Original subtitles

I was lucky to grow up in a time and place where I could see my parents have

great friendships with other successful black professionals.

Uh, hey Bill, you remember them clubs we went to in Mississippi?

No talking across the board. You tell them, Lil, my eight spoon coon.

Coach Long had known my dad since they were eight.

Growing up, they bonded over games like stickball, pickup sticks, hoop and

stick. Yeah, sticks were basically their internet back then.

Like our dads, Corey and I had a special connection, too. We did everything

together. Hey, Dad, guess what? Me and Corey are going to enter the Montgomery

Soapbox Derby together. And when we win, we'll go all the way to Nashville.

We're just going to need a power saw, some lumber, and a box of matches. What

are matches for?

To... Burn things.

Nice try.

Like I'm letting a bunch of 13 -year -old boys play with matches.

Power sauce in the shed.

Thanks, Mr. Williams. Thanks, Dad.

Take it outside.

I don't want any dust or blood in my house.

While Daddy and Coach Long's friendship had stayed the same over the years,

Mama's friendship with Coach had gotten a little trickier. They'd been work

friends for years. Then she got promoted, and he had to report to her.

Oh, damn, Lillian, you got the magic hand.

Oh, oh, by the way, I need to come in late tomorrow. I got a dentist

appointment. Now, Cliff, you know all personal requests have to be submitted

approved by a supervisor.

I'm just kidding.

I'll let it slide again.

I know you have my back. See, it's good to be friends with the boss.

Now, you can either win this book or be late for work tomorrow, but you can't do

both. Ha!

We'll bring it right back.

Lillian, there you are.

I just read over the budget numbers you submitted.

Good news? You're doing a great job.

The department's never been more efficient. Why, thank you, Mr. Davidson.

Bad news.

You still need to cut another 10%. The person before you really inflated the

budget. He was the person before her.

Well, I already trimmed all the fat.

I'm not sure how you can expect me to find another 10%. Well, I'm going to

empower you to make your own decision without me telling you what to do.

office speak for I'm covering my ass in case this goes poorly. But if I were to

make a suggestion, it seems the simplest fix would be to let somebody go.

Hey, um...

Sorry I'm later than expected.

The dentist messed up.

I can hear the radio through my filling.

Cliff, are those papers on your desk the ones you were supposed to file for the

Birmingham office?

Oh, no. Those are just duplicates. Maybe a little bit.

Jeez.

A lot of papers from the Birmingham office.

You know what? I'm going to get to that after break because, you know, I am

worthless without my coffee.

Shoot, it's almost 12.

You know what? This might bleed into lunch. I'll be back.

To the highs and the lows, I'ma find my way home.

Kim, come help your mother. My hands are full.

What's all this?

I need you to sort those into piles, and then I'll let you know which tabs go

where, and I'll get the rest out the car. You know, I have other things to do

with my life.

Oh, like?

Your laundry, or your history paper, or your college applications.

Do you want these alphabetized or color -coded?

What's going on in here?

I had to bring home a little work to keep from firing anybody.

It's Cliff, isn't it?

I just hope he appreciates everything you're doing, Ma. Well, I'm not letting

him know.

It'd be weird.

So if I'm doing Mr. Long's work, does that mean he's going to file my college

applications? Oh, child, you don't want that.

Now, before we break for lunch, I have a little announcement.

We've all been working together to tighten the budget, which temporarily

we have to shorten lunch to a half hour until we catch up.

Hey,

Liv, between me and you, you're not making many friends here.

What do you mean?

Look, nobody's liking all your new rules.

Look, you might want to back off a little bit.

Well, just between you and me, they want me to fire somebody, and I don't want

to do it. Well, look, I understand, but you're the boss now.

So you got to hurt some feelings. So it's better to hurt one person than the

entire office. Now, if you want any suggestions, when I was leaving work

the other day, I saw Thompson already on the way out the parking lot.

That is because Mrs. Thompson had just gone into labor. Well, where he going?

She the one having the baby.

You know what, Cliff?

How about you run the productivity numbers for everybody in the office, and

you let me know who's the weakest link?

Sure thing, Liv.

First thing tomorrow.

Hey, fellas, right up.

I got shotgun.

I'm telling you, once we build it, we can definitely get a sponsor.

Maybe the Cadillac dealership. That'd be cool.

Our best bet for a sponsor would have been a junkyard. Watch out!

Jesus, take the wheel!

Hampton, that was amazing.

That was not only a test run. My dad said we're going to make it even faster.

How are you going to do that?

Prayer.

And my dad's an engineer.

How's your car coming along? I bet it's super cool.

It is coming great.

We were going to need some extra help if we wanted to catch up with Hampton.

But we had that, too.

Might as well use them. The best way to help you with your car is by not helping

you with your car.

Come again? See, helping you in the short term is actually hurting you in

long term.

You'll understand one day. And we won't be able to tell you when.

Right. Because that'll be helping us.

Which hurts us.

You're welcome.

Dean never finishes anything.

I'm not going to waste my weekend.

Look here, two busy men. We already have enough work as it is.

That mean you finally finished that productivity report I asked for?

I did. I did. Oh.

And? And just as I thought, Thompson.

Mm -hmm. Are you sure?

Did you run everybody in the office? Yes. I mean, not me and you.

We're obviously the glue to keep the office together.

Now, now, after you find Thompson, can I get a raise?

Look. Losing this overtime has put a real crimp on our family budget.

A wraith.

Cliff, I'm supposed to cut the budget, not add to it. Yeah, of course, of

course. Now, if you fire Thompson and Wiggins, that'll do it.

See, I did the work for you.

The cold should be hot by now.

Y 'all can get the rack out the oven. Oh, Lil, you got the ribs right.

Cliff was supposed to do them.

Damn. I knew I was forgetting something.

I should have thought those hours ago.

Mama's looked that she had had enough, but Coach Long was face blind, and he

couldn't tell that her expression meant stop talking. Hey, Phil, you think you

can grab some from Jerry's Barbecue or Pitt's? You know, whatever you decide.

You always make it work.

Cliff, you're fired.

What, from the barbecue?

No, from your job.

I'm sick of covering for you. I'm done.

What? You can't fire me. I quit.

What? Well, then you won't have any severance.

I can't believe you just fired me.

No.

My husband just got fired from his job. We're going to be needing that.

Hey,

Max. Great work on the unclaimed property report.

Thanks.

Where are you thinking of going to lunch?

Out.

Well, I hear there is a new businessman special at the rooftop.

It was a good lunch special, too.

Really nice bread.

Swami! Lillian! I was just stepping away for a moment. I have Jennifer covering

your line. You're not in trouble.

Why are people acting so funny? I thought they'd be happy to get overtime

our lunches back.

Well, Lillian, I, um... Permission to speak freely.

Everyone's upset you fired Cliff.

He was everybody's favorite in the office. He's so fun.

I can be fun in the office.

You don't think I can be fun? It's just that you don't have a reputation for

being the most not deadly serious person in the office.

Is that what people say? I should stop talking. I see you're getting upset and

don't want to get Cliff.

Is that what they're calling? I think I hear the phone ringing.

Unfortunately for Mama... There was no separation of church and state when it

came to the cold shoulder.

Hey, say amen, everybody.

Amen. Before we begin today's service, we'd like to ask if there's anyone here

with a prayer request to come forth at this time.

Is there one?

Yes. Yes, sir. Come on up, young man.

Come on, give him amen, everybody.

Now I stand before you with a heavy heart and a humble spirit as I confess

to the congregation that I've lost my job.

I have failed as a provider for my family.

And as y 'all know, I had a good job. A good job.

But it's when you're at your highest.

It's when the devil shows up. Yes, he does.

But he won't win this battle.

Because I have the law on my side.

Amen. Now, everybody join hands together in support of Brother Long as

he fights the good fight.

Against the forces of evil.

I mean, he was late every day.

Mama was feeling really bad.

And not the kind of bad you're supposed to feel after church.

I know he was upset.

But I can't believe Cliff went up there and put on a show in front of God and

everybody. Man, they just lose his job, Lillian.

I'm well aware.

That doesn't mean he have to tell the whole service about it.

I thought the sermon was particularly enlightening.

Especially for your situation.

How so?

Jesus was always very patient with the Apostle Peter, even when he was being

brash or petulant or showing up late.

I don't remember that part.

You know what I mean.

He wasn't a perfect follower, but Jesus still found ways for Peter to contribute

that best fit his personality.

I guess I could help Cliff find another job.

I'm sure somebody I know is hiring.

I think he'd appreciate that.

I take it you're paying attention to the thermos now.

I always pay attention.

What about last week when the pastor said that brown liquor was the devil's

elixir? That was real?

I thought I dreamt that part when I nodded off.

If it's too bad Mama and Coach Long weren't speaking to each other, luckily,

Corey and I had no problem communicating.

I'm telling you, Corey, the horn should go a -wooga. Well, maybe your granddad's

car. Raced cars go eee!

That's a siren, you dummy. We're not driving an ambulance.

What is all this noise, man?

Huh? Look, y 'all woke me up. It was 3 in the afternoon.

He was not taking unemployment well.

Corey's being unreasonable.

Well, Dean's not taking it anybody did.

OK, all right, I see what's going on. Y 'all two need to learn about team

dynamics, OK? In a creative process, we got to lay down some ground rules.

Look, everyone must be heard. No bad ideas. Dean, what's your idea?

I think the car horn should go awooga.

Okay, what's your idea, son? Well, I think the horns should go eee, eee, eee.

All right, you know what? Forget what I said. Forget what I said. Those are two

terrible ideas.

And why do y 'all worry about the horn anyway? Where the steering mechanism at,

huh? Where the brake system at?

How do we do that?

All right, let me see what I can do.

All right. Yo, what do you want us to do?

You can start by going in the house and getting me something to drink.

All right.

I'm talking about some ooga.

Yes, it was a woo -goo.

After a long afternoon, we had made significant progress on the car.

And by we, I mean Coach Long.

Hey, Corey Dean. Yeah, yeah.

You're blocking my light.

Come on now, you don't see me working?

Is she going to drive it too?

Wow, look at you guys.

The car is coming along great.

Mom, how'd you fire Coach Long?

Dean, that's grown folk business.

Well, you're grown. Can you please fire him for us, Ms. Williams?

He is not letting us do anything.

It's just like my Diane Rayburn project.

He gave Lewis and Clark huge afros.

Don't worry.

I think I have something that'll get him out of your hair.

Hey.

So nice of you to work with our boys.

At least someone appreciates my work.

Well, um...

I just wanted you to know that I reached out to a few people who I think would

be lucky to have you working for them.

And if you're interested, they'd love to meet you.

What type of jobs are you talking about?

Jobs that I think would suit you well.

A couple of accounting firms and a law firm that's looking for a new financial

manager.

And you told them nice things about me?

I did.

Thank you, Lillian.

I've been bummed out. We haven't been able to hang out with you and Bill like

used to. I agree.

Why don't you and Vivian come over this weekend?

You making your mac and cheese?

You know I am.

Well, we there then.

I'm going to break it to the boys. They ain't going to be able to finish it. No,

no, no. We're good. We're good. We're good.

Mama's gesture to Coach Long helped get things back to normal for all of us.

Corey and I got back to work on our derby car.

And our parents got back to spending time together.

Well, don't keep me in suspense.

I want to know about all your job interviews.

Well, now that you mention it, I did get an offer from the law firm.

Amazing.

So will you be running their accounting department?

Well, they didn't offer me a job. They actually want to represent me as a

client. As a client?

For what? I was going to sue the state of Alabama for wrongful termination.

They think I have a really good case for racial discrimination.

Wait, are you accusing me of racial discrimination?

Oh, Lil, it's not about you. We sue in the state. They have a lot of money. A

lot of money.

Well,

it affects me because I was the one.

Lilian, let me stop you right there.

I'm not allowed to talk about ongoing cases.

Mmm, mmm, sweetie. You know, you just sound like a black Perry Mason. I love

Hey, hey, Bill. Hey, stop hogging that mac and cheese.

Don't make me sue you next. Oh!

Come on, pass that over. Let me get that.

Lillian, have you heard about the lawsuit?

Yes, I have. And what are we going to do about it? We're not doing anything.

This is what you're doing. You told me to fire someone.

My recollection is different.

You've got to fix this. I don't care what it costs.

You told me to cut 10 % of the budget.

Again? Your recollection.

I don't want to be called in as a witness.

I can't go back to court.

It never ends well for me.

What's it doing in my house?

What'd I tell you about bringing this stuff from outside?

And Cory.

Don't worry, Dad.

It's just staying in here so it doesn't get damaged before the race.

Looks like an actual car.

Well, great job, son.

So that's what it feels like to finally have your dad be proud of you. If he's

in the house when I get back, it's firewood.

And there it is.

Hey, baby.

No, I... Don't touch.

This is for Cliff.

But he's suing you.

You gonna make a casserole for that cop that pulled you over the other day? I'm

just taking it over as a peace offering so I can talk him out of this lawsuit.

I know you want to say something, but... Go ahead. Spit it out.

Remember when Pastor said... No, please. No quotes from the past. Just tell it

to me straight.

I know Cliff was slacking at work.

What would you have done for any other employee in that situation?

Well, I would have given him a warning and then a formal write -up. Did you do

that for Cliff?

No, he's my friend.

But you fired him. Well, he was taking advantage of the friendship. He was, but

you also let the friendship get in the way.

How is he supposed to know you were unhappy if you never told him?

Thank you for speaking up and letting me know I was in the wrong.

Why, we're at it. And that's enough for today.

You're coming to talk about the case. We told you we can't discuss that.

Vivian, she got out of place. Let her in.

I brought this to say I'm sorry.

I'll give you guys some space.

I should have been honest and told you I was upset about you coming to work late

and leaving early.

And I didn't always finish my assignments. And I would always sleep in

And I stole all that toilet paper.

Wait, you were stealing toilet paper?

Lillian, open up your eyes. The whole damn office is stealing toilet paper.

Also, everyone in the office misses you very much.

Especially me.

So, I came to offer you your job back.

Oh, wow.

I'm on flat earth.

Thank you.

But no.

What?

Vivian, I got this.

You did me a favor by firing me.

Like, it was good, but it wasn't my dream job.

Now I got the opportunity to pursue something I'm passionate about.

Well, I know you'll be good at whatever you put your mind to.

So, you'll drop the lawsuit?

Oh, well, yeah, the lawyers dropped the case.

Turns out it's not racism if you're just bad at your job.

So, no job and no lawsuit.

But I hope that you're just as passionate about sleeping on that couch.

I don't work here, and I don't do broken. But, baby!

Mama told her boss that she got Coach Long to drop the lawsuit, and she used

that as leverage.

And if we can afford to hire Cliff back, we can afford to hire another employee

to take up the slack.

Makes sense.

And since you said this is my department, I'm going to make sure I'm

only black employee here. My recollection is exactly what you said.

And that's exactly what she did. She hired a black woman who she fired two

later because she thought she was cute.

But she replaced her with another black woman who worked there for 30 years.

As for Mama's relationship with Coach Long, thankfully their friendship was

on track.

And watching them taught me how to balance friendship and working

For the extra gravity.

You sure you don't want to drive?

Nah, man. You're going to do great.

Thanks. You can drive when we get to Nashville.

Ready? All right, D, come on!

And... go!

I told you I should have drawn. The weight was too heavy. You sabotaged me.

knew they couldn't do it.

Maybe we should have given them that. You know, so they can burn that piece of

junk to the ground.