Precious Page #6

so have a seat with the baby.

- I am sitting.

- In your seat, please.

The first thing

is shut the bumba-ros-clot...

Ms. Rain, why did you let Rhonda

teach the class?

She don't even know how to speak English.

Let Rhonda take over.

- Shut the bumba-ros-clot up.

- What the f*** is a "ros clot"?

Yeah, Brenda, you there?

The last four of the Social are...

2-4-2-1.

- Rita?

- I just wanna know how to spell "Aquarius."

- Anybody know how to spell "Aquarius"?

- It's A-Q-U-A-R-l-U-S.

Can you spell "boy" then?

Can you spell "slut" then?

Let's explore that.

You wanna spell "slut," Consuelo,

I'll give you the first letter.

Can you spell "illegal immigrant," then?

Great, thank you.

Can you please use "slut" in a sentence?

Consuelo is a slut...

- You the one who's the ho up in here...

- Joann is not a slut.

Perfect. You get a gold star.

But you know she likes that.

Well, she's just insecure.

- You think?

- Yeah.

- That chicken was good.

- Really good. Did you have enough?

There ain't more, is there?

- Is there more?

- Yeah.

Maybe later. Not now.

I don't want you to think I'm greedy.

You're not greedy.

If you're hungry, let's get you some more.

I guess I kind of eat

too much sometimes, though.

No, you don't.

- Blu, is that you?

- Not always.

What are you doing here?

I live here. Why didn't you tell me?

- Hey, sweetie.

- Is this... Is this...

This is Katherine, Precious.

- Are you okay?

- It's so nice to meet you, finally.

Oh, my God. These straight-up lesbians.

- This is Abdul.

- He's gorgeous. He looks just like you.

Precious, can I hold him?

You know how to?

They still nice enough

to let us stay in their home

until I get situated, though.

- He's heavy. Oh, my God!

- You wanna hold him?

I guess this is how the peoples

on TV feel at Christmastime.

- Don't drop him.

- Come on. I only work with children.

You know how you are. I saw you...

When we were putting up the tree,

you dropped half the top of it.

They're so nice to me and Abdul.

- Be careful. Hold him with both hands.

- Please.

Oh, Abdul.

Merry Christmas, Precious.

Thank you.

Why peoples that barely know me

should be nicer to me

than my mother and my father?

I felt warm.

- What?

- I'm just...

I'm just concerned about the baby

and the cats upstairs.

They're fine.

Grandmother's scared of Momma.

I know that's why

she ain't letting me stay with her.

If Ronald McDonald were running things...

Ms. Rain say don't be afraid of nothing.

I bet she ain't scared of Momma.

Wouldn't you be a little bit suspicious?

Just write the book.

- Well, who's gonna read it?

- Nobody, if you don't write it.

You know, Precious writes every day.

You should try it.

Is that right?

What do you write about, Precious?

Stuff.

My life. Abdul.

How come y'all don't like McDonald's?

Katherine was just drawing a comparison

so that her point could be

more easily understood.

Yes.

They talk like TV channels I don't watch.

My Uncle Clayton.

I'm glad Abdul here to listen in on them,

though, 'cause I know they're smart.

Before he got saved,

he used to smoke like a chimney

and drink like a fish.

I don't understand a word they're saying.

You understand?

Y'all be watching Oprah?

No. I don't, actually.

You know what time I get home from work.

- I watch it.

- Momma say homos is bad peoples.

But Momma,

homos not ones who raped me.

And what do that make you?

Homos not ones who let me sit in class

all them years and never learn nothing.

The homos not ones who sell crack

to peoples in Harlem.

- ...that I have ever seen. Tell her!

- That doesn't work.

I wonder what Oprah got to say about that.

Ms. Rain is the one

who put the chalk in my hand,

made me queen of the ABC's.

After I settled at the halfway house,

I worked my hardest

to memorize letter sounds,

writing in the journal,

and reading smaller and fatter books.

Then I found out the Mayor's office

give me a literacy award

and a check for progress.

One, two, three.

The party is on.

Go, Joann!

Let me see what you got!

Everybody come. Nurse John, Cornrows,

all the staff was out there.

Even Ms. Katherine showed up.

Precious.

What's up?

What's that?

What does it look like?

Plastic stupid apple.

A little something for you.

- Is there more money in it?

- You're so greedy.

Yo, who's that?

What?

- What?

- Come on.

Precious, where are you taking me?

What am I supposed to do, diva? Yeah?

Wait a minute. Hold on, girl.

Yeah...

My mom called last night.

And we don't really have a relationship.

We don't talk,

because she really has a problem with...

Some folks got a light around them

that shine for other peoples.

I think maybe some of them was in tunnels,

and in that tunnel,

maybe the only light they had

was inside of them.

Then I thought about how strong

you've had to be.

And then,

even long after they escaped that tunnel...

- I'll help you clean up.

- Okay.

...they still be shining

for everybody else.

That's Ms. Rain to me.

"Award for Outstanding Achievement."

In a book I read,

this lady escaped to a halfway house.

And when she was there,

she asked the people there

what a halfway house was.

They told her it was halfway between

her old life and where she wanna be.

That's kind of nice.

That also mean I can't stay here forever.

There's still a way to go.

It'd be something to get my own apartment.

Abdul nine months and almost walking.

He's smart, too.

I've been reading to him

since the day he was born.

He's barely talking,

but he's already counting.

Momma, Daddy,

IS 111, 444 Lenox all seem

like some old, bad dream.

I wish I could've just started out here,

but still with Abdul.

I'm gonna get Mongo, too.

I gotta get Mongo back.

Hey, Miss Cassidy.

Hey, Precious,

somebody downstairs for you.

- Who is it?

- I didn't ask who it was.

You want me to watch the baby?

No, I gotta go down and get him anyway.

Your daddy dead.

That's all?

He had that AIDS virus.

There you go, dreaming again!

Precious, do you hear me talking to you?

Did you hear what I said?

You got it?

Got what?

- The AIDS virus.

- No.

How do you know?

We never did it up in the ass, so I know.

You better get to a doctor, Mom.

You coming home?

Yo, Precious!

Rita, what do I mean when I say the author

describes her protagonist's circumstances

as "unrelenting"?

I don't know. I don't know.

It's like, say, like if Rita,

she tries to do something,

and she's going and she's going,

and me, I try to stop her

and she no stop, she keep on going.

Relentless-un.

I'll see you tonight. Bye.

Come with me.

Precious?

Excuse me?

Nurse say I'm HIV positive.

I ain't got nothing to write today.

Is your baby okay?

He all right.

I just got to stop breastfeeding him.

Remember, you once told me

you never really got to tell your story.

- Write.

- F*** you!

You know nothing

of what I've been through.

I ain't never had no boyfriend.

My daddy said he gonna marry me.

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