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“No! No! No! Why did you do that? Reg, why did you do that? Say something.”
“Move.”
“Move?”
“Yes. Move.”
“Where are you—no leave him alone.”
“Move.”
“Reg, stop.”
“Move out of the way, Mom.”
“Do you hear me?”
“Goodness…”
“Reg! No, wait!”
“Why do you do this? Why are you always on his side?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Every time he does something whack. Disrespectful. You either protect him or act like nothing happened. And each time, I’m the black sheep because I don’t go along with it.”
“Reggie…”
“I’m tired of standing and doing nothing.”
“You put your hands on him. He could call the police on you.”
“He’s put his hands on you and you called the police. Then he was back in here. Again, like nothing happened.”
“Reg, please calm down.”
“He’s moving.”
“Reg, I told you to…don’t push me out of the way!”
“What’s the matter, Butch?”
“Please.”
“How are you feeling? Powerless? Helpless? Embarrassed? Ashamed?”
“Uhhh…what are you talking about, boy?”
“What do you mean, ‘What am I talking about?’”
“I’m going to call the police.”
“Butch, don’t do that.”
“Do it, old man. You’ve got a record. I don’t. I can’t wait to see how you—”
“Reg, that’s enough. Both of you, that’s enough!”
“Both of us, Mom? I didn’t grab you. He did. I wasn’t the one about to hit you. He was.”
“I told you about staying in a child’s place, boy.”
“And I told you about staying in a boyfriend’s place, old man. You’re not her husband. Or my father. You keep acting like you are, but you’re not.”
“See, I told you about his mouth.”
“You’re not even a man.”
“I’m not a man?”
“Butch, stop!”
“Move, Mom! Get out of the way!”
“Where is all of this coming from, Reggie? I’m about happiness. That’s all I’ve tried to bring around here. Happiness. That’s it, alright? You’re just a little kid, jealous there’s another male in the house. That’s all this is.”
“God help me. You’re so deluded.”
“I’m going over Shawny’s house. I ain’t dealing with this.”
“Yeah, Butch. Run out. Come back. Act like nothing happened. As usual.”
“Lorraine, I’m trying to be…I’m trying to change. He’s pushing me.”
“Okay, okay. Look you two—”
“You know this isn’t right, Mom. Listen to your voice. It’s trembling.”
“It’s my nerves. That’s all.”
“No, it’s him. I wish you’d admit that.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, boy. Your mother and I are good. Right, Lorraine?”
“Umm…yes. But—”
“But? And why you struggle to say yes?”
“I didn’t mean anything—”
“And why did you say it that way?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“See, Mom?”
“Hey…”
“Now he’s trying to control how you talk.”
“Reg. Things are fine. We just have some things to work through.”
“What things, Lorraine? Nothing’s wrong. We perfect.”
“Then why did she say that?”
“Stay out of this, Reggie. You’re the reason she’s saying this. You created this situation.”
“You can’t take ownership for anything.”
“Reg, please—"
“I told you about minding your own business, boy!”
“Butch—”
“This is my business! I live here!”
“Reg, lis—”
“Always causing problems.”
“Fool, are you are a problem.”
“Son, stop—”
“You’re lucky I’m not your father. And you know what, that’s his problem. You know that, Lorraine? You didn’t have a man in the house before now. Right? You don’t know how to behave. How to talk with respect. How to stay in your place. I’ve been trying to show you what a man is supposed to be.”
“Would you both—”
“You can’t show me something you’ve never been.”
“Stop it!”
“Who are you talking to?”
“She’s talking to you.”
“I’m talking to both of you. Oh God. How did I let it go this far?”
“Lorraine, hey. I didn’t do anything.”
“I…”
“Mom?”
“Give me a moment.”
“Moment for what? Lorraine?”
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what, Lorraine?”
“Thank you, God. Thank you, Mom.”
“What are you thanking her for, Reggie? Lorraine? You hear me calling you.”
“Reg, can you let us talk?”
“Talk about what, Lorraine?”
“I’m not comfortable leaving you alone.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You know that isn’t true.”
“Lorraine? What is there to talk about? Why are you moving next to him?”
“I need you to…”
“Take a breath, Mom.”
“I need—”
“Lorraine, know you not…”
“Butch, I need you to leave.”
“For what? For him? He’s always complaining about something. We’ve been good. What do you want me to leave for? What did I do?”
“What do you—”
“Reg, be quiet.”
“You should’ve said that earlier.”
“I’m tired of it at all, Butch.”
“Tired of what?”
“You grabbing me. Pinning me against—”
“Grabbing? Girl that was nothing. I was trying to get your attention.”
“The way you speak to me. Tapping my head.”
“Don’t do that. He did more than tap your head, Mom.”
“You know I didn’t mean anything by that. We talked about that already. That stuff is in the past.”
“You even did it in front of my child!”
“Hey, I already said I’m sorry about that. Alright? That’s behind us.”
“Until the next thing.”
“Hey, stay out of—”
“He’s right.”
“Lorraine! Hey! Don’t let him—look, we’re good. No more about this.”
“We were good, Butch. In the beginning. And then you…you changed. It’s like you became somebody else. Not the man I fell in love with.”
“I’m still him, Lorraine. Come on now.”
“That man didn’t put his hands on me.”
“Lorraine. Oh my God. You…why are you…why are you doing this? I apologized for that. And I told you why I did it. You weren’t listening to me about that thing and I had to correct you.”
“My mother’s not a child.”
“Hey stop jumping into—”
“Reg!”
“Don’t talk to her like—”
“Stop it, Reg!”
“See you didn’t teach that boy how to behave.”
“This isn’t about him, Butch.”
“Yeah it is. He’s the one stirring all of this up. You didn’t teach him right.”
“Yes I did.”
“What did you teach him?”
“I taught him how to respect a woman. Something you don’t know.”
“Lorraine…”
“Leave. We’ll figure out when you can come back and get your stuff.”
“What is—you know what? If that’s what you want, fine. Let your son run the house.”
“Please leave.”
“This ain’t over yet.”
“He left. Thank God.”
“Reg, what you did—”
“Mom, I just—”
“Thank you.”
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