Whole Family
It is 3 AM.
Joseph and Pamela have fallen into a troubled sleep. Chris is curled in her bed, alone with her nightmares.
Joe, too drunk to drive, has walked back to the scene of the party where he and Chris were earlier that night. He is determined. He mumbles to himself as he strides quickly through the street,
Joe (to himself):
"I'll kill the slimeball who hurt my little sister..."
Even before he arrives he can hear the music blasting more than a block away. Somewhere through the turmoil of his rage he wonders why the neighbors haven't complained yet.
He doesn't bother knocking at the door. Nobody would hear him anyway. He walks in and searches through the smoke for the guy who did it.
He sees him across the room. Joe walks toward him. The other guy doesn't see him coming. Joe shoves him back, hard, against the liquor table. There is a loud crash as bottles explode on the floor and the guy struggles to keep his balance.
Joe (coldly):
That's the last time you'll ever touch my sister."
The guy shouts back at Joe,
Boy:
"You think I'm the first one who got to her?"
He isn't prepared for what comes next. Joe moves quickly. There is a loud, sickening crack as. Joe pulls back his bloody fist and watches as the guy drops to the cold floor. Blinded by rage, Joe drops down next to him and continues to pummel him. The boy loses consciousness.
The kids in the room are too stunned to move. It all happened so quickly. As they stand there, frozen in time, a loud knock is heard at the door. Without waiting for an answer, five policemen roughly push open the door and one of them shouts,
"Nobody move."
The teens part as the policemen make their way toward Joe, who is rooted to his place, staring down at the still body on the floor. One of them crouches down to feel the guy's pulse and says,
"He's alive. Call an ambulance."
Before Joe knows what is happening, he feels another policeman frisking and cuffing him. The cop pulls a little packet filled with white powder out of Joe's hip pocket.
"You're coming with us," he says and drags him out.
Next Episode: Joe at the Police Station
Previous Episode: Joseph and Pamela Talk About the Date Rape of Chris
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Joseph:
Pam?
Pamela:
Hmm.....
Joseph:
I need to talk to you.
Pamela (sits up):
It's about Chris, isn't it?
Joseph (choked up):
Yeah. I think she was raped.
Pamela:
Oh God no.
Joseph is silent. Pamela puts her hand on his shoulder.
Pamela:
Joe, what are we going to do?
Joseph:
I don't know. She was hysterical. She could hardly talk. She went upstairs with some guy at a party .... She refuses to go to the hospital. She's sleeping now.
Pamela (wide awake):
My God! She's already showered! Did you collect her underwear? Joseph, we've got to take her to the hospital! She has to be checked. We have to contact the police. Maybe that boy has something...
Joseph:
I can't! She won't go!
Pamela:
What do you mean, she won't go! You have to make her go with you!
Joseph:
It's not so simple. She thinks no one will believe her. They saw her go upstairs with that guy. Even Joe Jr...Oh my God! I hope he doesn't do something stupid...
Pamela:
Joe Jr.? What does he have to do with this?
Joseph:
He came home in the middle, while we were talking, and he saw her crying. He said he was there, that he saw some guy go upstairs with her.
Pamela:
Oh Joe, I was afraid something like this would happen to Chris...
Joseph (angry):
Why? Are you saying she's to blame?
Pamela:
Joseph, I don't know how to say this... but Chris...she's not exactly the kind of girl that you think she is...she's not so innocent...
Joseph:
What do you mean?
Pamela:
Joseph, just look at the way she dresses, the way she acts around boys...
Joseph:
What do you mean, the way she acts around boys? She's like all of her friends.
Pamela:
Well, no, she's not really. Sometimes it looks like she's practically asking for it...
Joseph (furious):
Asking for what?? To be raped!?!?!?!
Pamela:
I don't mean that.
Joseph:
So what do you mean?
Pamela (quietly):
Listen Joseph, what happened is terrible, and I'm not saying that it's her fault she was raped. All I'm saying is that she's been acting in a way that was asking for trouble, even if she didn't mean it to happen.
Joseph:
I can't believe what you're saying! This is my daughter you're talking about! She's a wonderful girl, just like her mother was. She's not some street kid. She's not a druggie, like Joe...
Pamela (voice tight):
Joseph, I know she's a wonderful girl. But she doesn't always show that face to the world. She shows the face of...well...
Joseph:
Of what? Go ahead, say it.
Pamela:
Of a girl who is ready and willing to have sex.
Joseph:
I can't believe what you're saying! She's only 14 years old.
Pamela (shaking her head):
Look Joseph, I'm sorry I even brought it up. Maybe now's not the time to talk about this. Let's just get her to the hospital and start some action against this creep.
Joseph:
I told you, she won't go! I'm her father! If she doesn't want to go, I won't force her! She's been through enough for one night!!
Pamela (coldly):
Well, you're right. You're the parent, not me. So do what you want. I'm going back to sleep.
Pamela walks angrily into the bathroom, gets into her nightgown in there, comes back out and goes to bed, though she can't sleep. She lies awake, angry and hurt, staring into the darkness. Joe sits up, dressed on his side of the bed, staring into nothing. Silence.
Next Episode: Joe Returns to the Party and Hunts Down the Guilty Party
Previous Episode: Chris Tells Her Story
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Joseph:
Chris, please tell me what happened.
Chris is silent. She rocks slightly back and forth in her chair.
Joseph:
Chris? Please tell me what happened.
Chris is silent.
Joseph:
Chris, someone did something to you. Tell me what happened.
Chris (in choked whisper):
I can't.
Joseph (tight voice):
A boy did something to you, didn't he? Who was it?
No answer.
Joseph:
Tell me Chris, what did he do?
Chris pulls herself closer together and lowers her head.
Joseph:
Did he hurt you?
Chris (barely audible):
Yes.
Joseph (anger rising in his voice):
Did he rape you?
Chris breathes heavy and begins to cry.
Joseph:
(turns away and mumbles to himself softly, "That bastard..." He approaches Chris and puts his arm around her): Honey, are you hurt?
Chris (sobbing):
Daddy, Daddy it was so horrible...
Joseph (holding her):
It's all right honey, I'm here, I want you to tell me what happened.
Chris (hiding her face):
I can't, I didn't want to, I hate myself. I was so stupid. How could I let him ...
Joseph:
What do you mean? What happened Chris?
Chris:
I can't talk about it.
Joseph (holds her):
Honey, you have to talk about it. Do you want to talk to Pamela?
Chris:
No! Not her! I hate her!
Joseph:
Honey, Pamela's a nurse. She sees things like this all the time. Nothing can shock us. Listen, we should take you to the hospital.
Chris:
No! No!
Joseph:
If you were raped, we'll report it to the police and get him...
Chris (in a whisper):
Nobody will believe me!
Joseph:
I'll believe you. Tell me. I know it's difficult to talk about it, but it's better if you do.
Chris:
I didn't mean for it to happen.
Joseph:
I'm sure you didn't. So what happened.
Chris:
I was upstairs, we were just...and then he....
Joseph:
He what?
Chris:
You know what he did! Why do I have to tell you every disgusting detail.
Chris:
I don't want to talk to you or Pamela or anyone and I'm not going to the hospital!!! Nobody will believe me!
Joseph:
Chris, I'll believe you. Just tell me what happened.
Chris:
Okay you want to know what happened. Here's the story. I went upstairs with this guy and he wanted to do it. That's it. He pushed and I screamed! The music was so loud...nobody heard me... but everybody saw me go up with the guy.
A door slams downstairs. It is 2 AM. Joseph looks in the direction of Chris' open bedroom door and listens as footsteps come loudly upstairs.
Joe Jr. hears Chris crying. He stops in the hallway and comes into her room. He is not steady on his feet.
Joe Jr.:
What's going on here?
There is silence in the room. Joe pulls himself together. He looks at his father, who is looking at him. He is surprised that his father is not coming down hard on him for being so late. He realizes that whatever is going on here is worse than him coming home drunk at 2 AM.
Joe Jr.:
Chrissie, what happened. Did that f-ed up slimeball do something to you?
Joseph:
Do you know something about this?
Chris:
Joe, no!
Joe Jr.:
I was at that party! He was a slimeball from another school. A real creep. Why did you go upstairs with him? What did he do to you?
Chris:
I didn't want to!
Joe Jr. (raises his voice, still shaky and kind of drunk):
Did he hurt you! (shouting) What did he do to you?!?!
Joseph:
Lower your voice!
Joe Jr.:
F- you!!!!
Joe runs downstairs.
Chris (screaming): Joe! Don't do it!!!
A door slams downstairs.
Next Episode: Joseph and Pamela Talk About the Date Rape of Chris
Previous Episode: Chris's Predicament
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The clock strikes 1 AM.
Pamela (looking up from the computer and shaking her head): One more night Chris is not going to make curfew.
A door slams downstairs. Chris is heard running up the stairs.
Pamela (to herself):
Wow, some impact my lecture must have had on her! I've never heard her speed like that to her room!
But it is more than just speed that is moving Chris. She slams the door to her room, hard, and through the wall Pamela can hear her sobbing. Distressed, she hurries down the hall to the girls' bedroom and collides with Judith, who has also come upstairs.
Pamela (knocking on the door, hard):
Chris, please let me in! What happened?
Chris:
Go away!
Pamela:Chris, please!
read Pamela's monologue
Pamela Kutchinsky
Chris:
I said go away! Get out of here! Leave me alone!
Pamela (pauses):
Chris, talk to me! At least until your dad comes home.
Judith:
Mom, what could be wrong? (Snickers to herself): As if we don't know...
Pamela:
Stop it! Enough of your snide cracks! Don't you see she's in real trouble!
There is loud crying from inside the room. They stand by the door a long time. They hear Chris pacing back and forth as she cries.
Pamela:
Judith, Joseph's at the hospital on an emergency. I'll wait up for him and we'll find out what's wrong. Take a blanket from the linen closet and go ahead and sleep on the couch in the den. I have to help her...
Judith (mumbling to herself, walking to her mother's room):
She needs more help than we can give her...
There is silence in the bedroom Judith shares with Chris, who, it seems, has finally cried herself to sleep.
Pamela tiptoes downstairs and curls up at the end of the living room couch to wait for Joseph. She opens a magazine but just stares at the same page.
Half an hour later the Toyota pulls into the driveway.
Joseph:
Pamela! What are you doing awake at this hour?
Pamela:
Joseph, something happened to Chris tonight. I'm really worried about her.
Joseph:
What are you talking about?!
Pamela:
I don't know, but she ran upstairs, slammed the door, cried hysterically until she fell asleep and won't let anyone in.
They hear Chris' bedroom door open upstairs. She walks softly down the hall and into the bathroom. The shower begins to run. Pamela and Joseph sit tensely and say nothing, waiting.
Chris stays in the shower a long time.
Joseph:
I'm worried. I'm going to find out what this is all about.
He goes upstairs and knocks softly on the bathroom door.
Chris:
Go away!
Joseph:
It's me, Chrissie, Dad.
Chris (sobbing):
Go away!
Joseph stands outside the bathroom door, not sure what to do next. Pamela comes upstairs and stands next to him.
Joseph (softly):
Go to sleep, Pam. I don't know what's going on, but maybe if I'm here alone it will be easier for her to talk.
Pamela goes into their bedroom and lays down, fully clothed. She has a feeling the night is not yet over. Joseph sits down on the top step of the stairway, waiting for Chris to emerge.
She finally comes out wrapped tightly in an old terry cloth robe. Her arms are wrapped tightly about herself. Her head is soaking and her skin is red from so much scrubbing.
She walks straight into her room, not noticing Joseph at the top of the steps. She sits down in a chair, pulls her knees to her chest and starts to cry again. She does not see Joseph, who comes in and puts his hand gently on her shoulder. She jumps almost a mile. She turns away from him, even as he kneels down and tries to put his arms around her. He doesn't know what's wrong but he knows he has to comfort her about something.
Chris cries and cries and still can not bring herself to talk. She draws her arms more tightly around herself. Finally Joseph begins to suspect what is going on. He tries to stay calm, but can already feel the blood rising to his head.
Joseph:
Who did you go out with tonight?
Chris doesn't answer. Now he knows he is on the right track.
Joseph:
Is it someone you've been out with before?
Joseph:
It's okay, you're safe now...you're safe now...
After a long time, Chris quiets down. She is physically and emotionally exhausted and just sits there with her head resting on her father's chest, her arms still around herself.
Chris begins to talk...
Next Episode: Chris Tells Her Story
Previous Episode: Pamela and Judith Have a Talk
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Pamela:
Judith, I want to talk to you.
Judith (looks up from her books):
Yes Mom?
Pamela:
It's about your attitude to Joe Jr.
Judith (impatiently):
Mom, if you're going to tell me to be nice to that slimeball... I just can't take it anymore! It's bad enough living with the mess and the slovenliness he creates, but he's bringing drugs into the house! You know that! Why are you defending him?
Pamela:
I'm not defending him. I even spoke to Joseph about it. But you also have to make an effort to be civil.
Judith:
What for? Civil, to that criminal? Who knows what he does to get them? Where does he get the money? And think about what he could be doing to Petie and Max! Aren't they important? Don't they count?
Pamela:
You know how I feel about it! This is not an argument about whether or not it's good that Joe's doing drugs! His father will handle that! This is about you creating an ugly atmosphere in the home that trickles down to the younger kids! Families that love each other learn to work together and help work out problems!
Judith:
Aha! That's the key! You said it - "families that love each other!" Well, I've got a scoop for you: I DON'T LOVE THEM! I can stomach Petie, I can ignore Chris and the slutty way she acts - at least I don't have any little sisters for her to ruin - but I DON'T LOVE THAT DAMN SON OF JOSEPH'S!
Pamela:
CLEAN UP YOUR LANGUAGE! He's the son of the man I love and married and you better get used to it because all of us are going to have to make it together!
Judith:
Clean up my language? You have a juvenile delinquent bringing that damn poison into this home and you're worrying about my language?
Pamela (voice tight, exasperated):
Judith, talking to you is like talking to a wall! I don't blame Joe for getting so angry -
Judith:
WHAT? Now you're defending him? I don't believe it! Can't you see what's happening? Our family is in danger of being destroyed and all you care about is keeping a good atmosphere around the house, no matter how artificial it is? Mom, wake up! You have your own children to worry about! Who is more important - some other man's rotten kid or your own children?
Pamela:
Judith! Don't talk about them that way! You are all our children now!
Judith:
No way! I'm your daughter and I'm my father's daughter and I have a little brother! That's it! I am not part of this damn stupid "blended" family!
Walks out and slams the door.
Pamela sits down on the edge of the bed and cries.
Next Episode: Chris's Predicament
Previous Episode: Joseph and Joe Jr. Have a Talk
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Joseph:
Joe, we need to talk.
Joe Jr. (kind of sulky):
Okay, so talk.
Joseph:
Listen, uh, I'm kind of worried about something.
Joe Jr.:
Yeah?
Joseph:
It's about you.
Joe Jr.:
Yeah? Who you been talkin' to? Has the princess been poisoning your mind?
Joseph:
No, I just want to check out some things I've been hearing.
Joe Jr.:
So, what lies have you been hearing about me?
Joseph:
I'm not so sure it's lies, Joe. You're on drugs, aren't you?
Joe Jr.:
Right, Dad, I've been leavin' my needles all over the house. (He rolls up his sleeves.) See all the marks?
Joseph:
Cut the crap, Joe. You know what I mean. You don't need needles to ruin your life. It's a lot easier than that. Remember Joe, I'm an ER doc and I deal with OD's all the time. (Sigh)
Joe Jr.:
Gee, Dad, I don't remember when I've OD-ed lately. Maybe I was so far gone, I didn't realize it.
Joseph:
Don't be so smart with me. What the hell are you using?
Joe Jr.:
If you're so brilliant, why can't you figure it out? Don't you recognize the signs? Maybe you should go back and read up on the literature.
Joseph:
I have Joe, and you know what? You're a classic case of a dumb kid who thinks he can handle it and can't. I can figure out what you're on. Can you figure out what it's doing to you? Do you care?
Joe Jr.:
What's it to you? It's my life.
Joseph:
You know what? You don't give a damn about your life and you're messing up ours. What right do you have to bring drugs into this house?
Joe Jr.:
It's none of your damn business what I do in my bedroom and you can take this f-ing blended family and shove it.
Walks out and slams the door.
Next Episode: Pamela and Judith Have a Talk
Previous Episode: Dr. Tobin's Comments
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Pamela:
What?! You set up an appointment with those therapists without consulting me?
Joseph:
Yes I did. I didn't think you'd be angry. I thought you'd be happy that I was taking some action to solve this problem.
Pamela:
Happy? You make a major decision like that without talking to me first and you expect me to be happy? I know you're used to acting on your own, but Joseph, you're married now. And besides, are we going to run to a therapist every time something goes wrong? Why don't we try to just solve our problems? And who are these people? I don't relish telling our problems to strangers.
Joseph:
I don't understand your priorities. Our house is on fire and you're worried about what the fire department will think?
Pamela:
Well, who set the fire? Joe Jr. brings his drugs and his nasty behavior home with him, gets Judith all upset.
Joseph:
Gets Judith upset? Pamela, this may come as a surprise to you, but living with Judith is no piece of cake. I mean, I've tried to be patient.
Pamela:
YOU'VE tried? What do you think it's been like for me, suddenly finding myself with three more children who...one of them does drugs, another is a budding Lolita, okay, Petie is a good kid.
Joseph:
Lolita?! Now it's Chris you don't like?!
Pamela (apologetic):
Okay, I'm sorry for saying that. But Joseph, your kids have got problems and you're not dealing with them! Do you want me to keep these things a secret from you? The drugs? The bad crowd Chris hangs out with? You don't see half of what goes on because you're almost never home and even when you are home you're afraid to tell them what to do!
Joseph:
Pamela, I can't be home any more than I am now ...
Pamela:
We're going around in circles! No one is blaming you for not being home, but the fact is you are not as involved in your children's lives as you should be.
Joseph:
...and as for telling them what to do, maybe my style of raising children is different from yours. I don't think they should be preached to. I think they have to learn from personal example, from talking things out, not just taking orders and lectures from me.
Pamela:
Okay Joseph, sounds great. A wonderful way to raise children. There's only one problem. IT'S NOT WORKING! I never had to preach to my kids either and so far...
Joseph:
Every time the kids fight you defend your daughter and come down hard on Joe Jr. ... It can't be only his fault all the time. All seven of us are going through a difficult transition. How are we going to work this out if we can't all speak honestly about how we feel?
Pamela (quietly):
Okay, let's speak honestly. Your son Joe Jr. is probably bringing drugs into this home. I've got a teenage daughter and a young impressionable son who see that. So think about them, not just about his feelings. And think about your own younger children! Do you want them under Joe Jr.'s negative influence?
Joseph:
Negative! He's a good kid, he's just been through a lot. What do you want me to do, throw him out of the house?
Pamela:
I didn't say that! But we have to work things out!
Joseph:
So that's why I made the appointment with the therapists - so we can finally work it out.
Pamela (starts to cry):
Joseph, I feel like everything's been taken out of my hands. I'm in a new country, with a new job, with a new family, and now, with a new set of problems, and I don't even feel like I have control over my own life. You were so different in Milan. We discussed these problems then, we knew it wouldn't be easy. You said then that you'd be willing to do anything it takes to make this work!
Joseph:
Pamela, that's exactly what I'm trying to do - find a way to make this work! I wasn't trying to take anything out of your hands.
Pamela:
Well, instead of making decisions without consulting me, why don't you begin making it work by talking to Joe? Your son needs help in a big way.
Joseph (tightly):
Okay. I'll postpone the appointment and do it your way first. I'll talk to Joe. But you have to promise to do something about Judith, too. She has got to change her attitude if this is going to work.
Pamela (long pause):
I'll talk to her.
Next Episode: Dr. Tobin's Comments
Previous Episode: Scene 2: Pamela Confronts Judith
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Joseph:
I can't take it any more. It's like WW III every day. Talk to Judith and tell her to get off of Joe Jr.'s case.
Pamela:
No! You speak to Joe Jr. and tell him to stop bullying Judith. He's the one who's doing the attacking, not her. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for anyone to be around him? He's always so nasty and bitter.
Joseph:
Well, maybe he has a reason. It hasn't been easy for him these past three years. Maybe if you showed him a little TLC...
Pamela:
TLC? Joseph, it's hard to show tender loving care to somebody who treats you like dirt. I've tried to get through to him. He hates me. I'm just not his real mother and he'll never let me forget that.
Joseph (sighing):
Look, all the kids were really close to Maria. And her death hit Joe the hardest. You've got to be patient with him.
Pamela:
Stop making excuses for him and telling me what I've got to do. Your son has got serious problems. Judith tells me he's into drugs, hangs out with a bad crowd...
Joseph (defensively):
Well, maybe Judith is wrong. How does she know what's going on in his life? And anyway, she's got her own axe to grind. Let's face it, Pamela, she'll do anything to get back to England, even if it means ruining our relationship.
Pamela:
Enough!! Enough! Can't you see what we're doing? They've dragged us right into the middle of their battle. We have got to take control or they're going to destroy our marriage.
Joseph:
You're right. (Pause) Maybe starting fresh in a new place wasn't such a great idea after all. If we had stayed in New York, it might have been easier.
Pamela:
You're being naive Joe. We'd be dealing with these problems wherever we were. At least in Connecticut I can breathe.
Joseph:
Maybe you can breathe, but I'm suffocating. The fighting is driving me crazy. I was so down yesterday that I spoke to Bill Powers, the head of Inpatient Psych, about our situation. I don't know if I felt better or worse when he told me what a job it will be to turn us into one family. He said that we had exceeded the danger mark on the Family Stress Inventory.
Pamela:
That's no surprise to me. So where do we go from here?
Joseph:
I already took Bill's suggestion and made an appointment with a psychologist couple called the Sterns. They're top family therapists with a lot of experience with blended families. I don't believe we can do it on our own. If we don't solve this, I'm afraid it's going to kill our marriage.
Pamela (incredulous):
You made an appointment for family therapy without consulting me?
Next Episode: Will Pamela and Joseph Resolve their Conflict?
Previous Episode: Scene 1: Joseph Confronts Joe Jr.
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Welcome to the interactive drama and traumas of a new stepfamily! Find out how Pamela Austen, a British divorcee with two children and Joseph Kutchinsky, a widower from Long Island with three kids, struggle to make their remarriage work while they deal with family problems like drugs, teen sex, school difficulties, job hassles, sibling love and hate and marital blow-ups. Help them solve their problems (and in the process, maybe your own!)...
Joe Jr. walks into the kitchen and notices his stepsister Judith.
Joe Jr.:
Well, if it isn't Her Royal Highness. What?!! The Princess is eating with the commoners?
Judith continues eating while reading a book, ignoring him
Joe Jr.:
Oh, Princess Judy refuses to speak. What's the matter, us low-life Kutchinskys too ethnic for you ? Our foreign soil too humble?
Judith, 16, (turning another page and sipping her coffee, says in a cold voice):
Joe, you've become so literate. Tell me, which of your favorite drugs has enriched your vocabulary?
Joe Jr.:
One that could do you some good, your Uptight-ness. On second thought, I don't know if there's any drug that could loosen you up.
Judith (closing her book):
Tell me, Joe, why do you need so much loosening up? Do you hate yourself that much? Not that I don't understand why.
Joe Jr. (getting angry):
No, Princess Freud, it's you I can't stand. From the moment you arrived I knew it was the biggest mistake my father ever made, although your mother certainly upgraded her life. It was a smart move - catching a doctor for a second marriage, considering what her husband - your father - did for a living, or should I say "didn't do."
Judith (angrily):
Leave my mother out of this. You don't deserve a woman like her for a mother...
Joe Jr. (escalating):
Don't you talk about what I deserve! If you knew what we had before, you wouldn't dare show your faces in our home...
Chris Kutchinsky, 14, (enters in very short skirt, heavy make-up, punky hair):
Hey, Judith, you beatin' up on my big brother, again?
Judith:
Who asked you to get involved? Ugh. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to put on make-up? You look like you belong to the Addams Family. (To herself) I curse the day my mother decided to marry into this family of wierdos.
Joe Jr.:
Well, that's one thing, your Highness, that we all agree upon.
Malcolm Austen, 8 (enters with yo-yo):
Hey, what's there to eat?
Judith:
God, you're such a pig! Do all English twerps stuff themselves like you? My Dad has to work overtime to feed you Austens!
Judith:
Your dad!? It's my mother who's breaking her back to support this family. She never worked this hard when we were on our own.
Petie Kutchinsky, 11, (enters):
Is there anything to eat?
Judith:
I would think a computer genius like yourself should surely be able to download dinner from the Net.
Judith:
Get off his case! You wouldn't know a floppy disk from a frying pan!
Petie:
When are Mom and Dad coming home?
Judith:
Don't call my mother "Mom." She's not your mother.
Joseph and Pamela Kutchinsky enter
Pamela (sighs):
Stop it you two - can't you at least make an effort to get on with each other?
Joe Jr.:
Yeah, maybe if you ship Her Royal Highness back to a British dungeon, we'll get a little peace around here. Are all British girls such uptight princesses?
Joseph (quietly):
Joe stop it. I'm sick and tired of this constant fighting. I know you don't like it, but this is the way it is. Just keep your nastiness to yourself. I don't want it in this house.
Joe Jr.:
Oh, so I'm the fall guy. Look man, I didn't ask you to marry that woman. I'm leaving. (Sound of door slamming.)
Judith:
Mum, I'm sorry, but I can't take this anymore. You see what a creep he is. Let me go back home to boarding school or something.
Pamela:
No, that's not the answer. It's like Joseph said, "This is the way it is." It will take time, but you'll get used to it.
Judith:
Never! I won't get used to something that's not my decision.
Petie and Mac (in unison):
What's there to eat?
Next Episode: Scene 2: Pamela Confronts Judith
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