Original subtitles

Good time, anytime you need a payment. Good time, anytime you need a friend.

Good time, anytime you're up and under.

Not getting hassled, not getting hustled.

Keeping your head up for water.

Making a way when you can.

Temporary layoffs. Good time, easy credit ripoffs.

Good time, scratching and surviving. Good time.

Much as jewelry these days.

I was going to have the butcher engrave my pork chop.

Um, Walona, I saw your body get off the bus, but is your mind still on it?

Why would you say that?

Well, because you just put the toilet paper in the freezer.

Oh, well, I didn't want it to go bad.

You know what's really bothered me? The penny.

It's been two days now. No one knows what's going on with the mother or the

child. They just disappeared.

Well, Walona, even if we knew, we couldn't do anything about it.

I know, but when they was here, if she got in trouble or something, she could

come to one of us. But who's she got to go to now?

Eh, well, I'll talk to you later, huh? Okay, Walona. Thank you for helping.

It was so nice to see you. Any news about Penny?

Or her mother?

No, nothing, I'm afraid. I was on a case in the neighborhood and just thought

I'd stop by. Oh, well, come on in. Thank you, I will.

Oh, no, no, no, nothing.

But I want you both to know that we are using every means at our disposal to

track down Mrs. Gordon.

Oh, I know the first place to look. And every store that sells boxing gloves.

I understand how concerned you both are, but you must remember, the child's

mother's in need of help, too.

Yeah, right.

me little bro i got a foolproof scheme to help get rid of these leftover

carnival goldfish and make a profit at the same time hey look here michael how

was i to know none of those fools down to amp but willing to take a chance of a

lifetime jj i was the only fool down there you know why that's because i

listened to another one of your dumb schemes michael one day one of my dumb

schemes gonna make us all rich then i'll be known as jay paul

Oh, ghetto, we do have company.

Oh, hey, Miss Carpenter.

Look here, did you find Penny yet?

No, I'm sorry.

Hey, this is just a wild hunch, but did you two business tycoons have any

trouble getting rid of the little goldfishes? Well, owner, we couldn't

them away.

That's because Michael here won't listen to the entrepreneur.

Oh, yeah? Well, get a load of what J .J. wanted me to say.

You say you don't like pets.

We don't care. You say you don't have a bowl. We don't care.

say fish give you hives, we don't care.

You say you don't have a quarter to pay for these fish, we care.

I hope we can find somebody to give these little fish a home.

Why don't you set them free?

Hey, Miss Carpenter, you know that's a good idea.

I'm gonna dump these jokers in Lake Michigan.

Oh dear, I didn't mean for him to kill them.

Michael's just about to commit fishicide.

Oh, oh, excuse me. I am going to be late for my appointment.

Now I'm going to really have to hustle my butt.

Very good, Mrs. Carpenter. Good.

Later.

Later. Oh, I'm going to have to remember that one, too.

It sure is nice to know someone is worried about Penny beside herself.

Yeah. Well, I'm going to go home and do my ironing. Wait a minute.

since you help me with the groceries and everything, why don't you stay and have

the last piece of cake I bake? That's a reward, huh?

Not eating dumb is cooking at all is reward enough.

J .D., there are two things in life that I never say no to.

One of them is a piece of cake.

And the other is a piece of cake with ice cream.

Looking for dead roaches.

Because if they ate that cake, they couldn't have got too far.

All right, where is she? Where's who?

You know who. Penny. She's run away.

But she isn't here.

Who are you trying to kid? Where else would she go? Hey, wait, where do you

think you're going?

Look, this is none of your business, so just butt out. Butt out? Honey, I ain't

started butting in yet.

You just get out of my way, because I'm going to look in those bedrooms.

Hey, wait a minute. You can't come barging in somebody's house and looking

their bedroom.

my child.

In that case, I'll help you look for her.

And, uh, we'll see how small you feel when she's not in here.

For instance.

Penny? Penny!

Or in here, which happens to be our porcelain facility, where, as you can

there are nothing but Thelma's unmentionables hanging in their usual

over.

She's not hiding under here.

All right, all right. Don't be funny.

Maybe I was wrong.

It's obvious she's not here. Hey, wait a minute now. Don't quit on me now. Just

when I was starting to get warm, we haven't checked in the closet yet.

Look, would you stop him?

J .D., the woman's leaving.

Not until she's seen me.

Maybe she has seen everything.

Look, I'm sorry I barged in the way I did.

We accept your apologies. Here's the door.

Just one minute. I got something I gotta say.

No, you don't, Malona.

I don't know what your problem is, but I've seen enough of Penny to know what

her problem is. It's you.

I don't have to hang around and listen to this. That's right, you don't.

I heard of a group called Parents Anonymous.

And it's like a lot of people get together with the same problems you have

they help each other.

Oh, is that so?

Yeah. Oh, you listen, Miss High and Mighty. You just get off your soapbox

and stop trying to save me.

What do you know about me anyway? Any of you?

We know one thing.

You've been using that child as a punching bag.

That's...

Big deal.

I was raised without a father.

My mother didn't go upside my head.

Well, then you were lucky, baby, because my family went upside, downside, and

across mine.

I've had to scuffle all my life.

Honey, you don't own the rights or the patent on scuffling.

I've been on my own since I was 16 years old.

Well, that's fine for you, because when you were 16, you didn't have to worry

about nobody but yourself. Me, when I was 16, I was pregnant, and I didn't

a dime.

That happens every day in a week.

You could have done something about it. Done something?

Sister, I did do something.

I carried that baby and I made a living for myself at the same time.

And I wanted to do those things. But when the baby was born, what did she do

me, huh?

or we can go right home.

Miss Gordon, do yourself a favor.

Get some help. You need it so badly.

Remember I told you about Parents Anonymous?

Parents Anonymous? What are they going to do for me?

Are they going to pay all my bills? Are they going to solve my problems? They

might help you find yourself.

I mean, they can help you understand your frustration so you can deal with

And probably suggest some kind of therapy.

brain straightening out once in a while i mean even me

miss gordon if you keep on the way you're going the cops are gonna stumble

you honey you listen this here is my kid and i'm gonna handle her any way i want

to just like my family handled me come on oh miss god you stay out of my face

now you just stand on my face with all this stuff you laying on me i got enough

trouble

I'm thinking that maybe this time I'm the one that's going to run away from

for a change.

There's a life out there somewhere.

And I'm going to have me a hunk of it. Don't do this to Penny. Don't leave her

like this. You can't leave your child.

She deserves something better.

Hey, how about you say we all play some cards and win some talk or something?

Hey, you know what we could do?

Maybe something good on television, like a good spooky movie.

How about us playing checkers and look at television at the same time? That's

fine.

Oh, I know what we could do.

We could all take off our shoes and pick up some marbles with our toes.

Jamie got any marbles?

No, he done lost his marbles.

No, for sure, honey.

She is it.

Better call Mrs. Carpenter.

Mama won't go to jail, will she? No, no. I don't want her to go to jail. She's

not going to go to jail.

Everything's going to be okay.

Yes, everything's going to be all right.

See, Dr.

JJ's going to spread chair, calm the troubled waters with his astonishing and

amazing psychological insight to the situation.

Well, Lona Woods, I have a very important message for Mrs. Carpenter.

When do you expect her back?

J .J., we have to cheer her up. Do something.

All right.

Penny, you just happened to be in luck, because now you can see my world -famous

impression of a fly flying through a fog of black flag.

Check this out.

Spray can.

So what a beauty.

Very urgent.

Thank you very much. Bye -bye.

Well, there's nothing more we can do now.

Penny will have to stay over.

Penny, how would you like to stay over with someone who likes you very, very

much?

Would like nothing better than to have a sweet, dear little girl stay over.

Oh, boy.

I get to sleep with JJ.

Try to get rid of them for me, honey.

What will I say?

I don't care. Tell them anything.

I'm sorry, but Walona isn't home.

Where?

She went to India.

You see, her uncle died and left her a million...

And I hear him in everything.

So she won't be back until tomorrow.

Bye, Mr. Joker.

Honey, what'd you tell him? I told him you couldn't make it tonight.

Good girl.

Now it's time for you to go to bed.

Kick off those slippers and climb under the covers.

Hey, we just wanted to take a night to penny.

Oh, come on in. Oh, good.

Gigi, tell me a bedtime story.

Oh, yes, you do. Tell the one about the little baby. Oh, J .J., tell us a

bedtime story, J .J.

All right, all right.

Well, once upon a time, there was this little girl named Afro Locks.

And she was gliding through the ghetto when she come upon this brownie housing

project.

And that's where the three little bears lived.

Now, the smallest bear... was Michael.

Now, the ugliest and most bodacious bear's name was Thelma.

Now, the smoothest and most savoir -faire bear's name was

JJ.

So, the door was halfway open, so the little girl walked in there, and there's

pot of grits cooking on the stove that old Thelma the bear cooked.

So, she's eating the grits, she had some salt and some pepper and some butter on

there, you know, and she's freezing.

Thelma's cooking and lives out here.

J .J., you should be shocked.

All right.

Goodbye, Penny. Good night.

Okay, bye, Penny. Bye, Thelma. Bye, J .J.

Oh, baby.

Well, time for sleepy pie.

Sleepy time.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

God bless Michael, Thelma, JJ, and Melona.

Oh, that's nice, sugar.

Good night, Melona. Good night, my darling.

You gonna be warm enough?

Uh -huh. Okay.

Good night.

And God, please watch over Mama.

Amen. Oh, hi, Penny. Come here.

I'd like you to meet Mrs. Carpenter.

She's from the Department of Children and Family Services.

Hi. Hello, Penny.

Now, you're going to be going with me. We're going to find you a new home.

Okay.

Well, um, I think Penny and I had better be on our way.

I'll be in touch.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, Penny.

Now you take care of yourself, honey, okay?

Be good.

Goodbye, Wilona.

And thanks.

You're welcome.

Remember, I love you.

Bye, Thelma.

See you later, Penny. Bye, Michael.

Bye, JJ.

I don't care what other people say.

I think you're nice, and I will always love you.

Bye, Kenny.

Penny acted like she'd go so far to home every day of her life.

I guess the kid's been through so much, nothing shakes up anymore.

You know, if we had enough room, we'd take ourselves.

Pick your mother and call with four kids?

Honey, I don't know how Flo has made it all these years, but you three?

I had Penny one night, and I barely made it.

Why, Winona?

What happened?

Well, for one thing, a groovy dude named Elroy called me. He wanted to go out,

and I couldn't go because Penny was there.

You'll call again.

I hope not.

That is no, I couldn't get any sleep. You know, Penny twisted and turned the

whole night. She even screamed one time, cried out.

Girl, give me the single life any time.

Yeah, just imagine you being a mother, Walona.

Surprise!

I'm back.

What are you doing here?

Where's Mrs. Carpenter?

I pushed the B button for basement.

Then I scooted out before the doors closed.

Mrs. Carpenter, she's a nice lady, but I don't want to go to a new home. I want

to stay at my Owen.

Right here with JJ.

Look, Penny, you're a fantastic chick and all, but, you know, I can't take

of you.

I know.

You're a lover, not a mother.

I'd love to live with you.

Well, Penny... Well, you see, Bologna's not exactly the... Well, what I mean is,

uh... She's hardly ever... Well,

you see, she probably just couldn't do that.

Just looking out of the window, watching the asphalt road,

thinking how it all looks and we die.

Good times, good times, keeping your head above water,

making a wave when you can.

Temporary layoffs, good times, easy credit.

Good times is videotape in front of a studio audience.