Okay, show me what you got.
I saw it, and I just had to buy it!
Look at the pants. Look.
I don't know. I mean, it's aight, I mean...
I don't think she'll need a headband, though.
Well, you know, Malisa has my brother's face, so...
So people know it's a girl.
-Right. -Yeah.
I mean, you do your thing, sis.
Auntie in full effect, you already know.
Thank God she's still asleep.
All right, no, that's the third time I've seen you
send a call straight to voicemail.
It's just spammers.
You know they be callin' from all over the states.
Yeah, well, where was that one from?
Venezuela.
That's not in our country...
What else you got in the bag?
Hey.
-Hey, Mom. -Hey, Mom.
Thank God she's still asleep.
I said the same thing.
Yeah.
What do y'all have goin' on over here?
Looks like Jazmine went to the bougie store
and got Malisa some clothes.
Yes, I did.
I love baby clothes!
-I know you do! -Oh my God!
-You did so good! -I know!
-Look at the headband! -[Lisa] Got it from her mama.
What else you get?
These shoes are adorable!
Aren't they?
Malik couldn't wear nothin' like this,
no, no, no, he had to have them hard bottoms.
His head was so big, he was just flimsy.
You know, he'd fall over.
And so he was stompin' our toes with those bone crushers,
it was bad.
Wait, I didn't ever have these, did I?
No, you had these.
You didn't have bone crushers,
you didn't have the hard bottoms.
No, no. Boys are different.
Be glad you had a girl, okay?
-Heard. -Trust me.
Potty trainin'? Whew!
Bad!
Girl, he's still not potty trained.
Okay, I can hear y'all!
Okay? I feel attacked.
[phone ringing]
And I am potty trained.
Okay, now see, that wasn't a spammer.
That says "Mama" on the caller ID.
And? My Mama been buggin' me.
Why?
She wanna see the baby.
Oh, then that's a good thing, right?
Yeah, I'd love to meet your mom.
Nah, I don't think y'all understand.
You know, me and my mama don't really see eye to eye.
You know?
Oh, is she blind or somethin'?
No. Just...
She's not like Mrs. Payne.
[Janine] Ah, alas!
I hear that all the time.
You know?
It, it, it...
Because it's true.
Happens all the time, they ask me to teach courses,
I wake up like this, I go to bed like...
It's not that serious.
-Authentic is what I am. -It's not that serious.
My mom's... I don't know.
My mom's like...
My mom's here.
[music]
What? That's your mama?
Yeah. But you don't gotta answer that.
I ain't gotta answer it? Stop!
God forbid I leave your mother out in the blistering weather!
Hey, I'm lookin' for my daughter, and...
There you are!
Please, come in.
How did you find me?
What do you have on?
Well, you would not answer your phone,
so I traced you.
You better turn them location settings off your phone,
before yo man catch you cheatin'.
You listen to your mother, now!
Hey, baby Malisa!
This is my mom, everyone.
Mom, Malik.
Oh, so you the husband!
Nice to meet you!
Nice to meet you too, well, we're not married yet.
Even better, you the baby daddy!
Yeah, mom. But, we're getting engaged.
Okay, do it soon! You got to secure that bag.
Anyways, anyways...
This is his sister, Jazmine.
[Deena] Hello, Auntie!
Sis, you stayin' on top of all your duties?
Yes I am, I just bought the baby all these clothes.
Oh, poor thing.
You did the best you could. This is the drab look, I see.
Now, bam! This...
This is an outfit, honey.
That's way too big.
Well, it will! Give it time, shoot!
You know, hi, I am, I am Janine, I'm Malik's mom...
Nice to meet you!
That makes us grannies, huh?
Yes.
Yes, it does.
Well, they can keep that title.
Because I look too good to be a grandma,
and so do you!
Thank you, thank you. I-I tried.
Your house is so beautiful!
You got yourself these designer pillows,
you got that crown molding...
You even got you a coffee table behind the couch!
Thank you.
And this neighborhood!
Now, I bet nobody steals your packages out
your front door when you leave 'em out there.
We really hope not.
You don't, you don't... I'm pretty sure that it's a...
Oh, baby, just in time.
This is Lisa's mom, Deena.
Nice to meet you.
You're Chief Payne!
Yes, I am.
Nice to meet you!
When Lisa told me Payne,
it didn't register as the fire chief Payne!
No kiddin'! Girl, you hit the jackpot!
I mean, Malisa has hit the jackpot with
such a lovely family surroundin' her.
I was just about to make dinner,
would you like to stay and join us?
No!
Well, I can stay for a little bit!
I mean, how often does one get to have dinner
with Chief Payne?
And his wife!
And her, too!
And the whole family!
-Fabulous! -I will hit you.
You crazy, girl!
I love it, I feel right at home.
-I feel right at home. -You shouldn't.
-[Ella] Okay? -Okay.
-[big sigh] -How do I look?
Ah! You look amazing.
But you do know they're only gonna see you
from the waist up, right?
Miranda, oh, no, no.
You need to pan up and you need to pan back down.
I do not wanna waste this outfit.
Okay, okay, I have everything already set up.
Oh, and I printed you out this speech
that you can say to help inspire and motivate people
to give more money.
-Okay. -[Miranda] Mm-hm!
[big sigh] I can't believe I'm nervous.
-[Miranda] Ohhh! -Are you sure about this?
I am so sure, Miss Ella.
There are all sorts of platforms on the internet
where people can donate to people and causes.
It's just so different. It's just different, Miranda.
-This is... -[Miranda] I know.
Speech. [nervous laughter]
I know.
[Ella] Okay.
Normally, you could just put something in the church
-bulletin... -Bulletin.
[Miranda] I know, but listen.
This is expanding your reach
to allow people to donate worldwide
who believe in your cause.
Okay, all right. You're right.
We're in the future.
-Yes, ma'am. -[Miss Ella] You're right.
We're in the future...
Let's do it.
Yes.
And there is gonna be a little banner
that scrolls across with the church website on it.
-Okay? -Oh.
-Yes! -That's great.
Yes. All right, so...
I am gonna count down from three...
And you just have to say your speech.
Are you ready?
-[Ella] Okay. -Okay.
Boop!
Three, two...
Ella!
[Miranda] Cut!
Cut, cut, cut!
Baby, you know what, what time the...
What are y'all doin'?
Y'all finna make a movie or somethin'?
Curtis, we are working!
We are doing a vlog to raise money for the help center.
And you rudely interrupted.
Baby, now you know they showin' highlights of the game.
You know I can't miss
my highlights, babe, I gotta watch that!
Curtis, watch that in the bedroom, baby.
I like this TV on, you know that.
Curtis, come on, baby. Get outta here.
I'm already nervous, Curtis.
-Whew! -"Whew" is right!
How long y'all gonna be?
Well, the sooner you stop talking,
the sooner we can get started.
With the attitude.
-I love you, too. -Really big.
Muah!
[Curtis] I don't know. I don't know.
Okay.
Let's try this again, okay?
Okay. Count, count me.
-Okay, I got you. -Count me.
Three, two...
There.
Salutations!
I bid you the warmest, sincerest greetings
from the peachiest of states...
-[Miranda] Yes! -Cut!
-What?! -[Ella] Cut? -Cut!
You wrote this? "Peachy"?
What the hell was that?
What, you, you tryin' out for Miss Black Awareness Pageant
or somethin'?
'Cause y'all are not gonna get no money like that.
Excuse me, I'm the director here.
Yeah, that's probably why it's so bad.
Did you write it, too?
'Cause you need a major rewritin'.
You know, it would be a lot better
if you stopped interrupting us.
Oh.
Got an idea.
[Ella] Curtis!
It was right there, I didn't even have to go get it.
Bam!
Barbecue sauce?
Ain't just barbecue sauce.
There you go.
I just put some flavor in your vlob.
Okay, it's a vlog.
And can you please move that, Mr. Payne?
Okay, so you makin' a movie
and you don't know nothin' about that?
That's product placement.
I just helped your little funky video.
You're welcome.
[music]
This was amazing.
I love all of this.
I am so happy my grandbaby has you all in her life.
It's much better than what I had.
Yeah, me, too.
[phone ringing]
Oh, excuse me, y'all. I gotta take this.
I thought you stopped talkin' to Kaleb?
Dad, you know I ain't gonna talk to that fool.
Y'all don't need to go check up on that?
Oh no, we can gauge from the sound
to see how serious it is or not.
[crashing]
Now that one would be our cue.
[baby crying]
-I got it. -Oh, no!
I think Malik should go do it.
Yeah!
You know what, that's right. I got this, baby.
-Thanks. -I like that!
-He's takin' charge! -[Malik] Got to.
What's that for?
You really hit the jackpot!
What are you talkin' about?
Findin' a little nest egg for yourself!
You're livin' with the fire chief's family,
got a baby by his son,
and you're livin' for rent free?
You come on up.
It's not even like that.
Sure it is!
I've done it.
Now all you have to do is put that boy on child support,
and get a check for the next 18 years of your life.
Mama, my baby's not a paycheck. I'm happy with Malik.
And you can be happy gettin' paid by
the son of the fire chief.
I would never do Malik like that.
We're a family, unlike how we were.
[Deena] Girl, grow up.
Your grandmother did a fine job raisin' you
when I was out workin' to put food in your mouth.
And do you know how that made me feel?
You left me all the time.
I would never leave Malisa like that.
We're a family, and we're gonna raise her together.
You are makin' a huge mistake.
Okay.
All is well.
Malisa's pacifier fell out of her mouth,
I just put it right back in and she went right back to sleep.
The twins got into a little tussle.
Remember when Malik and Jazmine used to tussle like that?
How could I forget?
You used to have to pull Jazzy off Malik.
Oh, okay, that's not how I remember it at all.
You can't just rewrite history.
Nah, that's pretty accurate.
Hey, you know, I have to run.
Oh, so soon?
Yeah, I was just gonna get dessert together.
We're having carrot cake and oatmeal cookies.
[All] Yay...
You know what, I'mma take a rain check on that.
It was lovely meetin' everyone,
especially you, Chief!
Come here.
You're really excited about him.
So I can brag to my friends, girl!
Okay, listen, hey.
How 'bout, how 'bout we just hang out?
You know, without him.
We can do, like, a spa day or somethin'.
Oh, I would really like that!
All right!
Well, kiss baby Malisa for me, all right?
I'll be in touch, Li-li!
-Bye. -[Deena] Bye!
Ching-ching!
Wow, it was really nice to meet your mother.
She's unique.
Yeah, you have no idea.
"Chief Payne!"
Mr. Payne, I'm tellin' you, you are wrong!
Have you ever directed before?
Have you?
I've been on TV before.
That is not the same thing.
Look...
Miranda, you need to trust me. Okay?
And follow my lead.
Now, you need some stuff happenin' here.
You need camera angles.
Okay? You need movement.
Huh?
We need a crane.
That's not what we're doing in here,
the ceilings aren't even high enough!
-We need zoom, need road shots. -Stop, stop, stop!
Stop Curtis, stop!
This is not working.
It's not.
-That's cause you wanna be... -[Miranda] I'm sorry.
It's... It's his fault.
Okay.
I just wanted something simple.
Just a simple video.
Where I can express my feelings about the help center.
I don't need...
-All of this extra stuff... -[Curtis] And all this fluff.
-Fluff--fluff... -and product placement.
You don't need, you don't need fluff?
Leavin' the mic is fluff.
You brought barbecue sauce!
-[Ella] Hey, hey, hey! -That's not fluff! That's glass.
Stop! And cut!
Content.
Rewriting.
Miss Ella, look.
I'm sorry, okay?
I know that I...
Got carried away,
got so excited about producing the video.
Tell me, what do you want?
I think I just want somethin' simple.
Okay?
You know, like, if you've got your phone,
if it's connected to the internet, like...
All of this setup.
Then we can just do that. Just go live, just...
Okay, okay. Let's just go live.
Forget the speech.
I just want you to speak from your heart.
-You got it. -Okay.
Okay.
Three, two...
Hello.
I'm Ella Payne.
And I run the help center out of a little church
here in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is a facility that caters to those in need.
Women, men, children, it doesn't matter.
We clothe the naked, we feed the homeless,
and we really do so much more.
I know money is tight right now, and prices are goin' high.
But...
Our church can only do so much.
Make sure to do the link.
Oh, yeah.
There's this little link thingy down there that you will see,
it takes you right to our website.
And on our website you can see all that we do.
And you will see all that we will continue to do
with your loving support.
Help us help others.
Send donations.
Thank you.
[Miranda] Miss Ella...
How was it? I just...
That was perfect.
It was so authentic.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Curtis, babe?
Yeah, pretty good.
Curtis, are you cryin'?
No, I'm not cryin'.
You know I don't cry.
I'm good.
-You were good, though. -You're cryin'.
Wait, wait, wait, Miss Ella, Miss Ella.
Someone just donated $500.
500... Curtis, $500?
No, no, no, another one for 900!
-Miranda! -Look right here!
-Already?! -500, 900, what is that?
-Two thousand dollars! -Two thousand!
Look at right here!
Oh God, thank you! Thank you!
They can't hear you.
Oh, well give them a thank you, anyways.
If they can hear it, here it is.
Put the camera on, put the camera on, Miss Director.
Hello, my name is Curtis Payne.
This is my wife, Ella.
Oh, this my baby.
And this is our barbecue sauce.
And with every donation, you get to look at the sauce.
-That's my wife. -You are the worst.
You are the worst, Curtis.
-Miranda. -I'm turnin' the camera off.
I thought you said it wasn't on!
Shh, it wasn't, it wasn't.
[music]
[Lisa] Hey.
I just wanna thank you guys for bein' so nice to my mother.
Why wouldn't we be nice to her?
Well, my mother has a past of bein' into, like,
scammin', fast money.
Some of which, I used to be a part of.
But, like my dancing days, are behind me.
Listen, you never have to apologize for wanting
to do and be better.
My whole family has a past.
Yeah, even Malik's been to jail.
What? You did hard time?
I mean, technically, yeah.
It was more like soft time.
He wasn't even in there a full day.
And Uncle Curtis put him in there.
Word?
Let me find out you got street cred!
Nah, that's part of my past.
I left the streets alone.
I still have so much to learn about you.
Listen, you didn't have to tell us.
So...
Thank you for being so transparent.
You're welcome.
'Cause your mom is a mess.
I will cut her.
Please don't.
-She really will. -Yeah.
I heard your mama talkin' about puttin' Malik on child support.
She is ratchet!
Do not call her mother ratchet.
She is.
Can we get back to this child support thing?
We just hop, skipped over that.
I would never. Ever.
I'm equal opportunity about the hands, baby.
She good, she good, I heard her.
She defended Malik.
All right, you a real one!
You real. I like you.
-I hope so. -I take it back.
[music]