For the first time that day, things were going allright.

All I had to do now was keep everybody quiet 'til 5 o'clock.

Dad. Dad.

Time to get up.

It's 5 o'clock?

Yep.

It's not 4:59?

Nop.

Which job am I going to?

You're driving a truck.

Hello.

Hey, baby. It's mommy.

Is your father up?

- Yep. - Good, good, good.

Take his plate out of the refrigerator and put it in the oven for him.

What plate?

The one with the big piece of chicken.

Haven't I told you "do not eat the big piece of chicken"?

But I was still hungry.

My mother wasn't really mad at me, she was looking out for my father.

You see how big he is.

She didn't want him to go to work hungry.

Because if he goes to work hungry then he'll be grouchy.

And if he's grouchy, he might call his boss Cracker.

And if he calls his boss Cracker

then we'll live in the Projects again.

But do not eat the biggest piece of chicken.

Do you understand?

At least, you didn't mess up these school shoes.

Come over here and give me some sugar.

Now go to bed.

- Rochelle. - What?

Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do.

But I'm working hard trying to pay for this place, you know that.

Julius, just because you make money doesn't mean you know how to spend it.

You gotta know how to work the system.

- What system? - The debt system.

I run this house like they run the country...

on a deficit.

Rent is due on the 3rd,

I don't pay 'til the 9th because you don't get your check 'til the 7th.

If you pay the light bill now,

I won't have money for the groceries, the rent will be late

and then you'll have to work overtime.

You want to work overtime again, Julius?

No, I don't think so.

If we don't owe people money,

we won't have any money at all.

Um...

why didn't you just say that then?

Because you didn't ask.

Baby...

Don't baby me.

Come here.

I'm sorry, okay?

Who told you to open the mail anyway?

Come here, Pooky.

Last time you said Pooky I got pregnant.

You're my Pooky. You're always my Pooky.

No Pooky.

Okay, little bit of Pooky.

- Love you. - I love you too.

My dad always checked on us in between jobs:

his night job and his late at night job.

Dad?

Hey, man. I thought you were asleep.

I'm sorry I ate the big piece of chicken.

That was 89 cent worth of chicken.

What? You didn't get enough to eat at school?

I was still hungry.

Now I'm still hungry.

Look, next time, eat a little some extra breakfast, okay?

Okay.

Here.

And don't go pulling this money out.

somebody'd try to rob you.

Don't tell your mother about this.

Everything okay at school?

I didn't tell him about the fight.

My dad went to school during the civil rights era.

After hoses, tanks and a dog bites on your ass,

somehow Joey Caruso didn't compare.

Yeah, it was alright.

Okay. I'll see you in the morning.

My father wasn't the type to say "I love you".

He was one of four fathers on the block.

"I'll see you in the morning" mean he was coming home.

Coming home was his way of saying "I love you".

Unplug that clock boy. You can't tell time when you sleep.

That's 2 cents an hour.

What the hell happened to my towel?