The Fighting Temptations Page #5

- The truth is, I'm doin' this for Sally.

- Thank you, anyway.

Choir, I'd like you to meet our new

soloist, Lilly. What's your last name?

- Tramp.

- I knew this would happen.

No, no. Wait, please. Let me handle this.

Jesus loved Mary Magdalene.

She was a ho.

"Let him who is

without sin cast the first stone."

- Thank you for handling it.

- I don't mean it.

I'm just saying it for effect.

- It is your duty to help fallen women.

- I'm willin' to help. Hi.

It's about time we get

some young Baptist booty.

How come she have to keep

so many husbands

down at that sin-hole she workin' at?

- Would Aunt Sally have been so harsh?

- No.

She would have wanted Lilly

to stay in the choir. Unlike some people.

A respectable woman

would have a respectable job.

She should just go on home,

take care of that little bastard baby...

Leave my son out of this!

Dean is a gift from God.

So are snow and rain,

but we still have to wear our rubbers.

Sally said when life makes you have to

put up with mean and hateful people,

think of 'em as sandpaper.

They may scratch you, but eventually

you end up smooth and polished,

and the sandpaper,

it's just gonna be worn out and ugly.

Baby, you don't need my help.

If you sang as well as you fight,

you'd be the baddest choir in Georgia.

Lilly is a member of this choir

like everyone else.

- If you don't like it, you can just leave.

- That's my cue.

Y'all comin'?

I thought you were leaving.

The choir, yes, but I'll stay in this church

as long as I want.

Fine. Then we'll rehearse

with Lilly as our lead.

- Come on!

- That's mine!

Oh, man!

- The Lord is good.

- Hey, man, get off her!

- The Lord gonna bless you.

- Mr Clean?

- I always liked church.

- More action than in the barbershop.

OK. Ready?

Do I come in on the upbeat

or the downbeat?

- Suit yourself, you're the pro.

- Try the downbeat, honey.

I usually let The Neptunes

program all my upbeats.

Again from the top.

- Wait. Aren't you gonna arrange us?

- Right. Lilly, please, up.

Ladies, all three up.

Tasha? Tasha, please.

Please, yes, Bessie.

Alma, Miz Stringer. Cute.

OK. Young and foxy in the front

and weird and funky in the back.

But we love you. All right!

Ready? From the top.

Great! With a little more work,

we got a real shot at the Explosion.

After that, maybe even a record deal.

Then we'll tour on our own bus.

Tour? Like I'm gonna leave

my grandaddy behind by himself.

Thankfully, all my family's dead.

That wasn't half bad.

It saddens me that the deadline

for enterin' has passed.

- What?

- "All audition tapes

"to be submitted to Luther Washington

by..." yesterday afternoon.

- She had something goin' with that.

- Why didn't you say something?

You're the director now.

It's been posted for weeks.

- Where?

- On the ladies' room door.

I sure as heck never saw it.

I use that door every day.

- Check the girls' bathroom more often.

- All this work for nothing?

My best friend taught me

how to do the African boot dance.

- Whassat?

- I even stopped drinkin'.

- I know that's a good thing...

- Wait, listen.

Everybody, just go home and don't worry.

Taking care of problems is my specialty.

If I don't get a job, I'm a dead man. Yeah,

I used my credit card to fix a bus. Why?

It was reported

to a credit bureau in Atlanta.

- What does that mean?

- Felony, fraud. Just lay low.

- Stay away from law enforcement.

- Mr Washington will see you now.

Mr Hill, Lucius. As a Christian man,

I do believe in mercy,

but as a prison warden,

I'm strictly for the rules.

- Without rules, society breaks down.

- Sir, listen...

- Let me handle this.

- Did I say you can talk?

- Did I say you can talk?

- But I... I took assertivetendness...

I took assertiveness trainin'.

Look, Washington,

we're giving you a opportunity

to be a part of the Beulah Baptist

Gospel Choir business.

- Me an opportunity?

- You need BBGC.

- We're sellin', not buyin'.

- We're not sellin'.

We're... We're buyin', not sellin'. You got

30 seconds to make an offer, or else...

- We...

- Let me think about it. No.

- Please, man, we'll pay you!

- Listen, listen.

Sir, you don't understand the challenges

my choir and I have faced.

Just hear us sing.

We can be ready in a half hour.

No. And I'm puttin' my foot down.

It's a big N and a little O.

The entertainment for today cancelled.

You know what happened last time.

- You said a half an hour?

- Will you let us in to the Explosion?

- If you pass muster with my prisoners.

- Musters passed!

- We gotta do it to get into the Explosion.

- Darrin, Darrin! They all look so scary.

Look, we're here now,

so I'm gonna sing it.

What?

Join in! Join in!

Hey now.

Everybody down!

So look, I guess that... the choir's

in the Gospel Explosion.

Don't tell anyone I gave you any slack.

I've a reputation as a hard-ass.

- You think we have a shot at winning?

- Hell, no.

You made it through the audition, but...

...I got prisoners that can sing better.

- Really?

Single file, now. Stay in line.

Guns in church. The abomination

that causes desolation.

Guns ain't allowed?

Somebody should've told me.

Hey, big guy, what's your name?

- Oh.

- My name is Johnson.

- What are you in for?

- Beatin' down somebody...

...for makin' fun of my high voice.

- Let's take it from the top.

Our felons first?

Up. Up, please. Up.

OK.

Mr Briggs, is there a problem?

It's one thing for the state to force us

to work in chain gangs,

but to make us sing in a choir?

That's cruel and unusual punishment.

- Mr Johnson?

- I used to be in a group.

When we used to sing

Down By The Riverside,

there's a part where I used to wail,

right at the end.

People really liked that.

Would you like me to do that for you?

- All right. What group did you sing with?

- It doesn't matter.

- They're dead now.

- Right.

OK.

Now, news time.

The Beulah Baptist Church choir

now includes some talented inmates

from our state prison system.

This could turn out to be

the breakout choir of the year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All that street-corner

barbershop harmony, that's cool, right.

We got some new hip-hop in

Montecarlo, Georgia, for you all tonight.

As long as they're praising God's name,

it's all right with me.

Congregation's gonna be

in for a surprise come Sunday.

- Let me know how it goes.

- I expect you to be there, too.

Reverend, I suppose

you noticed how the choir has grown?

I was sayin' how good they are.

I also suppose you plan on

enforcin' the by-laws

that says all members of the choir

must be baptised

and take Bible study classes?

- Paulina...

- You can't change that.

- It'll change everything.

- She has a point, Darrin.

If you change things,

they'll be different? Well, yeah.

Yeah.

I'm sorry, Darrin.

They'll have to abide by the church rules.

- I can't swim.

- Don't worry, Mr Johnson.

It's just a little sprinkle.

I won't do it.

We're broadcastin' live

from down by the riverside,

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