ALEXANDRA ANDY ANGEL AYANNA CARLOTTA CASSIE COTTON DEREK DJ_NASH DOCTOR DOCTOR_1 DOCTOR_2 DR_FISHER HOSPITAL_STAFF ICE_AGENT_1 JAHIL JAYDEN JEFF LENA MAN MAURICE MISS_BRUCE NAKISHA NATALIE NOAH NURSE OFFICER PALLBEARER_1 PAPARAZZI PEOPLE SIMONE STAR WOMAN CARLOTTA Previously, on Star. CARLOTTA Principal Sportswear just called. They're looking for somebody for their new add campaign. MAURICE Now, I find the next big thing, I make my name. I'm gonna go old school like back in the day. NATALIE Or you could just look right under your nose. CASSIE Get the hell out of here. I said, move, boy. CARLOTTA Sponsor called. NOAH So, they're ready to make an offer? CARLOTTA Well, actually, they did. MAURICE Yeah, well, you know, Alex, she's making a name for herself. The question is, what are you gonna do to stand out? JAYDEN Am I gonna die? JAHIL I'm not gonna let you die. CARLOTTA You drinking again? This is the reason Sound House was hesitant to work with you in the first place. WOMAN Are you Angel Rivera? SIMONE What is it? ANGEL It's a letter from Immigration. They denied my DACA application. PAPARAZZI Alex, Alex. Over here. Over here, over here. Alex, what do you think about the Scoopish articles? STAR Alex don't got time to show up to our studio session, but she has time to talk to the paparazzi? SIMONE Wow, what did Alex do now? PAPARAZZI How do you feel about Noah and Star's new duet? Any beef between you two? ALEXANDRA There's no beef. It was cute. STAR Cute? I got your cute. ALEXANDRA What I want you all to focus on is my new solo track. I'm gonna collab with a dope ass producer. PAPARAZZI Solo track? So, without Take Three? Are the other girls mad at you- STAR What solo song? Do you know about this? PAPARAZZI When’s the last time you talked with Noah? Alex, Alex- STAR Simone. What's wrong with you? SIMONE Why are you paying attention to that mess, anyway? Don't we got something to record? STAR I can't believe you don't care. But I didn't come all this way to be Alex's come up. SIMONE Okay. JEFF Well. I must say, Miss Floyd. It is good to have you back at the helm. AYANNA Thank you, Jeff. It's been a struggle, in the face of my father's never ending publicity storm. But I'm primed to elevate this label. JEFF And you believe that, uh, Noah Brooks can do that, huh? AYANNA We're half way there. Sound House has asked to hear his album and national tour's around the corner. NOAH They haven't come on board yet? CARLOTTA Don't worry, they'll come on board. AYANNA Noah has to charm the hell out of Sound House. Kiss some ass. Work the room. The Sound House reps will be watching him closely. Tonight's a game-changer. NOAH Um. I-I just want to thank everybody for believing in me. I-I won't let you down, I promise. JEFF Well, I hope that's true, young man. So, this new album. What's it called? NOAH Well, it's um. It's called The Truth. CARLOTTA You kill this party tonight, you're going to be selling out arenas all summer. ANGEL Who is it? I said, who is it? JAHIL Yeah, you get some rest? The hell's the matter with you? Hey, Cotton, I'm gonna call you back. Why are you waving that gun around, man? ANGEL What you want, man? JAHIL Your contract with Andy. I'm gonna tear it up. ANGEL Yeah, right. JAHIL Go ahead, take it. ANGEL That don't matter now. JAHIL Angel, look, I'm just trying to do the right thing. ANGEL I'm being deported. JAHIL Wait, what? JAHIL Yeah. JAHIL No, look. I got to help you figure this out. ANGEL No. You sound like a broken record. You can't help nobody. You can't even help your damn self. Dad was right about you this whole time. JAHIL You know what? I've always loved you like a son, nephew. All I ever wanted to do was help you and your mother. ANGEL Don't bring Mom into this. You know how you help me? Stay out of my business. That’s all you got to do, man. JAHIL Angel. CARLOTTA Wow, you weren't lying. Everybody and their mama's coming tonight. You really backed up the money truck. AYANNA I'm putting every resource Midtown has behind Noah. He deserves it. CARLOTTA Well, it feels good to finally be on the same side. AYANNA I know how instrumental you were in helping Noah get through his demons to finish this album. Thank you. I owe you. CARLOTTA Well, I can't take all the credit. Take 3 also made a lot of sacrifices of their own to help Noah get here, too. Clearly, they ain't just talent show winners anymore. They got hits, radio play, growing fan base. AYANNA Where's this going, Carlotta? CARLOTTA I'd like you to revisit the terms of their contract. Let them know how valuable they are at this label. AYANNA I'll give them an album release date. CARLOTTA It's a good start. But I know you can do better than that. AYANNA What're your demands? CARLOTTA How much time you got? AYANNA Hmm. CARLOTTA Okay, first of all. Our budget is a third less than any other break out artist on any other label. I've done my research. It takes money to make money, Ayanna. AYANNA Set up a meeting with my team. I see your girls aren't the only ones stepping up their game. SIMONE How was it? STAR Amazing. You're amazing. ALEXANDRA No, no, I-I have not forgotten. I will be at the listening party, right by your side. I promise. Okay. Okay, bye. STAR Welcome. This recording session started 45 minutes ago. ALEXANDRA And how much of my part did you sing while I was away? STAR Do you care? I heard you were going solo. SIMONE Can y'all stop, please? CARLOTTA Listen up. Good news. I finally got Ayanna to give us an album release date. Plus, I got her to open up your contracts so we can renegotiate. So now is the time to be really clear about what we want. ALEXANDRA Easy. I want a guarantee that I can do projects outside of Take 3. STAR You're already doing that. ALEXANDRA Yeah, but maybe we should get it on paper. So you can stop acting like a bitch every time I'm given an opportunity. STAR Maybe you should decide once and for all if you're here for Alexandra Crane or Take 3. Because if it's not Take 3, why are you here? CARLOTTA This is not about you, or you. I'm in there fighting for an entire group. SIMONE You know, it sure as hell don't feel like one, Miss C. You know what? I think I'm done. I think I'm really done with Take 3. I quit. CARLOTTA Where's this coming from? SIMONE Look, I haven't been happy in a while. Especially with those two bitching non-stop. STAR We can fix this, Simone. SIMONE Can we get a "no bitching" clause in our contract, Miss C? ALEXANDRA No, Simone, that wouldn't even work. SIMONE Look, we have been at each other's throats. Maybe we should let go of this whole girl group thing. STAR Let this whole girl group thing go? How can you say that so easily, Simone? Maybe you need to stop overreacting to every damn thing that happens in this group. ALEXANDRA Oh, please. Coming from you, that sounds ridiculous. CARLOTTA Okay, you know what? This is not my dream, this is your dream. I can't force y'all to work this out. You do what the hell you want to do. I'll be at the hospital with Cotton. DR FISHER We got some good news from UNOS. COTTON Yeah? NAKISHA Jayden got a kidney? DR FISHER Not yet. But he has been officially added to the list as a priority. COTTON Priority. That means like, in a couple of days? DR FISHER It's going to be a few weeks at least. COTTON What if he doesn't have a few weeks? DR FISHER Jayden has to wait for a matching donor organ to become available. NAKISHA But you said he needs a transplant as soon as possible. DR FISHER I'm sorry. But without a match available, there's not much we can do besides wait. MAURICE What's up? STAR Simone wants to leave the group. Alex is acting like Roland Crane. I don't know what to do anymore. MAURICE It sounds like Alex is doing exactly what I told you she would. The brands, the features. She's been positioning herself as a solo artist for a while now. The question is why aren't you? STAR Look, I know you're trying to make me go solo. MAURICE It's not just me. It's right in your damn face. We got some traction on this article we leaked on Scoopish. Now you can either run with it, or continue to sit back and watch Alex make her way to the top. This track is all you. Trust me, you sing on this, you're gonna give Alex and Jackson a run for their money. STAR Jackson? That's who Alex's been working with? Okay. ANDY Cassie. Listen, why you calling me 90,000 times if I- I'm not dodging you. Okay. I appreciate everything you've done for me, okay? I'm just not with that life. Cassie? JAHIL Cassie, Carlotta's sister? ANDY Man, where the hell you popping out from? JAHIL Damn, boy. You know you're dancing with the devil there, right? ANDY You know we fired you, right? JAHIL She's no one to play with. ANDY Keep my business out your mouth. Can you do that for me? CARLOTTA What y'all beefing about now? JAHIL Oh, nothing, just checking in on my guy here. CARLOTTA Just remember he means well. JAHIL I mean well. Look, I'm just trying to tie up lose ends. I don't want to hurt you boys. ANDY Jahil, I don't care what you're here to tie up. We've had to start everything over because of you. Do you understand, ever since you came around you ruined everything? JAHIL Look out! Andy get down! PEOPLE CARLOTTA You okay? JAHIL CARLOTTA Jahil! You okay? Stay down, just-just stay down. Stay down, okay? JAHIL I'm good, Lottie. I'm good. Andy, you-you good? ANDY I'm good. WOMAN Someone's been shot. CARLOTTA Did somebody call an ambulance? WOMAN 9-1-1, there's been a drive-by. Someone's been shot at Midtown Sound. JAHIL I-I can get up. ANDY You good. You could. You could. CARLOTTA Okay. JAHIL I know I'm good. CARLOTTA Put some pressure on this. Jahil. MAN Send an ambulance. JAHIL I'm all right. CARLOTTA Stay down, baby. Stay down, baby. JAHIL All them bullets and I just got grazed. CARLOTTA You sure you don't want to have this looked at? JAHIL Come on, girl. You know I got nine lives. CARLOTTA All right. Hold that there. So, who's trying to kill you now? Maggie? JAHIL It don't matter. They didn't kill me. CARLOTTA Yeah, they might have. JAHIL Yeah. CARLOTTA Yeah, that should do it. JAHIL Yep. CARLOTTA Yeah, okay. CARLOTTA Stop. JAHIL I don't want to waste any more time. CARLOTTA What are you doing? JAHIL Lottie, you are my heart. CARLOTTA Boy, shut up. JAHIL And no matter who came into our lives before, you know they don't match what we had. Not Pastor Harris. Not Maurice. CARLOTTA Not Ayanna? JAHIL Nobody. SIMONE You know, I ain't gonna let ICE just take you away. ANGEL Why don't you just answer it? SIMONE Because it's Ms. Carlotta. I ain't got nothing to say to her. ANGEL So that's it? You're just giving up on Take 3? SIMONE Yeah, well, music wasn't really my dream. You know? I did it for Star. ANGEL Yeah, but somewhere along the way you fell in love with it. SIMONE No. I fell in love with you. ANGEL Yeah? SIMONE Mm-hmm. I realized there's more to life than chasing fame. You know? That ain't me. Angel, let's get out of here. ANGEL What do you mean? Run away? I got Immigration on my back. SIMONE Well, not if they can't find you. ANGEL Okay, you're crazy. SIMONE I'm serious. Are you in or not? ANGEL When are we leaving, Bonnie? ANGEL As soon as you can pack your bag, Clyde. CASSIE Ooh. Big balling, huh? Heard you and Selena moving out. DEREK Is my grandma telling everybody? CASSIE Your big momma used to be the neighborhood gossip and the neighborhood watch, too. But looks like we need a little bit more of that around here. DEREK I know that's right. I've been putting up flyers, talking to folks. CASSIE I know, but I wish we could do something more permanent. Help folks on parole get some jobs. You know, get people off the streets. If you're down. DEREK No, I'm down. I'm always trying to be a part of the solution, so whatever the hustle is, I'm in. CASSIE All right. Then we partners. DEREK We're partners. CASSIE Cool. JEFF You know, I almost didn't come, Ayanna. This place is starting to look like Death Row instead of Midtown Sound. Excuse me. NOAH Excuse me. Yo, this is my party and I got to be searched? AYANNA I'm not trying to take any chances after what happened to Jahil. Have you heard anything? NOAH Yeah, Carlotta says he's fine. Says I should just focus on this party. AYANNA Lena from Sound House is in the front row. You need to impress her. NOAH You seen Alex? AYANNA Not now. It's showtime. MAN What's up, Noah? NOAH Let's get it. AYANNA Welcome, everyone, to "The Truth" album release party. We've got Noah Brooks in the hot seat. WOMAN That's Noah! AYANNA What was the inspiration for this album? NOAH Well, uh, my inspirations was. It was. Oh, I'm sorry. Wha-What was the question? AYANNA Your inspiration. NOAH Um. ALEXANDRA Yeah, man, I love your work. I'm Alexandra Crane, by the way. DJ NASH Okay. ALEXANDRA I'm looking to collab on my new solo track. DJ NASH You got a sick voice just like your old man. STAR Sell out like her daddy, too. ALEXANDRA You just love to pop up uninvited, don't you? STAR We're about to lose our girl group, and you're over here trying to be America's Next Top Feature Ho. ALEXANDRA Oh, me? STAR Yeah. ALEXANDRA I've always been loyal to Take 3. STAR Till you weren't. ALEXANDRA Anyway. LENA We, uh, saw your performance in New Orleans. What was behind that? It seemed so personal. NOAH Uh. AYANNA Noah was inspired by his father. LENA Oh. NOAH Yeah, my-my father. Um. I don't exactly like talking about my family, but my music. AYANNA Has a connection to your family. People like to know their artists. NOAH Can you get off my back about my dad, please? C-Can I- Can I- Can I get some water real quick? LENA Sure, take your time. Are you okay? NOAH I'm good. I'm good. JAHIL Damn. CARLOTTA You know I should be at Noah's listening party. Instead. JAHIL You know you want this. CARLOTTA This is crazy. Who would've thought we'd be here? Again. JAHIL I always knew. That's why I still got paper on you. It's why you never asked for a divorce. You know I still got that ring. Mrs. Rivera. CARLOTTA Now, you know you ain't supposed to call me that. That was a night of drunken truth or dare. JAHIL That we never undid. Hey. You want to do something crazy for old time sake? CARLOTTA Jahil, I'm not flexible like I used to be. We can't try that. You can't even do that one. JAHIL Girl, I ain't talking about that. Although, you know what? CARLOTTA I know. I mean, I would try. JAHIL Get dressed. I want to take you somewhere. CARLOTTA Okay. STAR This group is about to fall apart, and I'm the only one who cares. It's my whole life, and they act like they could do without me. MAURICE Star. Look. Take it to the booth. MAURICE Felt good, right? STAR It felt good. Did it sound good? MAURICE Are you kidding me? Look, I've been doing this a long time. That hook alone. It was raw. It was fresh. And who knew you had bars? STAR MAURICE Yo, you got to listen for yourself. STAR All right. MAURICE I told you. STAR That hook is kind of crazy. MAURICE Right? STAR Yes, I know. Right. MAURICE You did that. STAR It sounds good. It does. But I didn't come in here for all this. I came in here to vent. Get some stuff off my chest, not record a diss track. MAURICE Diss tracks have launched many careers. And besides, you need to let everyone know that Alex ain't the only one with talent. STAR That's what they think? MAURICE Yep. But I'll let you make the call. STAR Drop it. ALEXANDRA I really don't think anyone noticed. NOAH I went off about my dad. I wasn't exactly charming. ALEXANDRA Everything about you is charming. How do you think you got me? NOAH What happened to being by my side tonight? ALEXANDRA I know. I just started talking to DJ Dash about music and my solo track, and Star's hypocritical ass flew in. Things just got crazy. NOAH Yeah, they did, huh? Really, no, I- I hope it was worth it. Congrats. ALEXANDRA Noah. Noah! JAHIL Come on. Hey. CARLOTTA Come on. JAHIL Stop screaming, you got to trust me. All right. CARLOTTA What? Where are we? What are we doing? JAHIL What we do best. Keep your eyes closed. Keep them closed. CARLOTTA They closed. Look. JAHIL I'm gonna play you something that I've been working on. CARLOTTA Is this the old studio? Wait a minute, is that? JAHIL Yep. That's the first demo we every worked on. I put a little remix on it. You like it? CARLOTTA Yeah, it sounds good. Jahil, why are we here? JAHIL I told you, girl. I got big plans for us. Lottie, it's always been you. I love you. CARLOTTA JAHIL Yeah. What's the matter? Why'd you stop? CARLOTTA You're bleeding. DOCTOR 1 He's bleeding out. DOCTOR 2 We need two liter of O neg, stat. DOCTOR 1 Somebody while I. HOSPITAL STAFF OFFICER I know you're in shock, but any information could help us catch the shooter. JAHIL Get down! CARLOTTA Oh, my God, you’re hit. Stay down. Oh, my God! Somebody call 9-1-1! Come on, put some pressure on it. Just- Just push down on it real hard. Call 9-1-1! Stay down. Stay down, honey! Stay down. Jahil, you hit. Please baby- Call- Stay down. CARLOTTA The paramedics rushed him straight into the OR. He's been in surgery ever since. I know he's gonna be fine. OFFICER Ma'am. CARLOTTA Don't. Please don't touch me. He's gonna be fine. STAR What's going on? I thought he was okay. COTTON So, Mama downplayed the surgery because she didn't want us to worry. Apparently he has a heart condition that only she knows about. ALEXANDRA So what are they saying? COTTON It's touch and go right now. He's currently in surgery. ALEXANDRA Is it bad? COTTON It wasn't, but they can't stop the bleeding. STAR Is Angel here? Does he know? SIMONE He does. He just blames Jahil for everything that happened between him and Andy, so. STAR Jahil's gonna be fine. He's- It's Jahil. ALEXANDRA What about Carlotta? How's she holding up? COTTON Let me go check on her. STAR Yo, I'm telling you, he's gonna be back at our door tomorrow, trying to manage us. SIMONE It's always about music for you, ain't it? Don't you want something more than that? STAR Simone, I don't even know what that means. NOAH I'm gonna go get some coffee. You want something? STAR I’m good. SIMONE I'm gonna try Angel one more time. JAHIL Look out! Andy, get down! CARLOTTA Call 9-1-1! JAHIL Andy, you-you good? ANDY I'm good. CARLOTTA Somebody call 9-1-1! Call an ambulance please! CARLOTTA I know it's all in your hands, God. Help me to stay strong. Please. How much can we take? How's Jayden? COTTON He's still waiting. But he's hanging in there. CARLOTTA Come on, let's pray. You go. COTTON Mm-mm. Mom, it's been too long. God don't want to hear from me. CARLOTTA God ain't got no watch. COTTON Dear God, please help my family and protect my Mom. In Jesus' name. Amen. MISS BRUCE Hey, C. How he doing? CARLOTTA He had a surgery, but they ain't saying much. MISS BRUCE What you all sitting round here looking so worried for? You know ain't nothing that man can't overcome. You know, Mexicans are real resilient. CARLOTTA Peruvian. MISS BRUCE Same thing. CARLOTTA Thanks for coming. MISS BRUCE Always. He's gonna be good. Be all right. NURSE Ma'am, you can go in now. CARLOTTA Thank you. ANDY Hey, man. You really need to get your ass down here right now. I understand, man. Listen, Angel, whatever it is, y'all need to squash it. Get here. Hello? SIMONE What did he say? ANDY He hung up. I, uh I'm gonna call him back. CARLOTTA Jahil? JAHIL Lottie. CARLOTTA I'm right here. JAHIL It's It’s always been you. I love you. CARLOTTA Jahil? Jahil. Jahil! NURSE Ma'am. CARLOTTA Jahil! DOCTOR Code blue! CARLOTTA Wake up, baby. Come on. Please. NURSE You need to leave the room. Ma'am, let the doctors do their work. DOCTOR Unfortunately, Mr. Rivera's heart couldn't withstand the surgery. CARLOTTA Don't you say that. Don't you say that. Don't you say that! No! SIMONE No, no. No. No. ANGEL I just had to get my head straight. Where is he at? What's going on? ANGEL Hey. No. DOCTOR The stress on his heart from the massive loss of blood was just too much. I'm sorry about your husband. But his kidney is a perfect match for Jayden. I'll give you a few moments, Mrs. Rivera. COTTON Hey, Mama they found a match. Jayden has a donor. CARLOTTA I know, baby. Jahil said he wasn't gonna let Jayden die. He kept his word. CARLOTTA Jahil said he wasn't going to let Jayden die. He kept his word. I love you. ALEXANDRA Hey. DEREK Hey. You know, it doesn't have to be so awkward every time we see each other. Life is way too short for that. ALEXANDRA Yeah. You're right. I mean, Jahil. Nobody expected that. DEREK I've been seeing what you've been up to lately. Proud of you. ALEXANDRA You're not looking too bad yourself. It's good to see you on your feet. DEREK You know, if you ever need anything, Alex. I'm right here. For real. AYANNA Hi, Lena. I've been expecting your call. ALEXANDRA Have you heard anything from Sound House? NOAH Nothing. I should've heard something back by now. ALEXANDRA I'm sure you'll hear back from them soon. NOAH Stop. I messed up. I really needed you there that night. ALEXANDRA Yeah, and I'm sorry. NOAH Yeah. You were too focused on your own hustle. I just wanted to get back to being me. That's all, man. My bad. ALEXANDRA Have you been drinking again? NOAH No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. No, no. ALEXANDRA Okay. Wh-What are you doing? You're drunk. Pull over. NOAH And do what? Get a DUI? Man, my career will be over. ALEXANDRA Noah, pull the damn car over now! NOAH What up, this is Noah. Make it short and sweet. AYANNA Noah, I have great news. You're getting your own headline tour financed by Sound House. Looks like your luck has turned around. Noah Brooks is finally on top. Congratulations. OFFICER License and registration, please. Where you headed? ALEXANDRA To bury a friend. OFFICER Well, keep it safe and, uh, get those tints removed, all right? ALEXANDRA I'll be sure to do that. NOAH Thank you. ALEXANDRA I can't believe I just did that. CARLOTTA Jahil. He spoke Spanish, he spoke English. But everybody knows his first language was hustle. He was always like that. Since we was kids. I mean, who else could take a black girl and a white girl from the hood and make them a hit record? We fought a lot, but he was my rock. He could make me so mad sometimes and then turn right around and just have me laughing. Jahil was not a man who did the right thing all the time, but he had the right heart. That's my ride or die. And I ain't never gonna love another man like I loved him. But luckily his legacy will live on through his daughter Cotton, and through his grandson Jayden- who is recovering from surgery right now. A little fighter just like his grandfather- and through his nephew, Angel Rivera, who would-would like to say a couple words. ANGEL I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what I would like to say. Could you play "Soon and Very Soon?" CASSIE Why you ducking me, boy? ANDY Hey, what's wrong with you? It's not the time or the place for this. CASSIE First of all, watch your tone before I knock your teeth out your mouth. Did you really think that I was gonna let your black ass skate, after you hit me for 15 G's? ANDY You really want to do this right now? CASSIE Give me my money, or next time we won't miss. And it'll be your munchkin ass in that box going to see the King. STAR Can't believe he's actually gone. SIMONE One minute he was snorting coke. ALEXANDRA Drinking a bottle of scotch. STAR Finding out about another relative he didn't know he had. ALEXANDRA Yeah, like when we met online. You became the sister I never had. Hoe-ish sister, but still. SIMONE But she ain't wrong. STAR We should talk, guys. STAR Yo, Maurice, it's me. I talked to the girls and we're all good. Take 3 is the priority for us. Delete that diss track. MAURICE Natalie, I need to drop a track. Tonight. PALLBEARER 1 You sure you got this, son? ANGEL Yeah, I got it. ICE AGENT 1 Angel Rivera, you are to be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. MAN Could you folks just step aside? ANGEL Yeah, I know what you're doing here. Uh, could I just bury my uncle please? ICE AGENT 1 We don't wait on criminals. CARLOTTA He's not a criminal. Let him bury his uncle. ANGEL Get off of me. Hey, man, get off of me. Get off of me! Stop it! Get off of me! SIMONE No, no, no, no. No, no, no. Please. No, no, no, no, no. CARLOTTA Have some respect. Now. SIMONE No, no, no, no. No, n-no, no, no. Angel. You can't take him. No, no. Angel! Where are you taking? Don't take him! Angel, look at me! CARLOTTA Simone, Simone. We're gonna figure it out. Don't you- SIMONE No, no, no, no! Angel! No! No, please! Angel! No! Angel. No. I can't do this anymore.