The Fighting Temptations Page #3

- Yes, ma'am.

I gotta tell you, you and that choir,

you're pretty good.

Pretty good?

"To my neighbour and best friend, Faye,

I leave all my favourite recipes."

- Thank you, Sally.

- "Faye, dependin' on what I die from,

"you might wanna divide

the Crisco measurements by half."

Don't change that Chicken Supreme.

"And to Paulina Pritchett...

"I leave my collection of church hats

that she always complimented me on.

"She should really enjoy wearin' them,

unless she was lyin' to me,

"but criticisin' my taste behind my back."

I'll wear them every Sunday.

"And now for my only survivin' relative,

my great-nephew Darrin.

"To Darrin, I leave the box

containin' the letters his mother sent me

"after they left Montecarlo.

"Also the charge of returnin',

to continue the family tradition

"of directin'

the Beulah Baptist Church Choir."

No!

Lt... It's her dyin' wish.

I was next in line to get the choir.

I been waitin' years for Sally to die.

God rest her soul.

- I'm not leadin' some small-town choir.

- Good.

"On the condition that Darrin

"gets the choir accepted into the

annual Gospel Explosion in Columbus,

"I also leave him my entire stock

in Georgia Telecom,

"currently worth $150,000."

I was kiddin'

about that small-town stuff.

- "And the church bus."

- How much that worth?

No way. I don't care what Sally's dyin'

wish was, we all know she was losin' it.

Besides, Paul, you have final say over

who leads the choir. It's in the by-laws.

I guess that would seem kinda odd,

to have someone with no musical

experience leadin' the choir.

I have plenty of musical experience.

Now, you all don't know this

and I didn't tell anyone, but...

I'm a music producer.

That's what I do for a living.

Sally mighta been on to somethin'.

What kind of producin' have you done?

Well, I've worked with P Diddy.

Dre, Darkchild, all of 'em.

The gangster stuff that's pollutin'

my grandson's mind.

I put an end to that

East Coast versus West Coast thing.

- I just made 'em all watch Roots.

- I think I read about that.

What is this Gospel Explosion?

Choirs from all over the southeast

come to Columbus, Georgia,

to compete for the best gospel

performance and a $10,000 cash prize.

Yeah, a prize that could pay for

some much needed church repairs

if a certain musical producer

could bring it home.

Paul Lewis, I wish Mama was alive

to see how you turn on family like this!

I intend on honourin'

Sally's dyin' wish.

Darrin, you have six weeks

until the Gospel Explosion.

Whatever you need,

we're at your disposal.

But you're gonna have to talk

to the church treasurer about logistics.

Let me guess, you're the treasurer.

Yes. Everything you need

is at my disposal.

Great.

Take it easy.

Paulina, can I get a ride to my room?

Darrin! Since you're gonna

be here longer now,

let me give you

the extended-stay rates.

- Great.

- $1.50 for every bar of soap you use,

$2 for any clean towel you require

and $1 a minute for all calls made.

You get one free 911 call.

I suggest you use it wisely.

Air conditioning? You're charging me

for air conditioning?

It gets 100 degrees at night!

- What is that?

- A Monte Cristo!

- It's a cigar.

- Obviously.

- Cuban?

- Of course.

- Cool.

- Hey!

- That cost me $20!

- This is a no-smokin' house.

It's a no-smokin', no-drinkin',

no-fornicatin', no point-of-livin' house.

- Why are we here?

- A little Southern delight.

The honeys in here

make them girls in Atlanta

look like somebody hit 'em

in the face with a sack of nickels.

There she is!

You're on your own. I see somebody

that owe me money. Hey, man!

I told you I was gonna get... Hey, babe.

- Tea with honey. Here you go, Lilly.

- Thank you.

You know how to connect

with your audience. That was hot.

I pick out the guy who's droolin'

the most and make him sweat.

It worked. Can I buy you a real drink?

I'm Darrin.

- You really don't remember me?

- That Lilly?

You kept askin' me to be your girlfriend.

- You kept sayin' no.

- I was gonna be Mrs Michael Jackson.

- How's that goin'?

- I'm not his type.

I can't believe you remember that.

I left when you were, what, five?

Four.

Man, we heard about you all the time.

Sally would tell us poor country folk how

well you and your mama were doing.

She was very special to all of us.

When I talked to her

just before she passed,

she said that she wanted me to come

back and be with her friends. Like you.

- You spoke with Sally that day?

- Yeah. She went on and on.

I suppose she hung up the phone and...

You know.

Her dying wish was for us to hook up?

God love her.

Sally was in a coma

two weeks before she died.

That's right. Must have been

a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I'm back amongst all you

wonderful people who need consoling.

- How long are you in town?

- Just tonight.

How about being my girlfriend,

for old time's sake?

I've got a man. Dean is big and strong

and has a real big jealous streak.

Sometimes he watches from the back.

Excuse me, I got a show to do.

OK. Hey, knock 'em dead.

Your act is terrific.

Yours needs a lot of work.

Rosa, this is the only place

I get a signal.

More charges came in, more late fees.

You're up to 44 grand.

I just came into some money. I'll be able

to take care of it in just a few weeks.

- Make sure they can't find me.

- I'll do my best.

You're a doll. Kick ass.

Sorry.

When everyone gets here,

we'll begin rehearsals.

That number you did at the funeral

should get into any gospel competition.

That was Shirley Caesar, fool.

She hasn't gone to this church for years.

But since she loved Sally,

we let her and her choir sing.

- She's gone?

- She's gone.

- Where's our choir?

- You're lookin' at it.

This is it? Six measly people?

Five. I'm just here

'cause my wife's family are at my house.

Too late. You're in the choir.

Actually, there are two or three others.

Yeah, but they never show up.

Why do I have to be here?

When you goin' to get us

our first record contract?

I wanna get a Benz.

I didn't know we were gonna be famous.

Count me in.

Let's do... Amazing Grace.

Stop! Stop, stop. Please.

OK, let's not panic.

I'm open to suggestion.

If they do a Behind The Music on us,

it's best if we don't talk about

me tryin' to leave the group.

You know, it'll just make it look ugly.

- Hello there. I just had to see you again.

- Aren't you supposed to be gone?

Yes. But I was feeling bad about

our little misunderstanding last night.

No misunderstanding. Just using Aunt

Sally's memory to hit on me. That's low.

Can I at least buy you a drink?

Is that Dean?

No. OK, you can buy me a drink.

- You heard about Aunt Sally's will?

- No.

I'm to take care of the choir at Beulah.

Why did she put you in charge?

- I'm sorry, that came out wrong.

- That's OK, it was a shock to me, too.

It's a big job. I've cleared

my schedule for the next six weeks,

so I can focus on getting the choir

into the Gospel Explosion.

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