"Fuck." "I race the sun home in the morning... and the moon up at night." "There's just today, and then there's tonight." "Anything can happen, then anything does." "Get through it." "You've got 10 minutes to get out of my house before my sisters get up for school." "I..." "I..." "It's some Jewish people holiday." " Ain't no school." " Then you got five minutes." "Yeah?" "All right." "I ain't seen this one before." "He probably won't kill me." "It ain't happened yet." "But it's like when people tell you that their dog doesn't bite." "How do they know?" "Oh, and nobody's coming to save my ass." "It took me a minute to get that." "The man in the white hat, the man on the white horse-- yeah, he ain't coming." "I remember when I was 10 somebody gave me a diary for a present, and I felt like it was too late... so I didn't write in it." "Too much had already happened." "So it wouldn't be the whole story." "I feel that way again, and I'm 14." "But nobody'd believe it." "Ain't nobody to tell." "If a girl falls in the city and nobody sees it, did it happen?" "Get up." "Shit." "Get up." "Is it cold?" "Not really." "Wash your face, stinky." "Where's your little sister?" "Sheila's." "What?" " That's where she's at." " Who?" "Cammie." "I asked you that, like, an hour ago." "Yeah, well, she's at Sheila's." "Even though Sheila's mom says she can't stay there no more... because she can't afford to feed seven kids, only six." "Like, what's the big whoop?" "But Cammie keeps going over there every day after school, and by the time Sheila's mom gets home from her second job at the dog track-- lame... she doesn't have enough energy to wake Cammie up and kick her out in the street." "Cammie's fuckin' little." "She don't take up that much room." "Yeah, but she eats up all their food." "Good for her." "Maybe she'll grow." "What are you gonna do today?" "Nothing." "Well, deliver these papers." "Go bum food at Kelly's mom's." "Oh, and I got this book report on a book I probably read in utero." "And play my sax." "How about take a bath?" " Mom here?" " Yeah." "Then no." "Hey, Bee!" "Wait up!" "You coming back?" "You making breakfast?" "I could make macaroni and cheese, although we don't make any milk or any butter." "Orange-water macaroni?" "I found some nacho cheese Doritos from last night." " I can smash 'em up in the bowl with water and" " Nah." "That doesn't work." " It kinda does." " Not!" " Does." " I'd rather eat dirt." "One hour." "One hour, queer bait." "Bee poured out all the liquor in the house once." "That went over real well." "He kissed me... about a week ago." "Are you breaking into people's houses now?" "Fuck you." "I was rollin' bones behind Ju-Ju's." "Them niggers don't know how to act." "Well, you tell 'em." "You win, at least?" "I rolled hard eights for an hour straight, little girl." "You didn't answer my question." "I'm trying to told you." "You just didn't heard me." "You count it." "And I kissed him back." " Here, my girl." " Supposed to start shootin' folks now?" "If you want to." "Who would you shoot first?" "You." "What's the matter?" "Don't like McDonald's no more?" "I'm gonna eat it." "Don't worry about it with your black ass." "You got jokes." " Three hundred and..." " Eighty-two dollars." "Man, them niggers shouldn't mess with the kid." "Think they slick." "What day is today?" "Well, it used to be called Monday, but after the rebirth of the cool tonight" "Uh, no." "After the rain falls down like a mighty river" "Calm down, reverend." "I got it." "You got a game tonight." "A game?" "Baby, don't you read the papers?" "This is the ladies' conference championship... in the guise of an ass-whippin' of biblical proportions." "Calm your narrow ass down." "I read about you in the papers, girl." "What did it say?" "That you love me." "And?" "And that you was fixin' to open a can of whup-ass on the basketball court tonight." "So you can read." "Do you still love me?" "Of course I do." "What's goin' on with the freaks?" "I kicked some big-headed nigger out of here a little while ago." "Alfred." "I didn't ask him his name." "Tommy." " I don't know." "I never saw him before." " What?" "You deaf too?" "I said, I never saw him before." "Oh, hell, no." "This double-trick bitch owes somebody some money." "Sarah!" " Hey, baby." " Get your ugly ass up, bitch." " I was waiting for you." " You got my fuckin' money?" "I don't wanna hear shit, bitch." "What, you drink supper?" "And open a fuckin' window!" "Smells like somebody's ass!" "What the fuck you think this is?" "You know I don't play games." "Oh, come on!" "Bitch!" "I don't want no part of what goes on in there." "Yeah, that's right, ho." "Shut the fuck up." "But I sure do like being kissed." "$442." "You ain't gon' eat it?" "I don't give a fuck about no Egg McMuffin." "Suit yourself, little girl." "Cammie." "Cammie?" "Mama says you gotta go." "Fuck." " What time is it?" " Don't matter." "Mama says you gotta go." " Go, go, go!" "Do it!" "Do it!" " Ray!" "I got it!" "Jesus!" "What's going on?" "Hey, y'all better stop playin'!" "Mama!" "Mike hit me!" "God damn it, what the hell's going on?" "Who touched my towel?" "This red towel is my towel, and it's got wet on it." "Who touched it?" " Mama!" " What?" " Cammie, you've gotta go home." " Okay." "Earl!" "Burl!" " Bye, Cammie." " Bye, Sheila." " Bye, Mrs. Hightower." " Bye, little girl." " Okay." " Thank you." " Bye, honey." " Sweetheart." "Bye." "Mama, Burl's bleeding again." "They know where the Band-Aids are." "Sit down." "Eat." "Earl!" "Well, Cammie, it looks like you and I are working the same shift today." " Sure does." " What do you say we get some breakfast." " Sounds good to me." " All right." " Wait a minute." " What?" " Looks like you grew about an inch in your sleep." " Yeah?" "I don't know if I should feed you just yet." "What..." "I wanna grow!" " Oh, you do?" " Yeah." "Oh, okay." "Well, let's get a move on." "Okay." "I wish you was my daddy." "I couldn't be your daddy." "Yeah, I know." "And you couldn't be my kid." "Yeah, I know." "You wanna know why?" "Mmm, yeah, I think so." "Yeah." " Because I'd kill ya." " You would not!" "Sure I would." "I'd kill you with kisses." "You can't kill nobody with kisses." "Oh, yeah, you can, actually, if you tickle 'em at the same time." " Nah, that wouldn't work." " Yeah." " Know what else?" " What?" "If you were my kid, I'd make you eat onion and lard sandwiches." " No, you wouldn't." " Yes, I would." " And I'd make you sleep in the doghouse." " No, you wouldn't!" "You're a good guy." "News or sports?" "Sports." "Sports it is." "I ran into a tree, 'cause we were sledding." "Where is everything?" "I cleaned it up." "Oh, God." "Oh, Jesus." "Why?" "You know, where... where is my..." "my stuff?" "You know, people always moving..." "Where is my stuff?" "People always moving all my stuff!" "You know, this is my house." "Can't I leave my stuff where I want to without people, you know, taking things, moving things?" "Where the fuck is everything?" "Do you want me to make you a drink?" "Lord Jesus Christ on the cross!" "Can't I..." "leave my things where I want to?" "This is my house, for God's sake." "People" "People taking things." "Taking things... from me." "I guess not." "What?" "Why are you always looking at me sideways?" "Let me tell you, lots of shit you don't know." "You think you're all-knowing about everything." "You don't know shit." "I ain't looking at you." "You always looking at me." "Ain't you got nowhere to go?" "Leave me alone!" "Please." "Ohh." "Ohh." "I ain't bothering' you." "No, no." " I'm just saying..." " You're just saying." " I'm saying." " No!" "Whoa." "No!" "Fuck!" "Yeah." "Look." "I'm sayin'... this big one what left... can fuck." "So when you're ready... you just tell me." "'Cause you're gonna have to do it sooner or later." "Might as well get it done right." "Guess we're gonna have to figure out something soon." "One of these days." "Gotta pay to play." "'Cause you ain't gonna be... 14 forever." "Yeah, thank God for small favors." "It wasn't always like this, all fucked up-- the house, my mom, everything." "At the same time, the disciples" "We were a real family once." "I had a dad." "Jesus called a little child unto him and set him" "He was a preacher." "And said "Verily, I say unto you," ""except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."" "I saw him heal a guy out of a wheelchair once." "Dad put his two hands on him and said, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" real fast, over and over, and the guy got up and walked." "The guy walked, like, five steps, and he realized he was walking and he fell on his face." "That's when I realized this is bullshit." "Believe in me." "Get in there!" "Come on!" "Usually on Sunday, if the Lord had blessed us with an abundant collection plate" " Fucking whore." "Fucking whore!" "We'd go to a fancy restaurant and have banana splits." "Get over here!" "What" " Hey, get out of there!" "Come on!" "Get over here!" "Get out of there!" "Come on!" "Right now!" "Get out!" "Don't worry, Agnes." "I don't want you." "So the police finally came and got us out." "Mom too." "Dad changed his shirt 'cause he got blood on it... and joked with the cops as Mom and me and Bee and Cammie drove to some motel." "Then we moved a thousand miles away and I haven't heard from him since." "I did go to church again." "Wasn't even that long ago." "Fuckin' door was locked." "Swear to God, you lock the door on me," "I lock the door on you." "Took me a while to learn that." "Hey, Doc." "All right." "Now, this here is the breakfast of champions." "What you the champion of?" "Trifling?" "Uh, yeah, that and chopping' up cows." "Excuse me, Dolly, but got any Chex?" "Not yet, babe." "No snacks yet." " You want some?" " No, thanks." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Phone!" "Clyde, you're the only one in here." "I guess I'm just a goddamn piece of shit!" "Never know!" "Could be for me!" "Yeah?" "Well, what the fuck..." " Is he in trouble?" " Yeah." " With God." " All right, I'm there." " Time for Chex Party Mix?" " Mm-mmm." "I said I'm there, goddamn it!" "All right." "I said yeah." "So help me God." "What does it take?" "Just get 'em in." "It's just three cows." "Just three cows!" "Mother of God!" "Lord Jesus fuckin' Christ almighty!" "Somebody shut the door!" "White girl!" "Is you deaf?" "See to the door!" "Okay, Stymie." "Geez!" ""No time ago or else a life," ""walking in the dark I met Christ." ""Jesus." ""My heart flopped over and lie still while he passed." ""As close as I am to you," ""yes, closer, made of nothing except loneliness."" " Come on, light for me, baby." " Hey, Popeye!" " How you doin' this fine day?" " Shit!" "Oh, fair to middlin'." "Let me light this one cancer stick, and I will be golden." "How are you doing, big girl?" "I'm fine too." " Hey, Meatball." " Hey." "Fixing to move." "Say what?" "I was just sayin', 'cause you might not be seeing me around much more... and I didn't want you to worry." "Wait, wait, wait." "You, your mama, your sisters, a pimp, the Poker House and the hooker live up in the garage?" "Where are y'all fixing' to move to?" "No!" "Just me." "I'm moving." "Oh." "How you gonna do that?" "Well, I talked to my school counselor, and he talked to Child Services, and they say they gon' put me in a foster house." " A foster house, huh?" " Yeah, a big one over on the north side." "'Cause you know only them rich folk can afford foster kids." " Mm-hmm." " My brother's kids got took to a foster house." "Old man fucked every one of 'em." "Forget you, Meatball!" "That's a fib." "Well, anyways, I'm waitin' to hear from 'em." "These things take time." "Damn, big girl." "You think you can get me one of them new foster houses?" "You're too old." "You have bad habits." "Goddamn it!" "Uh-huh!" "See?" "You're aping' and clowning', and you done dropped your damn bottle." "F*ck you, Popeye." "What I done told you about cussing' at me, junior?" "I will cut your ass in half... and hide the knife in your big ass." " You gonna cut me in half?" " Yeah, yeah." "Hey, Popeye, what you got?" "You got yourself a chain saw?" "Didn't know it was gonna be like this, did ya?" "This is a killin' knife!" "Killin' knife?" "Yeah!" " Who you killed lately?" " Ain't killed nobody in years, but I'm 'bout to start today." "Come on." "Here's your target." "You see this move?" "I can do this move." "What you do now?" "Come on and get a little piece of this." "You want some of me?" "Here's a target for you, Popeye!" "Come on, buddy!" "You don't want nothin' about me, baby." "I'm a crazy motherfucker." "Fuck every-fuckin'-body." "Good morning." "La-La and them liked to got my ass busted." "I told that bitch not to fuck around, but she wanna go start some shit." "This should do you till the first." "I told her, don't go in there messing' with Darryl." "She telling' me she can handle it." "Talkin' 'bout, "I can handle it."" "I'm tellin' her, "No, you can't handle it neither."" "Look at you." "You look like Chaka Khan." "Only you little, and you ain't got no ass." " Your mama here?" " She's asleep." " Duval come around this morning?" " Yep." "He say he was looking for me?" "Nope." " Ooh!" " What?" "Oh, man alive!" "Needs titties, baby girl." "Look in there for some boots I got ya." "I'm going to bed." "What happened to La-la?" "She in department store jail." "And that's just what she get for messin' with Darryl, gettin' in his face." "What?" "La-La standing' in the middle of the motherfuckin' parking lot." "Arms full of stolen shit." "Questionin' Darryl about who the fuck he was with and when." "Get the fuck out!" "Darryl blew his little whistle and they came and got that bitch." "I tried to talk to her, but she wasn't having' none of it." "Thinks she knows so goddamn much." "Well, she handling' it now." "Fuck her." "And I ain't going to bail the bitch out neither." "Me go to jail on purpose." "That's just stupid on top of stupid." "If Duval comes sniffing' around here, you tell him I'll get with him when I get with him." "And don't knock on my door." "I'm really, really tired." "He's late." "How you know he's late?" "You ain't got no watch." "I know 'cause I know." "Yeah." "Here he comes." "You know, he own this whole block." "Worst raggedy-ass block I ever been on." "That's how come he's rich." "He saves up all his money." "Well, if that's rich livin', I don't want no part of it." "Looks like your master plan's workin' out there!" "Now, why you want me to cut you so goddamn bad, huh?" "With what, them little lady tweezers you got there?" "Lady tweezers?" "That's what the hell I got" "Shut up, you ugly ape!" "Uh, good morning, Mr. Goldstein." "Morning, Popeye." "What time is it?" " Time to go to work." " Sure is!" " Like a whole lot of..." " Hey!" "No cuts!" "Ladies first, huh?" "You know you're just a girl underneath all that." "Shut your ass up." "You a little boy." "Okay, so that's, uh" " One dollar and 50 cents." " One dollar and 50 cents." "Very good." "Okay." "Aw, damn, baby girl." "Come on." "Hurry up, now." "She can take her time." "So, that do it then, Bee?" " Yeah, I think so." "All right." "Thank you very much, Bee." "I will see you in the morning." "Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll see you in the morning too." "Uh, okay." "Next." "There you go." "Uh-huh." "Popeye." "Molly Pitcher's Muscatel, baby." "Goldfish are so delicious." "Only in here though." "Sometimes I'll take 'em home in my pocket and eat 'em, but they didn't taste good like this." "Know why they call 'em Goldfish?" "'Cause long ago boys in college fraternities, they'd eat real, live, swimmin' goldfish with scary eyes... on a dare-- a double dog dare." "And they'd have to do it, or else they'd be killed by their teachers." "We can eat Goldfish, too, except they aren't alive and they're pretty good for ya." "Like some?" "That's sweet, little girl, but I don't eat that shit." "It makes the scotch taste funny." "Dolly, ain't you got no Tony Tiger or Colonel Crunch?" "This little girl 'bout to bust a gut fuckin' with these 'plorable things." "I eat the head first." "Why, you ask?" "So they don't bite ya." "It's kinda sad though, leave a pile of tails and all." "Did you know goldfish can eat themselves to death?" "It's true, it's true!" "I wouldn't lie." "If you feed 'em enough, they'll eat and eat until they explode." "For real!" "I'd like to see that, even though it would be real sad though." "Here." "Two packs of Valiants, lady." "He's a bad boy." "Never called nobody father." "Why bother?" "When you left... you took God with you." "Never met no preacher who wasn't tryin' to reach her, selling' heaven, takin' your sin... home with him." "Saw some funny hats though... when they made the new pope, giving the sheep hope." "Never called nobody father." "Why bother?" "Ain't no reverends." "Anyway, revered ones... pimpin' the little ones... who need God to be true." "Ain't no end to what they'll do." "When you leave, take God with you." "Agnes, it's not funny!" "You scared the shit out of me!" "I thought you was a car or something!" "That's what you get for hanging out at this spooky house." "It's got spooks in it." "You liked to gave me a heart attack." "A heart attack?" "You're 12, Einstein." "Yeah, but... people have been scared to death... by fear!" "Jesus, Mary and Joseph." "Okay, I'm sorry." "Go on now." "The coast is clear." "Ain't nobody up at home." "Cry-baby." "It's not funny, Agnes!" "It's not funny at all!" "You could've been a truck or a bus or a tree branch or somethin'!" "Well, what are you waitin' for, a bus?" "Go on now." "Not funny." "Stop." "I'm sorry." "I love you." "Bye." "I love you too." "News flash!" "I just made Bee poop in her pants in front of the spooky house." "This is front-page stuff, people." "Get it while it's hot." "Hi, Agnes!" "Hey, Agnes!" "Rowena?" "Hi, foxy lady." "Pinkish fuchsia!" "Thank you!" "You got it." "Hey, Petey!" "Hey, Bob!" "Spell it backwards." "Spell it forward!" "It spells the same thing" " Bob!" " Mr. Jefferies, a legend in his own behind." " I'm fine, just fine." "Nice suit." "You look just like a Milk Dud." "Well, thank you, honey!" "What are you doing here, Mr. Jefferies?" "I've told you a thousand times." "You're a hundred." "Go home." "What are you, nuts?" "They need me here." "I'm the only one that knows stuff." "Give me that." "Why do you think they call me Mr. Everything?" "That's right. 'Cause I've done every job in this room." " Go ahead." "Ask me somethin'." " I'll ask you somethin'." " Well, go ahead then." "Shoot." " Okay." "Where's the man?" "Bingo!" "He's at Command Central." "He's looking for Japs." "Thanks, Mr. Jefferies." "Anytime, kiddo." "All right, let's have it." "Hold your horses." "Gee." ""A", "A"..." "It's all A's." "I guess we'll have to keep you." "Ah, you can keep it." "I'll make more." "My dear wife reminded me this morning... that you haven't been by the house lately." "Do you require a written invitation to come back by for dinner?" "I guess I've been busy." "I could come by the house, pick you up one Saturday night." "Wouldn't want to interfere with your studies during the week, you know." "Well, I got basketball and chores and stuff." " How are you faring with the Rimbaud?" " I like him." "I like that e. e. cummings guy too." "We got the same birthday." "Rimbaud's dead." "Yes." "Yes, he is." "And he was a homo." "Is there anything else I can assist you with?" "Yeah." "It's payday." "Pay me!" "Right you are." "Payday it is." "Go see Rowena in Accounting." "You mean that desk right there?" "Oh, protocol, Agnes." "Protocol!" "Without rules of behavior, the world's a" "Yeah, this place is crawling with anarchists." "You have been reading." "That's very good." "Oh, pay the girl." "Criminies!" "Excuse me." "Is this Accounting?" "I guess!" " Could I have my paycheck?" " Yeah." "Got that." " Thank you." " Okay." "Right here." "See, I got to have this." "Dizzy." "Watch my bike." "Jesus Christ!" "I said one more time, and that was one more time!" "Hey, Pookie." "Tell Rondell I'm here to get my check." "Y'all better quit!" "I ain't playin' with you." "Rondell, Agnes need her check." " How's the baby?" " Fine, I guess." "What's her name again?" "I call her Tamika." "She call her Shandra." "Ah, Pookie." "You gonna be all right?" "I'll be fine, I guess." "I swear for God!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Come on!" "Get away from him." "Stop jabbing' with him." "Hey, Agnes." "You wanna work tonight?" "Semifinals." "I got a game tonight." "The most important game of my career." "Well, if you change your mind, let me know." "That's it!" "I'm writin' you all up!" "Told you that?" "Yeah, right here." "Give me my bike." "Damn!" "Got you, man." "She's crazy, man." "I got a 427 under there." "You ain't got no 427." "That's a 287, man." "I'll tell you right now." "It's a 287." "Then Alice became convinced... that the baby Julia's carrying... is mine." "How can it be his brother's baby when Eden loves Dax?" "She told Julia and me she didn't ever want to see us again." "Don't this little girl live in the Poker House?" "Little girl, don't you live in the Poker House?" "Stymie, it's lunchtime." "Leave her alone." "You know that's her favorite story." "Lunchtime?" "I'm gonna tell you what time it is!" "Time for you to fix me another drink!" "That's what time it is!" "Soothing even the worst parting." "How can you have a baby by one person... when someone else loves ya?" "Baby, those TV people ain't real." "Go on and eat now." "And something else." "You know, how come every time somebody says "I love you"... to somebody that they really don't, it's the opposite." "They're just trying to be sneaky about somethin' else." "Seems to me people who love each other-- they don't be havin' to say it." "Like, if someone were to say, out loud," ""Ooh, I sure love my feet,"" "well, of course you love your feet, or you'd fall down." "Cammie, honey, don't trouble yourself." "Have some more cherry orange juice." "No, I don't want no more juice." "I want somebody come get me." "Come on." "Put that up there." "All right." "Whoo!" "Oh!" "He shoots, and... he misses." "Hey, yo, we got four, niggers." "We got four." " I'm Clyde." "I'm Clyde, y'all." " Dooey always gotta be Clyde." "Who you gonna be?" " Nah." "Give me back my ball, boy." " Forget you, nigger." " Try and take it." " Guys, we got four." "Deon, you on my team." " Dooey and Black Tony, y'all two together." " All right." "We jacking' y'all." "Oh-ho!" "Wait a minute." "What team are we?" "You said you was Clyde, so that'd make you the Knicks?" "Hoo!" "You got munched, boy!" "Forget all y'all!" "Yeah, we the Knicks." "We jacking' y'all up!" "Shut up, Doo-Doo." "Agnes, who you supposed to be?" "I'm George Gervin, the Ice Man, man." "All right." "Cool." "I'm Dr. J." "Hold on." "Y'all can't be the Rockets and the Lakers." "It's an All-Star game." "Yeah." "Man, all right." "Whatever." "Let's play." "Okay." "You take the ball out, then you pass the ball to me, I'm gonna pass it back to you." "Then I'm gonna do my stutter step shake-and-bake move." "When I look at you, you hit me." "Then I drive right up the middle." "A'ight." "All right." "Thanks." "All right." "Check!" "Ball!" "Foul!" "Man, why you mess up the game?" "Now we can't play!" "You fouled her, man." "You fouled her." "Man, that wasn't even no foul!" "That was legal!" "Since when is a titty check legal?" "Man, I was guarding George Gervin." "George Gervin ain't got no titties." "Well, Agnes got titties, so that's a foul!" "Man, I was goin' for the ball." "You was goin' for Agnes." "Black Tony likes Agnes!" " Oh, yeah?" " Titty boy." "You think that's funny?" "I titty-check your mama." "Y'all niggers fighting' for real!" "Who wanna be Muhammad Ali?" "Who wanna be George Foreman?" "Come on!" "Get in there!" "I'm Joe Frazier!" "Joe Frazier?" "Ew." "Pay up, dog." "Fuck that nigger!" "Ooh, man." "They got up and left!" "Oh, man, see, that's" "I ain't comin' in there, man." "Where you at?" "Come on, baby." "Give me $10." "Here, girl." "It's supposed to fit like that." "You heard what happened to La-La, right?" "Fuck that heifer." "Everybody in?" "You know the deal." "Five card." " Deuces low, aces high." " One-eyed jacks wild?" "Motherfucker, did I say one-eyed jacks is wild?" "Hell, no." " Damn, man." "I'm just asking." " Ask that tricky-ass bitch of yours over there." "Maybe she know the rules." "Ante up, fool." "You holdin' up the motherfuckin' game." "Fuck me." "I can't win for losin' in this motherfucker." "More for me, and I ain't mad." "I ain't mad at all." " What it look like, man?" " Look like two ladies." "You a thieving' bastard." "Got you, man." "How it go?" " This is a man's world" " Aw, fuck you, man!" "Don't nobody get three kings in motherfuckin' five-card stud." "You know that's some bullshit." "I just did, nigger." "My baby is a winner." "Son of a bitch." "Come on, man." "Fuck you, nigger." "I'm a winner." "It's only a game." "On your feet, motherfucker!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "That's my friend!" "You don't know him!" "Ow!" "Got to learn to keep your hos in check, man." "Look at your trick." "Oh!" "This is my song." "Come on." "Dance with me, baby." "Ooh." "I see somethin' I like." "Hey." "I'm tellin' you, man." "Yeah." "Makin' me some money." "That's five dollars." "I told La-La, "Don't go in there messing' with Darryl."" "She telling' me she can handle it." "She talkin' 'bout, "I can handle it."" "Geez!" "Is it your life's ambition to try to kill me?" "I'm trying to help you." "Help me what?" "See Jesus for real?" "I'm trying to help you." "When did this shit start?" "How old are we?" "Is it bad yet?" "Well, no." "It's always bad." "Don't you have band practice or something?" "No, it's Monday." "We don't have band practice on Mondays." " We don't practice today because it is Monday." " Monday." "Go over to Kelly's house." "But it's Monday." "I already told you that." "Bee, just get out of here." "Go over to Kelly's house and don't come back for a while, okay?" "Ow!" "Hey, you're not doing that right." "You gotta do it like this." "Very clever, grasshopper." "My girl!" "Hotel room, 15 minutes." "We got 50 cans of beer." "Where's my lighter?" "No time ago... or else a life," "walking in the dark I met Christ." "Jesus." "My heart flopped over and lay still... as he passed." "As close as I am to you, yes, closer," "made of nothing... except loneliness." "Fuck." "Where you been?" "I been looking for you." "Don't start no shit." "I knew you was bullshitting'." "I knew it." "Okay." "Let me holler at you." " Come here, girl." "Let me tell you something." " I'm fine." "I know you're fine." "I said I wanna say something to you." "Maurice, leave that child alone." "She don't want you." " Agnes, you got another game tonight?" " Yeah." "Little as you are, got your picture in the paper." "Her picture in the paper?" "Sure is." " For what?" " She a famous basketball player." "She a girl." "And she a famous writer too." " I ain't famous." " Your picture in the paper?" " Yeah." " Then you famous." "What you doin' here?" "I live here." "You live in the Poker House." "I guess." "That your mama?" "Go on and play basketball, girl." "Look at you, gettin' all sentimental." "Shit." " You got a fine ass." " Yeah?" "I'm over here." "What you gonna do with me?" "Hmm." "I'm gonna get you to light my fire." "Where you think you goin'?" "Fishin'." "Why you messin' with me, little girl?" "Don't you know I'm a bad, bad man?" "You know where I'm goin'." "You ain't gotta go yet." "Yeah, I do." "I gotta warm up the team." "I gotta go over the plays... and talk to the coach about" "Don't go just yet." "It was his lips that wrecked me." "The thick skin over sweet custard." "Like..." "Jell-O pudding... left out on the table all night." "Sweet like that." "Sweet like... whiskey and Coke." "Sweet like..." "Mooney, why you keep following me around the damn place?" "Everybody know you a hot mama, but I ain't no jive-ass nigger." "What is it you want, Mooney?" "I want you to help me move shit." "You can go places I can't go." "That's all you had to say." "You got some merchandise." "Yeah." "Take half." "Tell motherfuckers where you got it from." "I get half?" "Half, goddamn it." "Did I stutter?" "Well, shit, that's all you had to say." "You been mad all night." "You been playin' me like a bald-headed stepchild." "Shit." "Can't I kid you?" "Oh, we partners now, huh?" "You don't trust me?" "Hell, no." "Well, come on." "Hey, Duval." "I'm busy, man." "Tell 'em to wait." "Too live." "That's what I told him." "Fuck that shit." "Ain't no motherfuckin' police taking me no-goddamn-where." "Fuckin' La-La." "Ain't gonna be gettin' no visit from my ass no time soon." "Come on, nigger." "Take me to the club." "Oh, you ready now." "Just come on." "Who fills the air with notes so sour... and dares to challenge Sinbad's power?" "Why, I'll fix 'em." "Rush that ship!" "Go." "Sweet... and soft." "Not like the man who beats my mom." "The man that loves me, that kisses me like this." "How the fuck old was I?" "Thirteen?" "No, wait." "It was winter." "Fourteen, almost." "Just." "A virgin." "I don't know how old he was." "Duval could've been a thousand." "Me, a sucker for his mouth." "So sweet." "But that day" "Oh." "No." "No." "What" "Didn't I say, "Get the fuck off me, motherfucker"?" "Didn't I?" "Did I?" "Get the fuck-- This isn't happening." "This doesn't count." "One thousand-one, one thousand-two, Ow!" "One thousand-three." "And now I'm sure I got one of my mom's pimp's babies growing inside of me." "Agnes?" "Yeah?" "What are you doin'?" "Nothing." "Mom." "Hey." "Run down to the store right quick." "So we need some Newports... and a big bottle of Tanqueray... and a Mr. T's Bloody Mary mix." "You know I can't drink it with the vodka." "Don't taste like nothin'." "Why they even make somethin' that don't taste like nothin'?" "This the end of the soap?" "You wasteful." "I remember when you was a baby." "All the time all you ever wanted me to do... was... read to you." "And all we had was two books." "A red one." "I don't remember what it was called." "Some other book 'bout rabbits... and chickens and some shit." "You weren't even walking yet." "But you just all the time kept saying," ""Read me the red book." "Read me the red book."" "I read that book must have been a million times." "Got sick of it, for God's sake." "Readin' the same goddamn story... over and over." "So" "I'd just... sit you on my lap," "just turn the pages, make up some shit." "Makin' up my own story." "Pretending... like I was readin' to you." "You weren't even a year old yet." "But you'd just... turn," "look up at me and say," ""Read the story."" "It used to freak me out, you speakin' in full sentences... since you could talk." ""Read the story."" "I tried to fool you, but I never could ever since you was a baby." "You always knew what I was doin'." "What was the name of that book?" "The red one." "You remember?" "Oh, fuck it." "It don't matter." "Get on to the store." "If there's change, I want it." "There's just today." "And then there's tonight." "Anything can happen." "Then anything does." "That's some valuable pussy." "What?" "Who are you talking about?" "You said it was time for her to earn her keep." "I'm just being agreeable, is all." "You're just bein' about dead." "Oh." "Look at you." "What are you gonna do with that thing?" "Mom, this motherfucker just raped me!" "And now he wants to pimp me out too?" "I don't know what you're sayin'." "He's fine to you." "He's good-- takes care of me." "Did you fucking just hear me?" "Stop where you're standin', or I'll blow the back of your head off." "Baby girl, cool it now." "Come on." "You don't want to spend the rest of your natural life behind bars." "You don't wanna do that." "You think there's a cop on this planet... that would lock me up for killing you?" "You... stop it!" "Stop it!" "I can't live without him." "So..." "I can't, and I won't." "So, you kill me." "You kill me." "Mom!" "He raped me, and he beats you, and he sells you!" "And now he wants to sell me too." "And you want to die in his place?" "Yes." "Y" " Yes." "I'm going to my basketball game." "No." "No." "You get out!" "You get-- You get out of my house!" "Wait, baby." "Wait." "Don't go!" "I left... my mother... and the man I thought loved me... in that house." "I left my mother... and my... rapist... in that house." "I left my mother... and my mother's pimp... in that house." "Look at all the people it takes to make up a person." "Ain't that nothin'?" "Where the sam hell have you been?" "I've been to the mountaintop, and it ain't shit." "You good to play?" "We ain't got time for no warming up, getting ready." "Give me some bull crap excuses after you blow it, comin' in late with a story." "I'm not gonna blow it, Coach." "You know me." "Ref!" "Time!" "Visitor time out." "Ridgeview Lady Stars are down by 13." "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Huddle up!" "Just under seven minutes to go, it's Home 47, Visitors 34." "Come on!" "Let's go, ladies!" "Get in here!" " This one is just about over." " Come on!" ""A" Game here finally decided to show up." "Maybe she can wake the dead." "Y'all are playin' pitiful!" "We are down 13." "Win, or go home!" "Missy, you've been gettin' beat all night." "Sit." "Agnes, prove me right." "Nobody walks!" "Team on three." "One, two, three, team!" "Team!" "There's the boy who writes me poems and leaves them in my locker." "He thinks I don't know." "His name is Peter." "There's the varsity football players that won't talk to me if anyone's around, but Terry loves discussing poetry at the Burger King... and I give Alfred the math quiz answers." "And Mario plays one-on-one with me in the church parking lot any time I want." "Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Two points, Ridgeview!" "Way to go!" "Let's get it back now!" "Lady Stars grab two more." "Ten to 14." "And it's Agnes again!" "Number 14 takes a hard foul." "They need these free throws to get back into the game... and have a chance at the state championship." "Okay, Agnes!" "You got these." "Knock 'em down!" "There's one." "Stay calm!" "Stay calm!" "And wow!" "Ridgeview may have a prayer!" "Here come the Lady Stars." "Two!" "And again!" "Agnes really is lighting it up." "Number 14 is giving this visiting team a shock." "Down 58-54 with 44 seconds to play." "End-to-end layup to tie the game." "It's tied up 60-60." "All right!" "Good job!" "Ridgeview crosses half court." "Five seconds." "Four seconds left to play." "Agnes puts it up." "And it's all net!" "Ridgeview is going to the state championship!" "Good job!" "Come on." "I scored over 20 points in about seven minutes." "That was a tristate record for almost seven years... until some sophomore girl from this school on the west side broke it." "Good for her." "Get in the car, bitches!" "Where have y'all knuckleheads been?" "I ate too much Goldfishes." " I think I'm gonna puke my guts." " Ew." "I went to Kelly's, then I went to the bar, which I know you said to never go to." "But..." "I found Cammie." "Yeah." "So I would say fine to that to me, if I was you, because we was waiting and waiting, and then we started walking, and it was so cold..." "Shut up!" "Agnes, did you win your game today?" "What game?" "The basketball game!" "Basketball game!" "You had a game tonight, and you didn't take me?" " Who won?" " We did, of course." "And hear me when I tell you," "I scored 27 points in the second half alone." "Oh, my gosh!" "Let's celebrate." "Yeah!" "We have to celebrate." "Drive the long way home, and then we can go through the park." "Nah." "I got a better idea." "We're fixin' to have ourselves some dinner, children." "Howard Johnson's!" "Yes!" "Howard Johnson's!" "But first we gotta go to Dolly's and cash these paychecks." "Dolly's?" "Oh, no." "Oh, no, Agnes." "Seriously." "Can I please wait in the car or something?" "I'll die." "I mean, I was already there for, like, 800 hours today, and I also think I ate all of Dolly's cherries." "Yeah." "¶ Listen, baby" "¶ Ain't no mountain high Ain't no valley low ¶" "¶ Ain't no river wide enough baby ¶" "¶ If you need me, call me no matter where you are ¶" "¶ No matter how far" "¶ Don't worry, baby" "¶ Just call my name I'll be there in a hurry ¶" "¶ You don't have to worry" "¶ 'Cause, baby there ain't no mountain high enough ¶" "¶ Ain't no valley low enough" "¶ Ain't no river wide enough" "¶ To keep me from gettin' to you, babe ¶" "¶ Remember the day I set you free ¶" "¶ I told you you could always count on me, darlin' ¶" "¶ From that day on I made a vow ¶" "¶ I'll be there when you want me ¶" "¶ Someway, somehow" "¶ 'Cause, baby, there ain't..." "¶ ...no mountain high enough ¶" "¶ Ain't no valley low enough" "¶ Ain't no river wide enough" "¶ To keep me from gettin' to you, babe ¶" "¶ Oh, no, darlin'" "¶ No wind or rain" "¶ Or winters cold" "¶ Can't stop me, baby" "¶ No, baby" "¶ 'Cause you are my love" "¶ If you're ever in trouble I'll be there on the double ¶" "¶ Just send for me Oh, baby ¶ ¶ Oh, baby" "¶ My love is alive" "¶ Way down in my heart" "¶ Although we are miles apart" "¶ If you ever need a helping hand ¶" "¶ I'll be there on the double just as fast as I can ¶" "¶ Don't you know that there ain't no mountain high enough ¶" "I raced the sun home in the morning... and the moon up at night." "Anything can happen." "And anything does." "There's just today, and then there's tonight." "¶ There ain't no mountain high enough ¶" "And tonight... is wonderful." "¶ Ain't no river wide enough" "¶ To keep me from gettin' to you, babe ¶"