"Yo, man, come on!" "Eighteen to party, 21 to drink." "Have your IDs ready." "Eighteen to party, 21 to drink." "Have your IDs ready, ladies." "Eighteen to party, 21 to drink." "Oh, my God." "Goddamn, I say I love my job!" "Come on now, let's go!" "Now where are all my sexy Sagittarian ladies at?" "Man, where your dollars?" "Where your dollars at?" "Man, she doin' it, y'all." "Chill, chill." "Watchu' come here for?" "Oh, come on, baby, I'm not going to bite." "Sorry, excuse me, sorry." "Come on now, let's go." "Yeah, it's your girl K-Sty." "You know you're rocking with your girl K-Sty." "We're live at the Catnip Lounge." "Give it up for your girl Maine." "Maine's in the building." "Come on, we're late." "Huh?" "I gotta go." "Hold on a minute." "Why you trippin'?" "What?" "I gotta go." "Why are you trippin'?" "I'm gonna get in trouble." "Let me dance with shortie right quick and then I'll be ready." "What?" "Stop pulling on my clothes, yo." "Sorry." "How many numbers you get?" "One?" "I could've gotten more, but your moms was holdin' me up." "That's messed up." "How many you get?" "How many you get?" "Oh." "Let me see." "Tonya, Denise, Shelley..." "Oh, wait, that's an old one, I could delete that one." "So, Tonya..." "Hold up." "Liar." "Ain't Shelley that chick from your math class?" "Give me!" "Denise?" "Yo, hold up, these are your damn study group numbers, yo." "Why you frontin', huh?" "I don't see you with no list of numbers." "I'm not the one looking for a girlfriend, man." "You the one still a virgin!" "Trying to help your ass, you know what I'm saying?" "I don't know what you waitin' on." "Shit." "Still kickin' that quiet shit from sixth grade, nigga." "I don't need to press, I gets plenty." "You feel me?" "Wah-wah." "Look, I get more pussy than your daddy, nigga." "What?" "Okay, you got me with that one." "You got me with that one." "Yeah, I know." "I know." "You need to pop that damn cherry, yo." "Shut up." "That's what you need to do." "Quit playing." "Your stop." "Huh?" "Your stop." "Time to get off." "Nah, I'm gonna roll with you a few more stops, a'ight?" "Why are you gonna go all the way up to come back down?" "Make sure you get home safe." "I don't need your protection." "You ain't big, nigga, get off." "Hey, yo!" "That's a'ight, man." "Yo, yo, yo." "Next stop." "A'ight?" "Would you get off the bus?" "Yo, what you pushin' me for?" "Why're you beastin'?" "I'm not beastin'." "Just get off!" "Tsk." "You got a problem." "Yo, call me." "I'll call you." "Bye." "You're late." "Be quiet." "Where you been this late?" "Movies." "Movies ended at midnight." "Shut up." "Don't push me." "I know what stays open past midnight." "Good for you." "Go to sleep." "Goodnight, Lee." "Lee?" "Nice to know you still live here." "What are you doing home so late, anyway?" "Lost track of time." "You know what time your curfew is." "Where were you?" "Movies." "The movie ended at midnight and your curfew's at 12:30." "I lost track of time." "Well, at least you were cute." "I like that shirt." "Where'd you get that from?" "Angel." "It's old." "Really compliments your figure." "You know, maybe we can go shopping." "I saw one just like it..." "Goodnight, Ma." "You know what?" "I don't like that young lady that you run around with." "Yeah, okay!" "Yeah, okay!" "And tie up your head." "It's your head." "And wash your face, too!" "I don't have makeup on." "Wash your face, anyway!" "Mom, I'm seventeen years old." "Can you please..." "You need to watch your tone!" "It's your skin." "All right, as I promised, people, these will be graded on a curve." "So, you're not going to get a whole lot of help unfortunately because the highest score on the test was a 98." "Very good job." "This wasn't even in the study guide..." "Guys, I gave you all the answers and the questions on the review sheets." "It was on the test." "I didn't say that." "Y'all have a good lunch." "I'll see y'all tomorrow." "Study, people." "Hey, girl." "Hi." "How you doing?" "Talk to me." "You eat that shit?" "I do." "I don't know about what you eatin'." "Tastes good." "You should try it." "Yeah, listen, hummus will keep me alive longer than that." "So, where's the new stuff?" "Here you go." "Hmm." "Do you see the one in the back?" "I'm gonna..." "I'll probably do that in class." "Hmm." "So?" "So what?" "So what'd you think?" "Yeah, they're okay." "Okay?" "Well, they're lovely." "I mean, of course your descriptiveness and your use of alliteration are beautiful and all, but you know that." "But I don't know, is it your best?" "No." "I thought it was good." "They're okay." "Not great." "I think you can go deeper." "I'm not able to take your call." "Please leave a message at the sound of the tone." "Peace." "Hey, this is Lee, I'm not able to take your call..." "How's it coming?" "It's good." "Let me know if you need me." "I don't see why we can't just watch TV like usual." "Shut up." "You shut up!" " Girls!" "I was expecting a call." "Hello?" "Yeah." "It's your father's night off." "Straighten up." "So, Homecoming got moved up this year." "It's actually going to be in September instead of October." "Really?" "Yeah, which means that I can actually go to the Autumn Ball and the Homecoming Dance." "Who're you going to go with?" "I don't know, uh, maybe Derek, if he asks me." "Or maybe Parrish." "But I know for Homecoming that I definitely want to go with Craig." "And who are you going to go with, Lee?" "I'm not going." "What do you mean, you're not going?" "It's your junior year!" "Leave her alone, Audrey." "If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to go." "But she's a junior." "She's not going to have any memories!" "I don't like all those boys buzzing around my daughters anyway." "Nobody's buzzing around Alike." "That's right, and it better stay that way." "Matter of fact, I'm not sure if I'm gonna let you go." "Dad!" "Shut up!" "So what are your memories, Mother?" "I got plenty of memories." "Like?" "I'm just saying, share with us." "Did you go to prom?" "Yes, I went to prom." "Who'd you go with?" "Are you comfortable with this?" "I'm fine." "She asked you." "Did you have sex at prom?" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Relax." "I'm definitely having sex at prom." "Oh, my God!" "No, you're definitely not going to prom." "You're not having sex for 10 more years, so..." "Ten years?" "At least." "That's like 25!" "Exactly." "That's early for me." "That's an inappropriate question." "Is that how old you were when you first had sex?" "That's how old you'll be when you find out." "This isn't dinner conversation." "Okay." " Guys..." "Oh." "Oh, my God." "That's just embarrassing, girl." "You ain't got no range either!" "Well, at least I hit the backboard, damn." "Help!" "I'm getting mugged!" "Girl." "Come on, what's the score?" "One up." "One?" "Yup." "Girl, I got at least three." "Definitely three, come on." "You trying to cheat me, too?" "Help me!" "Hey!" "Hey, hey." "Mind if I sit here?" "Sure, go ahead." "Help yourself." "Oh, thank you." "What you got there?" "You been shopping?" "Mmm-mmm." "Just some yogurt." "Some vanilla yogurt." "No, I mean in the bag." "What do you got in the bag?" "That big red thing?" "Oh..." "I don't know where my mind is." "That's okay." "Um..." "Yeah, let me..." "Let me show it to you." "Okay." "Can I get your opinion?" "Oh." "That's really nice." "Isn't that cute?" "Yeah!" "Is that for your daughter?" "Yeah, yeah." "It's for Alike." "Oh, the youngest one." "No, the oldest one." "Oh, the other one." "Oh." "Okay." "Yeah." "Why, you think it's too young?" "Oh, no!" "For some reason the youngest one just popped into my head first, that's all." "Oh, but I think it'll be fine." "Oh, it's really nice." "Thank you." "Yeah." "And you know what, it'll compliment her figure." "You see, that's what I thought." "Yeah." "For some reason, Lee just doesn't like anything I pick out for her anymore." "Oh, girl, please." "My oldest has banned me from buying her any more clothes." "I just get her gift cards now." "Trust me, we're both happier for it." "She needs to go on a diet." "Anyway..." "Hey, Brenda!" "Hey!" "Audrey, you got me a present!" "No, I didn't." "What y'all in here talking about?" "None of your damn business." "Let me know how it goes, okay?" "Okay, I will." "Hey, Bren..." "This is the article I was telling you about." "Oh, no." "Is that her?" "I told you!" "Look how big she done got!" "Oh, my gosh, that's a shame!" "Isn't that crazy?" "So, it was, like, seven of us." "Me, Khalil, Misha, Tamara..." "Tamara Marks?" "Hell, no." "Fat Tamara." "Oh, I was about to say." "Tamara Marks is a..." "Uh, I can't stand her." "Anyway, it was all of us, and oh, Laura." "You know that girl from the restaurant?" "She was there with one of her friends." "The gay chick?" "Y'all be hanging out like that?" "Anyway, there's a couple of them." "She's mad cool though, so she come out with us every now and..." "Man, y'all be doing it big on the weekends." "Let me know!" "I told your butt to come." " But anyway..." "Yo, some of them AGs are kinda cute." "I'm not saying I would, but I'll holla." "I don't know about all that." "Yo, isn't that one of them over there?" "What's her name?" "Amika?" "Alisha?" "Alike." "Yeah, Alike." "She's cute, too." "I don't be looking at them like that." "Look, I'm not gay, but if I was gay, I might talk to her!" "She's in the middle anyway." "Yeah, I know, if she was just a little bit harder..." "'Sup, ladies." "Oh, hey." "Hey, what's up?" "What's going on?" "Hey." "What's good?" "What's good with that party?" "What's good with this hat?" "Don't play me." "Yo!" "Oh, Mika, you act like you bi or something." "I like girls." "I love boys." "I can't tell!" "Whatever!" "So what do you think?" "Watch out, it's slippery." "I already told you what I think." "But you know her." "I know of her, but I don't "know her" know her." "Okay, you know her friend." "Can you hook us up?" "Yo, put that stack over there." "Um..." "Yo, pass me that rice." "Are you listening?" "Yeah, I'm listening, man!" "All I'm saying is that I don't think you should be putting yourself out there like that." "Especially if you don't know she like you like that." "She does." "She does?" "How do you know she does?" "I just know she does." "Hmm." "We'll see." "What are you doing?" "Thought I felt a drop of pig shit." "Shut..." "Shut the fuck up!" "All I know is I've been trying to get you to talk to chicks for the longest in the club." "I don't want to holla at girls at the club." "Obviously." "So, why are you so pressed about this one?" "I wanted to ask you something else, too." "What?" "I need you to get something for me." "What?" "Just for my image." "What?" "You trying to strap, yo?" "Oh, my God, yo!" "What are you going through?" "By next Friday, please." "Next Friday?" "Please." "All right." "Okay, whatever." "I mean..." "Oh, my God, yo!" "She better be cute for this, yo." "That's all I know, she better be cute." "I think it looks natural." "I'm serious, I mean, it doesn't look that bad." "I can't believe you." "What?" "Laura, this looks stupid!" "It doesn't look right!" "Well, first of all, it's not supposed to be over your underwear like that." "I'm not putting this thing next to my skin." "It already pinches!" "It's supposed to fit like that." "They didn't have brown?" "I didn't have time for all of that!" "And plus the brown ones are too big for you anyway." "It's not funny!" "Here, you gotta take it back." "I can't take it back." "No, here's the receipt!" "Yo, I'm not going back in there." "One time was embarrassing enough." "No." "You grown!" "So what?" "What if someone see me in there?" "No, I'm not going back!" "Then where's my change?" "Lee, where'd you put my makeup." "Ooh, I'm telling." "Hey!" "Hey, get off of me!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Get off of me with that thing, geez!" "Be quiet!" "Okay." "Be quiet!" "I'm telling you got that!" "You can't tell." "I'm telling!" "Shut up!" "Gosh, it looks nasty!" "See, I told you so!" "Yeah, whatever." "Where's my makeup case?" "I know you've got it." "I just borrowed it." "Okay, well, give it back!" "Take it." "Promise you won't tell." "Just give it back!" "Promise you won't tell." "All right!" "All right, all right, all right." "All right, I won't tell." "Okay?" "Geez." "I'm still telling." "Telling what?" "She took my makeup again!" "Lee, please stop with the..." "Oh, hello, Laura." "I didn't see you standing over there." "Hello, Mrs. Freeman." "How's your mother?" "I haven't spoken to her in a while." "She's fine." "I hope so." "And I was glad to hear that your sister finally got back on her feet." "Mom!" "Mom!" "She's good, she's good." "No, I don't think so." "We leave this door open." "Let a little fresh air circulate in here." "I was just about to leave anyway, so..." "Mom?" "Just try it." "Chill, you just got to get used to it." "Stop touching it like that, people gonna think you got something." "The string hurts." "I'm going to take it off." "You're not going to take it off." "I'm going to take it off." "Where you gonna take it off at?" "In the bathroom." "Then where are you going to put it?" "You going to walk around the club with a dick in your hand?" "I mean, chill, man, you're straight blowing me right now, yo." "Then I'm out." "No, you're not!" "You're about to go through with this." "You're the one that wanted to meet her, not me." "Okay, then come on then, let's go." "All right, man, chill." "Hey." "Where are my AGs at?" "Where are my butches at?" "Throw your hands in the air." "Let's get it." "You all right?" "Yeah, um, I think there's a spring in the cushion or something." "You wanna switch seats?" "Nah, I'm good." "And you don't wanna dance?" "Hey, yo, we gonna go dance, a'ight?" "Nah, I'm not really feeling the music." "Well, look, you don't mind, right, if I go dance with somebody else?" "Nah, do your thing." "If you change your mind, we..." "Nah, it's cool." "Turn that mess off!" "Sharonda!" "Sharonda, stop lollygagging!" "Lee!" "Are you ready?" "Yup." "I said off." "And I thought you said you were ready?" "I am ready." "You're not going to church in that!" "What's wrong with this?" "Where's that blouse I bought you?" "What's wrong with this?" "Dad!" "Do what your mom says." "Are you hungry?" "Here, let me heat this up for you." "That's okay." "Oh, it tastes so much better." "Just leave it." " Dad..." "Lee!" "Leave me out of it." "Now go get changed." "Dad, what's wrong with this outfit?" "Nothing." " See." "I'm not going to argue with you." "Do what she says." "Dad!" "And put on a skirt!" "Give me a beer, please." "It's Sunday morning." "It goes with the spaghetti." "Too much lip gloss." "Did you talk to her?" "Sharonda's fine." "I'm talking about Lee." "Alike." "And I don't see that there's a problem." "I'm tired of this whole tomboy thing she's been doing." "And Laura." "You said that you were going to handle it." "Mmm-hmm." "She needs a male point of view!" "I said okay, damn it." "Do you have to work tonight?" "To put food on the table and clothes on our backs, no." "To go out to restaurants and keep designer sneakers in the closet, yes." "Are you forever gonna be mad?" "Are you forever gonna be happy?" "You made that decision a long time ago." "We both made sacrifices." "You look beautiful, baby." "Tuck your blouse in." "This isn't me." " Tuck it in." "Leave it out." "I think it's fine out." "Are you coming with us?" "Nope." "Sleep." "We could do a later service." "Maybe the one o'clock." "I said no!" " I'm ready!" "Sharonda, Alike, you look beautiful." "Everybody looks beautiful, okay?" "Well, fine then." "Stop hitting me." "Put this one in then." ""God's love"?" "I don't think so." "Put it in." "Stop!" "Put in that one." "Audrey, hey!" "Hi!" "How're you doing, girl?" "All right." "I'm not touching you." "Stop!" "I'm not touching you!" "Sharonda, stop!" "Ouch!" "Lee, there's somebody I want you to meet." "That's just mean." "Huh?" "Here's somebody I want you to meet." "Oh, hi." "Get down out of the car and come speak!" "What's wrong with you?" "All right, Mom." "You'll have to excuse my daughter, she's been feeling rude lately." "Oh, don't worry about it." "I understand how it is." "Hormones, you know." "It's just a phase." "Alike, this is Mrs. Singletary, one of my coworkers, and her daughter Bina." "Hi." "And that's my youngest daughter Sharonda." "Hey." " Hi, there." "Nice to meet you." "Lee, Bina goes to your school." "Cool." "Yeah, I think I've seen you around, um, Mrs. Alvarado's class?" "AP English?" "Yup." "Well, now that we're all acquainted with one another, let's not be strangers." "Oh, no, no, we won't." "Right, honey?" "Bina, you know, I think you two even go to school the same way." "Oh!" "Well, you know, there's something to be said about safety in numbers, right?" "Yup." "Yeah." "Well, you know, we need to be pushing off." "I'll call you about the VBS workbooks." "All righty." "All righty." "Take care." "All right?" "Great." "Come on, honey." "Bye!" "So, where you wanna go?" "Um, I want to get those pancakes." "Oops." "You're funny." "I don't know what your problem is." "Mom, can you put this in please?" "I don't know what you think this is going to change." "I know God doesn't make mistakes." "I know that." "Now, you may not like Bina, but you're going to be spending a whole lot less time with that Laura person." "Mom, can you just put this in?" "I can guarantee you that." "No, shh, be quiet, I'm not putting anything in." "I'm going to listen to what I want to listen to for a change." "Look, I just don't like lying to my mother, that's all." "So then don't, she doesn't have to know." "Yes, she does, she asks me every day!" "So, then, tell her yeah." "No!" "I don't want to lie just to cover for you." "So don't!" "Look, Alike, or Lee or whatever it is you want to be called," "I'm really not trying to hang out with you either, okay, but I'm not about to take an L for it." "So just stop dodging me!" "Let's just go to school together and then..." "Then it's over with, we don't have to hang out with each other after that." "You know what, whatever!" "She asks me again I'm gonna tell her, and then she's gonna tell your mother, and then it's whatever for you." "Hey!" "Hey, look, I'm sorry!" "Look, I'm sorry!" "Hello, I said I'm sorry!" "Yeah, you sorry your mother's about to bug out." "No, for real, I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to be that way, it's just..." "Okay, look, I am concerned my mom will find out, but it's..." "But..." "It's not like that, it's just that she's..." "Look, if you knew my mother, you'd understand." "She's..." "Overprotective?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I know, I've seen her." "I see what she's like, but lots of people's parents are like that." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Yeah, but not like mine." "Anyway..." "Anyway, like I said, let's just walk." "Thank you so much for bringing that." "No problem." "You done studying yet?" "No." "Did you start studying yet?" "I'm on chapter nine." "Now, stop." "Get them fucking cards out of here." "No, we gonna study these words." "I ain't studying." "We can play 'em like Tonk." "We can play Spades with these vocabulary cards." "Get outta here, yo." "I'm about to deal you in." "I'm gonna deal you in." "So, listen, I'm gonna work some more hours so we could..." ""Listless, apathetic, having no interest in anything." That's yours." "Listen!" "I have a job." "I'll work some more hours." "I don't need school." ""Clandestine, secret, hidden, undercover." Not you." "Annoying, you annoying me." "Like, really." ""Turbulent, violently disturbed..." "Come on, yo." ""...agitated, unruly." That's yours." "Anyway, how much we paid him last time?" "Six twenty-five." "So, that's another 275 for the rest of the month." "Electric?" "Half." "Phone?" "Let it ride." "Gas?" "How much is it?" "Eighty-five." "Half." "No, mmm-mmm." "Let it ride." "I could get some more hours." "No." "You know what you need to do." "Nah, Candy, I can't just dip out on you like that, man." "Please, I was doing just fine before you moved in, remember?" "You working was only supposed to be temporary." "Remember that?" "I'm only gonna work for a little bit." "Ma would've wanted you to be done with..." "Who?" "Who?" "Yo, don't even..." "Just..." "Just stop." "Mom would have wanted you to be done by now." "Look, I'll get the money orders in the morning." "I'll look into it." "The next test is coming up soon." "I said I'll look into it." "Without them and their courageous efforts, we wouldn't have been able to pull this off." "Look, it's on again." "Check it out, Free." "Channel Five and Channel Two." "Look who's big time." "Oh, yeah, but my brother looked clean though." "Yeah, you look like, you look like, uh, that guy on TV." "Oh, yeah..." "There's been more of that since they opened up that new club 'cross the way." "Excuse me, Miss?" "Miss?" "On certain Fridays they got this, you know..." "Special party going on." "Miss?" "Or should I say, "Sir"?" "Sir?" "Sir?" "Hello?" "Chill out, Sock." "Hey, my man, you hear me talking to you?" "Hey." "Mind your business." "Hey!" "And a pack of Kool." "Say, I've been trying to get your attention." "Do you go by sir or miss?" "Will that be all, ma'am?" "Yeah." "Look, I just had a simple question I wanted to ask." "$67.05." "See, I just wanna know, how does pussy taste?" "You know, I just want to know if you go with women for the taste, or is it because you too dry, crusty, and ugly, so don't no man want you?" "I can't lie." "The pussy do taste good." "Oh, yeah?" "Maybe you should try it sometime." "Or better yet, ask your wife how much she like me." "Fuckin' bulldagger!" "He-she dyke!" "Yeah." "Hey, ask yo' wife!" "She told you." "She ain't tell me shit!" "What the fuck y'all niggas are laughing for!" "Oh, shut up, man, your big mouth got you in trouble as usual." "Thought you was my friend, Mack." "Oh, man!" "But I guess I didn't expect you to defend me, Free." "Way your daughter's running around here bull-dyke." "Say what?" "Say what?" "Hey!" "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" "Come on, he don't mean nothin'." "What?" "He don't know what he talking about, man." "He ain't moved outside of a two mile radius of where he crawled out his mama's pussy." "He don't know shit!" "I been to Poughkeepsie!" "Yeah, well, get your Poughkeepsie ass out my store!" "Fuck y'all!" "I should arrest your ass." "Man, fuck y'all!" "Come, come on, Free." "Don't pay him no mind, he just talking trash." "...had you all mad." " I wasn't mad." "Yes, you was." "Yo, Candy, I'm home yo." "Getting all crazy." "Damn, this your color, man." "So what's the deal, incog-negro?" "Ma has me hemmed up." "Your phone ain't broke." "You coulda called a nigga." "My bad." "She's got me hanging out with this chick from church." "It's crazy." "Well, is she making you?" "I mean, you a grown-ass woman, bruh!" "Here, put these on." "So I guess the piers is out for this Saturday, huh?" "Uh..." "I don't know if that's me anymore." "That's hot, yo, you should rock that." "I was thinking maybe we could do something different." "Different like what?" "I don't know." "Like, maybe check out an open mic or something." "Open mic?" "Nah, man, there's plenty of chicks at the piers." "You just gotta be more confident." "I mean I haven't even wore this, you could rock that." "If you want." "But I understand if you got better things to do." "No." "I'm down." "I don't want you getting all hemmed up." "No, seriously..." "I'm down for whatever." "Real?" "Promise." "A'ight." "I'ma take Saturday off at work, it's going to be on and poppin', you feel me?" "It's gonna be mad tight." "We goin' get that punani, yo." "Feel me?" "They look fake." " No, I think they're happy." "Now, that looks fake." "You should wear your hair down more often." "Your father likes it up." "It looks nice down." "Maybe." "Give this back to Bina's mom when you go over there tomorrow night." "Saturday night?" "We talked about this." "No, we didn't!" "Lee." "I had plans this weekend!" "Well, you don't have to go to Bina's." "You can stay here with me on Saturday night." "God!" "Come on." "So you like Destiny's Kids?" "Mmm-mmm." "JP?" "Nope." "What about Fiddy?" "No, I don't like any of that commercial bullshit." "Okay, so who do you like?" "Just some underground stuff." "None of that crap they play on the radio." "Okay, like who?" "You know, people you probably never heard of." "Conscious stuff." "Okay, like who?" "Like Trees, Black Circle, Far Front." "Far Front?" "Girl, I know Far Front." "Really?" "Yeah!" "What about, um, Trade, or brawls?" "Or what about, um, Mama Dobia?" "Uh-oh." "What do you know about Mama Bodia?" "Let me find out." "See." "You don't even know me." "Oh, hi, Audrey." "Yes, she's here." "Yeah, yeah." "No, no, I understand." "Sure." "Not a problem." "What about rock?" "It's cool." "All right, I'm out." "Wait, oh, hey, wait, hey." "You gotta check this out." "Wow." "Hello!" "Hey." "You look nice." "Oh, um, is Lee home?" "No, she's not, she's out with a friend." "Oh, do you know what time she'll be back?" "She won't be back." "She's out with a friend the entire evening." "Oh, 'cause, we was gonna..." "You take care." "Goodnight." "The love is gone but the memory lingers..." "Yo, this shit is hot." "Oh, don't you gotta go?" "It's cool, I'll..." "I'll cover for you." "Nah, I wanna stay." "Hey, this is Lee, I'm not able to take your call." "Please leave a message at the sound of the tone." "Peace." "Hey, yo, where you at, Lee?" "Yo, hit me up when you get here, a'ight?" "A'ight?" "Come on, man, let's go, man." "A'ight, yo." "What happened?" "She didn't fucking show up, man." "Well, you stressing that shit too much." "Uh, Mrs. Alvarado's trying to get me to check out one of these places." "Oh, hell, no." "This is for old people." "You know what, I'll write down some places for you." "And maybe you can read some of my stuff, too?" "Definitely." "Yo, y'all remember when we used to come out here all night?" "Shit, used to." "You staying with your sister now, huh?" "Yeah." "Lucky as hell, man." "Think?" "My sister be home by six, so, you gotta be out by then." "A'ight, good-looking." "Yeah, there's some lunch meat in the fridge if you want some." "I appreciate you." "Yeah." "Okay, easy, easy." "Watch the right hand side, watch the right." "I am!" "Okay." "Oh, careful of the curb!" "All right." "Okay." "Good, good." "See." "I did it." "Can I drive back home?" "Please?" "Uh, I don't know about all that girl." "You're shaky." "You're shaky." "Please?" "Here, here, get us some chips and we'll think about it." "Come..." "Give me some time to consider." "Careful." "Hey, Mack!" "Hey there." "Hey, Mr. Ferguson." "How you doing?" "I'm good, how you doing?" "I'm all right, I'm all right." "Thanks." "Yeah, I see where Alike been running you around again, huh?" "Oh, little bit, little bit, but you know, I still got it, though." "Yeah, I remember that crossover you used to have." "You got to come out there with us so I can show her what it's like in the fifties." "Get in the car." "Wait, I'm driving!" "You said I could..." "Get in the car." "Look, um..." "You know you're daddy's girl, right?" ""A butterfly, briefly suffocated" ""on the mucus of its own change," ""imprisoned by the membranous chaff" ""of its own underdeveloped wings" ""and cramped in the darkness" ""of the too tight cocoon of its own creation," ""pauses, thinking death inevitable," ""prepares to die in the absolute solitude of swollen husk." ""A crack appears," ""a thin, jagged light connecting the inner to the outer world," ""a butterfly, briefly paralyzed by the imminence of death," ""discovers life is possible."" "Comments?" "Critiques?" "Julie, tell me what you think." "I like how she described the butterfly." "I could almost see her..." "I liked your story though, it was tight." "Yeah, which one?" "The one about the..." "Karma." "About how things come back to you." "That one, it was tight." "For real?" "Thanks." "Yeah." "I wasn't gonna say anything, but..." "I liked yours, too." "Why?" "Why wasn't I gonna say anything, or why did I like it?" "No, why did you like it?" "I don't know, it just..." "It felt real." "Okay." "Didn't you have a different shirt on earlier?" "What?" "Nothin'." "No, say what you're gonna say." "Nothin'." "Yeah, I had on a different shirt." "That's cool." "So how come you weren't going to say anything about it?" "About your shirt?" "About the poem." "'Cause you're moody." "Moody?" "And quiet." "I'm not moody!" "Yeah, right!" "What?" "This is me." "Hey, it's not so bad when there's a little conversation!" "You wanna come up?" "Who gave you this?" "The bear?" "My dad." "No, this." "Girl, my stupid ex-boyfriend gave me that." "Oh, cute." "Not really." "But I guess it was at the time." "So this is the artist I was telling you about." "Her stuff is like..." "I don't know, dense." "Yeah, this is straight." "You burn me a copy?" "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Good." "Thanks." "I got some other stuff for you, too." "Cool." "So who do you hang out with?" "'Cause I never really see you with anybody." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean for it to come out like that." "I was just curious 'cause" "I don't really like anybody that goes there either." "No, my, my friend Laura used to go there." "Not now, but she's coming back." "Cool." "'Cause I was gonna say, I'm going to this house party and, you know, you can come if you want to." "They play like this kind of music." "Sure." "How am I supposed to dress?" "You don't gotta dress, you just come however." "Come as you are." "Okay." "Can I see?" "It's..." "It's mostly old stuff, though." "Oh, this is the one that you did earlier." "Yeah." "Yeah." "It's nice." "Here you go." "Take it." "You play too much!" "Just take it." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "So, what's so private?" "Nothing." "It's just my writings." "Why'd you do that for?" "I'm sorry." "I thought..." "No, I'm sorry," "I just gotta go." "But I thought that..." "I'm sorry." "We gonna get y'all on the board, God damn it!" "Okay." "Let's play, keep it rolling, keep it rolling!" "Ain't giving you no stupid-ass hand." "You gonna get that?" "Yeah, I got it." "There you go." "Cut that!" "Come on, bring it out, bring it out." "Ooh!" "We went in the hole one time." "Y'all went in the hole twice!" "Yo, wassup." "Yo, whaddup, Lee!" "Yo, what you got, Ty?" "Pick 'em up!" "Nasty!" "Oh!" "We goin' to eight!" "We goin' to eight!" "Uh, can I talk to you for a second?" "Yo, I'm busy right now, I'm doing something." "Holdup, holdup!" "That was my jack!" "I cut!" "I cut!" "Laura, I really need to talk to you." "Laura, I really need..." "Yo, man." "I told you I'm fucking busy!" "Shit!" "Nah." "Nah, nah." "I'm busy." " Goodnight." " Get home safe!" "Yo..." "I thought that was your girl." "Mind yo business!" "I'm her girl!" "Exactly." "Exactly." "This will..." "You go ahead." "That's what I'm talking about." "Y'all niggas don't know." "You know, boo." "Get the fuck outta here, yo!" "Dad!" "Come on, now, you know that's not what I want." "That's not what I'm saying!" "Lis..." "Listen to me." "Are you going to listen to me?" "Dad?" "Listen, I gotta go." "I gotta go, my daughter's..." "My daughter's up!" "Dad?" "Talk to you later, bye." "Who was that?" "What you doing up?" "Just wanted to talk." "Dad, the plate!" "Don't trash the plate." "Aren't you hungry?" "No." "Ate already." "You ate at work?" "Grabbed some takeout." "Oh, where?" "Why you asking me so many goddamn questions, girl?" "What's wrong with you?" "You don't question me." "Sorry." "Hold up, Alike." "Come on back." "Look." "I got patties." "Beef?" "And chicken." "Come on." "Listen, um..." "Your mom was worried that uh..." "She's been wanting me to ask you, that, uh..." "How's school?" "Straight As?" "Probably." "That's right." "Wanna sip?" "I said a sip!" "A sip!" "What's on your mind?" "Nothin'." "What if..." "What if say..." "Somebody liked you?" "They like you?" "Or they "like you" like you?" "They "like you" like you." "Uh-huh." "They haven't said anything yet but..." "But what if..." "All right, what if the person is kind of like a friend, but you know they like you more than that?" "Well, I think that's the best way, to start as friends." "What if..." "What if the person is..." "What if the person..." "What's his name?" "What grade is he in?" "I'm gonna look his ass up in the system." "Wait till I tell your mama." "She'll be so goddamn happy." "Yeah." "Say, uh..." "There's this new, uh, women's club up there by the liquor store." "Do you..." "Have you..." "You haven't heard anything about it, right?" "Called the Kitty Litter, Cat Box, something like that?" "Nah, never even heard of it." "Good." "'Cause it's a..." "That's a rough neighborhood." "You know that, right?" "I had a case over there." "You wanna be careful." "Stay away from that element." "In case it ever comes up." "I'll be careful." "Good." "I know you will." "Dad, when you were on the phone earlier..." "Uh-huh." "It sounded like..." "I mean..." "I guess you're headed back to work, huh?" "Yup." "Your mama still up?" "Probably." "Tell her I had to work." "Love you." "Hey." "Hey." "I'm real sorry about the other day." "It's cool." "Things have been crazy." "But look, I'm really sorry I bugged out." "It's just, I didn't know that you..." "I wasn't expecting that." "First kiss?" "It's cool." "You still comin' to the party?" "Um..." "I don't know." "I need to try to catch up with Laura." "Oh, okay." "No, but I do wanna hang, but I mean, maybe we could do both." "Cool." "Uh, do you want to spend the night?" "You know, maybe avoid that whole curfew thing?" "Oh, you're home?" "Hey." "I must have dozed off." "How long you been in?" "Hour." "Did you see the plate over there?" "This is fine." "Why don't you come sit over here?" "There's room." "You could see the TV better." "This is fine." "Thank you." "Just alike." "Say what?" "You and your daughter." "Did you talk to Lee yet?" "I told you she's still..." "I talked to Alike." "You did?" "Everything's fine, like I told you." "Matter of fact, she's got a boyfriend." "A boyfriend?" "Just give her some space." "Space?" "She's never around as it is." "And you're just like her!" "Creeping in all hours of the night." "Running around like you got something to hide." "Both of you!" "And acting like I'm the big bad witch!" "What about me, huh?" "I'm here alone by myself all the time." "And Sharonda's getting older and she's starting to go out, and pretty soon..." "I don't have anything to hide." "Look, I told you, I talked to Alike." "Everything's fine." "Did you ask her?" "No, because I don't have to." "Besides, I would know, okay?" "I know my daughter better than anyone else." ""Your daughter."" "So all of a sudden now she's your daughter?" "And I'm telling you, she's fine." "Well, I guess then I just shouldn't say anything else about this!" "That's your damn problem." "You're too much of a damn worrywart." "Well, let's hope you're right, detective." "Will you shut the fuck up?" "An hour?" "Really?" "I'm not your damn dumb floozy on the street and you will not talk to me like that!" "Dammit, Audrey, you're making a scene!" "I'm not making a scene." "You're the one making a scene!" "You're all paranoid and sick!" "You're never here!" "I know you're not scared." "I'm not." "Lee..." "Hmm?" "I hope you know it doesn't matter to me." "I know." "And she ran like blood" "Through the corridors of your mind" "Into a brand new future" "One without the likes of you" "You are mad fun to hang out with, I have to say." " Are you serious?" " Yeah!" "Whatever!" "I'm just playing." "About..." "About six months ago." "What's good?" "What's up?" "How you doing?" "Good." "So what do you think?" "She's cool, right?" "She's hot, right?" "I told you!" "Right?" "I told you!" "It was so..." "Yo, I'm right here." "Oh, my bad!" "I thought you were right beside me." "No." "Anyway, I was thinking next weekend, the three of us, we could, you know, go out." "I'm sorry about all the drama." "Nah, it's cool." "I mean, I should have..." "No." "You know." "What I'm saying is," "I probably overreacted." "I mean..." "But then, I don't know, seeing the two of you together..." "I'm glad you're finally happy though." "Come on, man, you know you're my best friend." "I'm not, no one's ever..." "You don't have to say anything, yo." "I just want to get this off my chest, all right?" "I'm glad she makes you happy." "I'm happy for you." "A'ight?" "'Cause I love you." "Hey." "Hey!" "Come on, let's get out of here." " So..." "Wait!" "Laura." "Come on, let's go, I know some..." "Laura!" "What up, boo?" "Come on, let's go." "I'm not sleeping." "Yes, you are." "Are there any more brownies left?" "Nope." "What?" "Nothing." "What?" "Nothing!" "What's wrong?" "This is..." "I never..." "I'm sorry, I'm trippin'." "It's okay." "We don't have to." "Oh." "I thought you went out for something." "How you been?" "You know me and Candy doing real good." "We might even get a bigger place." "She workin' at the hospital now." "You'd be real proud." "She might even get her RN." "How's..." "How's pops?" "You look good." "You look real good." "You know, we miss you and everything." "I don't, I don't want to take too much of your time or anything like that." "I just..." "I got my..." "I'm getting my stuff together, too." "You know?" "So I did it." "I got my GED." "Nah, nah, I did it!" "I got my GED!" "Good morning." "Hey." "You're up already." "Actually, it's after one o'clock." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "I'm just trying to clean up, that's all." "Okay, let me help you then." "No, it's all right, I got it." "What's wrong?" "Nothing!" "Look, um, last night was..." "It was amazing, and thank you." "Last night was just playing around, all right?" "Look, we can slow things down." "People don't have to know that we're together." "Together?" "Whoa." "No, uh-uh." "Look, if you don't want to call it that, that's fine, but don't act like nothing happened." "I'm not like "gay" gay, I'm just..." "I'm just..." "You know, I'm just doing my thing, that's all." "I'm just, I'm not ready for all of this, okay?" "Excuse me." "Hey, Lee, Lee!" "Hold up." "What?" "You don't have to tell anybody, okay?" "Where in the hell have you been?" "You hear me talking to you?" "You left Bina hours ago!" "I am not Dad!" "I'm not your husband, so stop coming at me like I am!" "I'm not your companion and I'm not your friend!" "You made that abundantly clear!" "I'm your daughter!" "And I have my own shit to deal with!" "You must have lost your damn mind!" "You wait till your father gets home!" "I would be something else if it wasn't for you!" "I'd be a lawyer maybe!" "Oh, you wouldn't be shit because" "I made you!" "I made you!" "You couldn't even get a damn B..." "Always thinking about yourself!" "...on a test until I helped you!" "We'd have more money!" "We'd have a damn brownstone instead of living in the basement of one!" "You the one who's making a scene!" "Doing all this paranoid shit!" "You're never here!" "I'm not paranoid." "I can't take this shit anymore!" "Will you stop saying that!" "It's the truth!" "Audrey, stop it!" "Alike, go back to bed." "You have a slut on the side!" "Nothing's going on!" "I'm not paranoid!" "I'm not paranoid!" "I can't take this shit anymore!" "You are paranoid!" "Alike, baby, go back to your room!" "Lee, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." " Go upstairs." "Don't leave me, please!" "No, No!" "Go in my room and lock the door." "Keep me company, please?" "Do not come out the room!" "Go upstairs in my room and lock the door." "Please!" "I'm not paranoid!" "You are paranoid!" "All you do is break!" "All you do is break!" "When do I see you?" "When do the kids see you?" "I just need to get outta here!" "You don't want to face the facts!" "You don't wanna face the facts!" "No dammit, that's not true!" "It is true!" "Look, would you stop saying that?" "It is true!" "Audrey, stop it!" "Alike go back to bed." "Your daughter is turning into a damn man right before your eyes and you can't even see it!" "No, you take that back!" "Shut the fuck up about that, Audrey!" "Mom, Dad, stop!" "Please!" "Tell him!" "Tell him where you hang out!" "Tell him about your butch-ass girlfriend!" "Laura is not my girlfriend!" "What the hell are you talking about?" "Alike, please, just go back to your room, baby." "Tell him!" "Tell him!" "Tell me what?" "Tell him you're a nasty ass dyke!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Alike, you tell your mama that's not true!" "Baby, tell her!" "You see!" "You see!" "Will you shut the hell up?" "You tell her." "Dad." "You tell your mother that's not true." "You already know." "No, I don't know." "You tell your mama it's just a phase." "It's not a phase!" "See, you should have done something!" "You should have done something!" "What's wrong with you?" "There's nothing wrong with me!" "This is your fault!" "Shut the hell up!" "Lemme talk!" "If you had been here!" "Yeah." "I'm gay!" "You say it again." "Say it again!" "I'm a lesbian!" "Yeah, I'm a dyke!" "Audrey!" "Audrey!" "Get off!" "Get off!" "Audrey!" "No, you're not!" "You get off of me!" "Come on!" "You cheater!" "You get off me!" "Get off of me!" " Come on, we gotta go!" "Okay." "Would you care to say grace?" "Heavenly Father, we thank you for this food." "We pray for your continued blessing." "We pray..." "We thank..." "Amen." "Amen." "This food should be delicious." "I got the recipe from a magazine." "And I made your green beans that you like so much." "Sharonda, could you pass me the green beans?" "This is yummy." "Dad, you know where she is." "Yo, Lee." "Where's Mom?" "She..." "Your mother couldn't make it." "You remember our old place?" "Way out in Queens?" "It was our first apartment." "We were so proud." "It had all those trees around it." "In October, the whole block would be covered with leaves." "You remember?" "Couldn't have been more than two years old." "When that wind would blow, those leaves would come rushing down the street at us." "You thought they were alive." "You'd get so scared." "You'd cry and scream and beg for us to pick you up." "I would try and tell you, "They're only leaves, baby,"" "and make you stay on the ground, but your mother would always pick you up." "She always picked you up." "Remember how we used to race to the phone when it rang?" "I've been accepted into an early college program." "It starts in the spring." "It's in Berkeley." "It's a 10-week writing workshop." "Boot camp, then I could start summer semester." "We can talk about that, okay?" "I need you to meet with my guidance counselor, so you could sign the paperwork, so I can graduate early." "I'm sorry, all right?" "I'm sorry I let her hurt you." "I just need to know if you'll sign the paperwork." "Yes or no?" "Can you forgive me?" "Yes or no?" "You can always come back home." "Things are going to be different, I promise you." "Dad..." "I'm not runnin'." "I'm choosin'." "I'm not going back home." "I know." "And you could tell Mom she was right." "God doesn't make mistakes." "You should tell her yourself." "Mom." "Lee." "Alike." "How have you been?" "Fine." "Did Dad tell you?" "Yeah." "He told me." "How you been?" "I sure hope you've been keeping yourself safe." "I love you, Mom." "I said I love you." "I'll be praying for you." ""Heartbreak opens onto the sunrise" ""For even breaking is opening" ""And I am broken" ""I am open" ""Broken to the new light without pushing in" ""Open to the possibilities within pushing out" ""See the love shine in through my cracks" ""See the light shine out through me" ""I am broken" ""I am open" ""I am broken open" "Be careful." ""See the love light shining through me" ""Shining through my cracks" ""Through the gaps" ""My spirit takes journey" ""My spirit takes flight" "You just better fuckin' call, man." ""Could not have risen otherwise" ""And I am not running" ""I am choosing" ""Running is not a choice from the breaking" ""Breaking is freeing" ""Broken is freedom" ""I am not broken" ""I am free"" "Yeah." "Yeah."