The Family That Preys

-Put some more purple on the top up there. -Yes, ma'am.

No, dear.

That whole arrangement needs to go back there, between the windows.

Yes, ma'am.

Five full settings on Table 1 0.

Alice, you put that down.

Charlotte, everything's so beautiful.

This is your daughter's wedding day. l want you to enjoy yourself.

-l will. -How's it going in there?

She's getting dressed.

Well, then you need to go on in and check on her.

l just want to make sure everything is all right out here.

Everything is all right. You need to go on.

-Come on. -Okay.

Everything's gonna be fine. You just relax.

Yeah, l'm gonna relax today.

-Foot, there's my son and his dreadful wife. -Be nice.

William.

Hello, Mother, Miss Alice.

Hey, William.

Jillian, you are wearing that hat.

Mrs. Cartwright.

Alice, that is a lovely dress. Turn around.

Now, don't you stop her. She's on her way in to see her daughter.

l am.

-You look pretty. -Thank you.

Well, this is all very, oddly nice of you, Mother.

Yes. Well, if my only son hadn't eloped, then maybe l would have been able

to give him the proper wedding that mothers dream of.

The yard sure looks lovely.

Come talk to an old woman, William.

Excuse me, sweetie.

-Now, how's Judge Sayles getting on? -He's good. He says to say hello.

Excuse me, waiter. Could l please get a drink?

Do l look okay?

Andrea, you look beautiful. Would you stop it?

-l don't like this dress. -This is the dress Mama married Daddy in.

So? Doesn't mean l gotta like it.

She should have gotten that old woman to buy me one.

She paid for the wedding, Andrea. What more do you want?

Yeah, she paid for a beautiful wedding for her black friend's daughter

so she could tell all her friends

how she helped out the poor colored woman and her childrens.

Stop it. Now, don't you embarrass Mama today.

Well, if she wants to be Mammy and play Stepin Fetchit,

that's not my problem.

You are a piece of work.

-Hi, girls. -Mama.

-You're excited? -Yes.

Andrea was just saying how nice this is of Mrs. Cartwright,

-and how much she loves this dress. -Good. Good.

Look at you. You look beautiful.

My baby. Thank you, Jesus.

Okay, pretty girls, let's go get married.

l'm gonna check on the cake topper.

Pam, make sure little Maven has got her rose petals, sweetie.

Yes, ma'am.

You're marrying your king today, okay? Remember that.

-Don't embarrass Mama. -My king.

-Come on, man, you gotta get straight here. -Man, l'm nervous.

You sure you want to do this?

Come on, l love that girl.

Then that's all that matters, right?

-Right. -Right.

That's straight.

Brother, be honest with me.

-What... -For real.

l know Andrea is your wife's sister and all, but...

Am l doing the right thing?

What?

l said the same thing, man. You just got cold feet.

You're just getting nervous, okay? lt's all good.

-Okay. All right. -l got a question for you.

-Yeah. -Do you think you're doing the right thing?

-l should marry her. -Hey, good.

Then let me get you married.

-Let me go see what's going on... -Okay.

-Find you a drink so you can relax. -Yes.

-A drink, a drink. -Yes.

Thought you had enough at the bachelor party last night.

Yeah, it's still sitting with me.

-Baby, you gotta see this. -Yeah.

-Hey, what's the matter? -Andrea, she's driving me crazy.

She is just the most ungrateful person l know.

lf she disrespects my mama one more time, Ben...

-Babe, calm down. -There won't be a wedding.

-l want you to relax, okay? -Okay.

l'll run interference with you, and l ain't taking this home with us.

-Okay, you better, 'cause... -l will.

-Listen to me. -You don't want me to...

No, 'cause you'll tear these white folks' house up.

-l sure will. -But listen.

-You gotta see this house, baby. -All right.

-Kitchen, bathroom... -l need a drink.

-No, you can't have a drink. -Take me to the bar.

Wow, Andrea, you sure have grown up.

Thank you. William, right?

My mother was telling me that you got a degree in finance.

-ls that right? -Well, l will in about five months.

-Congratulations. That's fantastic. -Thank you.

Congrats.

l want you to meet my husband. Chris!

Okay. All right.

-Thank you for coming. -Pleasure.

-Hey. -Hey, this is William.

This is Chris, my husband.

-Congratulations. -Hey, Mr. Cartwright.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

You know, l work in construction, too.

l've been trying to get on that building you have downtown, but...

What kind of experience do you have?

When l was in the military, l worked in a lot of construction.

That's impressive.

Who have you been talking to at the company?

Some goofball.

Yeah, he's been getting the runaround.

Well, l'll tell you what.

Why don't you just call me directly, and l'll take care of it for you?

-Are you serious? -Yeah, absolutely.

-We're all family now. -Okay. All right.

-l'm calling. -Okay.

-So, what are your plans after graduation? -Looking for a job, l guess.

l'll tell you what.

When you're ready to join the work force, you give me a call.

l'm sure we can find a position for you.

-l'll do that. -Okay.

-Okay. -Congratulations again.

-Thank you so much. -Enjoy your evening.

-Appreciate it. Thank you. -Oh, my God.

Did you see that? lt's our lucky day.

There's Big Mama's little lawyer.

-How you doing? -Fine.

Yeah? How was school?

Get your biscuit. Go on.

Okay. Now, put that down. This is sweet tea, junior.

-l won't have you going to the doctor. -Thank you, Alice.

Come on in, Mr. Blanchette.

-Hey, Alice. -How are you doing, Nick?

-l'm okay. -Yeah?

Why don't you go on in the back and get yourself cleaned up?

All right. All right.

Pam? Pam?

-Come on and get Nick fixed up. -But this...

Come and get him fixed up.

Come on, Nick.

Thank you.

Your mother's a saint.

Yeah, she is.

We got some clean clothes for you, Nick.

So, do you mind if l throw those in the trash?

Okay.

And do you need a razor? 'Cause, you know...

-No, l'm okay. -lt's up to you.

So everything's in the bathroom, you know. Just go back there and wash up really good

-and your food will be waiting for you. -Okay.

Okay.

Thirty-eight times, man, 38 times.

Yeah? So, we're still playing poker tonight, or what?

Yeah. Yeah. l don't know about that.

Pam wants me to spend some time with her tonight.

-Yeah. You think? -lt's all good.

-Thanks for the lift, bro. -Hey, ain't no problem.

l keep telling Andrea, man. l need to get a new truck.

She keeps freaking out on me, though.

You know she's gonna freak out, man. She's making all the money.

-Please. -What?

Yeah, but that's gonna change, man, as soon as we get this thing together.

-Come on, Chris, don't start. -What? Come on, man, we can do this.

You know we know way more than that idiot foreman of ours.

That might be so, but we don't know nobody that's gonna give us a shot,

number one. And number two, ain't nobody gonna give us no money

to start up no company.

You need to have a little bit more faith, brother.

Listen, we get our business plan together.

Old man Jackson already said

that his brother-in-law works down at the bank.

That's all we gotta do, is go down there and talk to him.

-l don't know. Don't know. -Well, l do.

lf you're so sure about all that stuff, man, what you need me for?

The two of us are the dynamic duo.

Come on, man. Are you kidding me?

Shoot, man...

l have to listen to this all the way home?

Yes, you do.

Then you're taking the bus tomorrow.

You're gonna do a purchase and open, and it's gonna go up like this.

That's where you're gonna end up. You got that?

-So, this is a good one? -Yeah.

This is, like... This is really, really good.

-Why don't you stay for supper? -l need to go.

-l'll fry some green tomatoes. -No, l need to go. lt's too close.

l need to go. lt's too much.

Nick, if you ever feel like you want to come off the streets,

you'll let me know, right?

l'm okay. Thank you, though.

-Look, just don't forget to do this, all right? -Okay.

All right? That's important.

-l'll remember. -Don't forget.

-l won't. -Okay.

-That's a big one. -Got it.