The Preacher's Wife Page #4

He went to court.

- These your children?

- Yeah, that's them.

Oh, they're beautiful.

Where was your husband?

Taking the picture?

Mm-hmm.

Then he took the car and the waitress

at the diner and moved to Cleveland.

- Sorry to hear that.

- You have any children?

No, no. Never had a chance

to settle down. I wanted to.

- [Gasps]

- You smell wonderful.

What do you call that?

Soap.

I haven't smelled a woman

in such a long time.

I'll get you a bar for Christmas.

Do you have an appointment?

Uh, no, not exactly.

I was...

sent to help the reverend,

like an assistant.

Assistant? I haven't

heard anything about no...

Oh, my Lord!

Am I gettin' fired?

No, no, no.

It's just temporary.

Temporary! I ain't heard

nothing about no temporary!

- Well, there's nothing... Uh, look.

- Oh, God.

- Let me get you some coffee.

- Coffee!

You made coffee on that machine?

I've been trying for six weeks

to figure out that machine!

My babies need new glasses,

and I'm out of a job!

Look, mister, I have kids.

They're growin' like weeds.

And if you think I get a penny from that

man, you got another thought comin'!

I can't take this!

Bein' fired!

Take it easy.

There's nothing to worry about. Here.

[Sobbing]

Oooh! Oooh!

Look at you.

You're crying.

Here, blow, blow.

Oh. I knew that.

[Blowing Nose]

Your Honor, my client,

Billy Eldridge...

was sent by his mother

to return a video rental...

[Judge]

It's all here, Miss Chattan.

Well, the Reverend Biggs

is present in the courtroom...

and he is willing to post bail.

This is a serious felony.

Bail is set at $ 25,000.

- Your Honor, I have evidence...

- May I address the court?

I'm turning it over

for grand jury action. Next case.

We love you, Billy.

He didn't do it.

[Judge]

Clear the court.

$25,000!

What am I gonna do?

- Would you clear the court?

- I'll take care of it.

Next case.

I said, next case!

[Bailiff]

Pending 802, Harley Williamson.

[Doorbell Ringing]

[Distant Knocking]

- You could hide.

- Mm-mm.

- Take this. I'll bring him right out.

- Sure. No problem.

Here.

They might starve you.

Thanks.

Okay, they've got everything.

All ready to go.

Hey, guys!

Hakim, you remember

Robbie, don't you?

Hakim gets to ride

in the train today.

Wow. A train ride.

We're running a little late.

Okay.

Take care of yourself, okay?

See you soon. Say good-bye, Jer.

Bye.

Take care.

Bye, Hakim.

We'll miss you.

Hold on, baby.

It's cold out here.

Who will I tell my secrets to?

Well, you can phone Hakim

sometimes, okay?

And Mommy'll teach you how to write,

so you can send him letters.

Bye.

I know You have

a master plan, but...

sometimes You're just

a little tough to figure.

Jeremiah.

- Jeremiah.

- It's not fair!

Hakim left.

[Crying]

[Beverly]

Julia.

This is Dudley,

the reverend's new assistant.

Assistant? He wrote to the church

council months ago for extra help.

Well, the extra help is here.

Oooooh.

But he didn't say anything about getting

a response. Who sent you, exactly?

Uh, the, uh...

[Clears Throat]

The Top Man himself,

Mrs. Biggs.

- Julia.

- Julia.

[Clears Throat]

And this is Julia's mother,

Mrs. Coleman.

[Dudley]

Of course it is.

Well, it's obvious where

Julia's beauty comes from.

Oh. And me with my hair

lookin' like this.

- Oh, no. It looks magnificent.

- Why, thank you.

- Well, Mr., um...

- You can call me Dudley.

- Dudley. You're very welcome here.

- Thank you.

Excuse us.

What are you doing?

Now, that's what I call good-lookin'!

[Laughing]

Your daddy used to look

like that back in 19...

Ma, ma, ma.

I've heard it 100 times.

Yeah, well, maybe now,

with him around, you'll have time to

deal with some of your own problems.

[Julia] The Good Lord's

the only one who can do that.

- Honey, you don't mean that.

- Yeah, I do.

Ma!

I was gonna go over

by the window, Julia.

There's too many rules

in this house.

[Gasping]

You're the man in the street...

and in the snow and...

My name's Dudley.

I'm here to help your father.

- I'm Jeremiah.

- It's nice to meet you, Jeremiah.

You've got a real nice room here.

Thank you.

Wow, you've got a lot

of neat stuff in here.

And what is this?

My toy ambulance is broken.

The battery got stole,

and the lights don't work anymore.

Is that right?

I'll see what I can do here.

[Siren Wailing]

It never had a siren!

Never had a siren?

No.

You look sad there, Jeremiah.

Have you been crying?

Yes.

I'm sorry

about your friend, Hakim.

What if I told you...

that he's not really gone?

Hakim?

Did he run away and come back?

- No, he never left.

- Yes, he did. I saw him go.

Well, you know, my mother...

once lost someone

who was very dear to her.

He wasn't as young as Hakim,

but he was...

too young, just the same.

And she would always do something

that seemed to make her feel better.

- You want to try it?

- Yeah.

All right, close your eyes.

Do you remember

playing in the snow with Hakim?

Do you remember

what his laugh sounded like?

Yes.

Do you remember

what he looked like catching a ball?

He never caught the ball in his life.

But I remember.

That's because when God

takes someone away from us...

He leaves what's most important

about that person with us.

Right here in our hearts.

Yeah, but I still miss him.

Well, she still misses him too.

Are you all right?

Maybe you should close your eyes.

Mommy says I can write to him.

- Do you know how to spell his name?

- No.

- You want to learn? All right.

- Yeah!

- Hakim starts with an "H."

- And ends with "akim."

- There you go. Perfect.

- [Laughing]

Wow!

Fishies in a TV.

[Computerized Fanfare]

Windows.

Henry?

I know I said

make an appointment...

but I didn't say anything

about filling out any form.

[Sighing]

Beverly!

Beverly, I need you.

I gave her the day off to do

some Christmas shopping, Henry.

You gave my secretary the day...

Yes, she needed some time off

to be with her children...

and I needed time to do my job with you.

- What job? What are you doing here?

- Henry, Henry, Henry!

How many times I got to tell you?

I'm here in answer to your request

for help. And Julia's.

You can forget about the boiler.

You got more important problem...

Ah, here she is now.

- [Julia] Henry?

- Wha...

[Marguerite]

Whoo! Lord have mercy!

Honey, remind me the next time I pay

a visit, I wanna get paid! Okay?

- [Laughing]

- Hi, Dudley.

- Julia.

- Dudley. D-U-D-L-E-Y.

- Perfect.

- [Julia] Very good.

- Poi-fect. Poi-fect.

- What happened with Billy Eldridge?

Uh, uh, the judge

set the bail at $25,000.

- Henry, that child's still in jail?

- Julia, I did what I could!

[Clearing Throat]

Come on, sweetie.

We have a nativity play to rehearse.

You can't rehearse.

It's freezing in there.

Henry, I'll be chasing 15 kids all day.

I don't think I'll get cold.

And after we're through, you're

taking your son shopping, remember?

- Henry.

- Huh?

Your wife's talking to you.

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