ALEXANDRA ALL ANNOUNCER ARLENE AUDIENCE BIG_BOI CARLOTTA COP COTTON DEREK DETECTIVE_BATISTA DOCTOR EVA GIRLS HUNTER JAHIL MEN MICHELLE MISS_BRUCE OKIKO RUTH_ANNE SIMONE STA STAGE_HAND STAR WOMANS_VOICE DEREK Okay, so this is what happened before on Star. DOCTOR There was nerve damage to your spinal cord. It's unlikely that you will walk again, Derek. ALEXANDRA I'm pregnant. MICHELLE Hey, girl, I took your cash to set myself up. Payback is a bitch. COTTON I need a fake I.D. JAHIL Plan on robbing a bank or something? COTTON The less you know, the better. HUNTER Where's the money, Jahil? JAHIL There ain't no money. I have no idea where he took those girls. CARLOTTA So you understand us, you just don't speak it that well. Is that why you came here to America? For a job? JAHIL You trying to poach my girls? BIG BOI Nah, nah, nah, he ain't fitting to do nothing. MEN DETECTIVE BATISTA You're under arrest for the murder of Otis Leecan. STAR I could claw my way into much better than your world. CARLOTTA Lord, it's a calling, these girls coming to me. As much for me as it is for them. And now I might be losing them. To that Satan named "Fame." But thy will be done. SIMONE Hey, Alex. I had a dream last night about Atlanta NextFest, and we won. Alex? Are you okay in there? You got morning sickness or something? STAR It's me, Simone. SIMONE What you doing here? Why aren't you at your new place? STAR I had to come and get you, we got a big day ahead of us. SIMONE Girl, you telling me? I dreamed about it all night. We're gonna slay. STAR You bet your ass we are. And nobody's gonna stop us. Nobody. JAHIL What are you doing here? I got another kid I don't know about? CARLOTTA Detective Batista called. He got some more questions, I'm guessing about you. JAHIL What, you're the best character witness they could find? I'm screwed. CARLOTTA I got you, Jahil. Who got you out? JAHIL Hunter posted bond. So you tell those girls I got pulled down here? CARLOTTA They already rattled enough with that Atlanta NextFest thing. JAHIL Oh, good. No, they need to stay focused. Doesn't look good, Lottie. They, uh, they got an anonymous tip. Someone saw my car that night. CARLOTTA Tips don't stick, man. JAHIL They're telling me they got blood in the trunk of the ride, so ugh, I don't know if they're bluffing or not. Doesn't look good. EVA Oh, my God, I'm so glad you're out, Jahil. I was so worried, I didn't sleep last night. CARLOTTA You look pretty well-rested to me. You know, we took you in like family, and you played us. EVA You weren't that hard to play. And, yes, I speak English really good! JAHIL Eva, what are you what are you doing? CARLOTTA I speak English real well. Keep her away from me. JAHIL Why you talking to her like that, huh? What the hell's wrong with you? EVA I'm tired of her Jesus praising. JAHIL You know what? She's walking in there to try to save my ass, all right? EVA I'm sorry, I'm just pissed. Star has everyone in that salon turned against me. And you. You know she's the one who called the cops on you, Jahil. JAHIL Come on, now. Star's a cold, calculating bitch, but she ain't gonna set me up for murder. EVA Ever since we tricked her into getting me back on the group, she wants you out, and she has everyone wanting that. JAHIL No, you're stretching. EVA I heard them talking. JAHIL All right, look, just go to rehearsal. I'll take care of it. DEREK Hey, sexy. How long you been over there? ALEXANDRA I'm scared about this baby, Derek. I know you said that you'll do whatever I want, but I don't know what I want. DEREK Yeah, you do. You want me. ALEXANDRA DEREK Right? COTTON Hey, D. How you feeling? DEREK What's up? What are you even doing here? COTTON I'm getting my bottom surgery tonight. All this pre-op work takes longer than the actual operation. ALEXANDRA Cotton! It's going down! COTTON I'm gonna have a custom-made kitty cat. ALEXANDRA COTTON Me-ow. DEREK Well, go get to rehearsal. ALEXANDRA I'm going. DEREK And please tell that lazy-ass nurse to bring me some food. 'Cause I'm hungry. One more. ALEXANDRA Bye. DEREK Bye. ALEXANDRA Atlanta NextFest. DEREK Whoo. JAHIL Hey. Thanks for bailing me out, huh? Hey. What's the matter with you? HUNTER I-I did it, Unc. JAHIL What are you talking about? What did, what did you do? HUNTER I-I punched her. I punched Star. JAHIL What did you? Are you out of your damn mind, huh? You're a grown-ass man! You don't ever put your hands on her! HUNTER I love her, man. JAHIL What's the matter with you? You're just like your old man! Damn, sobrino. Shh. What am I gonna do with you, huh? HUNTER I love her. COP Just need to sign this, Ms. Leecan, then we can release your husband's remains. RUTH ANNE Oh. Okay. CARLOTTA Excuse me. I'm Carlotta Brown, Simone Davis' guardian. You Ruth-Anne Leecan? RUTH ANNE How is Simone? CARLOTTA How you sleep at night? How you let that child get raped like that? RUTH ANNE I didn't. But I couldn't. CARLOTTA What? You couldn't-couldn't what? Pick up a phone? Couldn't find a conscience? What? RUTH ANNE I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. CARLOTTA Yeah. You are sorry. ALEXANDRA Who'd you attempt to beat up this time? If you look like that, I can only imagine what the victim looks like. SIMONE Yeah, Star apparently got into a fight with some thot over Hunter. ALEXANDRA Thot-Thot! ALL STAR Thot, thot, thot. How's Derek? SIMONE Yeah, you deciding to keep the baby? STAR Would you really bring this baby on tour? SIMONE Yo, we could braid it's hair just like Derek's. STAR/ALEXANDRA SIMONE I'm so serious. ALEXANDRA Shut up. STAR Shut up. SIMONE What? Y'all make really pretty babies. STAR No, but for real, she has to think about her future. Our future. ALEXANDRA Hmm. Okay, so what would you do if you were me, Ms. Know-it-all? STAR I would go back to New York and get my credit cards back from my father. Oh, I'm sorry, you meant about the baby. I would get it right, that's what I would do. But Derek is good people. So, if y'all decide to keep to keep this little nugget that's in here somewhere. ALEXANDRA Stop. STAR I think y'all would be really good parents. Regardless of the kind we all got. And I mean all of that. But I'll never baby-sit. STAR All right, let's go to rehearsal. MISS BRUCE Mm-mm, not yet. No, ma'am. Y'all got to help me open. STAR Why would we do that? MISS BRUCE 'Cause Carlotta's downtown talking to the po-pos. ALEXANDRA About what? MISS BRUCE Jahil. They got him down there on Otis's murder. STAR Oh, my God. ALEXANDRA Are you serious? MISS BRUCE Come on. ALEXANDRA Wait, it's Big Boi. STAR What's he saying? ALEXANDRA He wants us to meet us at his office. He doesn't want us to tell Jahil. OKIKO The girls are here, Big. BIG BOI Show them in, Okiko. ALEXANDRA What's up, Big? BIG BOI What's up, thirsty girls? STAR So, what's so urgent? BIG BOI If you give me a minute, I'm gonna tell you. EVA What's up? BIG BOI Mamacita. EVA BIG BOI I expect y'all heard about Jahil's indictment? It's not a good look. Especially the day of Atlanta NextFest. I got some good news. Jahil's indictment makes our contract null and void. Thanks to a little clause called "force majeure." ALEXANDRA It's what Moses was talking about. BIG BOI Jahil's out, And I'm in. ALEXANDRA All right. STAR Word. BIG BOI Atlanta NextFest is the first step. If y'all lock that up. STAR That's on lock. Let's talk about the future. BIG BOI How big you want to make it? STAR As big as you can get it. And then some. JAHIL What the hell is going on? What's he doing here? BIG BOI Break it down for him. JAHIL ¿Qué pasa? STAR Big's our new manager. JAHIL What? BIG BOI They need me. So they force majeure-d your ass out. JAHIL Is this true? I busted my ass for you all. ALEXANDRA You don't understand. JAHIL Oh, I understand. Killed myself to get you all here, and now you're gonna play me off for this weak ass right here? SIMONE Your ass was in jail and he offered to take us on. JAHIL And so what? You're gonna just jump now? Huh? STAR What was we supposed to do, Jahil? Wait for you to post bail? This is the biggest night of our lives. EVA I tried to warn you. JAHIL You're the one that called the cops on me, you little snitch. BIG BOI Boy, stop! You got yourself locked. JAHIL Get your hands off me! STAR Oh, my God. Jahil! BIG BOI Get his ass out of here. JAHIL This ain't even close to being over. BIG BOI You better go somewhere and get high. STAR Excuse me. Jahil. STAR Jahil. Wait. JAHIL I rode hard for you, Star. STAR Save it. You got what you wanted and so did I. JAHIL What the hell are you talking about? STAR You double-crossing me with Eva, that's what I'm talking about. Don't ever come at me talking about loyalty. JAHIL Yeah, I put her in the group. So what? You going to the cops? That's next level, Star. STAR You really think I did that, huh? JAHIL Yeah, I do. STAR I ain't a snitch, Jahil. You don't get anywhere where I'm from snitching on people. You should know that. You got rid of Otis for us. And you protected my sister. Why would I try to get you hemmed up? Huh? You got that girl sleeping in your damn bed, Jahil. What are you doing? JAHIL I warned you to stay away from him, all right? STAR Deal with your own drama. JAHIL I told you to stay away from him, right? STAR Okay? I'm a big girl, I can handle Hunter. JAHIL Can you? 'Cause the Star I thought I knew, she was lethal. STAR I guess we both lost our way. JAHIL Baby girl, you didn't even know what direction you were headed in before you met me. Look, I am who and I am, I don't make no excuses for that. I like to get high once in a while. So what? But you? You don't even know who the hell you are anymore. JAHIL EVA If you're not okay with Big Boi, I'll quit. I don't want you upset. JAHIL It was you. Wasn't it? EVA What are you talking about? JAHIL You called the cops. EVA Why would I do. JAHIL You're the only one who could place my car at that site. I didn't tell anyone else where I buried that body. EVA Jahil. JAHIL You brought me back to my roots! You brought me back to my music. You brought me back to me! I opened myself up to you. EVA How could you think that? I fell in love with you, Jahil. You saved me. How could I? Jahil. You know I love you. You know this is real. You know it. How can you think this about me? I could never do that to you, you know it. JAHIL I got to get out of here. I'm going for a walk. EVA Stupid ass. ALEXANDRA Yeah. I'm getting my hair, like, all the way slicked back. Look at this. MISS BRUCE I'm telling you, soon as y'all hit that stage, y'all gonna blow The Shade Room up like a neutron bomb. STAR That's the kind of shade I actually want. CARLOTTA Jahil gonna bust up in here any minute wanting these girls' hair done. SIMONE We fired him, Miss C. CARLOTTA You what? MISS BRUCE Who you been fighting? Again? STAR Bruce, can you please just worry about my hair? All I got to do is throw some powder on it. COTTON Hey. ALEXANDRA Hey, Cot. STAR Cot, what's up? COTTON So, all the costumes for tonight are packed and ready. Well, all of them except Star's hoodie. STAR Damn it. I think I brought that to me and Hunter's. I'm sorry, Cot. I'll get it. ALEXANDRA Won't they get all wrinkled in there? COTTON Girl, don't you even worry, boo-boo, there's a steamer upstairs and I'll pack it for you. And then I'm off to the hospital! STAR Oh, my God! It's today! COTTON Yes. I got to check in early before the op. STAR I mean, you could've picked any other day. But I'm so happy for you. SIMONE You coming, Miss C? We got you backstage passes and everything. CARLOTTA After all he did for y'all? He could go to jail for something somebody else did. And you talking about backstage passes. CARLOTTA I said I'm sorry. COTTON You always saying you sorry. and I never feel it. That's why you came up here? CARLOTTA How you get the cash for that surgery so quick? 20 grand in one day? How many times you have to turn yourself out to get that kind of paper? Cotton, it kills me to see you like this. COTTON Hey, that's good. 'Cause the next time you see me, it'll be for the first time. CARLOTTA JAHIL WOMANS VOICE You have one new message. ARLENE It's Arlene. They know, Jahil. They know about those girls you set free. Nowhere to hide now. They're coming for you. STAR Trying to cover this bruise up. It's a tough one. SIMONE Yeah, what else are you trying to cover up, Star? STAR Look, you can barely see it if I just wear my. SIMONE Stop. Hunter did that to you, didn't he? STAR Why are you crying, Simone? You really think I would let a man hit me? For real? Can't believe you would play like that. Stop. SIMONE Why are you lying to me? I know you. You're my sister. Yo, I'm about to kill his ass. STAR No, you are not. No, you are not, Simone. You're not gonna do anything because he's not worth it. SIMONE How could you let someone do that to you? STAR You of all people should know that you don't "let it happen." SIMONE STAR Simone, I'm done with him. All right? I'm done with him. SIMONE Star, where are you going? STAR I'm going to Hunter's, that's where I left my hoodie, and I need it for NextFest. SIMONE Are you out of your damn mind? What if he tries to do something again? STAR I hope he does. SIMONE Star! STAR I'll see you at NextFest. SIMONE Star, please. CARLOTTA Hey. I felt bad about how I came at you at the station. CARLOTTA Can we talk? RUTH ANNE How did you know where to find me? CARLOTTA Never mind that. RUTH ANNE What do you want? CARLOTTA Otis. He used to beat you, didn't he? RUTH ANNE And? CARLOTTA And I know how scared you were for the babies. I mean, if that monster came at them the way he came at Simone. RUTH ANNE Get out. CARLOTTA Come on. Woman to woman. CARLOTTA You knew Otis was coming for Simone. You knew and you followed him. You wanted to make sure he found her, so he would never come after you and them girls, ever. I mean, you, you were there, at the hair show, weren't you? CARLOTTA You did what you had to do. RUTH ANNE What he did, to Simone. To me. But not my babies. No. Soon as Simone left, he started in on them. And I couldn't. I wouldn't let him hurt my babies. I killed that bastard. And I'd kill him again if his black ass was still alive. HUNTER Oh, baby. I'm so glad you came back. I really need to... Really? Come on, put that down. Put it down, Star. STAR Take one more step toward me, and I will decorate these walls with the inside of your skull, Hunter. Try me. ALEXANDRA You do understand that this is a life-changing decision? And not just for you, but for me and the baby's life as well. DEREK Alex, come here. ALEXANDRA DEREK I want to have this baby. I want us to have this baby. Y'all are gonna make me the best version of myself that I've ever been. ALEXANDRA I came to Atlanta to make music. Not to get pregnant. DEREK I knew you was gonna say that. ALEXANDRA A boy was not in the picture. And then, here you come. We're gonna have a beautiful baby. DEREK We are. Who is that? ALEXANDRA It's the girls. It's showtime. DEREK Go. Baby gonna need some new shoes. So Mama got to get to singing. ALEXANDRA Oh, really? DEREK Really. ALEXANDRA I love you. DEREK I love you. JAHIL Where is everyone? CARLOTTA I closed up early for that NextFest craziness. But I'm glad you're here. I just told the girls the news. JAHIL What-what news? CARLOTTA Otis's wife confessed. She did it. JAHIL Are you serious? CARLOTTA I got it in my phone, I recorded the whole thing. JAHIL CARLOTTA You in the clear, Jahil. JAHIL Wow. CARLOTTA Come here. You safe now. SIMONE Thank you, Miss C. CARLOTTA All right, come on. Y'all got to get up out of here. Y'all got a contest to win. SIMONE Okay, you're right. CARLOTTA You all right? JAHIL Nah. CARLOTTA They told me they fired you. But you don't want to talk about it. 'Cause you high, right? JAHIL You think I could rock that cut right there? CARLOTTA No. JAHIL If I just got, like, a little shorter cut on the. CARLOTTA No. JAHIL A little razor right in there. CARLOTTA Mm-mm. JAHIL No? CARLOTTA Damn, Jahil, what you got, a half a jar of axle grease in your hair? JAHIL CARLOTTA And you smell like a bus station floor. Sit down. JAHIL What? Are you serious? CARLOTTA Just lay your head back, man. Let me scrub some of this jail funk off of you. JAHIL Come on, really? CARLOTTA That smell is the worst. You ain't going to jail, Jahil. God is good. JAHIL I'm messed up about them girls, Lottie. But you know, I guess I deserve it. After what I did to you and Mary. CARLOTTA You want my advice? JAHIL Uh no. ALEXANDRA She's still not hitting you back? SIMONE No, I've been blowing up her phone for, like, an hour. ALEXANDRA Oh, man, when's the last time. SIMONE You know, I-I've got to go check on her. ALEXANDRA Wait, Simone, what's going on? SIMONE Well, I hope it's nothing, but can you just get us registered and into the dressing room? And I'll be right back. ALEXANDRA All right. SIMONE Star! Star! Star! HUNTER Hey. SIMONE Hi. HUNTER Come on in. What's going on? SIMONE Where's Star? HUNTER I don't know, I haven't seen her. SIMONE Yeah, that's kind of funny, 'cause... I know she came here to get something. So she's here, ain't she? HUNTER You're the crazy one, aren't you? You got a little screw loose up in your head still? You think Star is here? I'm tired of not being trusted. SIMONE Oh. HUNTER Get out of here, bitch! SIMONE Star! Star, are you in here? Star! Star! Oh, my God. Star! Oh, my God. STAR Get out. SIMONE What did he do? Get up. STAR Where is he? SIMONE I hit him. STAR Where is he? SIMONE I hit him. Let's go. Go, go, go. Come on. STAR Wait. Wait, wait. SIMONE Star, wait. Don't pack. STAR Wake up, bitch. Wake up. I don't know who you thought you were messing with, but I am not the one. The next time you put your hands on a woman I will kill you. Simone, give me his hand. SIMONE Star. STAR Give me his hand! His throwing hand, this one. The one that he plays with. I'm so sorry, baby. I'll never do it again. MISS BRUCE Good Lord, y'all almost made me call the police. And you know I don't call no police. Y'all look wore out. Where's Eva? ALEXANDRA Come on, are you serious? She's still not here? MISS BRUCE Unless she in the back doin' one of them stagehands. With her hands. STAR BIG BOI Look who's here. ALEXANDRA What's up? BIG BOI What's up? STA We cool and ready. What's up with you? ALEXANDRA You don't look too happy. BIG BOI I mean, you can't be happy when you the bearer of bad news, right? STAR What bad news? BIG BOI I can't sign y'all, man, I'm sorry. STAR What you mean you aren't signing us? BIG BOI I made a deal with Eva. I'm good with you, I'm good. STAR You made a deal with Eva? Which is why she's not here? BIG BOI That Latin thing, that's what's poppin' right now. I'm trying to get to that Pitbull New Year's Eve check, you feel me? See, when I saw Eva rehearsing with y'all, I was like, "Man, that's the total package." Then I thought about you. We know you black, but I might be able to pass you off as a Latina. And we might be able to do some business later on, but for now, I think I'm-a go with that solo Latin vibe with Eva. Plus, you got a bun in the oven. And we don't play with baby mamas. You dig? SIMONE Adios, bro. STAR So, Eva told him you were pregnant and got herself a deal. SIMONE Great. ALEXANDRA You know what? Screw him. Screw Jahil. We been relying on everybody else, but it's always just been us. You were some chick I contacted on IG and sang, like, what, three bars of "This Woman's Work" for me? STAR And killed it. ALEXANDRA Okay, yes, you did. Before you were finished, what did you tell me? STAR I said I had a little sister somewhere who could sing. ALEXANDRA And before I met you- either of you- what did I do? SIMONE You hopped into our stolen car in New York and drove all the way down to Atlanta. ALEXANDRA No, no, no, no. Correction. I walked away from the Upper East Side of New York, darling. STAR Like a crazy person. ALEXANDRA Got in a stolen car. STAR That smelled like weed. ALEXANDRA And came all the way here to ATL. Because I believed in you. I believed in us and what we could become. STAR I can't argue with that. ALEXANDRA Look at how far we've come. STAR By ourselves. SIMONE Yo, 'cause. STAR Okay. All right. STAR Not right now. I'm serious. ALEXANDRA Oh, my God. SIMONE Come on, Miss Bruce. ALEXANDRA Okay, okay. I have news. SIMONE What? STAR Oh, I can't take no more bad news. Please. ALEXANDRA I decided to keep the baby. SIMONE Oh, we can do braids. STAR Braids! STAGE HAND Girls, you're up next. ALEXANDRA All right. SIMONE Okay. ALEXANDRA Let's get it. STAR It's gotten. HUNTER Jahil! EVA What happened? HUNTER Where's- where's Jahil? Where is he? EVA Hey. Why aren't you at a hospital? Who did this to you? HUNTER EVA What did you do to her? HUNTER Nothing. I had nothing but love for her. EVA Star's not capable of love. Well, you really want to hurt Star? HUNTER Yeah. EVA Yeah. ANNOUNCER Good evening, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Atlanta NextFest is proud to introduce to you guys our fifth and final contestants. This is Big Trouble. AUDIENCE AUDIENCE ANNOUNCER What an amazing show. Let's get all the contestants back out here, please. AUDIENCE ANNOUNCER The winner of tonight's Atlanta NextFest Honda Stage will get a million-dollar contract. AUDIENCE ANNOUNCER Yeah. Are y'all ready to find out who the winner is? AUDIENCE Yeah. ANNOUNCER Let me get a drumroll. And the winner is Big Trouble! AUDIENCE Trouble! Trouble! Trouble. ALEXANDRA Oh, my God, we did it. Girls, we did it. SIMONE ALEXANDRA We did it. What? STAR I think we did. We won the whole thing. ALEXANDRA We won? STAR Wow. STAGE HAND Ladies, where's your manager? The Atlanta NextFest and Honda people are waiting outside. ALEXANDRA Just give us a minute. SIMONE Yo, we ain't got a manager. ALEXANDRA No, we don't. STAR Who cares? After that, fools are gonna be knocking on our door trying to manage us. SIMONE Yeah, but I don't want anybody phony, I want someone that's. CARLOTTA Real? You need somebody who is gonna act in your best interests at all times. I've been around this game, I've seen all the angles and I would never lie to you. SIMONE You actually want to do something like this for us, Miss C? CARLOTTA Yeah. ALEXANDRA That's one of the most beautiful gestures I've seen. STAR Girl, you are so nice when you're pregnant. It's so weird. ALEXANDRA Wow, you really know how to ruin a moment. STAR Do you hear what you just said to her? CARLOTTA Yeah, you're super pregnant right now. STAR All right, you all seem excited. Do I get an opinion? CARLOTTA Always. STAR Do I still got to wash hair? CARLOTTA Now, you know don't nobody live under my roof without paying bills. STAR I got to wash hair, and you're gonna take 10%? ALEXANDRA Wow. STAR That what you're saying? CARLOTTA I was thinking more like 20% STAR 20% of what? ALEXANDRA Oh, you just always got to complain about something, don't you? STAR You didn't hear what she said? ALEXANDRA Just. STAR Y'all didn't hear her? ALEXANDRA Just know when to. SIMONE She loves you, Miss C. That's what she means. STAR Shout out to my translator. CARLOTTA I love you all, too. ALL CARLOTTA Come here. Y'all are like my bad daughters. ALL CARLOTTA You guys rocked it tonight. STAR Thank you. This hug is a lot. CARLOTTA Yeah, I never hug that long. You know the first thing I'm gonna do, right? STAR Huh? CARLOTTA I'm gonna change y'all name from Big Trouble. ALEXANDRA Please do. STAR That was a Jahil thing. CARLOTTA Exactly. Jahil. STAR ALEXANDRA Very high. CARLOTTA Plus, y'all act like big trouble, so I might just want to give you something like Jesus' Angels or. ALEXANDRA What? CARLOTTA God's Blessed Singers. STAR Bye, Miss Carlotta. CARLOTTA Good job. Bye. Love. STAR 20%? ALEXANDRA But we did it. STAR She's tripping. ALEXANDRA Doesn't matter right now. ALL STAR My earring! ANNOUNCER Here they are, back for one more song, live on the Honda Stage, it is Atlanta's NextFest winners. Y'all give it up for Big Trouble! AUDIENCE CARLOTTA I love you, baby. COTTON Mama, am I a girl? COP Arnold Brown, you're under arrest for grand theft. COTTON Mama! ALEXANDRA We won! We won! DEREK Oh, congratulations. I'm so proud of you. STAR We miss you next door. ALEXANDRA We're gonna come see you as soon as we're done. DEREK Y'all better come see me. I'm lonely here. GIRLS Miss you next door. Bye, bye. DEREK I love you, too. I love you.