record, so Bird makes an uneasy deal with her former boyfriend Simuel St. James (Mel Jackson) to get Lem a job. This creates tension between Lem and Bird when he finds out, and in one of their arguments, Teri overhears and mistakenly believes Lem was physically threatening her sister. Teri hires her cousin Blimp to teach Lem a lesson, but when the two men fight, which ends with Lem pulling a gun, the police become involved and Lem is arrested on assault and illegal gun possession charges. Realizing her mistake, Teri calls in a few favors to have Lem released and later apologizes to him. Kenny and Maxine refuse to live within their means and constantly borrow money from Teri without paying it back, which causes even more tension between the sisters; the fighting between Teri and Maxine soon causes the Sunday dinners to stop and the Joseph family tradition to be broken after forty years due to the ongoing tensions. Everything comes to a head when, after Teri decides to sell the Joseph family home rather than get stuck with most of her mother's hospital bills, Maxine and Bird file an injunction to stop the sale, setting the stage for a major legal battle within the family. Throughout all this, Ahmad becomes worried about the state of his extended family and, following Big Mama's passing, conspires to find a way to bring them all back together. Ahmad tells his relatives about a stash of money that Big Mama had hidden away some time ago but everyone dismisses him, believing it to be a myth. However, Ahmad manages to get everyone together for another Sunday dinner by promising them the whereabouts of the money. The dinner is uneasy as everyone starts confronting their issues, and eventually they come to realize there is no money. Maxine chastises her son for lying, but Ahmad says tearfully that it was the only way to get everyone back together again, citing it as Big Mama's dying wish. As Maxine comforts her son, the kitchen accidentally catches on fire, and they all work together to try and to put it out. Just as they finish putting the fire out, Uncle Pete, Big Mama's brother, comes down with his television and drops it to reveal the money that Big Mama had hidden away. Things start to go well for the family. Miles still comes by for