03x05 - A Little Lower Than Angels

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Queen Sugar...

You thinking of hiring a parolee?

Can't afford to get this wrong.

Some folks said the same thing about you,

and they were dead wrong.

I thought you owned the land.

Why are farmers who are leasing your land

- being kicked off?
- You're part of this, too, now.

I shouldn't have to ask permission

to spend time with my son, our son.

- Hi. I'm Trinh.
- When you find nice girl

for you and little boy, you come over.

I make dinner for you one night.

How many of you want to be farmers?

Maybe you are a good teacher.

You have a sister, Micah.

- Bye.
- Bye.

- Bye.
- Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye now.

So what were your favorite?

Well, my second favorite was the otters.

- Yeah.
- They were so cute and funny.

- So cute and funny.
- Super cute.

But my first favorite...

- Yeah?
- definitely the sharks.

Those are my favorite, too!

- Yeah? They were?
- Those are my favorite, too.

- They were? Seriously? Oh.
- Seriously.

Aunt Vi and Uncle Hollywood
are gonna be so jealous.

They're gonna be so jealous.

You can tell 'em about it tonight.

- Okay.
- Hand me your backpack first.

Here you go.

Thank you, my love.

Let's get inside.

You all in?

- Here. Take this.
- I'm in.

What?

When are you coming back home?

We talked about this.

I have my own home now.

Okay, but when you and Pop get married,

you're gonna come home, right?

Put your seat belt on.

Okay.

♪ Dreams never die ♪

♪ Take flight As the world turns ♪

♪ Dreams never die ♪

♪ Take flight As the world turns ♪

♪ Keep the colors
In the lines, take flight ♪

♪ Dreams never die ♪

♪ Keep the colors In the lines ♪

♪ Keep the colors
In the lines, take flight ♪

Y'all can leave them tools by the shed.

I got it.

- Hey, man.
- Yeah, man.

- See you tomorrow.
- Thank you.

- Appreciate you.
- For sure.

- All right, Remy.
- All right, Benny.

Ralph, thanks for letting my students

come out this week, man.

It's all good. Glad to hear it.

You have no idea how good it is

for them to be able to see a young farmer

who owns his own land
and runs his own farm,

and the fact that you got
all acres planted is...

[CELL PHONE BUZZING]

Wow.

Yeah, I gotta deal with this real quick.

You good?

Yeah, I'm straight.

Feel like I'm looking
at a Gordon Parks photo.

All week I been here, all I seen is this,

keyboards and coffee,
keyboards and coffee.

When's the last time
you got some sleep, girl?

Sleep? Been working on my proposal.

Just turned it in, thank you.

"Untitled by Nova Bordelon."

Still working on that part.

[CHUCKLES] Well,

I'll still be the first
in line at the bookstore.

Expecting greatness.

First chapter came pouring
out of me, you know,

sitting out here with all this.

It's like Daddy's speaking to me.

I bet he is.

Damn, Nova, what you still doing here?

Need to get home and get in that shower.

You trying to get rid of me?

If that's gonna get you off my porch

and out my fridge and
getting these dishes dirty,

then, yeah, I am.

I think I got another place for
you to get some relaxation.

Oh, yeah? What you got?

[LAUGHS] I think something
d*ed in there, Hollywood.

Yeah, I'm going through the
salvage yard tomorrow,

get the rest of the parts,

have this bad boy up and running for you.

Aunt Vi! Uncle Hollywood!

Hey, you!

[HOLLYWOOD] Hey.
Look what the cat drug in.

- [VI LAUGHS]
- We went to the aquarium today.

You did?

Saw the biggest shark ever.

He was bigger than you.

Hey, that's all right with me,

as long as he stays in that t*nk.

Yeah, well, uh, I want
to hear all about it.

Come on. Let's go in the house

- and get you cleaned up.
- Miss Violet.

And what about a whale?
Did you see a whale?

There were stingrays and
manatees, even a huge jellyfish.

Bye, baby.

Have fun tonight.

♪ They can't Play the same... ♪

Hey, uh, you got anything

that doesn't say,
"organic," on the label?

[LAUGHS] Probably not.

Yeah, I seen the first
season, like, three times.

Oh, yeah. The best part
is when they storm the frat.

Yeah, but unlike Dear White People,

our BSU sucks, so...

You guys have a Black Student Union?

- Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm. Ever since Ferguson.

Yeah, but the BSU just wants

to write letters. That's it.

Like, we out here doing this,
'cause no one else will.

- Right.
- That's all right.

We gonna wake people up.

So we gotta figure out what's next.

We should do a black
brunch in New Orleans,

- one of them fancy hotels.
- True.

Or a bougie country club.

White folks lose their minds over that.

No, no, no. Y'all want to see

white folks being ignorant,

we should go to Sweetbay.

What's Sweetbay?

Oh, it's this crazy-ass plantation

that they call, you know,
a "historic site."

Hey, uh, you got milk?

Yeah, there should be
almond milk in there.

I mean regular milk.

- [DOOR OPENS]
- [CHARLEY] Micah!

Oh.

Hey.

Hello.

Yeah, Mom, this is KJ, Asha, and Malik.

What's up?

Can I talk to you for a second?

Yeah, sure.

- Ooh.
- Shut up.

Ah, and this is Ant.

Oh, um, ma'am, you don't
drink regular milk?

Uh, well, almond milk

is good for your digestive system.

- It's low in fat.
- Uh, yes, ma'am.

Well, you know, it takes
one whole gallon of water

to grow one almond, which would be cool

if California wasn't the
biggest grower of almonds,

on account of their drought and all.

Just food for thought.

By the way, your house is dope.

I'm gonna make sure everything
is clean, so don't worry.

Mm-hmm. Where's Keke?

Ah, some drill team thing.

So who are these guys?

My friends from school.

Do you remember from the game?

[FRIENDS TALKING INDISTINCTLY]

All right, but it's late,

so give it a few minutes,

and then everyone should be leaving.

- [CELL PHONE RINGTONE]
- It's your father.

Don't...

Um, I'm busy.

Just tell him I'm busy right now, so...

Hey, Davis.

Sure. We can talk. What's got...

In person?

Micah, can you ask your friend

to get his shoes off my coffee table?

I've got a bunch of teenagers
eating on my furniture.

Uh, how's Monday?

Tomorrow? Yeah.

Yep. We'll see you then.

[KHANH] Welcome to your first
Vietnamese crawfish boil.

- [SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]
- If you're hungry,

there's spring rolls in the dining room.

Appreciate it.

These are for you.

- For me? Thank you.
- Yes, ma'am.

- [SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]
- Thank you for having me.

[SCOFFS] Yo, check this out.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

Not ready yet.

- Go get spring rolls.
- All right.

Spring rolls in the dining room.

- Okay, okay. [LAUGHS]
- Let me show you.

Lots of food. Look. All this food.

All right.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Here, just a sec. You can dig in.

All right.

It's different.

You ever done this before?

[LAUGHS] I...

I need a little demonstration.

All right.

So you wanna soften the rice paper

in water like that.

Dip it in there?

- Mm-hmm. Yep.
- Just like that?

- Word.
- Your turn.

Got a plate?

Go ahead.

Mm-hmm.

All right, then you can
add in whatever you want.

I like a little bit of everything.

Right, I'm gonna grab this shrimp.

Little bit of that. Ooh. Man.

[LAUGHS] My bad.

Roll it up like a burrito. No?

I don't really roll burritos at all.

[BOTH LAUGH]

I think I got it.

And voilà.

I'm trying.

- [LAUGHS]
- Should I try it?

[LAUGHS]

Oh, my God.

Here. You can have mine,

'cause that one's probably
gonna fall apart.

Told you. I actually did
a pretty good job.

- Blue would like this.
- For sure.

- Yeah. That's good.
- Uh, when we were kids,

we used to race to see who could fit

the most in without it falling apart.

[LAUGHS]

My grandfather got his whole family

on the boats before he
was k*lled in Vietnam,

and my uncle got sick
in a Thai refugee camp.

He and my dad made it to New Orleans
just before he passed away.

That's wild.

Yeah.

So how you like your new job?

Really tough bosses.

Already got me working on a Saturday.

I say you strike.

You want to join me on my
one-woman protest, then?

- I'll hold a sign or something.
- Oh, okay. [LAUGHS]

Dinner's ready!

Ooh. [SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

Ah, that smells good, Ms. Phan.

I don't need to...

Ralph, did you roll that?

- Yeah, I tried.
- Very good.

I don't need to teach you

how to eat crawfish, too, right?

I might show you a thing or two.

- Come on. I got it.
- Oh, my gosh.

[OVERLAPPING CHATTER IN VIETNAMESE]

All right, mushroom steak
and sautéed squash.

Whoa. Go ahead. Dig in.

Dig in, Blue.

- Mmm.
- [LAUGHS]

Eh, I'm glad you like it, baby.

Okay, I'm gonna grab some corn bread

made from rice flour and quinoa.

So no corn or bread
in the corn bread, then?

I'm just playing, baby.

Are you okay, Vi?

Yeah. It's just, uh...

this new dosage they got me on,

I keep getting lightheaded. [LAUGHS]

Come on, Blue.

Look, it tastes real good.

Now watch here. See? See? Look.

[LAUGHING]

I'm not eating it.

You good?

Hey, man.

Something's come up, and I
need a place to crash tonight.

Think I can stay here?

I got a kid, bro.

I can't be dealing with no trouble.

I ain't in trouble. Look, I swear.

It's just if I go back there,
I might be, you know?

What, you did something?

No, I'm good. I swear to God.

But just, where I'm staying at,

it's only a matter of time
before five-O show up

with this new dude coming around.

I just don't want
to be there when they do.

[SIGHS]

Please, man.

[SIGHS]

One night.

But you gotta figure something
else out for tomorrow, man.

For real.

Come on.

Thanks, man.

I got it. I got it.

Are we going fishing,

or are you preparing for the apocalypse?

- Here.
- I ain't putting that on.

- [CLEARS THROAT]
- Look, if we gonna do this,

- we're gonna do this right.
- Listen, my daddy would show up

with a bucket and a rod.
He didn't need all of this.

He had his ways, and I got mine.

- Oh, the ways?
- Yes, the ways.

And I'm always prepared for
whatever life throws at me,

so this is for you.

Yeah.

- Ah-ah!
- What?

- This stays here.
- I... [SPUTTERS]

Not taking no chances of this going

into the water and getting
destroyed, no, Lord.

I gotta take notes. Laptop's coming with.

Notes.

I got this for you, old-school style.

Hit it.

Let's do it.

[REMY] Come on. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

All right.

Man, you got your cousin.

Just for a couple of nights, man.

Yeah. I got you.

Let me know, man.

Bye.

Got some breakfast in here if you hungry.

Thanks, man.

I appreciate you letting me crash.

Good for tonight?

It's all good. Know how it is.

What happened at your grandma's?

She thought I was
getting in trouble again.

But for real...

I'm glad she threw me out.

Being back at hers just
brings stuff up, you know?

Still can't sleep no more.

And I rolled around the neighborhood,

and everything's different.

When you go out,

you ever feel like
you don't belong no more?

At the beginning.

I went to this restaurant with my Pops

first week out...

everybody just staring at me.

Pops looked at me and said...

"One day at a time."

When I was in there...

I promised myself if I ever got out,

I ain't going back.

I feel you.

Oh, thank God.

Mmm. Hey...

after you and Aunt Vi get married,

are you gonna have a baby?

Nah. Nah, Blue.

Me and your Aunt Vi,
we ain't having no baby.

Think that's okay if
you don't have a baby.

Oh, yeah?

Is that okay with you, Your Highness?

- Yeah, that's okay.
- [LAUGHS]

I'll just ask Mommy and Pop for
one after they get married.

What's wrong?

What's wrong is you being stingy
with them chicken nuggets.

Give me one.

Hand 'em on over. Uh-huh.

Cheers to real meat.

Chicken cheer.

You meeting Keke?

Uh, no, my friends
that you met last night.

Well, you can tell them that I
am reconsidering almond milk.

- I said, "Reconsidering."
- Right.

- Reconsidering.
- [DOORBELL RINGS]

[DOOR OPENS]

[DAVIS] Hey, Charley. Micah home?

Yeah. Yeah, he's in the kitchen.
Come on in.

Hey, listen, uh, Micah.

Hey, Micah.

Micah!

[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

What was that about?

Um...

Charley, we need to talk.

- Okay.
- [CELL PHONE BUZZES]

Uh, this is just mill business.

- Keep talking. I-I'm listening.
- No, no, no. Not now.

Sorry. I'm...

I, uh...

years ago, I, uh...

I had an affair.

Charley, I have a daughter.

A month ago, her mother passed away,

and, uh, well, I decided that, uh...

I'm moving back to L.A.
to take care of her.

L-L.A.?

Yeah.

Listen, I know this is a lot...

You had a daughter...

in our city.

When do you hit bottom?

I'm sorry.

[CHUCKLES]

When the press finds out
about this girl...

Tia.

Her name's Tia, Charley.

She just turned .

- Don't you dare.
- Look.

Don't you dare try to use
that poor girl's face.

I know I've done you wrong, Charley.

I have.

But I been a damn good father.

[DAVIS] I'll make amends.

You'll see. I promise you that.

I promised Micah.

You told Micah...

before you told me?

You just left him
to deal with it on his own?

- I been trying to call...
- "Trying to call"?

Get out.

- Charley, I...
- You need to get out of here.

- Would you just listen to me?
- Get out of my house.

Get out. Get out. Get out.

Get out! Get out!

[DOOR OPENS, SLAMS]

[SOBBING]

- [RALPH] Hey.
- Oh, hey.

Let me help you with that.

Thanks.

I came in to work on the books,

but they brought these guys in early.

Want me to clean 'em for you?

No. Khanh's coming in

once he's done nursing his hangover.

I feel that.

Just trying to see what
you're doing this weekend.

Maybe you'd be down to kick it?

That's so sweet.

Um, but I... I can't this weekend.
I'm trying to get...

- It's all good.
- everything caught up for taxes,

and I have to help my aunt out
at the restaurant tonight, so...

I'm sorry.

I get it.

I didn't mean to bother you.

I'll leave you to it. See you around.

You know there are six other days

in the week, right?

[CHUCKLES]

I'm off on Monday.

All right.

Monday, it is.

Cool.

- Bye. [LAUGHS]
- Bye.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Yeah, hold right there.

Yeah, I'm gonna get a couple more here.

The Hell is this, a circus or something?

[CELL PHONE BUZZING]

♪ I didn't need to know ♪

♪ But now I need to know ♪

♪ Tonight we row ♪

♪ Well, I'll quit 'em ♪

_

♪ I been away from the river ♪

♪ Tonight we row... ♪

[PHONE LINE RINGS]

This is Ralph Angel.

Can't get to my phone
right now. Leave a message.

[PHONE LINE RINGS]

Baby, you've reached Violet Bordelon.

I'm unable to answer
the phone right now, so...

This is Nova Bordelon. I'm
not here, but I'm somewhere.

Drop a note, and I'll get back at you.

[SOBBING]

♪ Deliver me ♪

_

♪ I been away from the river ♪

♪ River ♪

♪ Deliver me ♪

♪ I been away from the river ♪

♪ Deliver us ♪

[LAUGHING]

In the summer?

Oh, it didn't matter
if it was outside.

She'd say, "You gotta keep your
mind sharp, but your body sharper."

Cheers to Lorna.

Cheers to Lorna.

Okay, I got one.

When I was in college,
my brother Paul and me,

we had this, uh,
fraternity prank that, uh...

went wrong.

Uh-oh.

[BOTH LAUGH]

When my mama heard about it,

she drove through the night to Houston,

hauled our asses out of bed,
across campus,

woke up the Dean so we could apologize,

just hollering at our asses
the whole way there.

I think that deserves two sh*ts.

Hey, two sh*ts.

Frances.

Whoo!

Oww!

Wait, wait. How old's your brother?

[MAN] Jacob?

Man, I thought that was you.

Hey, Trent. Good to see you, man.

[TRENT] I'm glad I ran into you.

We finished up that
northwest quadrant early,

so we're gonna start
the southeast on Monday.

That's good news, man. Why
don't y'all get settled in?

I'll send a round over, all right?

- Yeah. We'll take it. Ma'am.
- All right.

They're just doing some work
on another one of our mills.

All right, last round.

This one's yours...

if you think Lorna can top Frances

Oh, easily.

But I want to know more about
this brother of yours.

How much other hell-raising
you two doing?

You don't wanna know.

Oh, yeah?

Try me.

♪ Hollow one ♪

♪ With invited tongue ♪

♪ From whence... ♪

Hey, you know, I read that article, uh,

about the kids at the game.

I know it ain't exactly how
you wanted it to turn out,

but I was just gonna say that
you did good with the kids,

gave them a chance to have
their voices heard, you know?

Their voices got twisted by
adults who don't know any better.

They have so much potential.

Everyone's trying
to shame it and push it down.

That's why we need them,

and that's why they need you.

How you're helping Micah...

Nova, you're their guide.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[BELL RINGS]

Oh, hey. You got something.

[YELPS]

Easy. Easy. Easy. Don't tug.

- [LAUGHING]
- Nice and easy. Nice and easy.

Nice and easy. Keep reeling.

There you go. There it is.

- Yeah. [LAUGHS]
- There it is.

[CLEARS THROAT]

I caught that with plain old worm bait

just like my daddy.

[LAUGHS]

Just like your daddy.

- [LAUGHS]
- Have mercy.

We gonna eat tonight.

- Yeah, you cooking.
- Uh-huh.

- That's for sure.
- Damn right.

Ernest was so desperate to impress
this girl from the bayou,

he said he loved fishing,

so on their first date, sure enough,

your mama catches five fish.

He said, in that moment,

he knew he wanted to marry her.

I don't know.

Sometimes I wonder what
her life would have been like

if she hadn't have gotten pregnant.

Yeah, but she lived a good life here.

She made the most
of a life she was talked into.

I don't ever want
to be talked into anything...

not again.

♪ Well, I feel The peeling ♪

♪ Of half-painted ceilings ♪

♪ Reveal the covering Of a blank sky ♪

[MALIK] Ah, look at these fools.

This ain't no amusement park.

- It's a crime scene.
- Exactly.

Say, guys, uh, can't be sitting on those.

They're years old.

Well, my ancestors fought for the right

to sit in this chair,

so I'm gonna sit in it.

Yeah, maybe you should go
to those sl*ve quarters

and tell those kids to stop
climbing all over the windows.

Yeah, you got people taking
pictures in shackles,

pretending they're slaves,

and you mad at me for sitting

in a chair my ancestors built?

I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

Is that right?

Nah, that's cool. We'll go.

We know who this place is really for.

Come on. Let's go.

What you say? What you say?

Nothing much, man.

You know it's the weekend, right?

- What you doing here?
- I had time.

Thought I'd get ahead on
some more soil samples.

Found you a place to stay yet?

Yeah.

Going by a friend's house
over on Crane Street.

Come on, man. Everybody know

what going down on Crane Street.

Stay out of they business and mind mine.

Yeah, 'til they business start
messing with your parole, right?

You ain't going back there.

Hey, crash here until you
find something better.

I appreciate it, man.

Ah, you don't even know.

Look, I ain't running no motel, brah.

Stay here, you gotta follow my rules.

I got a kid.

You got it.

[CHUCKLES] Yeah.

[FROGS CROAKING]

[REMY] This is my favorite part.

Thank you.

[REMY] Look at that.

You know, you said before

that you don't want to get
talked into anything.

You don't seem like someone
who gets talked into things.

What was that about?

In the past, whoever I was with,

they wanted something,
a piece of me I didn't have,

wanted to change me
into something that I wasn't.

Mm-hmm.

Well, let me tell you something.

You deserve to be with someone

who wants to be with you...

Nova,

not Nova the activist,

not Nova the journalist,

just Nova.

[BOTTLES CLINK]

Here you go.

Thanks.

♪ Downtown tonight ♪

[LAUGHS]

♪ Saw an old friend, Someone who... ♪

You gotta humor me on this.

Oh, no, no. I, uh...

I'm not much for dancing.

I can't sit listening to this song

next to a beautiful woman
without dancing to it.

♪ And I caught a spark ♪

♪ In her eyes Of forgotten desire ♪

- Oh!
- [LAUGHS]

♪ With a word or a touch ♪

♪ I could have Rekindled the fire ♪

♪ But old flames ♪

♪ Can't hold a candle to you ♪

♪ No one ♪

♪ Can light up my night Like you do ♪

♪ Flickering embers of love ♪

♪ I've known one or two ♪

♪ But old flames ♪

♪ Can't hold a candle to you ♪

♪ Sometimes at night ♪

♪ I think of old lovers I've known ♪

See if you got any game.

- Ah.
- All right.

- [SPLASH]
- You can't even see it.

- All right.
- Did all right.

It went far, though. That's the...

- That was pretty good.
- Let's see what you got, Malik.

All right, um...

[KJ] Don't hurt yourself.

[LAUGHTER]

[MALIK] Okay. Okay.

- [SPLASH]
- You distracted me!

- Give it up.
- No.

Dude, I play basketball, man.

[KJ] He won.

All right, all right.

Hey, yo.

You good, man?

My brother's in there.

They had to adjust the
dosage for the dizziness,

and they got me, uh,

writing down my symptoms...

so they can figure it all out.

Oh, I didn't think you'd be
hungry after all them burgers.

[LAUGHING]

Mm-hmm.

Your partner in crime spilled the beans.

What's this?

Cauliflower mac and cheese.

Baby, I can't be doing

that squash and mushrooms every day.

Now, Nova's diet might
be all well and good,

but a brother needs some meat
and some flavor somewhere,

and so do you.

Mm-hmm.

[LAUGHS]

Right?

Oh, that's good.

Uh-huh.

Thank you, baby.

Mm-hmm.

Blue...

we know that you have a lot of
questions about your dad and me.

Remember how I said I have a new home?

Are we leaving the farm?

Still be living at the farm.

Just gonna have two bedrooms now,

one here and one at your mama's.

Blue,

we're really, really sorry.

Your dad and I are not getting married.

We decided we're just gonna be friends.

But you said, "Forever."

I know.

We're so, so sorry.

[BLUE CRYING]

Listen to me.

Hey, look at me.

I'm so sorry,

breaking your forever.

I am. Hey.

But me and your mom, we love you always,

and that ain't ever gonna change, okay?

May I go to my room?

Yeah.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[MUSIC PLAYING INSIDE]

I had a real good time.

It was fun.

I have to get home to my son.

Yeah. Nah...

I understand.

Uh, you okay to drive?

Yeah. No, I'm good.

All right.

♪ Don't need this Like I used to ♪

♪ 'Cause I feel blinded, Blinded by you ♪

♪ Don't need this Like I used to ♪

♪ 'Cause I feel blinded, Blinded by you ♪

♪ Don't need this Like I used to ♪

♪ 'Cause I feel blinded, Blinded by you ♪

♪ Don't need this Like I used to ♪

♪ 'Cause I feel blinded, Blinded by you ♪

Go, Ree-Ree!