Adult Chris: [v.o.] First thing in the morning, my mother did the meanest thing yet: nothing.
Chris: Why didn't you wake me up? I'm late for school.
Rochelle: You're grown. Wake yourself up. You don't want to do nothing for me, I ain't doing nothing for you.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] And she didn't. She didn't do my laundry.
Chris: Where are my underwear?
Rochelle: You're grown. Wash your own drawers.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] She didn't make my meals.
Chris: Where's my breakfast?
Rochelle: You're grown. You can cook your own food.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] I was trying to become my own person, but my mother still thought she owned me.
Rochelle: What you think you're doing?
Chris: I'm making breakfast.
Rochelle: With my eggs?
Chris: No, I bought the eggs, and I bought the bacon.
Rochelle: Oh. Well, you ain't buy that skillet. You ain't buy that fire. You ain't buy that spatula. You ain't buy that plate.
Chris: Next time, I'll remember to buy a paper plate.
Rochelle: Ooh! Next time? Oh, next? "Oh, next time, I'll remember to buy a paper" No, next time, you need to remember this ain't your kitchen! This ain't your stove. This ain't your floor. Those ain't your frozen gizzards. That ain't your...!
Chris: You say none of this is mine, maybe I should find someplace else to be.
Rochelle: Uh-oh! Did y'all see that? I guess he jumping bad now. You bad! I guess you Shaft! You's a bad mother-- Shut your mouth! No. Since you're so independent, so liberated, maybe you need to go live in the Statue of Liberty.
Chris: Fine. I'm leaving.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] I stood my ground, and now I was gonna be standing out on the street.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] When you're a kid, one of the most important lessons you learn is when your parents tell you to do something...
Rochelle: Y'all better eat that liver.
Kids: Yes, ma'am.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] ... you do it. No matter what you think.
Rochelle: Boy, get your feet off my good chair.
Drew: Yes, ma'am.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] ...no matter what it is.
Rochelle: Girl, are you crazy?! You want to cook your brother, do it outside.
Tonya: Yes, ma'am.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] No matter how you feel.
Rochelle: Chris, clear off the table and do the dishes.
Chris: No. [Drew and Tonya laugh as they watch TV]
Rochelle: What?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Will I say what I said again? Will my mother kill me before I get a chance to say it? Are Drew and Tonya gonna sit there and just let this happen? Don't touch that dial.

Greg: Dude, you look terrible.
Chris: I know. It was a rough morning. Mom decided she's not gonna do anything for me anymore. Barely made it to school.
Greg: If you back down now, you'll miss the one chance you have to make sure your voice is heard.
Chris: I know. All I have to do is stick it out just a little bit longer. She's been mad at me before, and she'll be mad at me again. What's she gonna do, not be my mother anymore?
[fantasy: Rochelle is with Chris at a maternity ward:]
Rochelle: I'd like to return this child.
Nurse: Do you have the receipt?
Rochelle: Sure do.
Nurse: Looks good. Take this to the cashier for your refund.
Rochelle: Thank you.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] After saying no to my mother for the first time, I didn't know what to expect.
Rochelle: What did you say?
Chris: I said no.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Twice.
Rochelle: That's what I thought you said.
[fantasy: Rochelle hurls cutlery at Chris, pinning him up against a door. She then pulls out a kitchen knife and points it at Chris.]
Rochelle: Now say it again.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] Whenever there was a problem my mother couldn't handle, she'd call my father for backup, like the governor bringing in the National Guard.
[fantasy: Chris flings pots and dishes out of the window as Rochelle hides behind a parked car while a SWAT team, including Julius, moves in.]
Rochelle: Ow!
Julius: What's the situation?!
Rochelle: Chris won't do what I told him.
Chris: You want me to do some dishes?! I'll do some dishes! [screams maniacally]
Julius: I'll handle this.
Rochelle: Oh, that was my-
[After Julius uses a rocket launcher and fires at the window where Chris was, the people on the street celebrate]
Julius: Yes!

Rochelle: Where have you been?
Julius: I stopped to get coffee.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] With his coffee coupon.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] While my father was trying to figure out what to do, I was starting to realize what I had done.
Greg: What are you doing here so early?
Chris: It's a long story. Why you here?
Greg: Eh, I'm always here for breakfast. So what happened?
Chris: I talked back to my mother, she's telling my father, and I had to get out the house before he got home.
Greg: What were you thinking?
Chris: She's always making me do work while Drew and Tonya sit around like it's a hotel. I mean, why do I have to be a maid? Do I look French? Do I have on a black skirt with a white apron?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] That's a whole other type of maid.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] I had survived the walk home. Now all I had to do was apologize, and my life would go back to normal.
Rochelle: So did you talk to him?
Julius: I talked to him.
Rochelle: Good. Chris, clean up the table and do the dishes.
Chris: No.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Well, it's been nice knowing you, America.

Rochelle: So I thought you talked to him?
Julius: I did. And he's got a point.
Rochelle: What?!
Julius: Why should Drew and Tonya watch TV while Chris cleans up their mess?
Rochelle: I do not have to explain to him why I do the things that I do. If I want him to do something that I don't want the other kids to do, I probably have a good reason!
Julius: And do you have a good reason?
Rochelle: No. But that doesn't matter!
Julius: He's growing up, Rochelle. If you ask him to do something that seems unfair, he's gonna want to know why. You wanted a strong-minded kid, well, you got one.
Rochelle: Oh. Okay, I-I see. Oh, if he wants to be grown, then he's grown. Fine.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] How come when a woman says "fine," it's never actually fine?