Good morning.
Is that Dele's phone?
Mm-hmm.
You usually make him watch while you snoop.
I did not want to wake him,
so I just unlocked the phone with his face.
You're a good mother.
He has not received a single notice
from any of the colleges he applied to.
That's what you're looking for? Not porn?
I don't care if he masturbates, I care if he goes to Harvard.
You really are a good mom.
If he does not go to Harvard,
his options in life will be limited.
He'll have plenty of doors open for him
if he graduates from other schools.
Cornell, Northwestern.
Olorun maje. Olorun maje.
Please, do not speak those names.
Michigan? Duke?
Olorun maje. Olorun maje.
Don't "olorun maje" me. I'm trying to help.
Hello? Um, if possible,
I'd like to speak to...
Fine, I'll hold.
E karo, Mum.
Harvard charges more than $50,000 a semester.
They should be able to pay someone to answer their phone.
You're calling Harvard?
Hello there.
My name is Abishola Adebambo Wheeler.
I hope you are having a blessed day.
Please hang up.
I'm checking on my son's application.
His name is Bamidele Adebambo.
I didn't apply to Harvard.
Excuse me a moment.
What are you talking about?
I was going to. I had the application,
I had the essays,
but I just couldn't send them in.
Harvard, I will call you back.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but I don't want to go there.
Where are you going to go?
And do not say Cornell.
It's called Juilliard, and it's in New York.
It has the best dance program in the world.
Dance.
Yeah.
Excuse me.
Where are you going?
To kill myself so I do not kill you.
Thank you, Auntie. I will send his flight details.
Auntie Abo said Dele can stay with her.
Good.
- She is a big woman. - Mm-hmm.
If we are sending the boy to Nigeria,
he should live with someone strong enough to beat him.
My thoughts exactly.
Really? Can't you just smack him around at home?
If he is not going to Harvard, he is going to Lagos.
Honey, you have drilled Harvard into him his whole life.
He still couldn't do it. What does that tell you?
I did not drill hard enough.
A couple years in Nigeria will fix him.
You can't use a country as a time-out.
It works.
My brother's son
started skipping school and calling his father "Pops."
After six months in Nigeria,
he returned with the dead eyes of a respectful son.
He was traumatized.
And he became an accountant.
Does my taxes.
But this is Dele we're talking about.
He doesn't need to be fixed.
You raised a smart, responsible... dancer.
I don't know why I talk to you.
You marry a white man, this is what you get.
All right.
Oh, you're up.
Good morning.
It is?
I hope you slept well.
You do?
I want to have a conversation.
With me?
Sit. Eat.
Oh, that's okay.
I'm not really hungry.
Eat.
I understand this Juilliard is very prestigious.
It's more difficult to get into than Harvard.
Mm-hmm. I had to submit transcripts and recommendations.
I even used one of my Harvard essays.
It would have been a shame to waste it.
"My Journey from Lagos to Detroit."
You come off really good in it.
I also had to choreograph
a whole routine for my prescreening video.
♪ Heat on, notice on to go kill it ♪
♪ Move that little thing a little fast ♪
♪ Get into it, go crazy, bring it back up, yeah... ♪
Okay, I have seen enough of your bending.
I read that some very famous people went to Juilliard.
- Nina Simone. Viola Davis. - Mm-hmm.
Your favorite, Barry Manilow.
He would have succeeded no matter where he went.
There are many more people who went there
who did not become rich and famous.
I don't care about being rich and famous,
I just want to do something that I love.
"The average income for a Juilliard graduate is $45,000."
You give me seven dollars a week. I could live on that.
Those are the ones who have jobs.
Here is an article about a stupid boy named Sam Andrews.
"He left home with a bassoon and a dream."
That was him, that's not me.
He had to sell his instrument to pay rent.
Are you going to sell your feet?
You raised me to work hard.
I will push through the difficult times and be the best.
"Shocking death of Juilliard violinist."
"Accomplished dancer living on the streets."
Did he go to Juilliard?
It does not matter, he's a homeless dancer.
Ah, glad to see you two talking.
We're done.
- No, we are not. Sit down. - You're not listening,
so what's the point?
Hey, don't walk away from your mom.
I'm going to Juilliard,
and I don't care if you like it or not.
Maybe walk away.
As long as you are in my house, you will do as I say.
Then I'll leave your house.
Okay, then, you are going to Nigeria.
He thinks I'm strict,
wait until Auntie Abo puts him in a headlock.
I'll go talk to him.
Don't you move.
Hey, I am not your child.
But I will stay 'cause I want to.
Uh-uh. Where do you think you are going?
You said I can't be in your house, so I'm leaving.
Okay, everybody just calm down.
No, no, no, no. Let him leave.
But you cannot take anything I paid for.
That jacket belongs to me.
Fine.
He's gonna freeze.
No, it's okay. I don't want the jacket.
Do not tell me what you want, take the jacket.
No, thank you.
Oh, take the frickin' jacket.
Just know you will not be welcome back.
Tough kid. Stubborn like his...
He's a tough kid.
Hello, Auntie.
Hello, Dele.
Can I come in?
No.
My mom called?
Yes. Have a nice evening.
We cannot leave the boy out on the street.
It's not up to us.
We have to do what his mother wants.
Aren't you gonna hear me out?
He sounds so sad.
Can we at least feed him?
Maybe something flat to slide under the door?
Have you eaten?
Not since lunch.
The boy is starving.
He has disrespected his mother.
If we interfere, we are accessories to a crime.
Okay.
Oh, but we could feed him
and then throw him back on the street.
That could work.
Yeah, uh, but make something he likes,
so the memory haunts him.
Good.
Do not smile.
I cannot believe he's behaving like this.
I don't know what to say.
It's disgraceful.
Did he come begging to your home?
He did. And we shut the door in his face.
Where is he now?
Well, we opened the door.
What?
He was hungry.
You fed him?
And we let him bathe.
Shame on you!
There is no shame. He is our nephew.
The two of you have turned into soft-boiled eggs.
We agree that a child who disrespects his mother
deserves to be punished.
That is why he received no dessert.
I made him watch as I ate mine.
I should book two more tickets to Nigeria.
Middle seats, so they suffer.
Do you not understand that he's determined
to become a dancer?
Of course we understand.
He is in America now,
and he makes American choices, which, yes, are stupid,
but they are his constitutional right.
Life, liberty,
and the pursuit of stupid.
Yes?
We are going to bed.
Good night. Thanks for everything.
- Are you all right? - Mm-hmm.
I'm coming in.
Hey.
Oh, my darling, it'll be okay.
I always knew this was gonna happen with my mom.
But now that it has, it's...
Hard.
Yeah.
But you are a strong, smart young man,
and somehow, things will work out.
But what if they don't?
What if I'm wrong?
The odds are I'm wrong.
Yes, but if the odds were good,
we would all be famous.
You would be Keanu Reeves,
and I would be Shakira.
I guess I'm... scared.
Good. If you were not scared,
you would be insane.
But you are.
Which means you have courage.
Thanks, Auntie.
Olu...
I am in the bed...
and I'm lonely.
The walls are thin, aren't they?
Yes.
Do you have headphones?
Yes.
Put them on.
♪ Party in the streets ♪
♪ It's hot in here, somebody get a fan ♪
♪ VIPs ready with the gang ♪
♪ Popping bottles of pink rosé ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, move your body, do it live ♪
♪ Don't stop, spin around, back it up ♪
♪ Then drop, turn it up, break it down ♪
♪ Get loose, yeah, I know what you came here to do... ♪
I hate that you are so good.
♪ Now move, move ♪
- Hey. - Hey.
Place feels a little empty.
He misses you, too.
How do you know?
Well, when you go through my phone later,
you'll see the texts.
He needs to stop this nonsense and come back home.
You told him to leave.
So suddenly he does what I tell him?
Why don't you take the high road and call him?
Never.
Everything I do is for that boy's good.
And if he doesn't see it then...
then that's too bad.
Come here.
Here.
What am I going to do?
You're a religious woman, right?
Of course.
Try having some faith.
In dancing?!
In general.
Dele is a Black man in America.
Life will be hard enough.
You're right.
Which is why he needs his mother's support.
In dancing?
In general.
Just over nine minutes to go in this quarter.
They need to score on this drive.
What on earth are you doing?
Folding your laundry.
You're doing it wrong.
Fold at the zipper,
then gently fold at the knee.
Better?
Not even close.
I was just about to mop the kitchen floor,
and then I remembered we have you.
Let us hope you are better at that.
We are not soft-boiled eggs.
Hello, Uncle. Abishola.
I need to speak to my son.
Of course.
Auntie.
Abishola. Ebun.
Olu. Ebun.
Tunde.
Dele.
Mum.
All right, everybody's met.
Honey, just like we practiced.
Dele...
if you must...
dance,
then I will...
S...
Support you.
Nicely done.
What changed your mind?
Hey, kid, come on. Just say thank you and give her a hug.
Thank you.
I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you.
You should be. You were deceitful
and spat on everything I've...
Ah, ah, ah, ah!
Stay on script.
- I forgive you. - There you go.
Olu,
you do not have any snacks or tea for your guests.
We did not know you were coming.
That is no excuse.
Young man, I have a question.
Yes, Granny?
After you go to this silly school
and pursue this foolish career,
is there any chance you will star in Les Mis?
I don't know.
Try. I love that play.
♪ Drop it, turn it up, break it down, get it loose ♪
♪ Yeah, I know what you came here to do ♪
♪ Got the juice ♪
♪ Yeah, I know what you came here to do ♪
♪ Got the juice ♪
♪ Yeah, I know what you came here to do ♪
Yeah!
- I'm so proud of you. - Thanks, Mum.
Just in case, does Julliard offer
a minor in dentistry?
I'll check.
Yay.