- ♪
- [humming]
[sighs]
- Baby, you okay?
- I'm fine. Why?
- You're standing in the middle of the room, doing nothing.
- Curtis, I am doing something. I'm working out.
- [snorts]
You call that working out?
- It's called Yoga.
And this is called a Mountain Pose, baby.
- Oh, okay.
Well I guess I'm doing a sitting pose.
- I'm tired, you right. - Okay, Curtis, you know what?
We really should work out sometime together.
It would be a lot of fun. I know it.
- [laughing] - It would.
- You are not working out, Ella.
You not workin' baby, you got to sweat to work out.
- Curtis--
- You need to run, lift some weights.
Huh? Wrestle a little person
- Get that core strength up.
- [doorbell rings] - Get that up.
- Curtis... [laughing]
You, you have never wrestled a little person.
- CURTIS: I wrestled you last night.
- Calvin, what happened, baby?!
- Me and CJ was volunteering at the Help Center.
I was in the kitchen when I stepped on a rotted floorboard.
- Yeah, I managed to catch him before he dropped
into the basement.
- Let me get you some ice.
- No you didn't. You caught me on the rebound.
It's fine though. I just hurt my ankle.
- When are they going to fix that place up?
Place supposed to be a Help Center,
and it's a Hurt Center.
- There's nobody taking care of it besides a few volunteers.
- This is pitiful.
Today it's Calvin, another day it'll be a child.
I'm going go down there, Curtis.
I'm going down to that Help Center,
see what needs to be done to fix it up.
I am, Curtis, I'm going down there.
Let me finish working out first.
[grunts]
- ♪
- Thank you, Lisa. I'm starving.
Uh, uh, there's mustard on this.
- Yeah, and? - Well, I, I don't like mustard.
You know what?
I'll get up and make myself another one. Ooh!
- Don't move. I'll go make another one.
- Thank you.
Bless you.
- Hey Mr. Payne, made you a sandwich.
- Thank you, Lisa.
How's the ankle? - Uh, it's getting there.
I had no idea when I woke up this morning,
I'd be dangling between two stories before lunch.
- The kids holding you down? - Oh, yeah.
Lisa's making me lunch and she's doing my laundry
and Malik's out running errands for me.
Hey man, had I known I'd be catered to like this
I would have injured myself a lot sooner.
- [laughing] - You know, we family, man.
We got you.
- Oh well, can you go grab me a beer?
- What? Man, I just sat down. Your leg ain't broke.
- Well, I-- - [knocking]
- CURTIS: Here you go, baby. - ELLA: Thank you, baby.
- Hey, hey. - Hey!
- Hello, hello.
- So how'd it go at the Help Center? Did they listen to you?
- They sure did. - And so what'd they say?
- Told us to kick rocks.
- You're kidding.
- Well, no.
Unfortunately, they don't have the funds to refurbish
the Help Center but they do agree
that the place needs work.
- Yeah, so they're just going to pretend like they don't see it.
- Like you do when you don't feel like picking up your food
off the floor when it falls.
- So wait a minute, the church is not gonna fix up
the Help Center, they just gonna leave it like it is?
- Unless someone donates the money, yes.
Ms. Faye, the church treasurer,
said they just can't afford it.
- Well, there's got to be some way to help.
A lot of people depend on the Help Center.
They do a lot of good for the folks in this neighborhood.
- You're damn right.
We don't know nobody who's got that kind of money.
- Uh, we do.
- No, Ella.
Now we already agreed that we're saving that money
for our retirement. - We can consider it a loan.
- Well, how much money do y'all have in retirement?
- Enough to live on a houseboat
and travel the world.
- Or to do needed repairs to the Help Center.
- But my houseboat!
- Will always be there, Curtis!
Come on, baby, it's a loan to the church. They'll pay us back.
- With interest?
- Of course not.
I mean, why would we ask God's people to pay us back
with interest?
Should've sued the bejesus out of them
when I had the chance.
- Curtis!
- Thank you.
- Oh, no, no, no, no, no!
Don't go in there, don't go in there. Look out, look out!
Man, this movie is terrifying.
- Is it?
- A doll gets possessed by a demonic spirit,
that don't scare you?
- I mean, it's just a doll. [chuckles]
I mean, how you gonna let a toy that you bought beat you up?
- Man, if one of MaLisa's dolls ran in here right now
with a knife you'd be terrified.
- No I wouldn't. I would kick it.
You're over thinking this way too much.
- Yeah, whatever.
Hey, can you do me a favor and get me another pillow
for my back? Man, my ankle is jacked up.
- Alright, fine, fine.
- And bring me some foot rub on your way back?
- Goodness.
- Hey man, can you toss me my phone over there?
- Oh, got you.
- How long have you been feeling better, man?
- My ankle's been better for hours.
I just wanted them to cater to me.
- [knock on door] - Hootie-hoo!
Curtis. - CURTIS: Hey, hey.
- Hey.
Look Curtis, he better.
- How are things at the Help Center?
- It's just one thing after another.
And after we make the repairs the overhead is tremendous.
- Lights, gas, rent.
Ain't no telling when we're going to get our money back.
- Wow. So no wonder the church never fixed anything.
Looks like they've been using all their money
just to keep the doors open.
- Well, y'all are fixing it up now,
that's all that really matters.
- No, what matters is if we don't get our money back
me and Aunt Ella gonna be the ones that need help.
- Curtis, it's not that bad, baby.
Okay, we are helping an entire community.
That alone is going to bless us ten fold.
Just stop worrying, baby, about this money.
- Ain't nobody worried about the money,
I'm worried about us, baby. Hell, money can't be homeless.
- Have faith, baby, okay?
I'm going to check on Lisa and the baby.
They back here?
Is that a yes?
- Y'all're crazy.
Hey, you know what though, for real?
It's kind of hard to have faith when my only option
if the crap hits the fan is to stay with one of y'all.
- Oh, now you know you can always move in
with me if you need to.
- CJ, please, all the people you got stayin' here
in this clown car you call a house.
- I got you, Pops.
- And I lived with you over 20 years,
I've seen how you keep a bathroom.
I'll take my chances in these streets.
Thank you though.
- ♪
- Please be careful, please be careful.
Don't hit the walls.
Don't hit the-- Watch the chair!
Okay, and don't break anything on that.
You break anything on it, I'm breaking it on you.
Thank you.
- You couldn't get us moving equipment or somethin'?
- I did get you moving equipment.
- Where?
- Standing right in front of you.
Help each other out, lift with your knees.
- What's going on in here? - CURTIS: Hey, baby.
- And why does my house smell like a cookout?
- Oh, check it out, check it out.
- Yes.
- I'm making a few changes to the Help Center.
- Changes? - Yeah, I mean nothing big.
But I'm, I'ma make it a soul food bistro, slash, casino.
- I'm sorry, what did you say?
- I said I'm turning the Help Center
into a soul food bistro and casino.
- Curtis... - Baddah.
- I heard what you said the first time.
- Okay, then why did you ask me to repeat myself, baby?
That's wasting time.
Okay, we gotta, you gotta move out the way
so they can get all this stuff out to the car.
Y'all can get it moving.
- This ain't gonna fit in my car.
- Mine neither.
- Okay, then y'all need to go car jack a S-U-V
or something because we got to get this stuff out of here now.
And everything in the back got to go.
- Un-Uh, CJ The on--
If you're gonna go anywhere it should be
to take this stuff back to wherever Curtis got it from
and return this.
- Says who? - Says me, Curtis.
What do we look like having some gambling
in an establishment owned by the church?
- We need to diversify if we gonna get
our money back.
Okay, now y'all doing y'all little prayer services,
that's nice.
And you're doing okay with the counseling and stuff.
But if you wanna get some asses in the seats
then we need some Craps tables.
- You sound crazy talking about running a gambling hall!
- What you doing with that? What you doing with that?
Baby, you sound so dramatic.
It's not a gambling hall, it's more like a speakeasy.
Now we help the people in the community by day
and by night, in return, we take their money.
- Pops, you can't do that.
- Yes, I can.
I mean, the house always wins, son.
And, and, and, and, and what has two thumbs
and likes to take suckers money?
This guy.
- Unc, do you even have a license for any of this?
- For any of what? - The gambling and the food!
- CURTIS: Calvin, you can go outside and shoot dice
on the corner right now.
Everybody do it all the time.
And if somebody want to exchange money
for some food I already made,
who the hell am I to stop them?
- I'm gonna pray for you.
They are going to throw you under the jail.
- Okay, what am I supposed to do, Ella?
Huh? [stuttering]
The boat has already left the station.
I mean, the ship has set sail.
- I think you're trying to say--
- I know what I'm trying to say, CJ!
Now Ella got me all upset and the pressure
and everything. And I'm getting mixed up.
- ELLA: Curtis, take this stuff back to wherever
you got it from.
And baby, stop worrying yourself about this money.
- That's easy for you to say.
- What's that supposed to mean? - What, baby...
It means that, it's easy for you to say that
when you're not the one that gave away your pension.
- Aw damn, he done pushed the wrong button.
- Yeah, this sounds like a private moment.
Nice knowing you, Pops.
- What y'all doing? Ain't y'all got some more stuff to get?
- Now what you doing? What you mean, Curtis?
We are married.
The pension is not yours, it's ours.
- Nothing? - Oh no, no, no, no.
What you got to say? - No, no, I mean...
- Oh no, no, come on. Say it, Curtis!
- Okay. - Get it off your chest.
- I'll get it off my chest.
All I'm saying is, I'm the one who had to get up
early every morning and go to work so that
we would have a nest egg.
- And what do you think I was doing
when you were getting up early going to work?
Eating bon bons?!
Curtis, I was here taking care of your children,
taking care of your house!
I was working too!
- It's not the same, Ella. - It's not the same? It's not?
Okay.
So you don't think I worked as hard as you did?
Okay.
I will just stop working.
- [laughing]
Come on with that then.
You gotta have a job to go on a strike, Ella.
- They say God loves a fool.
And you are blessed and highly favored.
- ♪
- CALVIN: That gumbo smells good, Mom.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks everybody for coming over.
I had to get rid of these shrimp and those crabs
before they went bad.
- What else you put in your gumbo, Mrs. Payne?
- Oh, this is a family secret, baby. I can't tell you that.
[chuckling]
This recipe was handed down to me from my daddy,
who got it from his daddy.
Who got it from the man he thought was his daddy.
In my family, the women were the players.
- I heard that. [chuckling]
- What you know about being a player?
You better keep your narrow tail on the bench.
- My goodness, ah!
Why is everybody in this house, baby? We having a repast?
- Nobody died, Curtis.
Nobody died.
I invited everybody over.
I made some gumbo and invited everybody over.
- Can I say it smell good.
Huh?!
Baby, there is a party in my nostrils and you're the DJ.
- ELLA: [chuckling]
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you.
No, no, I got this. - No, I'll get it this side.
- No, I got it, I got it.
- Oh, okay, I'ma get my own bowl.
[yelps]
You didn't make enough for me?
- [chuckling]
I'm on strike, remember?
- Oh, okay. Well, I ain't hungry anyway.
- Hey Unc, I'm taking the twins fishing
at Barnett Creek next week, you want to come?
- Is fat meat greasy?
Yeah, I'm comin' with you!
[chuckling]
I just gotta go, you know I got a doctor's appointment
one of them weekends.
Baby, when is my doctors appointment with Dr. Thornton?
- Lisa baby, in baseball when you swing
and miss the ball, what's that called?
- A strike? - Thank you.
That's what I'm on, baby. I'm on strike.
I no longer keep your schedule.
- That's an awful lot to make your point, but okay
I get what you're doing.
- Now, I already apologized for saying you didn't work.
- But, but, but Curtis, do you think that a woman
who stays at home, raising a family,
works just as hard as man who goes out everyday?
- No. - And that's why you don't know
when your dentist appointment is, baby.
- Don't worry. I can find that out myself.
I'll just call Dr. Thornton.
- Okay. - Get it myself.
Just text me the number.
- Uh, no. - Then give me your phone.
- Uh, no.
- ♪
- CURTIS: You're not gonna break, Curtis, okay?
This ain't nothing but a chicken wing.
Ain't nothing but a chicken wing.
- [sobbing]
- Curtis, when are you gonna clean up this mess?!
When?! - Hello roommate.
- Uh-uh.
When are you gonna clean up this mess?
- I always do, don't I?
- No, you never do.
You always leave the house like this, Curtis.
Like I live with an invisible stripper.
- Am I that bad, really, Ella?
- Yes, yes you are.
But you are--
Eeeeew-- What is that?
Ew!
- Sorry.
- Yes, you are that bad but you are an amazing father
and husband.
But you wouldn't be any of that if you didn't have
somebody helping you.
- Yeah, you're right, baby. - Wait a minute.
I thought I heard it but I wanna hear it again.
I'm right?
Let me hear it again.
- You were right, baby.
I had no business acting like you don't contribute
to this household. That's ridiculous.
- Curtis, there are millions of women who are out here
busting their butts for their families.
Do you know how hard it is both a good mother
and a good wife?
We spend our time doing for everybody,
this one and that one. And running here and running there,
taking care of everybody.
We don't even have time to take care of ourselves, Curtis.
So please do not say that a stay-at-home mom
is not a job.
- I hear you. - Thank you.
- I do. - Thank you.
- I remember all the gas you burned up
taking that son of ours-- - [chuckling]
- To all those after-school sport events.
- Yes, yes, yes.
We do what we have to, baby.
- You know, Ella, he had a great childhood
because of you.
I was just, I was always so worried about getting food
on the table. You know?
So I didn't make the time to do all those things
with him.
You know, every now and then, but not like you.
- It's okay, baby.
I only did what a good mother would do for her family.
That's it.
- CURTIS: Yeah.
Well, I'm glad you did.
You know what?
You're right and I'ma go down
to that Help Center and I'm taking everything out of there.
Tomorrow, first thing.
I'll get it out.
And I ain't worried about that money,
we're gonna get our money back. - I know we will.
God has not brought us this far to just drop us
on our behinds like that, baby. - That's right.
- We gonna do it.
- That's right.
- But Curtis, I really do, really, you know--
I wanna know what you made on that side hustle.
I just need to know.
- I'll tell you if you give me some sugar.
- Tell me before I give you the sugar.
I wanna know. - You don't wanna know, Ella.
- Curtis, please. - You don't wanna know.
- Okay, well...
- I'm telling you, Ella, you'll be pissed off
if I told you how much money we was giving up.
You'd be mad and with everything.
- Well, well, well, well, well, well--
- And this marriage only have room for one sinner.
I'm depending on you to have enough credit
to bring a guest.
- Well, maybe--
- ♪
- Oh!
- You won!
- What the hell is going on out here?
- My baby needs a new pair of shoes, that's what's going on.
[laughing]
- Uncle Curtis, I thought Aunt Ella told you
she didn't want you doing all this casino nonsense.
- She said she didn't want me running it.
She didn't say nothing about her.
- ELLA: [laughing]
I heard it, I heard it! I heard it, I heard it!
Don't look at me.
The house always wins, baby.
- Curtis, look!
[making nonsense noises]
Get it, CJ, get it, get it, get it, get it.
Get it CJ, get it.
There you go, there you go. You can have that one.
- ♪
- [chuckles]
- ♪