh." "Oh, Veronica's dad couldn't make it." "He's tied up today." "Oh, Hakim's father, he couldn't make it either." "He locked up." "Forever." "Well, now that we're done with the introductions... can we move this along, or are we gonna sing Kumbaya"?" "Okay, you need to chill out." "This is probably important." "Who are you?" "[ Hillary Jan!" "1" "She don't know me." "She don't know." "Ladies." "Ladies." "As you know, West Merryville is a very exclusive school." "We have" " We have a waiting list that is four years long." "And because of our generous scholarship program... we have children here from- from all walks of life." "And our board was adamant... on this being a safe place for urban children to be educated." "One of the biggest challenges that I face... as principal of West Merryville is..." "What did she look at us for when she said that?" "That it's difficult, at best, to, um- to police... all of the different... personalities... and keep them in line." " Girl, she need a Valium." " She needs sex." "[ Laughing I" "Um" "Last evening, we had a bit of a problem." "All of your children were found on campus after hours by our custodian." " Hi." " Hi." "I'm May, Rick's mom." "I'm really sorry I'm late." "I just, uh" "I was just saying... how the children were caught on campus after hours." "And Rick was caught spray painting graffiti on the building." "Yeah." "And Jan, Hillary, Esperanza... your daughters, Kate, Jennifer and Veronica... were caught smoking these." "So, what did Hakim do?" "Oh." "He was tagging as well." "Oh, really?" "Gonna tag that ass when I get home." "Okay, now, I don't need any ass tagging." "I'm not quite sure what that means." "Unfortunately, the board wants all five children expelled." " Wait!" "What?" "No!" " You cannot expel" "Calm" " Calm down!" "I spoke to the board... and they have agreed to give them a probationary period." "The board has agreed to allow them to stay in school... as long as you parents can make sure this does not happen again." " Oh, that's no problem." " Of course." "When the children of West Merryville get in trouble... we ask the parents to get involved." "So you will have to chair this year's Belfast dance and fund-raiser." "Yaw.!" "You'll have to work together as a group." "The future of your children at West Merryville depends on it." "I have a few ideas about how we can do this." "Shall we meet at my house at noon on Thursday to discuss it?" "That sounds like a plan to me." " Jan?" " Are you gonna be there?" " Jan!" " Yes." "Yes, I'll be there." "Who is that chick?" "Uh, should we exchange numbers, ladies?" "We should all be listed on the student directory." " Right." " I'm actually unlisted... but Hillary has my assistant's information." "All right." "See ya." "Bye. it was nice to meet you, May." " Nice meeting you." " You, too, girl." " Do you need a ride?" " Yes." "Let's go." "'Cause I ain't spendin' one second with that chick." "She don't know me." " Hey!" "Rick, is that you?" " Yeah." "I have had the day from hell." "I cannot find my purse." "Get up here." "Get up here right now." "Right now." "Faster." "Go." "Gosh." "What took you so long to get home from school, first of all?" "You got something you wanna tell me?" "Turn around." "Rick!" "Do you hear me talking to you?" " Is there something you want to tell me?" " No." "Well, I spent the afternoon at your school talking to your principal... who showed me pictures of you tagging the walls." "I'm spending all this money for you to go to this private school... and you're gonna tag the walls?" " Are you listening to me?" " You're talking, aren't you?" "I want you in this house every day by 4:00." "Do you understand?" "My dad's coming to pick me up tomorrow anyway." "Okay, Rick." "When Daddy picks you up, I want you to come straight home." "Okay." "Just" " Just work with me." "Okay?" "I got a lot goin' on." "I'm tryin' to finish my book." "I'm tryin' to get stuff going." "I'm" " I'm" " Mommy is stressed." "But I need you to listen to me." " Got it?" " Yes." "Okay." "And clean up the room." "Oh, gosh." "I want to go live with my dad anyway, okay?" "Well, first Kate tried it... and then Veronica and then I sort of tried it." " But then I started coughing and" " Smoking?" "I know." "I know." "That is awful!" "Do you know if you start smoking early, you don't get boobs?" " Really?" " Yes." "You shouldn't smoke." "Very bad for you." " Oh, why'd you do that?" " Well, Kate was doing it." "If Kate jump off a bridge, are you gonna do the same?" "That is bad." "Really bad." "I won't" "Good." "You're too smart for that." "Go." " Jennifer, I want to talk to you about" " Christina already did." " Oh, good." "Thank you, Christina." " Sure." "Yeah, I think this little idiot that I trained... is trying to take my partnership." " Really?" " Yes." "Just came out of a meeting with Ollie." "Kramer just sat there backstabbing me... just passive-aggressively telling Ollie about... you know, Her kid's having problems." "She doesn't have the dedication it takes." "I'm here every day and on the weekend." "What else can I do?" "Are you there?" "What's that noise?" "Oh, my neighbor is out cutting his grass." "Oh." "Well, can't you just... put on a bikini and sashay over there... and act helpless or offer to whack his weeds?" "I will not do that!" "I demand that you make that man a casserole and take it over to him." "I can't." "My divorce isn't even final yet." "Trust me." "Your divorce is final." " It's time to move on." "Believe me." " Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "He is coming over here." "What do I do?" "Answer the door." " What?" " Answer the door." "Do you have I/pst/'ck on?" " I get it!" " No, no!" "I think I" " I think I" "You just stay right there, all right?" "I'll be back." "Hi." "I'm Peter." "I just bought the old Lindberg house next door." "Oh." "I hadn't noticed." "Yeah, right." "Liar." " Um, hi." " You said hi already." "Tell him you'll untie your tubes... for a man who's fiscally responsible." " I'm Hillary." " 80 does he have big feet?" " Nice to" " Nice to meet you." " You know what that means." "Um, listen, I'm a contractor by day... but I'm gonna be doing a lot of remodeling over there... mostly after hours on my own time." "So if it ever gets loud, just let me know." " Tell him you like it loud." " Shut up." " Um, Okay." "Sure." " Yeah." "Look down at his zipper." "Look at his crotch." "Is he happy to see you?" " I be!" "he is." " Oh!" "Tell him you want it." "You need it." "Not in so many words." "I'm sorry." "How rude of me." "You're on the phone." "So I'm just gonna take off." " Say i!" "with your eyes." " Nice" " Nice to meet you." " Lovely house." " That's it?" " Sorry." "See you." " Okay." "Hillary, you're gonna have to step up your game." " That was the most boring conversation I've ever heard." " I think he heard you." "Hillary, you need to make an executive decision to get back on the horse." "And by horse, I mean your neighbor." "I'm sorry, but am I speaking to Jan?" "When was the last time you had a date?" "You know what?" "I'm busy." "I've got to go." "My meeting's about to start." "But, um, I-I really love this interaction of ours." "Let's have drinks later." "Good-bye." "Just the person I wanna see." "Um, hold up." "What's wrong with you, boy?" "Oh, we hangin' out after school now?" "Let me tell you somethin'." "If you get kicked out of that school..." "I'm gonna take you to the Mississippi and drop you off in the desert." "I thought the desert was in Nevada." "Oh, so now you smarter than me?" " Well" " Don't get cute." "Now I've got to take all this time off of work... to plan some dance and a fund-raiser." "They want you to come to my school?" "You cannot come to my school!" " Mm-hmm." " Mama, can you not come to my school?" "Well, that's what you get for gettin' into trouble." "Please don't come to my school!" "Please." "Let me tell you somethin'." "You are not gettin' kicked out of that school." " 'Cause you're not gonna turn out like your" " Like who?" "MY daddy?" "My brothers?" "Hakim, baby, you are gonna be somebody." "Okay?" "Go do your homework." "I did it already on the bus." "Well, let me see it." "Is it" " Is it right?" "And you don't know?" "Oh, yeah, yeah. it's right. it's all right." "You so smart." "You so smart." "Get out my face." "You want somebody to play with." "Bye." "Bye." "Go to your room." "Get out my face." "What the hell was that?" "Well, Jan, you've been here a long time." " Seventeen years." " Yes, and you have been stellar." "But partnership will require a lot more time, a lot of long hours." "Well, I'm no stranger to that." "But I know you have a daughter." "Yes, I do." "I'm determined that women can have it all." "Right." "Of course they can." "But I have no wife or kids." "As a matter of fact, I'm exactly where Jan was when she came on 17" "Seventeen years ago?" "Wow!" "I was, like, in the fifth grade." "You're really gettin' up there." "How tall are you?" " Oh." "Funny." "I have a big heart." " Mm." "And who knew that I would have been taught everything... by such a wise, old sage?" " Well, I didn't teach you everything." " Right." "Because I wouldn't do that." "No, I wouldn't." " 'Cause you don't deserve it." " Ooh!" "I'll handle it." "Is there a problem, Jan?" "No." "Uh, it's just one of my accounts." "Oh." "Well, go." "Earn your commission." "We'll wait." "Kramer and I will keep dialoguing until you come back." "Dialoguing." " Means talking." " Yes." "What's going on?" "Some of our male students' parents... want your daughter out of the class." "And I agree." "She was caught in the bathroom making out with one of the boys." "Well, why does she have to leave?" "Why can't one of the boys leave?" "She was the aggressor." "She's 12 years old." "The boy was my son." "Good-bye." "He wasn't that good of a kisser anyway." "First cigarettes, and now this?" "I didn't want to go to that piano class anyway." "What did I tell you about cold sores?" "Kissing gives you cold sores." "What am I gonna do with you?" "I have an idea." "Do what you always do." "Book me into something else to keep me away from you." "Book me into oblivion." "I don't need your sass." "Jan, we're going to have to leave." "But we weren't finished." "No, you're dealing with something that's important." "We'll, uh, call you tomorrow." " Are you sure?" " Yes." "We'll talk later." "Cute kid." " Who is it?" " It's TK." " Who?" " TK." " On!" " Hi." " My purse!" " Your purse." "Oh, my gosh!" "Where did you find this?" "You left it on top of the car when you drove off... really rude, didn't say good-bye or thank you." "I am so sorry." "I've been having the worst day ever." "Thank you so much for this." "I had to go through it to find out where you live." "I hope you don't mind." "Uh, no, I don't" "I hope you don't mind I read a little bit of your story too." "It's actually pretty good." "Okay, thank you." "That's a little bit weird, but thank you." "I think one good deed deserves another." "You should take me to dinner." "I'm sorry." "It doesn't really work that way in my life." " I'll take you to dinner." " Thank you, but I got" " I" " Bye." "N'" "Oh, wow." "See, you could still do that." "The pause is good for that thing." "Hey." "Who's that cake for?" "My daughter." "Why did you pick this place?" "I rented it." "Thought it'd be a good place for a birthday dinner." " Hi, baby." " Hi." "Mmm!" "You look so beautiful." " I baked you a cake." " Thanks, Mom." " Look at that." " Strawberries, how you like it." "Yeah." "I love it." "Um, did you guys talk about smoking?" "Yes, yes, we did." "And it's no big deal." "They were just messing around." "It is a big deal." "I went to the school." "She could get expelled." "Then I guess her father's gonna have to show her how to run his dealership." " Santos, she can't be smoking." " Oh, stop it." "Is she" " Are you wearing makeup?" " Dad said I could." " Come on." "Relax. it's her birthday." "She's too young to be wearing makeup." "Honey, do me a favor." "Why don't you go hang out with your friends, okay?" " Glad to." " Yeah." " You are awful." " Awful?" " Yeah." "You are." " How's that?" "I bake a cake and you rent this place?" "Yeah, so?" "You undermine everything that I do and say in front of her." "How do I undermine you when I support you, in more ways than one?" "That is my child too." "I will not tolerate this." "You need to be a little more grateful." "There are a lot of men out there that won't do what I do." "You hear that?" "You might want to take it easy with the lady here." "You might want to stay out of our conversation." "Get her a drink." "She needs one." "Come on, guys." "Let's have a nice time." "All right." "Let's do this pifiata." "What are we waiting for?" "Come here, honey." "You do it first." "Come on." "Watch out, kids." "She's got a big swing." "Come here." "Baby, I'm so sorry." "I didn't know he was coming here." "It's all right." "It's all right." "You okay?" "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "Yeah, I'm so sorry." " You okay?" " Yeah." " Are you sure?" " Mm-hmm." "Baby, stop." "Not here." " Shh." " Not here." "Shh." "Stop." "Stop." " Stop." " I stopped already." "I stopped already." "What are you" "Oh, my God." "You know, I think we should go out there and tell them we're going out." " No, no, no, no, no, no." "It's not the right time." " I wanna meet your daughter." "Baby, it's not the right time, okay?" "What do you mean, It's not the right time"?" "What are you talk- We've been together for a year." "I know, but it's" "How long are you planning to hide me?" "Manny, you're making this so hard for me." "I'm making this hard for you?" "Okay." "All right." "I see how it is." " Baby, stop" " No, I see how it is." "I see how it is." "Oh, God." "Hi." "I'm sorry." "You're really early." "L" " I was gonna call, but" "I" " I think I need to cancel today." "Cancel?" "Girl, I just took the bus over here... then had to walk six miles from the bus stop." "The bus stop's three blocks away." "It felt like six miles." "Look at my shoes." "Look." "I'm sorry." "Damn." "Could I get some water or somethin'?" "Sure." "Yeah." "Come on in." " Is this your house?" " Sorry." "I'm a mess." "Oh." "Bottled water." "B_aby, please!" "stop Crymg." "What's wrong?" " Are you all right?" " Yeah." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "This is just really not a good time." "Can we just talk later?" "Move." "Come here." "Come here." "Oh, what's the matter with the little one?" "I know." "Shh." "There, there." "You're so sleepy." "You're so sleepy." "Yeah." "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" "You, come here." "Hey." "Sit down." "Play with this right here." "Sit." "Shh. it's okay." "It's okay, yeah." "You Okay?" "Shh." "Shh." "Can I ask you something?" "If you about to ask me to be your maid..." "I'm gonna slap the hell out of you... like Oprah did that little white lady in The Color Purple." "How do you do it?" "How do you be a single mother?" "I can't- it's so much work to do on your own." "See, that's the problem." "You're thinkin' about it." "You can't do that." "No, girl, you can't think about it." "You just gotta do it." "You try to take it in all at one time, it's gonna overwhelm you." "Just take one snotty nose and one dirty diaper at a time." "Here." "DTY Your eyes." "What's goin' on with you?" "Two days ago you seemed so put together." "L" " The judge gave his ruling today." "For what charges?" "Girl, what you do?" "No, I'm going through a really bad divorce right now." "My husband's a powerful attorney... and he found a way to get the child support and the alimony reduced to nothing." "So I had to let go of my help, and now I don't know what I'm gonna do." "You gonna pull yourself together." "That's what you gonna do." "Come on." "Come here." "Aw. it's gonna be okay, girl." "if you give her eight ounces when she starts gettin' cranky... she'll sleep for about six hours, but you gotta burp her, okay?" "'Cause if you don't burp that child... she's gonna be up and give you a fit." "And you got a baby monitor." "You don't have to hover over her." "Put it on your hip, girl." "You can listen to her." "You can do everything you've gotta do around the house." " Qkay_" " Qkay?" "Can you live with me?" "Ooh, girl, I don't do the lesbian thing." " No!" " I'm just kidding." "You got this." "You gonna be all right." "I promise you." " Qkay_" " Qkay?" "You look so pitiful." "Come here." "Ooh, woo." "Ooh" "Oh, God!" "It's gonna be okay, girl." "Stay strong." "We can do this." " Stop it." " This is what God made us for, honey." " Stop it." "Stop it." "Stop it right now." " What?" "Jan!" "Nothing about this looks right." " No!" " You're not trying to rob her, are you?" " Jan!" " Well" "I ain't tryin' to rob her." "But if I had your address, I'd rob you." " Oh." " She's had a hard day." "She's my best friend." "I think I know if she's had a hard day or not." " Did you have a hard day?" " Yes." " I'm sorry." " David won the reduction." "No." "Mm-hmm." " I'm so sorry." " I know." " What are you gonna do?" " I don't know." "I'll get it." "Hey." "Don't let this go to your head." "Why is she here?" "She's so nice and was really, really helpful, Jan." " Hi, girls!" " What is going on?" "Wow." "This place is amazing." "Oh." "What's going on, Hillary?" "You don't look so good." " What's wrong?" " Don't ask." "Bad divorce." "' on" "That's none of their business." "Well, listen, I've been through a bad divorce." " Really?" " Yeah." "And I've had a couple failed relationships, so I feel you." "And we bought wine." "Oh, I mean, it's just so unfair." "I just did not expect my life to turn out like this." "To raise children all on my own now." "We're all in the same boat." "I know exactly how you feel." "This was not in the plan." "But what is wrong with me?" "I cannot stop crying." "You're exhausted." "I'm sorry." "I just can't feel sorry for her." "I mean" "Y'all got money." "Well, that's not the answer to everything." "It sure in the hell would solve a lot of my problems." "You know what I could do with somethin' called alimony or child support?" "Or, hell, support." "Do you know what I could do if I had your strength?" "Pick up a car?" "[ May Laughs I" "I've had just about enough of you." "No, I" "Look, I just meant that..." "I've never met anyone like you before." "You're just so" " What does that mean?" " No, you're so" " So what?" " Black?" "No." "You're just" " You're so strong." "And, uh, solid." "You know?" "Like a big wall... that says keep out" on the front of it in graffiti." "Just a big, black wall." "Black bricks and black mortar." "Just very big... and very black." "And strong." " I so get it." " Just a wall." "I so get it." "That's okay." "And bold." "You're so bold." "I mean, look at you wearin' those pants." "You woke up this morning and said..." "I'm wearin' my D.N.A. helix pants. "" " What's wrong with my pants?" " Nothing is wrong with it." "You can pull them off because you're so bold and strong." "I just said strong." "I so think I'm supposed to be insulted right now." "No, you shouldn't." "I'm not" "Look, ignore me." "I'm having a very bad time at work... and my child is acting up." "And I don't know what is going on with that kid." "She is so mean!" "I don't know where she gets it." "She's just mean." "Mirror, anybody?" " I'm not mean." " Whatever you say." "I am tough in business because I have to be." "But that has nothing to do with the way my kid is behaving right now." "Does it?" "It's just the pre-teen-y stuff." "They all go through it." "You know what?" "Honestly, my son has turned into a person..." "I don't even know who he is anymore." "Need to put a foot on his neck." "That is a heavy foot." "I've raised boys, honey. if you don't break 'em early, they'll get away from you." "Come to your house and steal your brand-new TV and sell it for crack." "Then go to jail." "Well, my daughter's not quite there." "Um, but... she's so" "I don't" "I'm sorry." "My sinuses are really acting up." "They're not, like, tears" tears." "I never thought they were tears." "I thought they were acid." "Here." "Uh, that's okay." "Thanks." "What?" "I've raised five kids." "There you go." "You gotta find places to put things." "Girl, it's clean." "The word is called thank you. "" "Well, that's two words, but thank you." "It smells like cinnamon." "Hmm." "That's my secret weapon." "You see?" "it's not so bad." "You cry, and then you laugh." "Ah. if people only knew what single moms go through." "Now that's a book for you." "I guess we all want what every other single mother wants- help." "Exactly." "I just want to feel equal." "A break." "To know that everything's gonna be okay." "To know we made the right choices with our kids." "We should start a support group for single mothers everywhere." "Yeah, yeah." "A toast to the Single Moms Club." "Cheers to that." " Cheers!" " Yes!" "All right!" "Mm." "Oh, God." "Guys, I gotta run." "I'm so sorry, but Veronica's on her way home from school." "Yo, girl, I'm with you." "My sister hate keeping' my kids." " You just finish all of that?" " Yes, I did." "Ooh, girl." "Okay, I done drank too much." "See you later." "Mmm." "Oh." "Oh, Hillary, this was so lovely." "Thank you so much." "Listen, you cheer up. it's gonna be great." " Bye." " Bye." "Hey!" "What about the Single Moms Club?" " We'll call you." " I love it." "It's happenin'." "All right." "LiCi." "I'm sorry I'm late." "I had a meetin' at Hakim's school." "Look, I got things to do." "Come on!" "Y'all mama here!" " Don't I pay you?" " Sometimes." "When you have money." "Hell, I don't know why you workin' that job anyway." "You could make more money on welfare." "And be at home to take care of your kids." "Well, I ain't you." "So now you better than me?" "Because you got a job?" "That's stupid." "These three kids, you make more money than you make in a month." "And why Hakim got to go to that fancy school anyway?" "He trying' to be white?" "He ain't no better than your oldest two, and he gonna be just like 'em." "Rashanna!" "Rasheeka!" "Come on, babies!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Come on." "Come on." "Don't bring 'em by here no more, then!" "You think you better than me." "Then I want my money!" "Heifer." "Christina, guess what." "I" " Hi." " Hi." "How was school?" "Great." "Where's Christina?" "I had to let her go." "Why?" "Because we can't afford her anymore." "Mom!" "I know." "I'm sorry." "Well, what am I gonna do?" "What do you mean, what are you gonna do?" "We can do this alone." "No." "Like, who am I gonna talk to when I have a problem?" "Or who's gonna help me with my homework or my hair in the morning?" "I Will." "Why do you always have to make everybody leave us?" "Please, don't wake your brother and sister." "Hakim!" "Get over here now!" "You know you're not supposed to be outside when I'm not here!" "Not supposed to be inside by myself." "I'm 12." "You could get in a lot of trouble for that." "Duh." " Dang, Hakim!" " Go home, mama's boy!" "You smelling' yourself, ain't you?" "You know I'm home within one hour." "You heard me?" "Yeah, I heard you." "Here." "Get in there and do your homework." "Don't look at me." "I don't want to hear it." "He said he's coming." "All right." "I'm gonna wait for you in the car." "Okay?" "What's the matter?" "Is your car not working again?" "I thought you were gonna drive past me like you did the other day." "Well, I didn't know you then." " Well, we're friends now." " Hmm." "Well, this is awfully late for you to be here." "I'm pickin' up my little brat from detention." "Yeah." "I'm, uh, just waiting." "Rick's dad always says he's coming and never shows up." "I'm sorry." "How do you deal with that?" "I wait to see which way Rick's gonna fall, and I just try to catch him." "Ifstough." "What about- What about Kate's Dad?" "Where" " Where's he?" "Oh, he's not in the picture." "So you know exactly what I'm going through, then." "I do." "You can't have a relationship with an anonymous donor." "That's really brave of you." "Yeah, I didn't think about all the questions she would eventually ask... when I was making my plans, so... it's tough." "Yeah." "You gotta do what you gotta do." "That's right." "Kate!" "Okay, Okay" "Hi." " See you at the next meeting." " See ya." "Bye." "I didn't even know what to do." "Everybody was, like, staring at her." "I'm, like, Really?" "Shut up." "Sorry." "Come on-"" " Are you on the phone?" " No." " Give me the phone." " But, Mom, I was only gonna" "Dad gave me this phone so I could call him if I needed to." " You don't need a phone." " Why?" "I've told you, mam/Z How many times have I told you?" "You don't need a phone because you're too young." "Because your grades are down." "We've had this conversation before." " Daddy?" " Veronica." "Mom won't let me have my phone." "He wants to talk to you." "Okay." "I'll go with that." "What?" "What is wrong with you?" "it is just a phone." "I thought we discussed this." "I'm not allowing my 11-year-old daughter to have a phone." "You can't handle the fact that I married somebody else, can you?" "That's what this is all about." "We are over, Esperanza." "Okay." "I don't care who you married!" "I have a daughter that I have to raise... and you're making this so hard on me." "Why?" "You think I care about Yolanda?" "I have somebody that I" "You have a what?" "You're about to say you have a man?" "I swear to you, if you have a man in the house that I bought... you are getting out of it." "Is that clear?" "Is that clear?" "You are horrible." "Why are we here?" "Well, you could be at piano lessons, but you managed to get kicked out of those." "I told you, I don't like piano or gymnastics... or ballet or painting or sculpting." "You just keep trying to find a way to keep me busy." "Listen, young lady, that is what being a woman is about." "It's about multitasking and nailing it every single day, all right?" "You are gonna thank me one of these days... when you get to a good college and make your own money... and don't have to depend on anybody else, just like your mother." "I'm not gonna be like you." "Really?" "What are you gonna be like?" "Get married and have a family." "I'm gonna have a husband so that I don't have to do everything myself." "So that my kid knows who her father is." "Kate!" "This was your choice, Morn." "Just leave me alone." "You're ruining my life." "Jan?" "Hey." "I didn't think anyone else was here." "I overheard." "She's growing up." "But I've got it handled." "I never heard back from you on the partnership thing." "What's going on?" "We went with Kramer." "But I have seniority." "Yes, but he's always available." "They used to call you The Bone Collector. "" "But now you have other priorities." "I can do this." "We'll review you again next year." "She needs you now." "Don't keep her out too late, all right?" "Good night, Jan." " Do you have homework?" " No." "[ May Sighs-I" "You want to stop and get dinner?" "Mom." "What's wrong with me?" "Why won't he come and see me?" "Baby, there's nothin' wrong with you." "Daddy, um" "Daddy has a problem." "Does he love me?" "Yes, he loves you." "This doesn't feel like love." "Well, I love you." "And I hope you know that, right?" "Yeah." "I know." "Y'all good?" "Y'all straight?" "Okay." " Hey, brother." "You good?" " Yeah." "Thanks." " Let me know when you need some more, now." " All right." "Hakim." "I know that's not a video game you playin'." " Study!" " That's all I do is study." " I don't understand this." " Lytia." "Now, you know you're not supposed... to be having these kids in here." "I don't have nowhere for them to go." "But I'm workin' on a new babysitter though." "There's one." "Please." "d Hey, pretty lady, yeah d" "[ Laughing I" "What do you want?" "You know what?" "Let's see." "I wanna indulge your every fantasy... and love you till I can't love you no more." "I brought you some?" "owers." "Boy, that's a funeral wreath." "That's because I lays it down." "Oh, come on." "That was supposed to make you smile." "It was a joke." "Keep messin' with me here and you gonna need that wreath." "Now, wasn't I nice to you the other day, huh?" "Doesn't that count for somethin'?" "Mm-hmm." "You still ain't gettin' nothin'!" " Girl, can I at least get some coffee?" " Fine." " Mildred." " Yes, ma'am." "He needs some coffee." " That's wrong." " I'm on break." "He's so after you." "Branson?" "Girl, please." "Don't mention him." "What's up with you?" "When is it the right time to introduce a man to your kid?" "[ Both Laughing I" "Hell, girl, I tell him up front, see if he gonna stay." "Wait." "Wait a minute." "Is it Veronica or is it Santos you don't want to know about him?" "I know y'all ain't together no more... but he seems to be the problem, not Veronica." "Now, you act like you don't remember." "I remember when you first met at the plant we used to work at." "Mm-hmm." "I know you." "I don't want Santos to get jealous." " You want him back?" " No." "Not at all." "I just can't give up the life that I've come accustomed to." " But you're not together anymore." " I know!" "I know, but he still supports us." "Until you are sure, you need to let Manny go." "I really do like him." "A lot." "Boo boo, that is so unfair." "You know what?" "If you gonna be with the man, be with the man." "Stop makin' excuses." "Oh, really?" "[ L-yiia 1 That fool don't count." "He brought me a funeral wreath." "You see that?" " They're?" "owers!" " Do I look dead to you?" "[ Laughing I" "[ Baby crying 1" "I just fed you and changed your diaper." "Mom, I need a tampon." "They're in my bathroom." "Wait!" "For what?" "What do you mean?" "It's that time of the month." "When did you get your period?" "Two months ago." "Oh!" "But who helped you?" "Christina, the woman you fired." "Oh!" "Rick, this is the fourth message that I've left you." "You kept your son waiting after school... for almost two and a half hours." "We've been calling you and calling you." "You need to call us back." "You have to do better." "You cannot continue to let your son down like this." "Okay?" "You're tearing him apart." "Call me back, please." " Oh." "Uh, hey." " Hey." " Good morning." " Good morning." " Uh, you look radiant today." " Thank you." "I've gotta tell you that." "That's" " Wow." "You need to redo the story." "Really?" "Why?" "The big guy thinks it's male bashing." "Well, you know what?" "It's a story about a ballplayer... who's not paying his ex proper child support." " I'm not male bashing." " Yeah, but you're not really being objective." "Well, I'm being honest." "Look, come on, just redo it." "It goes to print at 6:00 p. m." " All right." "All right." "Get off my back, please." " Cool." "Hey, you have change for a dollar?" "The machine won't take this one." "You're just full of requests this morning, aren't ya?" "Yes." "You lifesaver." "Here you go." "Have I ever told you you're my hero?" "Yes!" "Make sure Alexander hurry up and gets us the hell out of here, okay?" "All right, thanks." " Hello?" " Hi. /s this TK?" "This is May." "Yeah, I know who this is." "I see you found my note." "Yes." "That was really nice of you." "That couldn't have come at a better time." "Well, I'm glad I could be a source of a little encouragement for you." "I think we all need that from time to time, right?" "But you really are a good writer." "Well, thanks." "I appreciate that." "I've worked really hard." "Um, so I just wanted to say thank you." "Since you called, how about we go out to dinner sometime?" "I can't." " I understand. it's all" " No, no, no." "What I mean is I" "During the day would be better because I have a son in school." "How about coffee today, then?" "Well, uh, I don't see why not." "All right, cool." "Let me have your number... and I'll call you back when I'm done." "So did you really just have all of this prepared for us?" " Yeah." " You're so sweet." "Well, I spoke to some of my colleagues... and they feel like they are gonna be able to call in some favors for our fund-raiser." "Mmm." "I so cannot help raise no money." "But I can help decorate." "But there's no need for that, because Legendary owes me a favor... and they know it's for the school, so" "And I'm thinking that the entire theme of the evening... should be The Enchanted Forest. "" "That sounds nice, but expensive." "Well, not if someone enlists the sexy contractor they know." "I can also get Veronica's father... to purchase an ad for the dealership." "That's a great idea actually." "I can get the paper to run an ad... and I'll just write a story about the whole event." "Hillary." "You okay?" "Yeah." "[ L-ytia 1 What's wrong?" "My daughter got her period." "[ Jan Sh!" "y?" "Did she get hysterical?" "Was she running down the street saying, I'm a witch!" "I'm a witch!" "The devil cut me in my bathing suit area?" "Why would you say that?" "Well, that's what I did." "My mom told me I was being punished... for lusting after Shaun Cassidy." "I clawed the poster off the wall and had to go to the doctor." "Is she fine?" "Is she all right?" "I don't know." "I don't know." "She got her period two months ago... and Christina helped her with it." "Didn't even tell me." "Who's Christina?" " My former maid." " Ooh." "Wow." "Hillary, you cannot beat yourself up about this." "These things happen." "We're out there busy trying to save the world and keep track of our kids." "Something is gonna slip through the cracks." "I'm just so sad I missed that special moment for her." "We're missing a lot of special moments." "Hell, I'm tryin' to miss some moments on purpose." "Which brings me to the idea that I had to start the Single Moms Club." "I am so glad you brought that up." "I was thinkin' the other night... and wouldn't it be nice if we could all just help each other out?" "This is what we'll do." "We'll start Fridays and Saturdays." "One of us will watch the kids." "Then we'll rotate the following week... while the other four go out and have a good time." "Okay." "I like that." "I like that a lot, yes." "You would because you've got more kids than the Harlem Globetrotters." "Lytia, we could go salsa dancing... like we used to back in the day, like before Veronica." "Ooh!" "Rico." "Oh!" "I remember well." "Yes." "I could get so much work done." "This isn't about work, ladies." "This is about catching up on life." "And karaoke?" " What the hell?" " Yes, that would be super fun." "Uh-uh." "Uh-uh." "Uh-uh." "Strip club!" "Chippendales." "Long as they're dipped in chocolate..." " And vanilla!" " I'll make it rain!" "Make it rain." "[ Laughing I" "Anything." "Anything we wanna do." "I'll babysit first." " Deal." " I love that." "TK?" "Hey." " How are you?" " How you doing?" " Good." "Good to see you." " Nice to see you." "Sorry I'm a little bit late." "Are you kiddin' me?" "No. it's all fine." "Glad you came." "I had such a crazy day today." "May I help you?" " Oh, hi." "Can I get a, uh" " I'll have an espresso." " Espresso?" "Yeah." "Thank you." "it's so nice to sit down." " I'm just glad you're here." " Thank you." "Espresso, huh?" "Somebody's tired." "If you knew what my morning was like." "It's like" " Aah!" "Everything happening at one time." " Well, thank you for coming." " Well, thanks for inviting me." "This is great. it's a nice break." "And you know what?" "Honestly, I was having such a terrible morning... that when I saw your note, it actually lifted me." "That's really great." "To be honest with you, I didn't think you'd be finding anything... in that purse for at least two months." "On!" "I Laughing 1" "I'm just sayin'." "I'm just sayin'." "I live in my purse." "I do." "My grandmother used to tell me a woman's purse is a re?" "ection of her life." "Yeah, I saw a kitchen sink, your car, your house, everything." "And I wasn't just goin' through it." "I was tryin' to find out where you live." "But your purse said a lot about you." " Really?" " Yeah, yeah." "Okay, so what else did you see in there?" " You are a writer." "I found that out." " Yes." " I read your book." "Really good." " Yeah." " You work at the Avondale paper." " Yes." "Yes, I do." "You have a son that you love." "You've got pictures of him everywhere..." " so I can tell you love him very much." " Yes, I do." "And, um, you're behind on your credit card bill." "Oh, my gosh!" "Did you see that?" "I'm so embarrassed!" "Don't be." "You don't spend much." "It's just you're behind on it." "You might want to get it paid." "I'm so glad you reminded me." "It's been such a crazy week." "All right, enough about me." "I'd love to know more about you." "There's not much to say about me." "I was married for 12 years." "Been divorced for four." "We're good people, just not good together." " It happens." "I know." " Yeah." "But we do have two beautiful boys." "I have them on the weekend." "We go fishin' all the time." " They're great kids." " Nice." "Yeah." "And I run a little company that does lighting and sound... for small productions around town." " Nice." " Yeah." "That's actually very interesting." " Thank you." " You're welcome." " Why?" " Because I'm in charge of this fund-raiser... that I'm doing at my son's school." "The theme is An Enchanted Forest".... so I might be able to use your help with stage, sound, lighting." "Maybe my new friend, TK, could help me out." "Oh, your new friend. " Okay, so this is fortuitous?" " Yes." "Yes, it is." " Yes." "Okay." "You know, you've got really beautiful eyes." "Thank you." "I don't care that the left one's lazy, and sometimes it doesn't" "My eyes are not lazy!" "Is that true?" "Yeah, it wanders just a little bit." "I didn't know whether to stand over here or over here, but" "Shh." "Please, go to sleep." "Please, just fall asleep for me." "If you love me, you'll fall asleep." "Come on." "What?" "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "Hey!" "What?" "Hold on." "How you doin'?" "My son's upstairs sleeping, and my daughter's just about to take a nap." " Sorry." "Did I wake 'em?" " No, you didn't." "But she's just falling asleep, so could you just keep it down?" " Keep it down." " Okay." "Oh." "Actually" " Um" " Hey!" "Listen!" " Huh?" "My oldest daughter's having a school fund-raiser... and we have to build a set." "And all of us ladies, we're all single." "We don't really have- We need a man who knows how to pound." "You know, with tools." "Sure." "I can pound anything really." "Yeah." " You can?" " Yeah." "Just tell me to pound it and I'll do it." "I mean, what kind of set?" "We sort of want this enchanted forest kind of thing... like magical." "Sort of like this forest." "Sure." "Okay." "And just shrink it." "You can?" "'Cause it needs to fit into a tight space." "I like it tight." "I mean, it's easy to get right in there and we can make it good." " Wow." " Yeah." "I'm quick." "I mean, not too quick." "I like to take my time, you know?" "But either way I'm gonna get the job done." "And you're gonna be very happy when we get there- when it's done." "Okay." "You give it to me how I want it, I will be so happy." "Look, I've got plenty of wood." "Just tell me when and I'll pound that thing." " I'll make it big." "I'll make it good." " Really?" "I'll erect the trees, so" "I know what I like, you know?" "I'll let you know how I want it." "However you need it, that's how I'm gonna do it." "That's my job." "Make sure that you're happy at the end of the day." "Okay." "I can help you out, yeah." " Thank you." " Great." "I'm sorry about the noise." "No, it's okay." "Just keep it down because you're really loud." "See you." " Hi." " Hey." "What are you doing here?" "You haven't called me." " Why?" " Why?" "Now." " She hates me." " A little bit, yeah." "A little bit." "You can't blame her, you know." "The way you keep your baby boy" on hold because of your ex-husband." "That's not what I'm doing." "Listen" "Then what are you doing?" "Tell me what you're doing." " It's not that" " I wanna know what you're doing." "Okay, you don't have children." "It's different." "Okay, when I was a kid, my mom used to bring all these men around me." "And I don't want to do that to my daughter!" "Can you understand that?" "Esperanza, well, that's nice." "I understand you completely... but we both know this is not about your daughter." " It is!" " It's not. it's about your husband." "What is it?" "Hmm?" "I don't have enough money for you?" " Is that what it is?" " That's so unfair for you to say that." " Unfair for me to say that?" " Manny!" "In the kitchen, please." "I'm sorry, babe." "I gotta go." "Manny." "We're going to the movies, me and the ladies next week." "And I really want you to come with me." " To the movies?" " Yes." "Yes?" "Oh, do I get to be seen in public with you?" "That's a step forward." "Manny!" "A/70/'8/ Now, please!" "I miss you." "I miss you too." "I'll give you a call." "Okay?" "Raise your hand... if you can guess what your mom is doing right now." " A club." " A club." "d Don't leave me this way d d Oh, baby d d My heart is full of love and desire for you d d Now come on and do what you've got to do d d You've started a fire down in my soul d" "d Now can't you see it's burning out of control?" "d d Now, come on, satisfy the need in me d d 'Cause only your good lovin' can set me free d d Set me free, set me free, set me free d" "d I know my soul d d J' I know my heart'd d I know my weakness That's why I got to stan. ' d d Taking up new roads d d Burning down old bridges d" "d It's my control d d It's my decision d" "J 'Cause I know what I want J"" "J" I know what I want J" "Thank you, Jesus." "d Yeah I want a revolution J"" "J" A revolution J"" "d I want a revolution J"" "J" A revolution J"" "d I want a revolution J"" " d Right now I'm gonna board this train d" " Okay, May." " J Get up J" - d Right now I'm gonna board this train d" " J Get up J" - d Right now I'm gonna board this train d" " J" Got the wheels in motion J" - d Got the wheels in motion d" " J Get up J" - d I know my right d d I know my light d d I know my strength and that's why I got to fight d d Building up spirits d d Kicking out old fears d" "d It's my control d d And it's my decision d" "J 'Cause I know what I want J"" "J" I know what I want J d I know what I want J d I want a revolution J"" "J" A revolution J"" "d I want a revolution J"" "J" A revolution J"" "d I want a revolution J"" "Hey!" "Yeah!" "m Hey, hey, hey N'" "I can't believe I got a lap dance." "You loved it." "Jan, I can't picture you in a strip club." "What did you do there?" "Well, I still feel dirty." "Okay, so let's talk about our fund-raiser." "Did you talk to your guy?" "Yes, and he is very interested." "And he thinks he can build our enchanted forest?" "Yes." "Yeah." "He-He-He says he can pound well... and he's got lots of wood, and he can erect it." "He said that to you?" "Yeah." "And you didn't pick up on that?" "That's called?" "irting, Hillary." "Convince him." "Seal the deal and get our forest." "Okay, girls, I have great news." "I just hung up with my friend... who owns a sound and lighting company." "Says that he thinks he can get some sponsors..." " to help pay for your enchanted forest idea." " Ooh." "He"?" " Why are you guys looking at me like that?" " Mm-mmm." "Mm-mmm." "He"?" "His name is TK." "He's just a friend." "We've been out a couple times for coffee." "He's really nice." "He's divorced." "He's got two boys." "But look, I'm just taking it slow." "Speaking of which, Mrs. Lytia has a man-friend... who is in love with her, and she's so mean to him." "She won't give him a chance." "Girl, please." "That's not nice." "You should at least go out with a guy one time." "Do you know how hard it is to just meet a nice guy?" "No!" "How dare you put my business on Front Street." "Especially when you've got a man that's crazy about you... but you too busy letting' your husband take care of you." "Okay, first of all, he left me." "And he rubs that enough in my face for the both of us, okay?" " So thank you." " Don't ever lose your power." " How?" " I'm just saying." "Take him to court." "Don't mention court to me." "I can't take my daughter's father to court." "If you don't actually take him to court... at least threaten to take him to court... and I bet you that that child support check will show up on time." "I've never thought about it that way." "He probably tries to make you feel like he's doing you a favor." "Just remember that that is his daughter, too... and he's just as responsible as you are." "You know what?" "I actually just wrote an article for the newspaper about it." "I'm gonna send you the link." "You should read it." "This is what the Single Moms Club is really all about." "Mm-hmm." "So, May" "You take your ex to court?" "Are you kidding me?" "For what?" "He didn't have a pot to piss in." "And barely any teeth." "No, I'm kidding." "[ A EJJJ" "That's a joke." "I'm joking." "He used to be hot." "Turned out to be Pookie." "Don't judge me." "He used to be hot." "Well, our little Hillary has a hot next-door neighbor who's single." "I've seen him, and he's fine." "And she won't turn up the heat... even though her divorce is almost final and her ex was a jerk." "Jan, really?" "You're gonna talk about me?" "What's up with you?" "What do you mean?" "She means we've never seen you look at a man." "Do you like men?" "Yes." "Okay." "Pay me." "Lytia, pay UP" "Pay up for what?" "Who cares?" "Just tell her." "We had a bet." "She thought you were a lesbian." "Really?" "Okay, I did, but it's just that" "Jan, you never look at a dude." "Ever." "There's nothing wrong with being gay." "It's not a big deal." "I know it's okay to be gay." "But I'm not." "She's not." "I know." "My career has taken me off the market... and I have been celibate for 10 years." "Know what?" "I've been celibate too." " Really?" " Mmm." "I knew I liked you, May." "All right." "All that to say, yes, I like men." "I just don't know how to do that right now." " Let us hook you up." " No." "Oh, come on." "What kind of men do you like?" "Can we just get back to planning our enchanted forest?" "You know what?" "We are hooking you up tonight." "We're going to the movies." "Get your forest and your un-enchantment together... and let's go to the movies." "I have the perfect guy for you." " This is crazy." " Will you just relax?" "It's gonna be fine." " Hey." " Hey." "You made it." " Everyone, this is my friend, TK." " Hi." "Hi." "How are you?" "Damn, TK." "You fine." "You got any brothers?" "Excuse me?" "Oh, no, see, honey, Esperanza invited you here, okay?" "So chill out." "Hi." "I'm Branson." "Hey, man." "TK." "What's up, man?" "I'm Manny." "Manny, how are you?" "Good to meet you." "I'm gonna get some popcorn." "You want popcorn, drinks?" " A Coke for me." " Coke, okay." "Yeah, okay, you do that." "You do that." "Oh!" "Thank you!" "You just gonna hold out on us?" "For real though?" "You see that?" "He's just my friend." "He's just my friend." "Oh!" "There's your date." "Brrt!" "You know you're wrong." "Are you serious?" "Not him." "Behind him." "There he is." "[ L-yiia 1 Girl, he is cute for you." "Gonna have an asthma attack." "Hey, Tony!" "Hey." "Jan, Tony works at the paper." "He's divorced, no children." "I'm Jan." "Tony." "Nice meeting you." "Okay!" "Okay, love connection!" " Go and get some popcorn." " Bye." "All right, all right, okay." "Yay." "All right." "Yeah, we're a little tensed up." "But it's okay, boo boo." "Let's go." "Come on, Tony." " She's bossy." " I guessed." "What are you doing?" "I saw the light on." "I didn't want to wake your kids." "What is it?" "I had some ideas about your enchanted forest." "Come talk to me." "I'm babysitting tonight." "Come on." "You'll be right here on your front porch." "Uh" "Okay." "I'll be right down." "I called the school and I got the dimensions of the room... and this is what I came up with." "My friend owns a tree farm... so we can get all the old trees and paint 'em gold... and then go with a white theme or something like that." "You know, white lights everywhere." "What do you think?" " It's amazing." " Yeah?" " Can I show it to the ladies?" " Yeah, of course." " You like it?" " I love it." "Good." "I was kind of worried." "Wow." "Thank you." "I didn't even know you could come up with something like this." " It's great." " You know what?" "I'm glad you asked me." "It gives me a chance to talk to you." "Finally." "Spend some time with you." "You know, I'm gonna need your help." "Okay." "Who do you think is gonna paint all those trees?" "I'm not doin' it." " You're not?" " No." "I'll do it if you do it." "Me and you go up the ladder, paint." "Okay." "I will do whatever you want me to." "Whatever you want"?" "I'm just kidding." " Stop it." " I'm kidding." "Nice to see you smile." "Every time I see you, you're kind of sad." "Really?" "Yeah." "Yeah, it's been difficult." "I understand that." "I'm just glad you gave me an excuse... because trying' to talk to you so far has been like pulling teeth." "Not easy." " I'm sorry." " No, it's okay." "I just don't know how to do all this." "It's just difficult starting over." "Yeah." "But you don't have to be good at starting over." "You just" "I don't know." "You have to be good at letting go." " Mom!" " Yes, honey?" "Rick's gone." "Hello?" "What?" "Please tell me that you found Rick." "Where is he?" "I don't know." "What do you mean, you don't know?" "I'm so sorry." "I didn't know he was gone." " I feel like this is all my fault." " No, it's not." "Of course this is your fault!" "I left you with my kid!" "Listen, it's my fault." "I'm sorry." "Wait." "Where was the last place you saw him?" "Upstairs sleeping in the bedroom." "You've got to take me home." "I need to go check my" " I gotta go check the house." " Okay." "Yeah, I'll tell you what we'll do." "We'll ride around the neighborhood and see if we can find him." "Come on, guys." " Look, you go." "I'll stay with the kids?" " Okay." "I'll gonna go with him and come back to pick up you and the kids later, baby." "Boy, please." " Well, maybe we'll" " I'd do it again." "Yeah, no." "Me too." "You know I have a kid, right?" "Did she tell you that?" " Yeah, she" " And that's fine with you?" " 100%." " That's great." " So I'll hit you up somehow." " Jan!" "Please!" "Yes." "Okay." "Yeah." "Sorry." "_ Okay" " Okay" "Don't worry." "Listen, we'll find him." "Maybe he went home or something." "Yeah, we'll find him." "We're moms. it's what we do." "I'm so sorry, May." "[ snif?" "es 1" "I trusted you with my kid." "How could you let this happen?" "The whole point of us doing this... was so that we could depend on each other." "I know." "I was in the front yard." "All this has done is created one moment to ourselves... but we're all still tired." "A moment... is more than some of us have had in a long time." "May, I know this is really hard on you... but, you guys, we can't give up on each other." "You're the only support group that I have." "May, he's gonna be fine." "Just gotta hold on to him." "I've been down this road before." "I had my sons at 16." "I didn't know what I was doin'." "And it shows." "'Cause they're- they're both in jail." "What did they do?" "Armed robbery." "Drug possession." "Both got 25 years... 'cause it was their third strike." "Well, now I understand why you're so hard on Hakim." "I have to be." "I hear what you're saying, and I know you don't want to hear this from me... but... he's not his brothers." "You have no idea what it's like in my neighborhood." "If I don't keep him close... the streets will get him." "I'm just saying, he's a smart kid and very bright." "He's a good boy." "I just feel you could lighten up a little bit." "Let him be a little boy." "I mean" "I see you've been talkin' to my son." "When he was at my house, all he wanted to do was homework." "I don't think a game of basketball is gonna kill him." "Maybe you should talk to your daughter." "'Cause I did." "She doesn't think you love her because all you do is keep her busy." "She said she thinks I don't love her?" "Yeah." "Guess we all need to talk to our kids." "He's probably here, May." "_ [ May 1 Rick!" "Ricky!" " Get out!" "Get out of my house." " May" "Get out!" "Okay, come on." "Take your seat belts off, babies." "IJ"" " I/f Stops ]" " I don't need you to open no door for me." " Come on, babies." "Come on." " Yes, Mom." "Upstairs, straight to bed." "Upstairs, straight to bed." " Hakim, put your sister to bed for me, okay?" " Okay." " Good night." " Not so fast." "Man, what?" "I'm tired." "My feet hurt." "What do you want?" "Damn!" "You strong!" "Look, don't be playin' with me." "I'm a woman." "Okay?" "[ Grunts I" "And I'm a man, okay?" "Damn." "Gettin' my wig all twisted." "Why you been givin' me such a hard time?" "'Cause I don't like you." "Your truck is embarrassing." "No, it's not." "When you see me tomorrow, you better be nice to me." "Okay, daddy." "Why are you scared?" "Don't be scared." "I ain't scared." "I'm tryin' to be a gentleman." "Hey." " You find him?" " No." "And she's really upset." "I'm sorry." "I'm sure he's fine." "You know, he probably just went to a friend's house." " I'm gonna go check on the kids, all right?" " No, they're asleep." "They're asleep." "Are you all right?" "Come here." "No, I'm not okay." "I just feel like such a failure." "I mean, I can't even babysit." "I mean, my daughter's just grown up." "Where have I been the last eight years?" "I've been trying so hard to be a good wife and please my husband... that I just gave myself up." "I'm so lost." "You got to stop beating yourself up." "You're not lost, all right?" "You've just been sleepwalking through your life." "And you're wakin' up. it's a good thing." "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for." "We'll get back to you." "Thank you, Officer." "I take it he's not here yet?" "No." "You Okay?" "No." "Why don't I sit with you for a while until he comes home, okay?" "Okay." "Crazy that he can do that to his mother." "I know." "I feel terrible for her." " Yeah." " It's gotta be so hard having' a boy... and going through all of this." "Do me a favor." "Come out to your window." "Come to the window?" " Yeah." " For What?" "I want you to come out to your window." "What are you doing here?" "I wanted to see your face before I say good night." "Oh, baby, why are you so sweet?" "Because this is not sweet. it's love." "You love me?" "Yeah, actually, I do." "I love you, yeah." "I love you." "Hey, I love you, okay?" "That's actually why my mom hates you a little bit." "Because she knows how I feel about you." "But you know what?" "it's okay. it's all right." " I know you don't feel the same way." " No, I'm not" " No, I'm not saying I don't love you." " Just don't say anything." " There's things about me you have to understand." " It's fine." "Don't say anything." "My God, I love your hair." "I love your face." "I love everything about you." "I'm" " I'm just gonna go home right now." "All right?" "Okay." "Well, have a good night." "Nice seeing you too." "Rick?" "Come here." "Come here!" "Where have you been?" "What do you think, you're a man now?" "You think you're grown?" "You think you can just come in and out of this house whenever you please?" "I don't deserve this from you!" "I deserve more respect from you!" "And I don't deserve you not to tell me the truth about my daddy?" "You should have told me he had a drug problem!" "Um, I'm gonna go." "I'll call you later, okay?" "Okay." "What happened?" "He called and asked me if I can come see him." "So I took the bus to the west side." "When I got there, he asked if I had any money." "He took my money, my chain and my Game Boy, and he sold it." "He left me standing there." "I also had to walk all the way back." "I'm so sorry." "[ snif?" "es 1" "Oh!" "I'm just so happy you're home." "I'm so sorry." "But listen to me." "Just because your dad has a drug problem... it does not mean he does not love you." "He is doing the best that he knows how to do." "This is not your fault." "Mommy loves you, and I am here... and no matter what, we are a team." " Do you hear me?" " Yeah." " Right?" " Yes." "And we're gonna be just fine." "Just fine." "But you have to promise me... that you will never do that again." "Because if anything ever happens to you, I won't be okay." " Do you understand?" " Yes." "Okay." "What do you know about that, huh?" "Huh?" "Yeah." "Boy, please, get over here." "See." "Look." "You're about to bump into TK." "See?" " Sorry, T." " Sorry, TK." "See?" "That's what you get." "Get out my face." "Hey, cuteness." "Uh-uh." "Give me that." "Give me." "Where did you get this from?" "Sit here quietly." "I'm watchin' you, Rashanna." "You have a good voice." "You should." "Let me ask you something." "Why did you name your kid after a Jewish holiday?" "That's Rosh Hashanah, Jan." " Jan, really?" " Right." "I knew that." "Okay, I'm sorry that I had to bring them..." " but I don't have a babysitter right now." " It's okay." "I brought mine with me." "I think that's okay." "What are we doin' about Single Moms Club?" " When are we gettin' together again?" " I was thinking the same thing." "But honestly, it just wouldn't be the same without May." " I know." "Has anyone heard from her?" " I tried to call her." "TK!" "Come here, baby!" "Um, what's- what's up with May?" " Yeah." " She" " She's okay." "She's good." "Is she gonna help us with this?" "I don't know." "We really need her to come back." "Yeah, it's kind of unfair, you know?" " She needs to be here helping'" " You got to understand." "She's still in a funk about Rick." " That was pretty tough on her, right?" " Yeah." "And, um, I have to call her four or five times... before she even answers the phone, so" "You've just got to give her a break here." "She even told me she doesn't even feel like writing anymore." " What?" " Oh, that's a shame." "She's really good." "Yeah." "Well, you should tell her that." "Well, she's not answering the phone, so" "Do what I do." "Call." "Leave messages." "Hi." "It's May and Rick." "You missed us." "Please leave a message." "Hey, May." "This is Lytia." "I miss you and our get-togethers." "Only thing that keep me going, child." "We need you to come back." "Cal!" "me." "Bye." "May, it's Jan. I'm concerned." "When am I gonna see you again?" "Call me back." "I'm gonna keep calling you." "Is that what you want?" "Because I'll do it." "Bye." "I TK/Hey ifs me." "Um, I'm takin' my boys fishing' this Saturday." "I want to know if you would let Rick go." "It would be good for him." "Call me back." "Slop p/a yin ' around." "Hi, May." "This is Esperanza." "You've helped me so much." "I think I have the strength to get my life back now, and I can't thank you enough." "I hope to see you soon." "Bye." "We have the titanium silver here." "But my favorite" " And I think we do have it in the 5 series right here." " This is the Orion Silver." " That's nice." "Just came in. isn't it beautiful?" "Take a look inside, the color combination." "Hey." "Uh" " Hey, J.B." " Yeah." "Do me a favor." "See if we have the Orion Silver 5 series in the back..." " and have them take a peek at it." " Hey, how you doin'?" "He's gonna take care of you guys." "Thank you so much." " Thank you." " Right this way." "What are you doing here?" "I have a boyfriend... and he loves me." "He spends nights at my house." "I don't know where this relationship is going... but wherever it's going, I'm in it and so is he." "You will not talk about him in front of Veronica." "I don't talk about your wife in front of Veronica." "When I say that you have to call me... before you come over my house, I mean that." "And when I say that my daughter can't have something... you will honor what I'm telling her... and not undermine my parenting." " Do you understand?" " You through?" "I think so." "All right." "Why don't you listen to me?" "If you have a man, then he can start supporting you." "Actually, I'm not done yet." "I'm not done." "If you threaten to take your support away... you will force me to take you to court." "And from what I understand..." "I can get a lot more." "So what were you gonna say?" "Quiet." "I like it." "Hey, kiddo." "I wanna talk to you." "What is it?" "Well" "I know that all this has been really hard on you." "Losing your father and Christina." "And I'm so sorry." "I know you're angry with me." "I'm not angry, Morn." " You're not?" " No." "I know Dad treated you badly." "I saw it." "I want you to be happy." "I thought you hated me." "I don't hate you." "L" " I just don't know you." "I want to know you." "Yeah." "I wanna know you too." "Can we try?" "I'd like that." "My name is Hillary and I'm your mother." "And I'm Jennifer, your daughter." "Come here." " Okay, bye." " Bye." "Bye." "Oh, my God." "Miss Fletcher is driving me crazy." "I know." "She gave me extra homework... because I made out with the piano teacher's son." "My dad's here." "Gotta go." "Hi." "Surprise." "What are you doing here?" " I came for you." " Band camp." "I'm gonna take you to dinner." "Just you and me, wherever you wanna go." "Why?" "Because I've made a lot of mistakes with you, Kate." "And I am so sorry." "I made you feel like you were the lowest thing on my list to do, and... that was wrong." "And" " And I see that now, and I-I never meant to" "I never meant to hurt you, okay?" "I love you." " Are you dying?" " No." " Menopausal?" " No." " Midlife crisis?" " No." "" No!" "Kate, you are at the top of my list now, okay?" "I just walked away from a big project at work." "I feel great about it." "I don't need that anymore." "I just need you." "All right?" "I love you, too, Mom." "You do?" "Let's go get some tacos and cupcakes." " Oh, yeah." " Okay." "What are we doing?" "You know how to play, right?" "Uh, if I say yeah, will you get mad?" "No." "Come on." "Play your mama one-on-one." " For real?" " Come here." "You know why I'm so hard on you, right?" "Yeah." "You don't want me to go to jail." "But I'm not a little boy anymore." "I know right from wrong." "And you've gotta trust that what you put in me is in me." "Mama, I'm gonna make you proud of me." "You'll see." "I'm already proud of you." "Then throw me the ball." "Oh, it's like that?" "Okay." "All right." "What you got?" "What, all net?" "it's gonna be all net?" "Oh!" "All net with it!" "Hey, baby." "Mmm." " I missed you." " Wow." "Hi to you too." "Come." "I want to introduce you to somebody." "Yeah?" "What's going on?" " Veronica?" " Yeah?" "This is Manny, my boyfriend." "Um, your boyfriend?" "Yeah." "My boyfriend." "All right." "I'm her boyfriend, yeah." "Nice to meet you, Veronica." "Way to go, Mom!" "I was wondering when I would get to meet him." "How did you know about him?" "The toilet seat is always up in your bathroom." " Oh, well" " Mm-hmm." "I'm sorry." "I'm a guy." "I forget sometimes." "So, tell me about yourself." " About myself?" " Yeah." "Well, um" "Hey, guys!" "What did you get?" "That?" " He caught it." " Yeah." "That is amazing." " These are my boys." "This is Ben." "This is Kelly." " Hi." "Okay." "Why don't you guys take the fish to the back porch, clean it up... and I'll get some dinner ready, yeah?" " Did you have fun?" " Yeah." " Qkay, good." " Let's go." " Hey, be careful with the knives!" " All right." "" Okay, Dad." " He's so happy." "TK, you are, uh" "You amaze me." "Yeah." "I amaze you?" "No, you amaze me." "Taking care of him, making sure he's straight." "Yeah." "Yeah, you should be proud of that." " You should be really proud of yourself." " Mmm." " Are they" " Are they watching?" " No." "Are we busted?" "Mmm." "He's really happy" "I know." "I haven't seen him this happy in a long time." "And I want you to be that happy." "Like when we were hangin' out with your friends at the movies... and how much you've been talkin' about the Single Moms Club." " You should call them back." "They really miss you." " Mm-mmm." "I can't." "I'm too embarrassed." " Oh, it's pride." " It's not pride." "I'm just- I acted like a complete idiot and I- it's pride." "You should call 'em." " Hey." " N/ Dance:" "Pop ]" "Hey!" "Hey!" "[ L-ytia 1 How you doin'?" "You look beautiful!" "Hey, guys!" "Oh, my God!" "I've been trying to call you!" "Oh, my God!" "May!" "rm $0 happy You're here." " Mm-mm-mm." " I know." "I know." "Ought to slap the hell out of you for ignoring' us." "You guys, I'm so sorry." "Are we okay?" " Of course we're okay." " May!" "You look gorgeous." "I'm so happy to see you, ladies." "I'm so sorry, guys." "I just" "Life happened and I was just trying to get balance, that's all." " Girl, we get it." " We know how that goes." "We covered for you." "You covered me?" "This place looks unbelievable. it's gorgeous." "Looks so beautiful." "So, I mean, seriously, Single Moms Club... we back in full effect or what?" "Uh" " Yes." "Don't leave me hangin', girl." "Well, May, I'm so excited that you came tonight... because I have a surprise for you." "I switched firms, and, uh, your book just happens... to be exactly the kind of material they're looking for." "Oh, my God!" "So I hope you don't mind, but we're publishing it." "Are you kidding me?" " Oh, I'm so proud of you." " Thank you." "I know you knew about this." "We all knew about it!" "Don't put that on me." "You'd have known about it, too, had you been here." " Oh." "Thanks, girl." " A toast." " Yes." " Thank you." " Okay." "To us." " To us." "And the Single Moms Club." "Cheers!" "JV'" "Baby,go!" " Oh, my God." "Come on." "Get out." " What about my shirt?" " Your shirt?" " Yeah." "Baby, go!" "Oh, my God!" "I'm going as fast" " You know, this is crazy." "You know what?" "This is crazy." "And we cut!" "Yes, I want you to meet men." "Because I don't like what you're doing." "You're laying around in your filthy yoga pants... just crying and feeling sorry for yourself." "Your husband's a jerk." "Your ex-husband is a jerk." "Move on." "Get right back out there... before the wound scabs over and then scars." "I don't know what I mean." "I'm just telling you to get back out there." "Don't end up like me." "...lifetime, I don't know." "I got your address." "I'm coming back for you." "Cut." "Light the candles." "Hidden things under there, I never know." "Need some lipstick?" "I've got some lipstick." "No?" "Need a bottle opener?" "it was supposed to make you smile. it was a joke." "That ain't no joke!" "My mama had them same?" "owers... and my mama's been dead five years!" "And you had to bring it here three days before she died." "You ain't right!" "You ain't right!" "Tryin' be like this." " Lytia, I'm sorry." "Lytia." "No!" "No!" " I don't even like you." "I'll talk to you really soon." "All right, Mr. TK." " Okay," " Bye-bye." "Okay Bye" "May, get your ass off the phone and get back to work." " Okay." " No personal calls!" "[ Laughing I" "So we want to make it this enchanted... forest type of thing, if that's possible." "Yeah." "Enchanted forest." "Kind of magical, whimsical." "You know, like, Disneyland-ish." "Okay." "And just shrink it." "You know, like the bush." "You want me to pound the bush?" "I can make it big, if you like it big." "Would you be good at that?" "Yes." "I have a lot of wood right now." "In the back, there." "So" " Oh." "_ Uh_" "I can throw that wood wherever you need it." "You can?" "Really?" " Just let me know." "Yeah." " Okay." "Real good at what I do, so I can get in there and pound that wood." "You could do it?" "We need it fast." "I can do it fast." "Yeah." "I mean, just" " Yeah." "I could do it right now." "Give me five minutes." "You know what I mean?" "But, um" "Are you good at working with people?" "Absolutely." "Yeah." "Yeah." "No, I mean, you tell me- Give me a little bit of direction." "You tell me how you want it." "I can give it to you however you want it." "You Will?" "I'll slam that thing, you know, together, real quick." "I'll throw it up." "I'll throw it down." "I'll throw it however you want me to throw it." "I'll hit it." "But I Won't quit it." "So" "Okay." "I like a man who is strong because he does things." "Feels things." "Who says a lot by not saying much." "That's a good one." "Who listens to me when I'm talking." "But also when I'm silent." "So you want a hearing-impaired person?" "Who's rich and owns his own liquor store." "Yes, that's what I want." "We have to find her a rich, hearing-impaired bachelor." "[ Laughing I" "Who's got a lot of muscles." "Every time." "One at a time." "Only." "[ L-ytia 1 Jan, give me your phone." "What?" "I know you got more minutes." "You ain't called her but once." "Say the magic word." "Hey, you know, I've been talking to your man." "What is he telling you?" "And I see what's going on..." " why you won't commit." " Why?" "So whenever you're ready, me, you and May" " We got that." "Wow!" "What was he" " You don't need to do that." " No?" "That's low-down." "And we cut." "[ L-ytia 1 I'm sorry." "I was like" "[ TK 1 Check" " Check it again." "On your mark." "I'm gonna go do that." "She's waiting for me." "[ Laughing I" "You're gonna go there." " Walked right out of my shoe." " No." "I am gonna be in your business... and we are gonna have such a good time, you and me." "Just you and me." "Just- The world's smallest gang." "Just two little blonde ladies just... tearing it up." "What do you say?" "I love you, too, Mom." "What's that?" "I love you, too, Mom." "You what me?" "I love you, too, Mom." "Aw." "That's so nice." "Can I get a tattoo?" "Yes, you can get a tattoo of my face across your back... saying, My mommy loves me!"" " Are you kidding me?" "No." " Forget I even said that." "Yeah." "Or you can" "No kissing" right across your face." "How about that?" " I'm good." " Good." "Let's go get some tacos and cupcakes." "You can have gluten today." "Oh, wow." "Oh, my goodness." "No, I'm kidding." "I'm kidding." "All right, go back from the top, guys." "I'm sorry." "I was just messin'" "What's the matter?" " Really?" " Yes." "Cut the movie off." "We gotta go." "And we cut." "The baby's gone missing!"