"We have you down at 10:00 with Sterphan." "Thanks." "Bye." "I knew you'd call." "Simuel." "Let me take your briefcase, baby." "Come on over here." " Here we go." "I'm glad you made it." "There's something I wanna talk about." "Is that right?" " Yeah." "Have a seat." "Why don't you let me hook up your fade?" "Fade?" " Yeah." "Edge you up, clean you up a little bit." "You're looking good, but I can make it better." "Dig that." "What's this all about...hmm?" "What do you mean?" "You acting like I'm Big Willie or something." "You treating me all good." "What's going on?" "Actually, I, um..." "I need a favor." "Can you do me a favor?" "When I first saw Simuel, I knew he was up to no good." "He wanted Bird bad and there wasn't nothing he wouldn't do or say to get her." "Something bad was about to happen." "It was as plain to see as those phat suits he wore." "What do you think?" "You got much game, Bird." "I learned from you." "Heh heh heh." "But what's in this for me?" "Bird." "Bird, where you at, baby?" "I got some great news." "Bird." "I found a gig." "Yeah, Kenny called me yesterday, and told me about a job at the biggest in-house printing company in town." "I went in cold and they didn't even know who the hell Kenny Simmons was." "I knew I had to kick some game." " Right." "So I told the man next to the goddamn man..." "I was the best man for the job, you know?" "Yes." "So, finally, he looks at me stands there, says you're hired." "Right there on the spot." "Like he knew that I knew that he knew that I knew that I...was...the man." "Yeah." "You are the man." "You're my man." "With enough hours, you know what that means?" "What?" "Gonna get us our own place, baby." "James Dawson, phone call, line two." "James Dawson, pick up line two." "You have a phone call." "Hey, Lem, I can't believe you finished that Johnson job." "I didn't expect you to finish till tomorrow." "Good job." "Thanks a lot, man." "Can you run a 4 1/2 X 9 Carver?" "I can work the Carver." "You sure?" " Sure." "Good man." "Lem Harris?" "Simuel St. James..." "Chief Executive of Sales and Marketing." "What's happening?" "How you doing?" "I've been hearing good things about you." "Especially the way you've been handling those machines." "I'm no stranger to hard work." "That's good to know." "Cigar?" "Nah." "I don't like cigars." "Sorry." "You don't mind, do you?" "Like I was saying, it's always good to, you know have enthusiastic, hard-working employees like yourself." "Especially down there in printing." "I'm no stranger to hard work myself." "I'm like you." "I'm from the hood, too." "But I make $80,000 a year because I was always willing to sacrifice whatever I had to to get what I wanted." "That's why brothers got to stick together-- pull one another up in a time of need." "Ahem." "The white man ain't gonna do it." "Sooner than you think, you'll be helping another brother just like I helped you." "What are you talking about?" "I pulled some strings to get you hired." "What, you didn't know?" "Kenny Simmons referred me." "Who?" "No." "I know your wife..." "Bird." "She told me about your little felony situation and asked me to hook you up in the printing' department." "Man, me and old Cola, we, uh, we go way back." "Who the fuck is Cola?" "No." "Ha ha." "That's just something I used to call her back in the day." "Since she got that body shaped like a Coca-Cola bottle, huh?" "She used to just make a brother want to scream." "Motherfucker." " Hey, come on." "I'll beat your ass." "Don't fuck with me." "You can forget about your job, motherfucker." "I want to talk to you." "What is wrong with you?" "Why are you fuckin' coming in here tripping?" "Think I'm not man enough to find my own job?" "I'm sorry." "You fucking that nigger?" " No." "What do you have to do for him?" "Ain't no man gonna give you a motherfucking thing free." "I didn't do nothing with him." "I just said I'd have dinner with him." "That's it." "I'm sorry." "What the fuck is this, huh?" " It's nothing." "It ain't shit but a fuckin' bracelet." "This don't mean nothing." "Baby, I'm sorry." "Don't fucking touch me." "Don't fucking touch me." "Lem, I love you." "I just did this for us." "You stay the fuck away from me." "Motherfucker." "Lem." "Lem." "Bird." "Honey, it's OK." "Sweetie, you can talk to us." "Bird, your sister is getting ready to call somebody." "I don't want no drama here." "Open up, Bird." "So Aunt Teri was calling in Cousin Blimp to whup Uncle Lem's ass... 'cause she thought Lem had beat up Bird." "Big misunderstanding." "You knew things were gonna get worse before they got better." "That's how it was when my aunts fixed each other's messes." "Hey, no guns." "You hear me?" "Give me a shot." "Hello." "Maxine, is Kenny there?" "This is Rick down at the bar." "Your brother-in-law is down here and he's getting wasted." "Didn't know whether to call Bird or not." "You need to send somebody to get him." "There you go." "There he is..." "Cousin Blimp." "He's one of those cousins you don't see much... 'cause he's always spends so much time in jail." "Of all the people Aunt Teri could have called to teach Lem a lesson..." "I can't believe she called Blimp." "Give me some brews." "A couple for my boys, too." "Who's paying?" "He's paying for it." "Yeah, right, motherfucker." "Don't shit me, motherfucker." "What is wrong with you, punk?" "Hit that punk." "I'll blow your motherfucking brains out." "Should've brought my gat." " Shut up." "Stop the car, Kenny." "Kenny, pull over." "Lem." "Lem." "Ahmad, stay in the car." "That's my husband." "Wait." "That's my husband." "No, no." "Bird." "Wait, officer." "Please, somebody help." "Kicking Simuel's ass was one thing but being an ex-felon with a gun..." "Ianded Uncle Lem back where jail." "We're talking serious time." "Sure enough, the family was starting to fall apart." "No." "What happened?" "Hey." "Teri in?" "She's at the hospital." "Any change?" "No." "It's beautiful." "For your CD?" "I don't know." "It's something I'm messing around with." "Hey... any news on your audition?" "Get out of here." "Yeah, I'm pretty happy about it." "I'm sure you are." "I was so scared." "You?" "I gave two weeks at my firm today." "I quit." "Man, when your CD drops, you are going to blow up." "I don't know about all that." "Let's celebrate." "Miles..." "I'm moving out this weekend." "Teri and I living under the same roof together is not working." "Teri's tough." "You letting her run you out, huh?" "You're damn right." "Besides that, I need my own space." "Always on the go." "I can't stay in one place too long." "I got this new gig, so--." "So you gotta go." "I don't know." "It's always been like that." "But, you know, we're all cool." "There's no hostilities or anything like that." "It's just when it's time to go it's time to go." "Ha." "That's bullshit." "Excuse me?" "Sounds like bullshit." "I mean, that's, uh a lonely life." "You should stop pretending you don't need anybody... 'cause you're just lying to yourself." "That's how I see it." "I'm going up to the studio." "You never know." "You have to just be yourself." "Miles?" "Uncle Miles, we're home." "He must be upstairs in the studio on the roof." "The studio." "Let's go." "I love it out here, Aunt Teri." "I know you love it out here." "Um, we gotta go." "But, Aunt Teri, I thought--..." "Back to your house." " Aunt Teri--." "No." "Let's just go back, OK?" "I don't know why we left Aunt Teri's house so fast or why Teri was so upset all of a sudden." "All I know is she didn't speak the whole trip." "We headed back to my house." "Everybody was getting together for my Mom and Dad's 11th-year anniversary party." "Happy anniversary." "One more kiss." "All right." "Look out now." "Watch me now." "Where's my baby?" "There sure seemed to be a lot of tension in the air especially between Teri and Miles." "At one point, I think I saw Aunt Teri crying." "Not even my mama could say why." "Good God almighty." "At least my folks were getting along which is always cool." "Ahem." "Honey, uh why don't you get everybody in the kitchen so we can talk?" "Want to dance?" "Teri, you OK?" "Are you all right?" "After all these years, you and Max are still together." "I still envy that." "I always thought if you and I had gotten married my life would be different." "But it wouldn't." "I'd find a way to screw it up." "Teri, you can't..." "What y'all doing in here?" "Just talking about this cake." "Mmm." "It was good." "Yeah, real good." "Since we're all together..." "I feel it's a good time to talk about Mama's hospital bills." "Y'all know her insurance won't cover everything." "We're talking about it since the five of us are here." "Maybe we can all pitch in, take care of this tonight?" "Yes." "What about that money Mama has stashed?" "That's just a myth." "So..." "I felt that Teri and Miles could pay for everything." "Then we can pay you back in installments or--." "Don't you start running that game on me again." "Expect me to bail Lem out of jail, too?" "Lem doesn't have anything to do with this." "We can pay for Mama's bills by selling the big house." "What?" "We're not selling the house." "Mama and Daddy saved their whole life for that house." "We can't even agree on anything as small as Sunday dinners." "Nobody's paying for the taxes or utilities except me." "We can finally put Uncle Pete in a home like we discussed." "Uncle Pete in a home?" "Mama would kill us." "You are tripping." "I'm selling the house." "You're not selling the house." "I'm the guardian of her estate, so I make the decisions." "Teri, listen to what they're saying." "Your mama worked hard to keep that house in the family." "For everyone-- you and your family--." "Fuck the family." "I let the family in my house." "You know what?" "The family fucked my husband." "Yeah." "Faith fucked my husband." "Miles." "Teri." "What are you gonna say?" "Teri." " 'Teri' what?" "Can we talk about this?" " Talk about what?" "Fuck you." "Teri." "Whoa." "Teri." "Let go." "Let go." "My goodness." "Get out." "I'm so sorry." "Get out." "Get the fuck out." "I never meant to." "God." "God." "God." "It's OK." "It's OK, Teri." "It's gonna be OK." "Second floor nursing station, maintenance." "Second floor nursing station, maintenance." "ln the five weeks Big Mama was in that coma every grownup in the family managed somehow to go crazy." "I know, 'cause I just about went crazy, too." "You..." "You were here weren't you?" "Yeah." "Everybody was worried about you, but not me." "I knew you'd come around." "I love you, Big Mama." "The family's a mess, isn't it?" "A lot of bad things happened while you were gone." "If you let bad things stop you you won't be here for the good things." "I'm tired, baby." "My soul is tired." "I need you to do something for me." "Only you can do it." "I need you to--." "Big Mama, what's wrong?" "Big Mama." "Big Mama." "Son, you'll have to wait outside." "It's OK, son." "We'll take good care of her." "Excuse me." "Dr. Horowitz please report to the nursing station." "Dr. Horowitz to the nursing station." "Why." "Should I feel." "Discouraged?" "Why." "Should the shadows come." "And why." "Should my heart." "Be lonely." "And long." "For heaven." "And home." "When Jesus is." "My potion." "A constant friend." "Is he." "His eye." "Is on." "The sparrow." "And I know." "He watches me." "His eyes..." "Pulling together in times of need--." "That had always been Big Mama's job but who was gonna do it now that she was gone?" "And I know." "He watches." "Me." "Mama ain't even lukewarm in the ground yet and that damn girl got her house for sale." "Uncle Pete?" "What you doing out of your room?" "We going to the creek today, Joe?" "We can catch some trout for dinner." "Put it in the iron pot sear it with lard or cooking oil, Joe." "No." "I'm Maxine, Uncle Pete." "Joe's daughter." "She's gone." "She's dead." "Remember Daddy used to raise hogs?" "He'd gut 'em and he'd cure the cut-up meat in brine, and and put 'em in the smokehouse for sausages." "Daddy's gone now." "So you got to take care of me now, Joe." "That's right." "I'm gonna take good care of you." "Come on, now, Uncle Pete." "You want some catfish?" "I'm happy we're doing this." "Yeah, me, too." "Look." "There she is." "Teri." "Hi." "We didn't order yet, 'cause we were waiting for you." "What's up?" "Look, Teri, I know you're mad at the world for what's happened between you and Miles." "I understand." "But you're taking it out on the family, and that's wrong." "Sorry." "We're gonna stop the sale of Mama's house." "I went to Kenny's lawyer and I drew up a motion to cease and desist." "Sorry." "OK." "OK?" " I'm sorry, too." "Teri, don't leave." "Why doesn't that surprise me?" "I gotta go to the bathroom." "You OK?" "Lem's gonna be a daddy." "So you're the fish in Mama's dream." "Yeah." "Maxie, I miss him so much." "I knew, Bird but you can't call your ex to help your husband find a job behind his back." "A man has to be a man." "If he feels you take that away from him, he has nothing." "Like with Mama." "Remember when Daddy lost all that money gambling?" "Remember?" " Yes." "She didn't trip." "She did what she had to do and left him with his dignity." "You see what I'm saying?" "Men need that." "Yeah." "I guess you're right." "I'm gonna be an auntie." "God." "I wish I could be like you." " Please." "So does Teri." "That's why she acts the way she does." "Girl, you got your own shop and Teri's got a great job at the firm." "Shoot, all I got is a husband and some kids but they badasses." "Mama always said you were the strongest one in the family." "I want to say thank you for always supporting me." "You're my sister, girl." "I love you, Maxie." "I love you, too." "Come here, girl." "It's gonna be all right." " Yeah." "Just fine." "We gotta get some bottles, some Pampers." "You ready for that?" " I guess." "Get ready." "It's Teri Joseph for Jonathan Oliver, please." "Teri must have felt really bad about what she did to Lem... 'cause she called in a favor from some downtown big shot." "Um, I have a favor." "And that last steal." "The way you pulled up and scored." "Mom." "Sweet move, baby." "But, Mama, why you always gotta be so loud?" "I don't care what they say." "You my baby, and I'm proud of you." "Can you hook up a victory dinner?" "Sure, baby, anything you want." "Think I could grub on some lima beans neck bones, greens with some hot sauce hot cakes, and some fried chicken." "Dang." "All of that?" "All of that." "All right." "Besides, I haven't cooked like that since..." "So when you want to have this victory dinner?" "Sunday at Big Mama's." "You up to something." "I carried you for nine months, went through Twenty three hours, 45 minutes, 10 seconds of labor." "Wiped your little butt while your lil' ding-a-ling pee-peed in my face." "So Mama knows when you're up to something." "You're trying to get everybody together for Sunday dinner." "Big Mama wants me to." "It's what she was trying to tell me before she died." "You liked that last shot?" "Man, that last shot was the bomb." "Flow, you know." "Keep doing like that, and when you get older you're gonna get a fat contract, right?" "Buy a house." "Get me a Lexus." " A Lexus." "And a fur, you know what I'm saying?" "Guys, that's sounding good, but I'm still missing a note." "Let's do it again." "Let's try it again." "Here we go." "One, two, three, four." "Girl." "I care about you." "I'm there for you." "So why don't you care." "For me." "Like I care about you?" "Good, good, better." "Let's take a break, all right?" "Leave the little man to his business." "I'm glad you could make it, shorty." "I'm glad, too." "It's been tough with school and working at the shop afterwards." "And figuring out what to do with that loot Big Mama left me." "What loot?" "Dead presidents?" " Cash?" "When did she leave it to you?" " Day she died." "I was the only one at the hospital." "Big mama told me where she stashed a lot of money." "How much money you talkin' about?" "Lots." "I mean beaucoup." "Beaucoup?" " Beaucoup." "Maybe you could help me decide what to do with it." "This isn't the money from the will?" "Aunt Teri, you're the smartest in the family." "You know that's right." "If I was your son, would you invest in my future?" "Do the right thing for family?" " Absolutely." "If you help me, I can give you a third." "Like a fee." "A fee?" " Yeah." "Then you could pay Big Mama's bills and not sell the house." "I can give you a percentage if you help me invest it." "You can use the money to promote your CD." "Have you told anybody else about this?" "No, but I'd give you some of it." "You could pay Aunt Teri's loan." "Why don't you tell me..." " ...where the money is?" "Let's get it." " When's a good time?" "Sunday at 3:00 at Big Mama's." "What y'all doing here?" "Just cooking a little Sunday dinner." "All right." "Let the ladies handle this." "After all the hard work is done, you're gonna come in." "You can work hard with that remote and watch football." "I can do that?" " Yeah." "You sure?" " Mm-hmm." "You don't need anything?" " No." "Thank you." "You want me to start these dumplings?" "Yeah, but watch that measuring." "You know how you are." "I'm gonna kick your butt." "Why didn't you tell me?" "This would be the test to see if 40 years of tradition and Mama's soul food could pull our family back together again." "Aunt Teri, what's up?" "There's a car outside." "Is your mom here?" "Somebody cooking?" "Go in the kitchen and see." "Smells in the kitchen bringing back the good old days." "Mmm, dumplings, deep-fried catfish macaroni and cheese, and sweet cornbread." "The kind Big Mama made look like pound cake for the kids." "I wanted the good old feelings back, too." "And so did Big Mama." "Miles, what's up, man?" "How you doing?" "What's going on here, Ahmad?" "We having Sunday dinner." "We got some string beans, catfish chicken and dumplings, some cornbread." "I shouldn't be here." "What's happening?" "When'd you get out of jail?" "What's going on?" "I wanna talk to you." "How you doing, Miles?" "Have a seat." "We're going to serve dinner." "What's going on in there?" "We're having Sunday dinner." "Sunday dinner?" "I fucked up, huh?" "How's Bird doing?" "She's in there." "Why don't you go ask her?" "Looks like a family thing in there." "I don't want to butt in." "Why not?" "You're family." "Hey, Ahmad, um..." "I know I let you down, and I'm sorry." "But I want you to know, I ain't beat on your auntie." "I pushed her, and that was bad enough but I didn't hit her." "I would never, ever hit a woman." "Do you believe me?" "Ahmad, your mama said go wash and get ready for dinner." "I'll leave you two alone." "Boo, you're home?" "Baby." "I missed you so much." "I missed you." "I missed you so much." "Are you OK?" "I'm fine, baby." "I messed up, baby." "I'm sorry." "I love you." " I love you, too." "I have something to tell you." "Ahmad?" "Ahmad?" "I can't even believe she's here." "Come on." "Hey, Faith, what's up?" "Ahmad, what's going on?" "How come everybody's here?" "We just having Sunday dinner." "Sunday dinner?" "Yeah." "We got some chicken and dumplings some string beans, catfish, some cor--." "Not cool, Ahmad." "I'm out of here." "Faith." "Wait." "Please, stay." "Please?" "Dear Lord thank you for allowing us another day on Earth-- another day to glorify your name and sanctify ourselves with your mercy." "I'm grateful that the people I love most in the world are here to celebrate life and the lessons as it unfolds." "And let one of those lessons be acceptance and love so we can be a family again and love each other like we used to." "In Christ Jesus' name, amen." "Amen." "Amen." "It's so good to be back." "I missed this place." "I've got my favorite food." "I have a surprise for everyone later but for now, why don't we just eat?" "Amen to that." "Everybody, um, I got my job back." "That's good, Lem." "Congratulations." "That's great." "They asked a brother back because they know I'm a good, strong, skilled worker." "That's right." "How'd you get out of jail?" "I don't even know." "Somebody talked to somebody, and the charges got dropped." "Here I am." "Glad to have you home, brother." "That's right." "My boo is home." "Actually, I called a friend at the D.A.'s office for a favor." "I felt bad." "You should feel bad." "Because of you, I spent weeks in jail." "You should be thankful." "Now you can take care of your pregnant wife." "Teri, mind your own damn business." "Didn't nobody ask you for your help." "Worry about your husband and why he's sleeping with her." "Gee." "No, sit." "Let her go if she wants to." "Teri, I'm sorry, but she's always running away." "You're family, and we're gonna deal with this." "Baby, get me some more peas." "And take your sister." "Always worrying about somebody else's business." "You need to take care of your own husband." "So was that it, Miles?" "I didn't take care of you?" "We haven't been happy for a long time now." "We used to have so much fun." "I don't know what happened." "It seems that everything I love..." "I lose." "Well, um, ahem." "Good luck with Mother Joe's money." "M-Mother Joe's money?" "What are you talking about?" "Supposedly, Mama has some large amount of money stashed someplace in the house she was saving for Ahmad and that's why we're all here tonight." "Ahmad?" "Get in here." "Ahmad?" "Right now." "Where's this money Mother Joe supposedly left you?" "There isn't any money." "I made it up." "You made it up?" "Ahmad, what have I told you about lying?" "You know better." "It's not my fault." "It's all y'all's fault." "Y'all messed up the family." "Can't you see that?" "Big Mama wanted me to get you together for a Sunday dinner." "I didn't know how to do that, because all y'all do is fight." "So I lied about the money so you'd come so we could be a family again." "Y'all know that's what Big Mama wanted." "It's OK." "Y'all smell that?" "Smell what?" "It's coming from the kitchen." "You mess with the stove?" "I'll go look." "Shit." "Come on." "Let me get some water." "Get back." "Get back." "My God." "Get back." "Get back." "Look out." "Look out." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Look out." "It's coming from the back of the stove." "It ain't working." "My God." "The house." "Wait." "The house." "It's getting out of hand." "We need an extinguisher." "Yeah." "No." "My God." "My goodness." "No." "What happened?" "I don't know." "I..." "I forgot." "I left the towel on the stove." "Ahmad..." "Uncle Pete, are you all right?" "Got a little on your face." "He didn't mean nothing." "This is, uh, my surprise, everybody." "Uncle Pete." "Uncle Pete?" "I'm--I'm sorry, man." "Look at this." "What?" " What?" "Look at all this money." "Yay." "Big Mama really had hidden a pile of money." "It was in the last place we'd look--." "Uncle Pete's TV." "Now I understand what soul food was all about." "During slavery, black folks didn't have a lot to celebrate." "Cooking was how we expressed love for each other." "That's what those Sunday dinners meant." "More than just eating." "It was a time for sharing our joys and sorrows." "Something old folks say is missing in today's families." "Things got better for my family after that." "Even though Miles and Aunt Teri broke up that doesn't stop Miles from coming over and filling his belly with Mama's soul food." "Lem and Bird are doing good." "They got their own place and they're expecting their baby any day now." "My mama and Aunt Teri are cool again, at least for now." "And Faith is finally a part of the family, too." "As you can see, we didn't sell the big house." "No way, no how." "Even though we miss Big Mama's cooking, laughter, and love none of us feel like life cheated her." "She accomplished what she set out to do-- to build a strong family with a rich tradition and to leave love in her footprints." "Thanks, Big Mama." "You taught me everything." "Everything you've given me." "I'll always keep it inside." "And you're the driving force in my life." "Yeah-eah-eah." "There isn't anything or anyone that I could be." "And it just wouldn't feel right." "If I didn't have you by my side." "You were there for me." "To love and care for me." "When skies were gray." "Whenever I was down." "You were always there." "To comfort me." "And no one else can be what you have been to me." "You will always be." "You will always be." "The girl in my life." "For all times." "Mama." "Mama." "You know." "I love you." "You know I love you." "You know I love you." "Mama." "Mama, you're the queen of my heart." "You are." "Your love is like tears from the stars." "Your love is like tears from the stars." "Mama, I just want you to know." "Mama, I just want you to know." "Lovin' you is like food to my soul." "Lovin' you is like food to my soul." "You are the food." "To my soul." "Yes, you are." "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "You don't really want to stop." "No, you don't." "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "Yeah, yeah." "You don't really want to stop." "Check it out, yeah, come on." "Whether you like it hard over live guitars." "Anything dropped." "If it's hot, it's ours." "If it's not, it's yours." "We on the job." "Everybody eating'." "Everybody involved." "You can't stop that like you can't stop rap." "Bad boy, stop." "What's the chance of that?" "We don't stop." "So checks, advances, and stacks." "And we don't have to answer to jack." "No wonder we had this rap shit locked." "For eight straight summers." "Pull up at the party." "Eight straight hummers." "Six be the sixth, seventh, and eighth wonders." "Pop corks, we be the toast of New York." "And out West, we want y'all to understand." "All we wanna do is make you dance." "We know the song ain't done wrong." "When the party is hot." "Y'all don't really want us to stop, do you?" "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "You don't really want to stop." "Nah." "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "You don't really want to stop." "You can pump this in your jeep." "On an off-road." "Pump this through your Bose." "On the way to the toll." "Bang this in you're B.N.O." "When you at home." "On the six-four sittin' on chrome." "Yo, we don't stall, we ball." "While you playin' the wall." "We in the middle of the dance floor." "Gettin' off." "We got a bunch of hot chicks." "Gettin' live with us." "At the end of the night." "They gonna slide with us." "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "You don't really want to stop." "No, baby, uh-uh." "Don't you stop it." "Don't you stop what you're doin'." "You don't really want to stop."