ALEXANDRA ANDY ANGEL ASSISTANT AUDIENCE AYANNA CARLOTTA CASSIE CHARLES COTTON DEREK DISPATCHER DOCTOR FAN FANS FAN_2 FAN_3 FIREFIGHTER GIGI HOST INSPECTOR JAHIL MARY MAURICE MISS_BRUCE MISS_CHRISTINE MISS_RUBY NICKI NOAH OMARI PHOTOGRAPHER SIMONE SONG STAR WOMAN CARLOTTA Previously on Star. AYANNA And the winner is Noah Brooks! ALEXANDRA Why would I do that when my boyfriend is out there? NOAH Ask yourself that question. INSPECTOR Your salon has been administering illegal cosmetic surgeries. Miss Brown, we're shutting down God's Blessings. CARLOTTA You're fired. JAHIL Yeah, I'm trying to get a hold of Charles Floyd. Tell him I got something he's gonna want to see. CHARLES You sold me out. You don't have a label anymore. ANGEL You stole my song. JAHIL You've been playing me this whole time? ANGEL Guess it runs in the family, man. ANGEL Hey. I'm getting you help. COTTON Elliot? Baby. OMARI You not living without me, Cotton. So if that means you got to go, then that's what it's gonna be. SIMONE Karen's in there, okay? CARLOTTA Oh, my God. Somebody's dead. AUDIENCE Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. GIGI MARY Are you having fun? When are you gonna tell your sister? STAR SIMONE Star, I'm sleeping. STAR Well, get up. We got to go get Carlotta from the hospital. Get in the shower. SIMONE Why me? STAR Because if I go first and use up all the hot water, Miss Ruby will say it was my white privilege. SIMONE Star! SIMONE That's what she said yesterday. Sim. STAR Come on, Miss Carlotta. It's been a week. The fire marshal says it's safe to go inside. You good? CARLOTTA Yeah. Oh, we done lost so much. My God. FIREFIGHTER Is there someone inside the house? CARLOTTA I don't know. I'm trying to reach my daughter to find out. COTTON Hey, Mom. You okay? CARLOTTA Hey, baby. I can't believe you made it out of there. Mm. Mm-mm. COTTON It's okay, Momma. It's okay. I'm alive. It's like you always say, God has his hands on us. STAR Yeah, he sure does. CARLOTTA How's Jahil? COTTON He's still in the hospital. He should be home soon. CARLOTTA I told him to leave that damn coke alone. He hardheaded. COTTON He's trying to get his life together. CARLOTTA How about you? How you doing since Elliot? I'm sorry I wasn't nice to that man. So, we gonna get through it. But we gonna be all right as long as I got all my girls. You ain't still messing with that convict, are you? STAR Cotton, if you don't tell her, I will. SIMONE You know, Miss Ruby said that we could stay at her place as long as we need to, right? CARLOTTA Lord. STAR Exactly. Probably had better nights in foster care. COTTON The marshal said we should have the salon back up and running in no time. CARLOTTA Yeah, that's if they don't play no games with the insurance. Besides, the health department shut us down. Come on, let's-let's get this done. Y'all ready? This place ain't gonna clean itself. STAR Yeah. Simone? Simone. SIMONE I I can't. STAR Simone. Simone. Hey. SIMONE No, no, no, no, no. I can't go in there. I need one of those pills. STAR We don't do pills. You're not at Ayanna's anymore. SIMONE When I close my eyes, I see Karen. When I close my eyes, I see how I screwed up at the showcase. When I close my eyes, I'm back at juvie. STAR And when I close my eyes, I see my beautiful sister who has been through so much and is gonna get through this. Breathe. SIMONE Karen died in that fire because of me. STAR Simone, you got to stop blaming yourself for every bad thing that happens around you. Right now it's just like always. The only thing that can fix our lives is our dream. We need to focus on our radio play. SIMONE Why does that matter right now? STAR Because that is the only thing that can get us out of here. If Charles Floyd sells that label, that's the only leverage we have with whoever owns it next. We got to keep our heads in the game no matter what. SIMONE Okay, where is your head at, Star? You know, maybe that kiss was part of that fake relationship. STAR Simone, that kiss was real. Noah's feeling Alex. Period. And she's moved out of Derek's, so what do you think that means? SIMONE Why don't you just ask her? STAR The only thing I need to talk to Alex about is music. ANGEL How long they got you in here? JAHIL Oh, man, I I don't even know. ANGEL I can't keep doing this. I got a drunk for a dad. I don't need a cokehead in my life. JAHIL I was just so messed up that night y'all fired me. I thought we were in this thing together. You know? And then you just turned. ANGEL That's why I was there, to apologize. I was wrong. But still, I. JAHIL I got a lot of work to do on the family front. Okay? I know. But, hey, let me manage you. ANGEL How come. JAHIL What? Let me manage you. Man, I got some cash, too. I got some cash to promote your music because I saw they dropped your single and you ain't getting no downloads. You ain't getting no play. ANGEL JAHIL What? ANGEL Yo, you a hustler, Tío, through and through. JAHIL But I ain't hustling you. You hear me? I ain't hustling you. And I'm gonna prove it. CARLOTTA You know, It's only been ten days since you lost Karen. You don't have to go in there if you don't want to. Take all the time you need. I'm here. SIMONE Thanks. CARLOTTA I just got off the phone with Alex. The interview with Noah went well. STAR Cool. She coming here to help now? CARLOTTA Nah, I just told her to stay there. I set a meeting with Maurice at the label. SIMONE You can't go. You just got home. CARLOTTA I got to figure out how to fix things with the single. Insurance adjustor again. Between them and the fire marshall and the arson investigator, course they think I burned down my own salon. STAR You know what, Miss Carlotta? Let us go down there and talk to Maurice. You got all this going on. CARLOTTA I'm your manager. I got this. SIMONE Please. Let us do it. I need to get out of here. CARLOTTA Okay. Call me when you get something. STAR Bye. SIMONE Bye. STAR We'll behave. CARLOTTA Prove it. MISS BRUCE Have a bundle of 32-inch Brazilian in the car if you're nice. CARLOTTA I ain't talking to you. I got the detectives telling me I'm a suspect because my name is on the insurance. I got no money coming in and I'm up to my ass in debt. And because that girl got killed in the fire, it's a homicide now. MISS BRUCE They came by my crib yesterday. Somebody told them you fired me. They thought I was a suspect. I had no parts in this. This was just much my house as it was yours, Cotton's and them little, hateful girls. We gonna rebuild this. CARLOTTA With everything. The girls, the salon. MISS BRUCE Your wigs. CARLOTTA My wigs. My wigs. MISS CHRISTINE 26 years, burned down. All because of your sorry ass. CARLOTTA Hi, Ma. Cassie. MISS BRUCE Hey, Miss Christine. MISS CHRISTINE Hey. CASSIE Where you been, heffa? MISS BRUCE Bitch, where you been? CASSIE In my skin. MISS CHRISTINE So what's the tea? CARLOTTA They saying it's arson. CASSIE Was that before or after the health department shut it down? CARLOTTA You know? I’m not even going in with you today. CASSIE You ain't going nowhere, because this place is burnt boots. I don't know if you've noticed. MISS BRUCE Cassie, you're really trying it. Carlotta ain't the one for that today. CASSIE Well, neither am I. CARLOTTA Well, I got a pocket full of ass-whooping, just say the word. Say something, Cassie. CASSIE Oh, please, Carlotta, ain't nobody scared of you. Ain't nobody scared of you. CARLOTTA You should be, as many times as I've whooped your ass. CASSIE That's what you thought. That's what you thought 'cause you thinking you better than everybody else. CASSIE No, that's what I did. MISS CHRISTINE Enough. I didn't come here for this. CARLOTTA Well, what you come here for, Ma? COTTON She's here because I called her. We need help. MISS CHRISTINE You're already broke, dreams burnt down. You ain't got no room for pride, girl. CASSIE FAN Oh, my God! FANS FAN 2 I know all the words to your songs. FAN 3 Noah, Noah, your boo's here. FANS NOAH Hey, smile. FANS Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her! SIMONE I know that he won the showcase, but it feels like they both did. STAR Let's go. SIMONE Aren't you gonna wait for Alex? STAR She ain't waiting for us. FANS GIGI Hey. I thought those fans were for me, but they were all about you and Noah. ALEXANDRA I know. It's crazy. GIGI How you been? Been trying to reach you. ALEXANDRA My bad. GIGI What, you and Noah been holed up and getting it in, huh? ALEXANDRA That kiss was a mistake. GIGI ALEXANDRA Derek found us backstage, and we. GIGI Wait. Derek literally rolled up on y'all? ALEXANDRA It's not funny, Gigi. He kicked me out. I haven't even picked up my stuff yet. I got to work with Noah to get this radio play. GIGI I can get y'all on the radio. I'm doing this pop-up shop at this loft. Premiering my new joint. What if I get you guys to sing on a track, and then direct my fans to your track? Boom. ALEXANDRA Boom? GIGI Done, bitch, done. Let's roll. MISS CHRISTINE I told you that place could've made us a lot of money. But no, your ass wanted a clean business. Look at it now. CARLOTTA I don't know why you talking. As many welfare checks and social security numbers as I faked for you, consider us even. CASSIE Mama, don't let this bitch get your blood pressure all raised up. CARLOTTA Bitch? CASSIE Yeah, bitch. We got business to take care of. CARLOTTA And what would that be? No, let me guess. You want me to reopen the salon so I can start cleaning a couple hundred thousand, huh? I ain't stupid. I know this family. CASSIE We have an offer to buy. CARLOTTA I ain't interested. CASSIE Carlotta, please. You know the salon and the house is in Mama's name. CARLOTTA And mine. Ain't no sale without me. She getting fat, Ma. You need to tell her to lose a couple pounds. CASSIE My man likes my pounds. DEREK Hey, Grandma. MISS RUBY I-It's not strange having them stay here, is it? DEREK No. MISS RUBY We, um all saw that kiss. She made a mistake. I know you love her. DEREK You know, Grandma, I don't want to talk about that. MISS RUBY All right, honey, you a grown man. I respect that. Do it again. How long has this been happening? DEREK Since the showcase. MISS RUBY I'm gonna get you a new therapist. DEREK Grandma. Uh, how you gonna pay for that? We still don't have my settlement check. MISS RUBY If you can find a way to move that foot, I'm-a find a way to pay for that therapy. DEREK All right. STAR What country is this? MAURICE I see you've made yourself comfortable. Where's Carlotta? SIMONE She had to do some stuff with the salon, so we came here to handle our business. Which is telling you to put our damn song on the radio. Please. MAURICE Your single's online. People are hearing it. STAR Not enough people. We need plays right now, or we're going back to square one. You know that, right? Can you hear the fans outside yelling Alex's name? We got heat. MAURICE They're not screaming "Alex and Take Three." They're screaming "Alex and Noah." That's what I hear. Take Three's not a priority. ALEXANDRA But what if we're on GiGi's new track? At the pop-up tonight? Gigi telling me she wants us to premiere the new song with her. After the gig, she'll drop it online with links to Take Three. STAR Sounds like Take Three just became a priority. MAURICE You make that happen, y'all are back in the game. DOCTOR Mr. Rivera. I want you to stop working and get some rest. JAHIL Look, Doc, when can I get the hell out of here? DOCTOR You know, you're a lucky man. The amount of cocaine you took, you should be dead, given your condition. You have a bad heart. You need to take it easy, which means less stress, less alcohol and definitely no more cocaine. As a matter of fact, I want to consider rehab. Next time, you might not be so lucky. OMARI Do not scream. I'm gonna do whatever it takes. You're not living without me, Cotton. MISS CHRISTINE You ain't acting right. COTTON I'm okay. MISS CHRISTINE Why did you really call me to come down here? COTTON I-I just want you and Mama to make up. MISS CHRISTINE When pigs fly. Come on, let's go get something to eat. Let's go get one of those Patti peach cobblers. COTTON That's diabetes in a box. We'll be fat. MISS CHRISTINE You ain't the only one who know how to duct and tuck. COTTON ALEXANDRA Okay. That should be good. GiGi wants us to come in after the second verse. How it is, uh, staying at Miss Ruby's? SIMONE You mean Derek's? What's going on with y'all? ALEXANDRA I'm sorry. One sec. It's Noah. Yep? Why can't we just switch it to tomorrow? I'm rehearsing right now. Fine. Yeah, I'll see you there. You guys can, uh, start without me. They want me to do a photospread with Noah. SIMONE Star. ALEXANDRA You know what? I'm doing this for us. SIMONE I mean, she ain't bitching, she's just you know, Star ain't good with her feelings, so. ALEXANDRA And what about you? You are? You haven't said one word about Karen. SIMONE I mean, I didn't talk about her much before she died, so. ALEXANDRA Yeah, but why? You know we have your back, Simone. SIMONE Yeah, well, it's just 'cause, at first, it wasn't nothing, you know? It was. I mean, we were cool, we were friends, and being into her just it just happened, all at once. Like, before I even knew I was feeling that way, I was done. I was just. ALEXANDRA You were already in. SIMONE Yeah. ALEXANDRA Well you guys don't have anything to worry about with me and Noah. SIMONE Yeah. Yeah, 'cause it's all fake, right? ALEXANDRA Yeah. Well. SIMONE That kiss that you guys shared at the showcase, that wasn't the only time? ALEXANDRA I'm gonna be late. PHOTOGRAPHER Can we get a fresh battery on this camera over here? ASSISTANT Hey, we'll be ready in about five minutes. ANDY Looks real. So the interviewer wants to ask you guys a couple questions about the video, the kiss and, uh, she's gonna take it from there. NOAH Why are you here? Where's Rachel? ANDY Rachel's probably out day drinking with the rest of the people that quit when Ayanna got fired. Charles Floyd is up there in the office rearranging God knows what, and Angel and I, we're just trying to get our singles off. ALEXANDRA Well, we don't have any radio play, either. ANDY Hmm. That's interesting. Only person that ain't got to put in work around here is you. NOAH So what, you jealous, now? ANDY Man, I'm just trying to see if history will repeat itself. NOAH Hatin' ass. NOAH Um, look, I-I heard about the fire. I'm sorry about Carlotta. You know, she's good people. ALEXANDRA Yeah. Which is why I should be with her right now, instead of at this wack interview with you. I'm doing this for radio play, for Take Three. That's it. That's all this is. SIMONE Oh! Yo, this place is dope. ALEXANDRA They are pushing these two hard. STAR Wow. New album, new image. Frickin' big ass pictures. It should've been us. Where's GiGi at? ALEXANDRA She said she'd meet us here. And she's still at the studio, making some final touches on the track. STAR So Alex, you gonna be all about Take Three tonight? Instead of Noah's boo? ALEXANDRA Look, if you have something to say to me, I suggest you say it right now. STAR I just did. Let's get dressed. ALEXANDRA That's what I thought. SIMONE Hey, I'll be back. Can you hold this? STAR Yeah. Don't go far. NOAH I just bought this. Gonna renovate-vate it, you know what I'm saying, rent it out. SIMONE Hey, Noah Brooks. NOAH What's up, Simone? SIMONE Yo, you a dog. NOAH Hey, give me. Give me a second. Give me a second. Why you coming for me like this? SIMONE You got both of them girls thinking that they got something with you. You know, Star don't open up to nobody, and she was about to open up to your crazy ass. And you played her. NOAH Okay, listen, you got it all twisted, all right? Star didn't want nothing to do with me. SIMONE Yes, she did. And she was gonna tell you. NOAH Well, I didn't know. SIMONE Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's because you were too busy messing up Alex's life. 'Cause you're a playa. That's what playas do. NOAH Okay, I didn't play anybody, all right? Star backed off from me. So I let her go. But that's what she wanted. And-and what me and Alex had. SIMONE You and Alex what? NOAH We just got something. SIMONE Yo, so you got feelings for the both of them. That's real messed up. Look, I know you're a superstar and all, and we're crashing. So right now's not the best time to be creeping around. NOAH You're crashing? What Maurice just released your record -to the radio. What are you talking about? SIMONE But we ain't got no radio play. Yo, this ain't a game to us. Tonight is all we got. So stay the hell away from Alex and Star so nobody gets hurt. Got it? Men are trash. MISS CHRISTINE Since you won't let me tear this bitch down, the least I could do is help you clean it up. CARLOTTA I don't need help. I got it. MISS CHRISTINE Aw, you always did have such thick, pretty hair. But. CARLOTTA I knew there was a "but." MISS CHRISTINE But why do you hide it? Why do you always wear those ugly wigs? CARLOTTA It's not like I'm hiding something, Ma. My wigs are my style. MISS CHRISTINE Your style? You ain't got no style. When's the last time you talked to your daughter? CARLOTTA Actually, we talk a lot more now. We good. MISS CHRISTINE You sure? CARLOTTA Ma, don't come up in here, startin' no mess. And stop acting like you know Cotton better than I do. MISS CHRISTINE Well, I sure knew her better when you didn't know if she was a boy or girl, didn't I? CARLOTTA And you ain't never gonna let me forget it. MISS CHRISTINE You got that right. CARLOTTA All you need to know about my daughter is that I got her. And I'm a better mother to her than you ever were to me. MISS CHRISTINE Who are you talking to, heifer? STAR You good? SIMONE No. But I can sing backup. STAR There's radio people out there tonight. It's the whole reason for this. We got to pop. I know you can do it. SIMONE Pop. STAR What you still doing? Let's go. It's time to sing. ALEXANDRA Mm. GiGi's song. This this beat is different. STAR But we still got to sing the song. As long as the melody's the same. Let's go. ALEXANDRA No. No, we're not singing this song. STAR You're trippin'. We're singing it. ALEXANDRA We're not, okay? The hook is plagiarized. STAR Yo, Alex, wait up. ALEXANDRA Yo, I need to holler at you. GIGI Hey, girl. You ready to kill it tonight? Did you hear the new track? Dope, right? ALEXANDRA Yeah. STAR Yeah. ALEXANDRA Yeah, yeah, real dope. I didn't know you were sampling a hook from Lil' Rage. GIGI I'm not. ALEXANDRA The new hook you just put on "Bossy" is the exact same. GIGI Well, yeah, I know. ALEXANDRA You know? GIGI Girl, are you serious? Can't you see I'm busy right now? ALEXANDRA You just plagiarized it and you think that's okay? GIGI "You straight up plagiarized it and you think that's okay?" Girl, you grew up in the industry. You know how it works. Why you trippin'? This whole damn industry is built off of people boosting from each other. Look, I'm doing you a solid, girl, not the other way around. STAR I'm so sorry, GiGi. I don't know what came over her. She's probably drunk. GIGI Or too caught up in Noah's ass to be thinking straight. You're supposed to be smarter than that. WOMAN I know it's all about relationships. HOST Loads of drama. WOMAN Yes, it is. HOST Break it down for me. CARLOTTA I know you lost Elliot. And that pain don't just go away. How you hangin'? COTTON CARLOTTA Why is my crazy-ass mother telling me there's something's wrong with you? What happened the night of the fire? DISPATCHER 9-1-1, what is your emergency? Hello? Is anyone there? CARLOTTA I know Omari killed Elliot. Did he threaten you? OMARI Do not scream. I'm gonna continue to take people away from you until you give me what I want. COTTON Omari's not why I'm sad, Mama. It's Elliot. I promise. STAR So you our manager now? Just calling shots like our votes don't count? ALEXANDRA You, out of all people, are saying this to me right now? You cannot seriously think we're about to debut a dirty song. STAR I seriously think we can do whatever it takes. And that's what it takes right now. But you don't care about that, as long as it doesn't interrupt your little glow-up. I'm sorry, I mean Derek... Oh, not Derek. Noah's glow-up. ALEXANDRA It's a lie, okay? It's cheating. STAR You, of all people, are talking to me about cheating? SIMONE Star, don't. ALEXANDRA That's none of your business. STAR Okay, let's do this, Alex. Let's have this conversation. SONG STAR You cannot just walk away from me. You made this my business when you let it affect the group. ALEXANDRA You knew this was a fake relationship. STAR Fake? ALEXANDRA Yes, fake. STAR From where I was standing, that kiss looked pretty real. You gonna stand here and tell me that you didn't have something with him before that showcase? ALEXANDRA I didn't. But I wanted to. Might as well just tell you guys now. Derek didn't break up with me because of that kiss. STAR What are you talking about? ALEXANDRA Noah and I after the show, we. We almost had sex. STAR And you call me a whore. Your man's in a wheelchair and you're getting it from Noah. ALEXANDRA I just said "almost." Just like how you almost slept with my dad. STAR Oh, my God. ALEXANDRA I'm trying to tell you the truth right now, and you're judging me on this? STAR cause I was there first, Alex. SIMONE Oh, finally. ALEXANDRA Fir. Where first? STAR I was with Noah first. Before this fake relationship ever even started. ALEXANDRA How long? STAR A couple of months. We were gonna break it off before the showcase. And I was pushing him away. I didn't want to. And I was gonna tell him. AUDIENCE NOAH What's up, y'all? Just dropped this three days ago, and, um, this will be the first live performance. So. I hope you enjoy it. Let's do it. AUDIENCE ALEXANDRA You packed everything up. DEREK I think I got it all. ALEXANDRA Derek, I'm so sorry. DEREK I asked you to tell me if there was something. What happened? ALEXANDRA I don't know. I was just confused. And so much has happened this year. Derek, I had an abortion. Not a miscarriage. I knew you'd be mad that I lied to you. I think that's why I was stealing. I felt like my life was spinning out of control, and stealing gave me control. DEREK Stop. ALEXANDRA I wasn't myself anymore. And that pushed me further away from you. And then Noah came. I'm so sorry. DEREK I would have understood. What I don't understand is how you've... you've been lying to me since the day we met. ALEXANDRA I know. DEREK Do you? Noah ain't got nothing to do with any of this. You're feeling him? Why don't you just be honest? Stop using me as an excuse. STAR My bad. I can come back. DEREK No, we're done. STAR What's all this? ALEXANDRA It's the last of my stuff. It's over. ALEXANDRA Um I'm gonna go put these in the house. STAR All right. Tell Carlotta we'll be in in a minute. ALEXANDRA Hey, Simone. STAR Tell Carlotta we'll be in in a minute. ALEXANDRA All right. STAR You know, sitting out here is not gonna make it less real. SIMONE Yeah, you don't get it. You never lost someone like this. And don't you dare say Hunter, because Karen's nothing like his sorry ass. STAR Oh, I know. SIMONE Yeah, you were caught up in all this stupid drama. It was like she was just some random street kid that no one cared about. Like her life didn't matter. But I loved her. STAR I know. I'm sorry I didn't know her. SIMONE It's okay. 'Cause I did. STAR You know, I felt like I saw Mama that night. When the paramedics were taking Karen away, it was like Mama dying all over again. And for a second, I thought it was I thought you were under the sheet. I've been thinking about Mama a lot lately. What I'm saying is, you deal how you deal. And we'll be okay. SIMONE Am I a lesbian now? Am I a lesbian? STAR I don't know. How would I know? But I hate labels. SIMONE Yeah, okay. STAR It don't matter. STAR What's up, Miss C? CARLOTTA Maurice told me that Charles Floyd is taking over the label. STAR That's a good thing, right? ALEXANDRA I mean, anything's better than Ayanna. SIMONE Just don't sleep with him. STAR Who, Charles Floyd? What is he, like, 70? SIMONE Ew. CARLOTTA STAR I have a very specific cutoff. CARLOTTA Oh, God. Listen, this could be a clean slate for y'all. I mean, Ayanna was trying to prove herself, but Charles, we already know what he can do. He's a star-maker. You play your cards right and your ship could be coming in. The question is, are y'all ready to get on? ALEXANDRA Wh-Why is that hand there again? STAR Because she's not gonna let go of this thing. Let's just do it for her. It's. SIMONE All right, fine. ALEXANDRA Oh. STAR She's not gonna stop. CARLOTTA Yes. Come on, let's go. STAR But tonight, we got to say good-bye to somebody special. ANDY Please tell me you talked to your uncle. ANGEL No, man. And I wouldn't hold your breath. You know he likes to make a lot of promises he can't keep. JAHIL Turn on the radio. ANDY What? He has risen indeed. ANGEL Who the hell let you out the hospital? JAHIL I made nice with a few of the nurses. Now, turn on the radio or you're gonna miss your track. ANDY Jahil, what are you talking about? JAHIL I paid for 500 spins, which means I just put you both into the big leagues. ANDY I mean, 500 spins is barely the big leagues. JAHIL Oh, you been on the radio before? You? You been on, you been on the radio before? ANGEL No, man. JAHIL No? Oh. ANDY Wait a minute. JAHIL Is that your track? Come on, y'all, you got a plan of your own? 'Cause let me tell you something right now, Charles Floyd, if he does decide to sell this label, this means insurance. It gives you the chance to land somewhere else. You're welcome. ANGEL ANDY It's on the radio. ANGEL It's your last second chance, man. JAHIL Well, look, I hate to be a dick about it, nephew, but I'm gonna take as many second chances as I want. You know why? 'Cause I got you signed to a three year contract and you, too. So just quit your bitchin', sit back and enjoy the ride, huh? ANDY You gonna let him call you a bitch? It don't matter. We on the radio. I'm about to take up all Charles Floyd label. ANGEL Go get it. ANDY Angel! We're on the radio, baby! CASSIE Ugh. Why are you in here? CARLOTTA Look, not now. I don't feel like fighting. I'm tired and I just want to drink. CASSIE Oh. Nasty. CARLOTTA Mm-hmm. Ain't yours, anyway. Whatever. CASSIE You know Ronnie Lawson died. CARLOTTA What? CASSIE Yeah. CARLOTTA How? CASSIE They say it was lung infection, but, you know, I think it was AIDS. CARLOTTA CASSIE Y'all used to get lit after every service on Sunday. Ooh. CARLOTTA That was my baby. CASSIE That was my baby. He was my crush. CARLOTTA Yeah, he was mine, too. Hmm. Till you slept with him. CASSIE Bitch, there you go with that crazy imagination of yours. I never slept with Ronnie Lawson. CARLOTTA Mm-hmm. That's what he said. CASSIE Then he's a liar. CARLOTTA He's the one that told me that. CASSIE God rest his soul. CARLOTTA 'Cause he was a liar. CASSIE He was. CARLOTTA Lyin' ass. He used to get away with it with them green eyes. CASSIE Okay. CARLOTTA Aw, God bless his fine ass. CASSIE Yeah. CARLOTTA What happened to us, Cass? CASSIE You want to go there? You picked a side. You wanted to be legit, and there ain't no legit bone in your body, Carlotta. There's not. I picked survival. CASSIE Yo, you don't know me. CASSIE I know you a lot. And it was easier, because Mama always liked you better. CARLOTTA Well, you got the singing voice. CASSIE Oh, hey, Mama. MISS CHRISTINE I ain't going nowhere. CARLOTTA Mama, put that damn gun back in your purse. COTTON Mama, I'm the one that needs it. MISS CHRISTINE Show them, baby. CARLOTTA Oh, my God. Is this why you called your grandmother here? You thought I couldn't protect you? COTTON I didn't want you to. CARLOTTA Why? MISS CHRISTINE Because you shot his ass and he still ain't scared of you. COTTON He says he's gonna kill you, Mama. Just let Grandma and Titi Cassie take care of it. They still in this life. CARLOTTA So wh-what are you saying here? CASSIE To sit your ass down. CARLOTTA No. I'm calling the police. MISS CHRISTINE Lottie! CARLOTTA No. I said no. MISS CHRISTINE Come back here. STAR I know you've been holding your feelings in for us. You don't have to. ALEXANDRA We want to know everything about Karen. SIMONE We almost kissed right there. STAR Almost? SIMONE Yeah. Hmm. STAR That's not the Davis way, girl. We finish the deed. Even when we're sharing dudes. ALEXANDRA So what we doing? ALEXANDRA Uh, you do know this is illegal, right? SIMONE Uh-huh. STAR So is half the stuff you've done since you've been with us. You're corrupt now, too. ALEXANDRA Fair enough. ALEXANDRA Look, about Noah. STAR We don't even got to do this. For real, I don't, I don't want this coming between us. ALEXANDRA Same. Ain't no boy getting in the way of our dream. STAR Never. Bros before hos. Forever. ALEXANDRA Forever. NICKI This your girl Nicki. I got some of the hottest tracks coming up in just a little bit. But first, I want you all to check out. ALEXANDRA Wait. Is that our song? STAR Did you leave your phone plugged in? It's not the radio. NICKI Coming straight out of Midtown. STAR That's not the radio. ALEXANDRA That's-that's the radio. STAR That's not the radio. SIMONE Yo, yo, yo, yo! ALEXANDRA Oh, my God! STAR That is not—Simone. Simone, we're on the radio. We're on the radio, girl! SIMONE Yo, it's Karen. She's lookin' down on us, okay? That's her. STAR She's got a heavenly connection to Hot 97? ALEXANDRA Okay. Okay. STAR Thank you, girl. SIMONE Oh, my God. STAR Hey. Hey. STAR This is us, bro. This is us. MARY If you're not gonna tell her, then I will.