Keisa: Hey! Pick on someone your own size! You know he can't fight!
Adult Dean: Was there anything more embarrassing than your crush calling you a wimp in front of the entire school?
Lillian: Get off my son! You know he can't fight!
Adult Dean: Yeah. Guess there was.
Dean: Mom, what are you doing? I almost had him.
Lillian: I did not raise you to be out here fighting. What is your name, young man?
Michael: Michael Simms, ma'am.
Adult Dean: Back then, there was an unspoken agreement that Black parents were allowed to parent not just their own kids, but all the kids in the community.
Lillian: Both of you, butts in the car. Now!

Dean: Mom, since the Fair's coming up and I have a solo in the concert...
Kim: When school lets out early, I'm going with Cassandra and Corynella.
Lillian: Well, don't you have a paper... [Dean clears throat] Forgive us, Dean. Please continue bragging about your solo.
Dean: I was hoping that maybe I could get a new shirt for the concert. Maybe a silk one. I want to look cool.
Lillian: First of all, you know you only get clothes at the beginning of the school year. Second... a silk shirt? Which one of the Pips are you replacing? [laughter]

Dean: Maybe I can even go to school tomorrow.
Lillian: Well, the doctor said she'd call tonight to give the all clear.
Granddaddy Clisby: "She." Just doesn't sound right. [stammers] I'm just glad that you are back in the kitchen.
Lillian: Oh, Clisby, the only reason I cook delicious food is to keep that mouth of yours occupied and shut. [chuckles]
Kim: You see? That's what happens when you get an education.

Tammy: I'm surprised you all haven't mentioned the age difference yet.
Lillian: Well, there is that.
Bruce: Well, Mama, you and Dad aren't the same age, either.
Lillian: Son, three years apart is different than...
Tammy: More than three years. You know, a lady never tells her age. [laughs]
Lillian: I'm 41. You?

Lillian: Good morning, sweetie. Don't worry about the bus. I'll take you once I finish these brownies for your class party. [to Vivian] Girl, I was hotter than fish grease. We didn't speak the whole night, and here he come this morning with his ol' "You okay, baby?"
Dean: Who's that? Daddy?
[Vivian sighs and hands Dean the chocolate-covered whisk to lick]
Lillian: But maybe he's right. Maybe I need to turn down this promotion and support my husband and family.
Vivian: Lillian, if Cliff would've got this opportunity, he wouldn't even included me in the discussion. He just would've told me he made the final decision and then tell me how much money I could spend.
Lillian: Oh, Viv.
Vivian: Oh, no, I'm not complaining. It's the system we have. I like it. I agreed to it. But what I'm saying is when I do feel some type of way about it, I like to look at you.
Lillian: Really?
Vivian: Oh, girl, please. Now, don't be acting like you ain't the Miss Boss Lady clacking and clacking around here with your work outfits and your lunch breaks and your typewriter, using your white girl voice. "Alabama State Treasury Department." [Lillian laughs]
Dean: I've heard her use that voice before.
[Lillian sighs and pushes the mixing bowl of chocolate towards Dean]
Vivian: Now, listen, you deserve to go as far as the Good Lord will let you. And I'm-a keep watching. Oh, no, Lil, you know you're wrong to send him to school all hopped up on that sugar like that.
Lillian: That's his teacher's problem, not mine.

Adult Dean: Any guilt I was feeling about what I was doing was gone by the time I got home. Hey, I was dealing with grief in my own way. So was my sister.
Lillian: You're not going anywhere tonight, young lady.
Adult Dean: And Mama.
Lillian: I made dinner. And we're going to eat tonight together as a family.
Adult Dean: Her five stages of grief came with five pounds of bacon grease.
Lillian: [timer dings] Oh! The other chicken is ready.
Bill: [to the kids] Be cool.

Dean: So, you don't anymore?
Lillian: I guess we haven't in a while.
Dean: Why'd you stop?
Lillian: Well... Well, you all were getting older and we both were pretty busy with work.
Bill: Yeah, you know, with teaching and tenure.
Lillian: And I was going up for that new promotion, more hours...
Dean: So, all that makes you not miss each other anymore?
Lillian: That's not important. I just want you to understand that this is all normal and healthy. For men and women.

Lillian: Now, there's no need to tell your father about all this.
Dean: Really?
Adult Dean: Even sexually liberated women hate hearing their husbands say, "I told you so." As good as it felt for my friends to think I was mature, it felt even better for my parents to treat me that way.
Lillian: [radio changing stations] Don't you touch that radio, boy. You ain't grown.
Dean: Yes, ma'am.

Adult Dean: Funny. Instead of being bored enough to jump out the window and shoot myself on the way down, I actually wanted to learn more about Mama and her job.
Dean: So... Did you always want to work here?
Lillian: You know... I didn't know what I wanted to do, but none of the women in my family had careers. I knew I wanted more than what Waugh, Alabama, had to give me, so I went to college and then I got my master's. And then, after months of searching for work without so much as an interview, I saw a posting about a job at the Department of Treasury. Never thought I'd get it, but like I tell you and your brother and your sister...
Dean: "Give out before you give up."
Lillian: That's right. I tried. And I got the job.
Adult Dean: Sometimes, you don't appreciate the rare beauty of a unicorn until you see it in the wild.
Dean: So, you had to get a master's to work here?
Lillian: Baby, I'm the only one here who has a master's.

Dean: Look, Ma. Bruce's old uniform fits like a glove.
Adult Dean: Well, it fit about as well as Bruce's old baseball glove, which I had to attach to my arm with duct tape to keep from falling off.
Lillian: Mm, it looks good, but it's gonna look even better after I take it in. Or cut it in half.