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BREAD A Screenplay By Otmanon

INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN DAY A 17 year old boy is standing over a plate, apparently talking to himself. He is staring at the other end of the table. BOY So I just came back from my date how was it? Perfect! We have more in common than what youd expect. (A slight pause) Oh, whats that? You didnt finish you sandwich! It wasnt good was it? You just forgot how important those are to us right? Its with them that we can stay (Loses it) SANE! He stays standing motionless for a few seconds. We pan over to the other side of the table. GRANDMA is sitting on a chair, face flat on her unfinished sloppy-joe sandwich, presumably dead. BOY Let me tell you something, Grandma. Here, Ill show you how to make a real sandwich CLOSE ON and JUMP CUTS of the boy making his sandwich: BOY I start with a slice of bread. Now, this slice of bread, as Ive learned its the most important part of a sandwich I see you got yours dirty A clear transparent plate. A SLICE OF BREAD appears on the same white plate. We JUMP CUT through every added ingredient and instruction as the narrator mentions them:

BOY (V.O) I add two handfuls of shredded cheese and a little bit of chicken or bacon. Top it off with a second piece of bread and spread butter on each side. Then I put it on a stove and squish it as much as possible, without it breaking. Separately, I add another piece of bread. I leave them there until each slice is golden brown. The cheese must also be melted by that point. On the lone slice: Lettuce, tomatoes and red onions. Top that off with some mayo or ranch. Combine the two pieces. My sandwich Rolan licks a knife clean of mayonnaise. The PERFECT LOOKING TRIPLE DECKER GRILLED CHEESE BLT SANDWICH is cut diagonally into two slices. A pair of hands tenderly grasps one slice. Slowly they bring it up towards an anticipating moist mouth. As the mouth closes and takes a bite of the taste-a-licious sandwich: BOY (V.O) Delicious. BEGIN CREDITS INT. COREY RESIDENCE MORNING Rolan, the boy from the earlier scene, is walking down a stairway, having just woken up. He is wearing tight blue jeans and a plain red V-neck T-shirt. Still attempting to adjust his eyes to the lighting, he clumsily misses a stair and stumbles down the rest in a flurry. MOTHER Rolan? Are you okay? ROLAN

Wonderful. He heads to the kitchen and finds his mother, TRACY (40), and his younger sister of 15 (SERA) there already, waiting for him. ROLAN Mornin. SERA Hey. TRACY Good morning. You couldnt bother to change into your pajamas last night? ROLAN (V.O.) Problem number one. ROLAN No. TRACY Howd you sleep? Rolan ignores his mom. SERA Did it involve someone named Mary? ROLAN (Shocked) What? TRACY Sera! SERA You talk in your sleep. ROLAN Oh. TRACY Its none of our business. Get some breakfast.

ROLAN (V.O.) My mom. I cant stand her. Her fake concern for our well being, her fake relationship with dad, her fake smile. She says shes a liberal, but if you peel that outer skin away you will be able to see her racist fascistic inner self. Everything about her screams I am a huge phony. ROLAN (To Sera) Okay. Do we have any peanut butter left? TRACY In the cupboard. Rolan starts making himself a peanut butter jelly sandwich. SERA You were moaning her name over andTRACY Sera stop! SERA Sorry. I think its sweet! You should go find her and ask her out. (Getting dreamy) Write a song for her, bring your guitar and sing to her! Or knock on her door and just kiss her full on the face, or-

ROLAN Maybe if I became a pizza delivery guy, and one day, she can`t pay me so she invites me over to her bedroom and therTRACY Rolan! Eat. Now.

Rolan chuckles and finishes up his sandwich. CLOSE ON SHOT: Rolan brings the sandwich up to his mouth and chomps into it with haste. Soon enough they are joined by STEPHEN. The father, 40s, and a young hung-over looking young man, TRISTAN, 20s. Tristan has a photo camera around his neck. ROLAN (At Stephen) Problem number 2. TRACY Oh, good, youre all here! I have to tell you guys something! STEPHEN Morning! Yeah me too. Heyo, Rolan, hows it going? TRISTAN What is it? Stephen and Tracy spit it out at the same time. STEPHEN Trace, youre mom confirmed the tickets, yes, theyre coming. Friday! TRACY Dimitri and Mary are coming over! They both realise what the other said.

TRACY Wait my parents? Since when do you talk to them? STEPHEN Oh, they called yesterday said they got the tickets

TRISTAN Huzzah! STEPHEN Wait Dimitri and Mary, the Ethiopians? TRACY Yes, what other Dimitri and Mary do we know? Losing their previous enthusiasm with every line. STEPHEN Dont they have like three kids? TRACY That was before god knows they could be at ten right now Ethiopians ROLAN (Angry) Youre kidding?! TRACY No, no I guess well have to suck it up and make room... ROLAN Well, I can tell you for sure, nobody else is sleeping in my room. STEPHEN Of course not! We wouldnt want them to wake up covered with mouse blood. Rolan shuts up, infuriated. TRACY Oh, no Rolan you didnt kill a mouse again did you? Ignore. TRACY

Fine. You can have your own room dont kill any more mice. TRISTAN Before this conversation gets any worse I should interject. I just dropped out of college. TRACY (Overwhelmed) You WHAT? TRISTAN Yeah I dropped out last week. TRACY Stephen I Tristan, how could you do that? SERA (Whispering at Rolan, attempting conversation) Ask out Mary today TRISTAN Well, I didnt um like what college has to offer me TRACY Whatll you do? You needTRISTAN I I have a-a job mom, Im fine. I thought about it yesterday? TRACY Yesterday? You should have thought about it when you dropped out in the first place! TRISTAN I did, yesterday. TRACY

What? Tristan youre always hung over and whod want to hire you how could you TRISTAN Mom, its done Ill be fine I have a job. Rolan looks sick with hatred. table and walks away. He slams his fist on the

TRACY Well, Ill drive the kids to school. When we come back, we finish this discussion. TRISTAN (Grinning foolishly) Whatever pickles your nickel! He snaps a picture of his despaired mom. EXT. HETHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL 30 MINUTES LATER The high school is not very full yet as it is still early. INSERT SHOT: A mother duck is wobbling across the street, leading her cute baby ducklings, following her in the fashion of a tail. A red Mazda stops in front of the entrance of the school. Rolan and Sera step out of it. TRACY Bye, have a nice day! SERA You too TRACY I dont think thats possible any more. SERA Well, good luck. TRACY Bye.

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The Mazda drives away. Rolan and Sera walk towards the doors. With his mother gone, Rolan loses the flare of hatred in his eyes. They make for the school. SERA So, what did you make for lunch? ROLAN Grilled cheese. You? SERA (Beaming) You know that bread we tasted last week, at the bakery? ROLAN Yeah? SERA Well mom secretly bought me some. ROLAN Ah, lucky girl! Make anything with it? SERA Well I boiled some eggs made an egg salad sandwich and added some dill to it. INT. HEATHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL - CONTINUOUS ROLAN Dill gross. SERA It tastes heavenly. ROLAN Well, for today, Im good with my grilled cheese. SERA

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Have a nice day. ROLAN You too. See you after school? SERA Mkay. (Winks) Say hi to Mary for me. She runs off to the end of the hallway towards another Grade 9 boy and jumps on his back. Laughing and giggling. She gets off him and kisses him in the face. Rolan appears shocked. He makes his way to his first period class, where he meets up with a friend. As he walks up the stairs: ROLAN (V.O.) School was okay. Friends? Good. Grades? Good. Most teachers were great. You get the occasional Ms. Hamilton, of course. Bullies? I was beginning to think they were a myth set up by the government to promote the spirit of society. I like to live my life on the sidelines. I dont often deal with my problems. Im not good with confrontation. One of the main things I gathered about people everybody lies. Never trust what anybody. JULIAN Hey there. ROLAN (V.O.) Thats Julian hes cool. Nope. All my real problems were at home. And with the guests coming over We cant deal with ANY guests very well let alone Ethiopians. ROLAN

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Not looking forward to this. JULIAN Did we have homework? ROLAN I dont think so. I wouldnt have done it anyways. MARY crosses the hallway, coming right at him. ROLAN (V.O.) And then theres Mary theres something about Mary JULIAN Well I need to study for English. Were getting our reports backHe stops talking once he notices Rolan has stopped listening to him and is now looking at MARY across the hallway. Mary walks in slow motion towards the class.. JULIAN (Snapping his fingers, brutally ending the song) Hey, snap out of it. Lets go inside. ROLAN Go inside ummuhhh. INT. RAOULS INTERNATIONAL GROCERY SAME TIME A grocery store run by a nice Portuguese guy called Raoul. Stephen enters, holding BABYDOLLs hand. Babydoll is a beautiful blonde woman in her 30s.

STEPHEN Raoul! The usual. (He leans in to whisper in her ear)

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You hungry babydoll? BABYDOLL (Pouting like a child) Yes STEPHEN Get her a piece of salami. RAOUL Okay. Whos your friend? STEPHEN You seem to be the only guy capable of making a fresh tuna sandwich, Raoul. RAOUL Cool, whoss your friend? Raoul harshly pulls out two slices of bread and makes Stephen a Tuna sandwich right on the counter. Stephen spectates in disgust, unsure of what to say in protest. STEPHEN Every time I look at you make that RAOUL Well you keep coming back, dont ya? Want to tell me whos youre friend? STEPHEN Well the taste makes me forget your dirty Mexican fingers. RAOUL Portugese fingers. Whos your friend, if you dont mind me asking? STEPHEN Spanish fingers. RAOUL

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Whatever, heres your sandwich. STEPHEN Thanks Raoul, youre the best Italian guy I know. 5 Bucks, keep the change. Stephen heads for the door. He lets babydoll nibble on his sandwich before yanking it away from her. STEPHEN Thats enough now. Well, bye. RAOUL Alright. Stephen turns back around before opening the exit door. STEPHEN You should come over, someday. RAOUL Someday. INT. HEATHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA - NOON Sera is sitting with a group of friends. A boy has his arm around her neck. Her friends are arguing about the latest gossip. In front of her, there is an orange plastic water bottle filled to exactly the 750 mL line. She takes out a beautifully wrapped egg salad sandwich. All the NOISES coming from her friends fade out. Sera raises the sandwich to her mouth and takes a bite. SERA Mmmmm. We zoom out and we find ourselves between Julian and Rolan. JULIAN Who is that guy?

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ROLAN The one with the wandering arm? JULIAN Yeah. ROLAN I dont know. JULIAN Hes... ROLAN Is he? JULIAN He is. ROLAN Indeed. JULIAN What? You look preoccupied ROLAN I dont know. Were gonna have guests coming over my grandparents and some Ethiopian friends JULIAN Ooohh! Ethiopians! Fun Rolan takes a bite of his grilled cheese. ROLAN (Continuing) You should ask Sera about it in Bio class. INT. BIO CLASS - AFTERNOON Rolan and Julian look around the class, trying to spot Sera. ROLAN Oh wow, again, skipping. JULIAN

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What is it, third time this week? ROLAN Yeah. JULIAN What does she do? ROLAN I dunno. JULIAN Why dont you ask her? ROLAN If she wanted me to know, shed tell me. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM DAY Two elderly women are sleeping in their respective beds. Sera opens the door, orange water bottle in hand. SERA Good afternoon, Judy. Judy wakes up, but she doesnt seem to mind. JUDY Ah, darling. This is Alice. Judy points at a lady one a bed, right next to hers. Alice wakes up, but she doesnt seem to mind either. SERA Hello Alice. ALICE Hi. SERA All good today? JUDY Yes, yes. But, shouldnt you be in school?

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SERA (Lying like a pro) Oh no, Im on vacation. Its summer! JUDY Oh, wonderful! SERA Ugh we have guests coming over Sera walks over to her side and gives her a hug. JUDY Thats a nice bottle. SERA Thank you I found it on the sidewalk. JUDY Oh, yes, yes. Drink up, these hot summer days one must stay hydrated. On the TV in front of them, the news is on. NEWSREPORTER Meanwhile, in Toronto and Montreal, two new bodies have been found, both with the CD American Beauty laying beside them. JUDY Look at it. The whole world is falling. Sera leans in and gives her a hug. SERA Not the whole world were not. Judy laughs. JUDY Oh, yes we are. INT. SCHOOL BUS - DAY

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The bus is bursting with students. Rolan is sitting alone in the middle, saving a seat for somebody. Sera enters the bus, dragging the boy from before behind her, holding his hand. She walks down the aisle and stops next to where Rolan is sitting. SERA Hey, we need to tighten up a bit so he can sit. ROLAN Umm, everybody else is sitting two to a seat. SERA Yes, and well sit three to a seat. ROLAN Okay, fine. Rolan moves in closer to the window to allow room for the two new arrivals. After a few minutes of struggling and shoving, they assume the most comfortable position. ROLAN So, whos this? SERA Oh, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is my brother, Rolan. ETHAN Hey. ROLAN So, how was your day? SERA Good. ETHAN Yeah, it was good.

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They end the conversation in an awkward silence for the rest of the bus ride home. INSERT SHOT: Ducks are wobbling around on the lawn of a house. They peck each other playfully. EXT. RANDOM SUBURBAN STREET 20 MINUTES LATER A bus stops at the end of an intersection. Sera, Ethan and Rolan get off. They silently start walking home. Rolan accelerates in order to leave the two lovebirds to their business. ETHAN You guys live around here? SERA Yeah, about a five minute walk that-a-way. ETHAN Cool, cool, cool. After a few minutes of this unpleasant walk, they hear somebody open their door, SHOUTING. It was their neighbour, MIA, a sixteen student from a different school. She was obviously arguing with her father. MIA I hate how you guys are in on it too! MIAS FATHER Well maybe if you thought before you acted we wouldnt be here.

MIA It was a mistake, dad. (Voice breaks) A mistake.

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MIAS FATHER A mistake that will never be repeated. MIA No! MIAS FATHER Come inside! There isnt any apparent reason as to why they decided to go outside. They most likely needed some air to fuel their anger. MIA No! MIAS FATHER You get your ass up those stairs and into this house, young lady. She reluctantly obeys. Sera, Rolan and Ethan, perplexed by this spectacle of unknown origin demonstrated by their neighbors, stroll on peacefully towards their destination. ROLAN just walk away lets just walk away ETHAN Wonder what she did to get her dad that far off the wanker. ROLAN I dunno. SERA I do. They keep walking as Sera tells the story. SERA (Continuing) I heard it from Abby. Okay so this one time, Abby went to

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this party one weekend and met, our mutually acquainted friend, Mia. Long story short, Mia got drunk, proceeded to snort heroin and then, to top it all off, she slept with three different guys on the same night. Next morning she found herself almost naked in the middle of a street, people crowding around her. No memory as to why. ETHAN Huh. ROLAN Uh-huh. Wow. SERA Yeah, shes been taking shit from everybody at her school though. All the time, people laughing at her. I can imagine Sera looks at Rolan for a split second. Their eyes lock, she reddens and quickly looks away. ROLAN The bastards. SERA Yeah, well Ethan, here we are. (Adds, unenthusiastically) Home, sweet home. They walk up to the front door. Sera pulls out a key from her back pocket and unlocks the door. INT. COREY FAMILY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE - CONTINUOUS Their mother hears their arrival from the kitchen. She shouts out: TRACY Sera? Rolan? Did you remember to bring in the garbage and recycling!?

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They look behind them and see the garbage and recycling bin still outside, untouched. SERA Yes, mom! TRACY Thanks sweetie! Tracy heads towards the entrance of the house. TRACY Tristan is staying here for a bit, he wont bother you, dont worry. I baked She stops talking when she sees Ethan. TRACY (Continuing) Whos this? SERA Mom, this is Ethan. TRACY Hi Ethan, our house is a mess right now, sorry. ETHAN No problem, Ms. Corey. SERA Right, well well just go upstairs She takes his hand and guides him up the stairs, to her room. TRACY Another boy. Just what we all need. I hope this one can at least eat my food with a smile on his face. ROLAN Nobody can eat your food with a smile on his face.

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She walks back to the kitchen, mumbling incoherent curses. ROLAN (V.O.) Usually, once I get home, my greatest desire manifests itself. That day was no exception. INT. COREY FAMILY BATHROOM - UNKNOWN Rolan is looking at himself, naked, in the mirror. We cut through his actions as he is performing them. ROLAN (V.O) The bathroom is by far my favourite place to hang out. I have as much privacy as I need. Walking around, naked or whatever, enjoying myself. Occasionally, I work out. Most of the time, I dont even need to pee, or poop, for that matter. Just need to think a little, clear my mind. The toilet seats cold outer layer is all the comfort I need in my house. I can really just sit there and think about my life for hours. Its a good way to avoid chores too. Example: TRACY (Distant) Rolan, come wash the dishes! ROLAN Bathroom! TRACY Sera! SERA Mooooom, hes always in the bathroom! End of example.

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ROLAN (V.O) Its not like I watch ahemporn there for hours on end. As I said before, my time spent in the lavatory is purely of a... metta-cognitive origin. Sometimes I watch movies, though. We see that he is watching Marley and Me. Rolan sheds a tear. ROLAN (V.O.) I like my bathroom to be perfectly clean and organized. Toothbrush. toothpaste. Razors. Hairbrush... (He notices a misplaced hairbrush) Thats not where that goes. Unfortunately, I share the bathroom with my little sister. Fortunately, she is very clean and doesnt leave any traces of her existence lying around. Well, most of the time anyways. Sometimes I find some things I wish I didnt know about. We see unused tampons lying on the floor in a package. ROLAN (V.O.) Anyways, right now, I really need to sort something out. He pulls out from a bathroom drawer, a small, squirming mouse. He picks it up, takes a small pointy pin, and drives it through the mouses head. INT. COREY RESUDENCE - DINING ROOM - EVENING Stephen, Tracy, Tristan and Rolan are sitting around a circular table, plates in front of them, ready to eat. Each person sits in the same fashion of arms crossed, head facing down, giving the scene an aura of tremendous boredom and flatness.

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An aluminium foil covered dish lays on the center of the table, a bowl of salad keeping it company. A river of steam escapes skyward from the masked dish. TRACY Sera! Ethan! Lets go! SERA Just a second! TRACY Foods getting cold! SERA Coming! After a few seconds, Sera becomes visible, and behind her, Ethan. TRISTAN Im starving. STEPHEN Whats for dinner, honey? TRACY Its a surprise! Ive been working on it for hours! ROLAN Is it rice? STEPHEN Cmon down Sera, sit. Were all hungry. SERA Okay, okay. Sera and Ethan sit down. STEPHEN And who is this fine young gentleman? SERA Um, this is Ethan. STEPHEN

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Oh, good. Stephen remains preoccupied with his daughter`s new friend. Tracy uncovers the surprise. MOTHER Tah-Dah! ROLAN Its rice. MOTHER With seafood in it! ROLAN I dont like seafood. MOTHER Since when remember Franks party? You loved the octopus. ROLAN That was Tristan. TRISTAN That was me. ROLAN Why cant we have sandwiches? You know we all like sandwiches right? MOTHER Oh. Well do the rest of you like it? Stephen? All confirm with fake enthusiasm. Tracy starts to serve everybody. Stephen shoots subtle and dubious looks towards Ethan. An awkward silence befalls the entire room for a few seconds. We can hear the CHINKING of cutlery and silverware. ROLAN (V.O.) Everybody hates moms cooking. The silence is broken by Stephens curiosity.

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STEPHEN So young man. Ahem. What is your relationship with my daughter? ETHAN Uhhh emmm. SERA Dad! Hes my boyfriend! STEPHEN Oh! I see. An even more awkward silence ensues. INSERT SHOT: As Sera reaches over to the rice, we can see a deep scar on both her wrists. The whole table seems to have noticed that along with us, all except for Ethan. The silence at the dinner table is harshly interrupted by Tristans incandescent laughter. MOTHER Tristan dear, you mind telling us whats so funny? TRISTAN Oh no, its just I remember a funny scene from a movie, thats all. ETHAN Is it the one in Pirates with the three way fight scene and then he manages to get on the water mill and TRISTAN And Bang! Right in the head! Yeah, yeah. Very good. Loved it. Stephen and Tracy look at each other in confusion.

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STEPHEN Well then INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - MIDNIGHT A LIGHT turns on in the hallway, slightly illuminating the tenebrous kitchen. A SILHOUETTE slowly walks down the hall. ROLAN (V.O.) At night, after a terrible meal catered by my mom, I usually make my way down to the kitchen and have myself one of my nice triple decker grilled cheese BLT sandwiches. I usually end up missing a large amount of ingredients though. (takes a bite of the sandwich) Its still better than that bland-tastic rice. Silence. INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM NOON Lying on the couch, still sleeping, is Tristan, looking as serene as a turtle floating on a lake. The peaceful scene is torn apart by a car door SLAMMED in the distance. Immediately, Tristan wakes up. He takes a peek out the window and sees five black people coming out of a car. TRISTAN Robb- were getting robbed! Mom! Dad, were getting robbed right now call the police! Robbers! TRACY Tristan what are youThe doorbell rings. Tristan cowers behind his mother and retreats backwards towards the family office.

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TRISTAN Oh god, its them. They want more. TheyTRACY Relax, its Dimitri! She goes up to open the door. TRISTAN Mom, NO! She OPENS the door. On the other side is a tall dark-skinned man wearing glasses. His right arm is wrapped around a short stout woman. We can only assume these are DIMITRI and MARY. Behind them are three children standing in an orderly polite fashion. VIOLA, an eighteen year old black beauty, DARCY, a fifteen year old mischievous-looking boy and finally, MARILYN, a cute pudgy seven year old. TRACY Oh, good you still have three! DIMITRI (With a hint of an accent) Ah, Tracy, its been so long! TRACY Dimitri, I missed you (adds) guys, I mean! They hug awkwardly. And then Tracy moves on and greets Mary and the children exactly the same way. TRACY Oh my goodness look at you Viola! Last time I saw you ahyou you grew DIMITRI No kidding, look at your guy. (He points at Tristan) Which one is this, Rolan?

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TRACY Uh, no this is would you like to introduce yourself? Tristan, realising his delusion, readjusts his position into a firm and rigid stand. He still looks confused though. He slowly lifts up his camera and takes a picture of the new arrivals. TRISTAN Tristan, Im Tristan. TRACY Rolan and Sera are at school, they wont be joining us till three. MARY (In a foreign accent) Oh no problem. But where is Stephen? TRACY Well, good question, Im not sure actually. Stephen! Steeephen! STEPHEN (From the basement) Cominnng! Is it Dimitri and Mary? TRACY Yes! STEPHEN (Popping up from downstairs) Heyyy! The Africans! Come over here! Round two of the greetings. Stephen finishes faster though and pays no special remark to the growth of the children. STEPHEN Well, lets move to the living room, shall we? Please! Sit. TRACY

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Wait, but honey, shouldnt we give them the tour of the house first? STEPHEN Of course! Last time we lived somewhere else, right? Follow us. As the adults take a tour of the house, the teenagers stay behind. Tristan looks from guest to guest, feeling ambushed. TRISTANS POV He then notices Violas almost translucent green shirt. His eyes focus intently on it. TRISTAN (In a low voice) Where did you get that? VIOLA (Creeped out already) This shirt? From back home. TRISTAN Sorry, I just notice a lot of girls wearing the same one lately. Its nice picking up on little things like that. Dinklings? VIOLA What? TRISTAN Did you buy it there? VIOLA I dunno TRISTAN Did we meet before? VIOLA Yes! All of us! With your brother and sister too.

TRISTAN

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And were you guys always... (Makes a gesture around his face) You know VIOLA Black? Yes! TRISTAN Huh, fancy that. Where was it did we meet all of us? VIOLA I think it was a Starbucks coffee. TRISTAN Oh I see! VIOLA What? TRISTAN Cus of the Starbucks effect! VIOLA What? TRISTAN You dont know about it? VIOLA No. TRISTAN Well basically everything seems a few shades whiter, once you find yourself in the womb of a Starbucks coffee shop. Get it? VIOLA No, not really. TRISTAN Well then Viola looks at her siblings, not believing what she was hearing. VIOLA

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Charming. INT. HEATHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL FRENCH CLASS A student is up front, nervously presenting her project. The teacher, MS. HAMILTON, is sitting, hunched at the back of the classroom. JULIAN (Whispering) and then he pulls out his kobe jersey, puts it on and challenges me to a one on one. ROLAN What happened? Rolan keeps staring at Mary, who is sneakily texting with her hands under the desk. She SMILES as she receives a message. Mary smiles. JULIAN Well, I won, obviously. This guy sucked. But you dont just pull out a kobe jersey. You dont wear a kobe jersey. ROLAN Mh-hm. JULIAN I mean, its disrespectful to those guys, you know. Alright heres my rule, you should never wear any jersey belonging to the top three players in the nba. ROLAN Top three players of all time or of the present day NBA? JULIAN (Gives it a little thought) Both yeah, both. that works. Thats my rule. ROLAN

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Dont you have a Lebron jersey? JULIAN Yeah but I dont wear it. I admire it from afar. Rolan was admiring Mary from afar. Suddenly the student finishes her presentation. MS. HAMILTON Alright, great job, Carter. Now, I believe its Julians turn to present. Julian, barely looks up. JULIAN Im sorry, I have nothing to present. MS. HAMILTON I gave you two weeks to finish your presentation, Julian. JULIAN I dont believe the book were reading is appropriate for this class, Ms. Hamilton. MS. HAMILTON Excuse me? JULIAN First off, its a classic world war two story. Why the hell are we reading it in French class? Surely there must be more original books out there? MS. HAMILTON We need to read this book to fully understandJULIAN The horrors of world war two? Oh, please, watch Schindlers list if thats what you want. Besides, why would we have to

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learn about the horrors of World War II in French class? The whole story is predictable from beginning to end. There has to be somebody who dies; its a World War II story, come on guys. Then of course the theme of loss of innocence is inevitable because the main character is a ten year old French boy. Finally, were not actually allowed to see any cool action scenes because the whole story is set in France. Wait a second, what did the French do in the Second World War, again? Thats right! NOTHING! MS. HAMILTON To Mr. Reynholms office. Now! JULIAN All Im saying is we could be spending our time reading a more creative novel leave World war II for history class MS. HAMILTON NOW! Julian smiles at Rolan. JULIAN See you at lunch. ROLAN Get outta here, troublemaker. INT. WHITE HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Sera enters the room again, a bit disrespectfully. The old woman didnt mind. SERA Hello, hello. Judy just gives a smile in response.

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Sera puts down her perfectly filled orange water bottle and gives Judy a hug. Judy fixes her gaze on the water bottle. The line rests perfectly on the 750mL mark. JUDY (Statement) You didnt drink from it, since the other day. SERA Oh I dont drink from this thing. JUDY Why? SERA Well, look at it. Perfect the way it is. The water level rests on the 750 mL mark. JUDY I was just hearing about the serial killer up in Canada.He leaves a DVD with the victims. Hes at his tenth. SERA Oh, yeah. JUDY Terrible. SERA Lets just be happy it doesnt happen here. Never here. A silent moment. Sera sits by Judys side, stroking her arm. SERA Have they told you when youll get all better? JUDY

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No. SERA Youll tell me, right? If you leave. JUDY Of course. Judy shifts her gaze to her window. Trees are seen blowing in the wind. SERA Hey. Hey! I love you. Another hug. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE DAY Sera and Rolan come bursting through the front door. They look in the living room and see a group of people. SERA Oh shit, I forgot they were coming. ROLAN Well, lets get to socializing. SERA Ugh. ROLAN Hey everybody! Sitting in the living room are: Tristan, Tracy, Stephen, Dimitri, Mary, their three children, and an elderly couple (GRANDMA and GRANDPA) TRACY Sera, Rolan, Grandpa and Grandmas here! ROLAN (Awkwardly) Hey. SERA Cool! Hi.

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ROLAN (V.O.) I never truly connected or felt anything close to affection towards my Grandparents. They live all the way up in Norway. Everybody expects us to feel overjoyed when we see them, but truth is, my grandparents are kind of Grandma wobbles over to Rolan trying to grasp everything around her for support, hunched back over her cane and kisses him repeatedly on his face. ROLAN (V.O.) lame. GRANDMA Oh, Rolan, Rolan, Rolan. Our little lovely Rolan, oh we missed you very much. Youve become a man, look at how grown up you are. Oh and Sera She scrutinizes Sera, looking sad and disappointed upon noticing her clothes. Grandma puts on her best fake smile. GRANDMA Well, I havent seen you in so long. ROLAN (V.O.) My grandma was one of those people who thought everybody loved her. That everybody loved everything about what she always had to say. She always talks and talks and talks, interrupting any conversation with her unrelated stories. When she wasnt talking, she would mutter or whisper or something. Sit in a corner and recite some kind of obscure passage from the bible.

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We see grandpa getting up, more graciously this time, and walk towards the two children. He humbly shakes their hand. He notices the scar on Seras wrist and looks conserved, but remains silent. ROLAN (V.O.) Grandpa I dont know much about grandpa. He usually sits quietly and avoids participation in most social activities. When he did talk though, he was usually cut off by his most gracious wife. He is a sweet old man. Grandpa goes back to his seat. He raises a plate and takes a bite of bread. ROLAN (V.O.) Oh, right. Grandpa loves bread. TRACY And you remember Dimitri and Mary? ROLAN Yeah. SERA Of course. The Ethiopian family stands up on cue and shakes each teens hand. Tristan raises his camera and takes a picture. Then, they all sit in awkward silence not knowing what to do or talk about. INT. COREY RESIDENCE HALLWAY LATER THAT DAY The bathroom door opens, Rolan walks in. The neat, organized fashion in which the bathroom was in is now a mess of toiletries. He seems on the verge of something.

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ROLAN (V.O) It has begun. The end of my life. My bathroom, my sanctuary, ruined and destroyed. I look around and see so much useless junk lying around. In the bathtub oh! Theres a small chair. Huh, cool. You know, just in case you want to sit in the shower. His gaze fixes itself on the toilet. Well, directly to the left of the toilet. What he sees makes his face go completely blank. ROLAN (V.O.) Oh, theres the soap. Which was supposed to be for the tub. But why is it next to the toilet?... Oh God. He storms out in disgust. FADE TO BLACK ROLAN (V.O.) That night, in the kitchen, I had a visitor. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - NIGHT Rolan is standing alone in the kitchen, making himself a sandwich. Sneaking quietly behind him is Sera. SERA So this is where you scamper to every night. Rolan, caught by surprise. ROLAN Oh. Sorry. Did I wake you? SERA No, I usually cant sleep so early. I hear you every night creeping downstairs.

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ROLAN Oh. SERA So what do you do? ROLAN Sorry? SERA When you come down here! What do you do? ROLAN Oh, heh, I usually just make myself a sandwich. SERA (Sarcastic) Oh, cus moms meals are so filling and nutritious right. They chuckle. ROLAN Yeah, yeah. (Imitating his mother) I made a surprise for you guys for dinner! SERA (Joining in) Is it rice? ROLAN Yes, but this time, with vinegar in it. Sushi rice! SERA Are we having sushi too then? ROLAN No just the rice SERA Oh okay They laugh at their silly mockeries and impersonations.

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Rolan finishes making his sandwich and deposits it on the table. He pulls out a chair and gets ready to sit down. SERA Uh, mind if I make one for myself? ROLAN Mm. Sure, of course! SERA Where are the eggs? ROLAN Well, I think I saw a couple in the fridge. Bread and mayos there too. SERA What about dill? ROLAN (Pointing) In the cupboard. Sera commences the journey of the production of her sandwich. ROLAN So this Ethan you were with SERA (Smiling) Yes? ROLAN Is he really your boyfriend? SERA Yup. ROLAN Huh! Well then. (Beat) I dont know what to say good job? SERA Thanks. Haha.

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ROLAN Are you guys serious? SERA Did we have sex yet? ROLAN (Taken by surprise) Sex? What? Who even Who even mentioned sex! I didnt umm SERA I appreciate your concern. Nobody seems to be giving me any these days. No, we did not have sex. Nor am I planning to any time soon. ROLAN Ummm Ok? I dont even know what I guess well thats good! His face flushes with embarrassment. Upon seeing this Sera starts laughing. SERA Youre so cute! ROLAN Thanks. SERA No, thank you. (Beat) Look, youre the only one who was there for me last year. You saved me. (Awkward pause) I can see youre having a tough time too, I dont know why, but I want you to know that Im here for you. ROLAN Ah, its not that Im having a tough time Im just fed up with all this shit.

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SERA Well then stay away from razors. I hear they can hurt pretty bad particularly around the wrist area. They laugh bleakly at her feeble dark joke. ROLAN So how are you dealing with that... SERA Oh this? (Points at the scar on her wrist) Well, Im not really dealing anything right now. More like Im postponing thinking about anything. Right now, Im just trying to live the perfect life of a sixteen year old. ROLAN Oh yeah. Boyfriend and all. SERA Well not just that. I have a group of friends now. Grades are good. Gonna have a perfect end of year trip and a dance. Hopefully. ROLAN And if not? SERA I dontknow, if not. Sera finishes making her egg salad sandwich. She delicately puts it on a plate and comes join Rolan at the table. Together they take the first bite of their respective delicacy. Rolan notices a BOOK on the table. Its titled: Living the life. SERA What is it?

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ROLAN Some kind of journal SERA Whos? ROLAN No clue. Well, Im off to bed. SERA No, no! Stay. Lets do something tonight? ROLAN like watch a movie or something? SERA Well yeah, but we could also read this ROLAN But what if someone realises SERA Oh who cares about that! Lets just read it. ROLAN Fine Sera opens the journal and starts reading. SERA Wow this is weird. No dear journal or diary or anything. Just a bunch of questions. ROLAN Lets just read it. SERA Okay. This is the first line, I kid you not. What is chocolate made of? I never really thought about it. Its chocolate. I consider it a basic element. I mean, isnt chocolate just chocolate? Like an atom of sorts.

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Rolan looks down chuckling. ROLAN Its most likely Tristan. SERA Ya think? SERA Page 2 reads: Just got around to watching Good Will Hunting. Good movie, I just cant figure out why they called it Good Will Hunting? Sure it makes a nice pun with the guys name Will Hunting and the term good will, but is the movie about good will? ROLAN Interesting. Have you seen that movie? SERA No. (Sifting through the journal) Looks to be a lot of movies he references through the journal. Wow some poetry too. Some of this stuff is deep. ROLAN Well lets go ahead and watch the movies he mentions. I can find them online. SERA Delightful! ROLAN (V.O.) My sister and I set up the tradition of meeting each other at midnight, making a sandwich and looking up every reference to movies there was in the journal and peering into our brothers wisdom.

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INT. A SMALL TIDY ROOM - DAY We enter a montage of all of Tristans exploits and achievements. ROLAN I must say, it completely changed my opinion on my brother. I used to think he was a lost drunk. Doomed to live off our lousy parents. But, hes just looking for... the answer. The key. The secret. He searched for it in movies. His diary made references to, in particular, Fight Club and the Big Lebowski. I think hes on a journey to literally look for the meaning of life. Well his own meaning of life at least. A slight pause. Rolan starts thinking more intently about something. ROLAN He went to church you know? Joined a mosque and a synagogue. Tried out Buddhism. Apparently he even went to Russia to check out the communist life. The diary is filled with plenty of irrelevant facts and observations somehow we can see through that. His favorite sandwich keeps changing all the time but it always has onions in it. He wrote a passage about onions actually well never tell him we read it, obviously. But still, we can admire his journey from afar like so many other things

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INT. COREY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE - DAY Stephen opens the door, followed by his mother and father in-law. They enter cautiously. The sound of rushing water is heard first, followed by screaming, as well as the shattering of plates. Finally, a gunshot followed by the click of a photo being taken. Curious, but cautious, the trio walks slowly into the house, looking around frantically. Stephen pulls out his gun. He looks back at the living room that is now behind him. He notices the TV knocked on the floor. STEPHEN Hello? (Whispering to his elders) Stay here. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ROLANS ROOM - DAY Movie posters festoon his walls. Among them we can see posters of Dexter, American Psycho and American Beauty. Bookshelves filled with dust covered literature line the walls. On one side of his room is a window, giving perfectly on the roof of the household as well as the neighbours humble house. ROLAN (V.O) It was the afternoon of the fifth day of our new guests arrival when it happened. Sitting by a desk under the window are Julian and Rolan, talking about who knows what. JULIAN and then they deep fry it and dip it in ice cream. ROLAN Ice cream?

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JULIAN Yup. ROLAN So you have ice cream on the inside and outside? Of the crunchy fried crust? JULIAN Yes! ROLAN I guess Ill just have to put it in my bucket list. Now however, pardon me, for I must relieve my bladder. JULIAN Good luck! ROLAN Thanks. He gets up from his sedentary position in a hurry, hopping along the way to the washroom. INT. COREY RESIDENCE BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS Rolan is finishing up his excretion of waste in the washroom. ROLAN I was taken by surprise. There was nothing I could do. Rolan FLUSHES the toilet, expecting nothing more than an average day swirl. He heads to the door, still unaware that something was amiss. Finally, he notices the FLUSH sound is echoing around a little too long, so he turn around and examines whats up. Eyes widen, nostrils flare, mouth drops. He lets out a horrendous SHRIEK. ROLAN Ah! No, no, no, no, no, no.

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In slow motion, the water level slowly starts to elevate. ROLAN Shit. Shit. Shit! SHIT! INT. COREY RESIDENCE PARENTS BEDROOM - DAY Tracy and Dimitris lips separate upon hearing a scream from the downstairs. After a few moments, Rolan barges in. ROLAN Do you have any paper toHe notices the two on the bed. He walks away. INT. COREY RESIDENCE SERAS BEDROOM - DAY Ethan and Sera are sitting romantically close together on Seras bed. Festooned on her wall are posters and pictures that feature ELI POWERS, the teen sensation. Ethan slowly brings his lips closer and closer to hers. Inch by inch. Footsteps and swearing can be distantly heard in the hallway but that doesnt stop these two lovebirds. ETHAN (Whispering) Whos Eli Powers? SERA (Following his whispering tone) Actor singer director. Inch. By. Inch. ETHAN Wow. SERA Mhmm. More footsteps can be heard. A bit of shouting.

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ETHAN Let me show you my snake. SERA What? INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM - DAY All three Ethiopian children are sitting on a beige couch, watching a sitcom on TV. Darcy picks up a ball shaped pillow and chucks it at Viola. She in turn throws it to Marilyn. They all simultaneously start laughing at their playful mini game. Tristan stares at them in a corner, frightened. He walks over to the kitchen. We remain on the three Ethiopians. After a few seconds, a scream interrupts Darcys throw. The pillow is thrown towards the TV, bringing it crashing to the floor. DARCY Oops. INT. COREY RESIDENCE BATHROOM - DAY Julian gallops curiously to the bathroom door, wanting to know what happened. He peers inside. He starts laughing. JULIAN Shit dude! What did you do? ROLAN I dont know I just peed! I swear. JULIAN Well then somebody else clogged it. ROLAN

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It didnt look clogged JULIAN Well maybe its just stuck in the first tube ROLAN You mean like a hidden shit. Marys scream is heard from downstairs. JULIAN What was that? ROLAN Its a hidden shit! The bathroom continues to overflow. ROLAN Ahhhhhh! I need to get some napkins, or paper towels! Hold the fort! Julian looks like he wants to protest but remains taciturn. Rolan enters the hallway, disoriented. He barges in to his moms room and comes right back out. Hes followed by Tracy and Dimitri. TRACY Wait, Rolan, it really what happened to the washroom? A scream is heard from downstairs. Sera opens her door, Ethan right behind her. SERA What the hell is going on here? Weve been hearing shoutinShes cut off by Julian as the toilet keeps overflowing. JULIAN Rolan! Paper Towels! Now!

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Finally, a GUNSHOT is fired, the thunderous echo resonating from every wall. A third longer scream. Sera, Dimitri, Tracy, and Rolan all head downstairs. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - DAY Mary is frantically moving around the kitchen, cooking, washing the dishes and setting the table. Tristan enters, slowly and confused, sandwich in hand. He takes a picture, followed by a bite. TRISTAN What are you doing? MARY (In a thick Ugandan accent) Surprise! For your mother. TRISTAN Hmm what is it? He notices Marys shirt. TRISTAN Hey Mary, where did you get, your shirt Dinklings? Ive seen it around a lot lately. MARY (Preoccupied) Um, chicken and peas and rice. TRISTAN Rice! Lovely. He turns around, preparing for his exit. CLOSE ON, SLOW MOTION SHOT: Mary opens a drawer under the oven, looking for a plate. A RAT crawls up her arm, all the way to her shoulder. Eyes widen, mouth opens in horror.

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Tristan turns back around, unsure of how to respond to this unfortunate turn of events. A DEEP BOOMING SCREAM only a large African woman can pull off. INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM - DAY Rolan, Sera, Dimitri and Tracy are gathered around Viola, Darcy and little Marylin. ROLAN You know how much that cost?! TRACY It doesnt matter! What happened? A fourth scream, followed by a second gunshot. Everybody freezes. SERA What the fuuck! All go through a hallway and into the kitchen. There are about FIVE RATS running around the floor, Mary trying to squish them with any cooking pan she gets her hands on. Tristan, sandwich in his mouth, camera around his neck, gun in hands, tries shooting at all the rats, unsuccessfully. He looks up. TRISTAN Oh god they can climb! TRACY What? No? They cant. STOP! Without paying attention to anybody else, Tristan reloads and starts shooting repeatedly at the ceiling. Sera and Viola are standing, staring in shock at the gruesome rats. Viola lets out the first shriek. Which carries on for a while. TRACY Rolan! Give me the gun.

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He ignores. He keeps following his delusion and shoots the roof. TRISTAN Die! Die! Die! The bullet holes form a small circle up in the roof and it slowly, dreadfully collapse, leaving a hole. Suddenly, bugs. Large, small, flying, crawling, every kind of termite flood out of the hole in an endless wave. Through the hole we can see Ethan and Julian, heads together, staring down at them. JULIAN Hi! ETHAN Whats up? JULIAN We need paper towels. Toilet water starts flowing down the hole as well. Rolan is sitting in the kitchen table, manically making a sandwich. Some kind of weird reaction to all this chaos. Dimitri, the unfaithful husband, is trying to get to his wife in all this carnage, Trying to get her to calm down. Viola, Darcy and Marylin let out four synchronised shrieks. These continue in a sort of shrill melody, with the occasional deeper note from their mother. Rolan looks up at the bugs. His sandwich making pace increases. In all this chaos, Seras water bottle gets knocked over. In SLOW MOTION, it falls and hits the ground. The cap splits, letting the contents flow out. She sees this. Her reaction is immediate. Face turns white, morbid. She falls to her knees. EXT. COREY RESIDENCE DAY WIDE SHOT:

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The house looks peaceful, light reflecting off the windows, two rabbit hops gingerly across the lawn, playing. The residence itself seems unaware of the chaos it shelters. Grandma and Grandpa enter the frame, peacefully walking on the sidewalk. GRANDMA (Melancholic tone) That poor old Fenster. He had children I think. Grandpa nods, and sometime grunts in agreement. GRANDMA Yes, Harold, you met them once. There was dear old Faidi, and Henry. Oh the poor children. Going through that. She mumbles a short incomprehensive prayer. Slowly but surely, they manage to walk to the first stairs leading to the front porch. A police car drives in and parks itself on the side of the road. Stephen walks out. Stephen notices his mother and father in law and waves at them. They make their way to the front door together. Stephen drops his keys. He bends over to pick them up. STEPHEN Hey, look! A rabbit! They all turn around and look in admiration at the hopping bunnies. GRANDMA Thats nice (Mumbles to herself) Thank you lord, for all these wonderful creations you have blessed us with. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE - DAY

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The sound of rushing water is heard first, followed by screaming, as well as the shattering of plates. Finally, a gunshot followed by the click of a photo being taken. Curious, but cautious, the trio walks slowly into the house, looking around frantically. Stephen pulls out his gun. He looks back at the living room that is now behind him. He notices the TV knocked on the floor. STEPHEN Hello? (Whispering to his elders) Stay here. He walks into the kitchen and is hit in the face by the full force of the scene FADE TO BLACK INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN NIGHT The hole in the roofs been blocked by a slab of wood. Sera and Rolan are once again reading their brothers diary. ROLAN (Reading off the book) Girlfriends can be tough to find. Especially ones that you can get along with. Some guy called Secretchestnut opened my eyes to why. I quote: A pair of parallel lines have almost everything in common, and they never meet in all their existence. Which is pretty sad. But any other pair of lines will only meet once. And then drift apart for the rest of eternity. Which is pretty sad too. (Looks up) Thats the end of the entry. Sera gives out a little sob at the end of the entry.

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ROLAN Oh, honey SERA No, no. ROLAN Is it the bottle again? SERA no ROLAN Why did you like that bottle so much? SERA I dont know! I guess I envied it. ROLAN Sera how does that evenSERA I dont want to talk about it. Rolan obviously has no clue what to do. SERA (Disgusted) Look at it. Look at our home. Its destroyed. Disgusting. ROLAN I know SERA We had termites, Rolan. And mice! What were they doing here? Why were they here? ROLAN We had a snake too I dont know. Thank god we had Raoul. SERA Its still a mess. Itll never be perfect again. I just need to go to Quebec. ROLAN

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Your end of the year trip is in Quebec? SERA Yeah. I told you that before. ROLAN Oh, cmon Sera of course itll get better. Youll go to your year end-trip, you just have to believe! SERA I dont believe. My bottles gone, our kitchen is destroyed, Ethan is most likely retarded, bringing a snake. And then youre just sitting here, not doing anything. ROLAN What are you talking about? SERA Why dont you go talk to Mary? I mean its obvious you have a thing forROLAN What because I said her name in my sleep? SERA I dont know! Sera prepares her answer but is interrupted by the click of a photo camera. TRISTAN Whos Mary? SERA (Surprised) Oh! Well maybe Rolan should tell you. ROLAN shes just a girl at my school. Thats all.

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TRISTAN Thats all? SERA No thats not all. He dreams about her. TRISTAN You dream about her? ROLAN Yes, I suppose I do. TRISTAN Do you like her? ROLAN yeah, Yes. Yes I do. After a moment of silence. TRISTAN I see you guys are reading my old journal. ROLAN How old is it? TRISTAN I dumped it last month. Heres my new one. (Raises his arm and shows them the diary) ROLAN We didnt mean to is that okay? TRISTAN As long as I can join you. ROLAN Sure. SERA Want a sandwich?

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TRISTAN I do. Alas there are no onions in the fridge. I checked earlier. No onions, no sandwich. SERA Oh. TRISTAN Well then, what are you gonna do about this Mary? ROLAN I plan on admiring her from afar. SERA Definitely not! TRISTAN No, no, no. You need to go talk to her. SERA Tomorrow. ROLAN Oh please SERA (To Tristan) What does he need? TRISTAN Better clothes. SERA He could afford to lose a few more pounds. ROLAN What? TRISTAN I agree. A workout never hurt anybody either. SERA Ill go get some clothes.

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ROLAN Whats going on? Sera gets up and punches Tristan before leaving. SERA Im still mad at you. Shooting that gun like an idiot. TRISTAN Youll get over it. Sera finally exits, leaving an awkward silence in her absence. TRISTAN Wanna hear something messed up? ROLAN Sure. TRISTAN Dads cheating on mom. ROLAN Dads cheating on mom? Wait but with who? TRISTAN His secretary. ROLAN Cops have secretaries? TRISTAN Cops have sexretaries. ROLAN How do you know? TRISTAN I got a text from him. Telling this Babydoll to meet him that night at the hotel. ROLAN

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I dont know what to say. You know moms also cheating on dad. TRISTAN Oh yeah? With who? ROLAN Dimitri. TRISTAN (with a little chuckle) Dimitri! You night stallion. ROLAN This isnt funny. TRISTAN I know. Sera can be heard coming back. Rolan looks at Tristan and whispers: ROLAN Not a word to Sera. TRISTAN (Sly smile) Not a word about what? Sera enters the room again, now wearing running shorts. She chucks two pairs to Rolan and Tristan. SERA Lets do this. EXT. COREY RESIDENCE - NIGHT The three siblings are on the sidewalk, lined side by side, ready to run. SERA So you got it? Its right at Mona, then left on Woodside and finally back on the 49th. TRISTAN Were good.

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ROLAN Fine. SERA Alright, lets go! They start running. Sera is obviously much faster than both of her brothers and takes a big lead. They talk through short breaths and gasps. TRISTAN I cant believe her. Shes almost ten years younger than me and shes killing us. ROLAN Only two years younger than me. TRISTAN Alcohol, whats your excuse? ROLAN I heard music helps with endurance. TRISTAN I heard that too. Rolan takes out an iPod from his swinging pocket. He plugs in earphones that he took out from his other pocket. ROLAN That thing you wrote about, girlfriends being tough to find parallel lines and all that TRISTAN Hmm? ROLAN You still believe that? TRISTAN My thoughts on everything change every day. Do I still believe that specific part?

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No. Youll do fine with your girl. ROLAN Okay thanks. He plugs in his earphones. MUSIC : ELECTRIC AVENUE The three siblings run along in the night. Sera always with a lead. ROLAN (V.O.) Every day we ran. Well, more like every night we ran. Now that we had Tristan with us, everything seemed better. Everything we did was focused on realizing one goal and that goal was as important to me as it was to all of us. Getting Mary. Sometimes, Julian would join us, he didnt live very far. Wed line up side by side and just go. We never told Sera about Mom and Dad. A series of cuts showing us visually what Rolan describes. Them eating sandwiches inside, and then lining up outside and running. At the end, we can see Rolan catching up to Sera and running consistently at her pace. MUSIC: Becomes very loud, so loud that Rolan cannot help but sing along to it as he finally reached a major milestone. Sera, realizing what tune hes listening to, starts singing along with him. Both end up falling over on the grass, out of breath. ROLAN (V.O.) Everything was going perfectly. Exactly how Sera liked it. INT. HEATHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA - DAY

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ROLAN (V.O.) Well, until this one day, when I couldnt find her at school. Rolan and Julian are once again sitting alone, eating their lunch. Rolan looks around the cafeteria, searching his sister. ROLAN Hey, Julian, have you seen Sera? JULIAN Not since last night. Didnt she come to school with you today? ROLAN She did, but she seems to have disappeared. Rolan sees Ethan across the room, flirting with somebody who was obviously not his sister. ROLAN Oh, shit. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Sera bursts through the door, this time crying her ass off. She raises her head and looks at the two beds. Judys is empty. Alice looks at her, surprised. ALICE Why, hello there. SERA Wheres Judy? ALICE Well, Im sorry dear but she left last week! She told me she told you. SERA Well she didnt.

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Sera storms out and goes to the reception for help. SERA Wheres Judy? EMPLOYEE Judy Glee? SERA Yes Judy Glee, she was in room 208! EMPLOYEE Well, the doctors sent her home, shes all better. SERA Home! Why didnt where is her home, where does she live? EMPLOYEE Im sorry, I cant give you that information. SERA No, please, I need I need to know where she lives, please. EMPLOYEE Im sorry. Sera bangs her fist furiously at the window separating them. She keeps punching the glass to no avail, shouting furiously. SERA Fuck. You. And. Your. Stupid. Fucking. Hospital. Protocol. EMPLOYEE Maam, try to understand, theres nothing I can do. SERA Maam? Fuck you. And she storms off again. INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM - DAY

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Rolan and Tristan are sitting alone on the living room couch. Discussing the day. Viola walks past them. TRISTAN Hey Viola! VIOLA What? TRISTAN Youre wearing that shirt again! VIOLA This one? Yeah. TRISTAN Where did you get it VIOLA Some place back home. TRISTAN You have Dinklings there? VIOLA No. TRISTAN You sure you didnt get it from Dinklings? VIOLA Yeah Im sure, why? TRISTAN I just see that same shirt every day. Somebodys wearing it. Can I take a picture? VIOLA Okay? Tristan walks to her side and takes a few close ups. He pulls out a tag stuck on the inside of the shirt. It says T.C. on it. Takes three pictures of it. Viola is bent in an awkward position.

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Sera bursts through the front door. She runs up the stairs. TRACY (Angry) Hey! Come back here, missy. You cant disappear from school the whole day and come barging in here for no reason. We have guests. Are you listening? Come back down here, this instant. Sera SLAMS her bedroom door and locks it. TRACY Whats gotten into that girl? STEPHEN Who knows? INT. COREY RESIDENCE DINING ROOM - NIGHT Everybody is gathered around the table except for Sera, who appears to be absent. STEPHEN So whats for dinner, Trace? TRACY (Beaming) Meatball rice. ROLAN (Sarcastically) Ahh! Delicious rice. GRANDMA Wheres your sister? ROLAN Upstairs. GRANDMA Why? ROLAN I can only imagine. GRANDMA Foolish girl.

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TRISTAN Um, why? GRANDMA Fooling around with that boy. Have you seen the clothes she wear? Tracy slowly offers Grandpa some rice. He declines, taking a slice of bread. ROLAN (Coldly) What about them? STEPHEN Rolan. GRANDMA Well, back in the day, there was only one kind of woman who would wear those clothes.

ROLAN Oh yeah? What kind of woman would wear those clothes? GRANDMA Whores, prostitutes. Silence overcomes the table. GRANDMA (With conviction) Oh and look at her hair, and how she speaks. She acts like a servant of the devil himself. The evil temptress. Its a wonder how you lot can abide her for so long, spreading darkness in your souls. You follow her path and youll be knocking at the gates of hell, I tell you. You need to teach her proper manners.

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GRANDPA Now, Carol. You musntGRANDMA Shut your trap, Harold. If youll speak out against me stupidly shut your trapper. Grandma takes a big spoonful of her rice and meatballs. Some sauce dribbles down her mouth. ROLAN Wow. (To Grandpa) Wow, I feel sorry for you. TRACY Rolan, dont. ROLAN No, no I really do. Look at who he married. GRANDMA Boy, watch what you say. ROLAN I wonder, are you still in love? Instant silence. ROLAN I mean, how could you be, you try to speak and she shuts you down. No freedom of speech. How do you communicate? Do you get off from visiting your children and pissing off the rest of your family, too? Does that amuse you? Insulting us, or disciplining us TRACY Rolan stop! ROLAN Id call you a pig, but I dont consider the sounds coming out of your mouth

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gracious enough to be constitute a squeal. And your no way skinny enough to be mistaken for a pig. TRACY Rolan! Out, now! ROLAN No, need. I was gonna go for a run anyway. Rolan walks away. Behind him we can hear Grandma complaining to her daughter about how she raises her children. TRSITAN I believe pigs are smarter as well. INT. COREY RESIDENCE - ROLANS BEDROOM - NIGHT Rolan is laying in his bed, still frustrated by the days earlier events. Through his walls, we can hear Sera sobbing and sniffling in her room. He gets up from bed. And goes for Seras bedroom door. Unfortunately, its locked. After a moment of despair, an idea takes hold of him. He walks back to his room and opens his window. He steps over his table and once again steps over the window frame. He lays one foot on the roof of the house, followed by another. Slowly, he sneaks towards Seras bedroom window, from which emanates more melancholic sobs. It is conveniently open. He gets there and knocks on the window. Sera is laying down on her bed. She lifts her head and sees him. She pretends shes not surprised and turns back around, facing the wall. Rolan walks in, in the darkness, lays down beside her and hugs her from behind. SERA (Whispering) I heard you, downstairs.

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ROLAN Did you? SERA Thank you. And they both fall asleep, like they were 4 and 5 years old, Rolan comforting his little sister. INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM DAY Rolan is sitting on a chair looking out of a gigantic window that overlooks a big part of the neighbourhood. He just sits there staring into the most beautiful shades of the ordinary. His gaze shifts to Mias house. He sees a silhouette in the top window that slowly becomes clearer. Eventually, he realises its Mia herself, doing the same thing he is. Their eyes meet, but neither looks away. They just sit there staring. STEPHEN Rolan, go mow the lawn. Joes doing it the second time this week. ROLAN Not now. STEPHEN Rolan, go mow the lawn right this moment. ROLAN Why dont you do it? You care about it so much. STEPHEN Excuse me, but you have no right to speak after your behavior last night. Go mow the lawn. Now. Reluctantly, Rolan obeys. STEPHEN

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Im going to work. ROLAN Say hi to babydoll from me. STEPHEN What? ROLAN Nothing. TRACY (From the kitchen) And come do the dishes later. No arguing. ROLAN Fine. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - NIGHT Rolan, Julian, Sera and Tristan are huddled around the table. The three boys seem to be deep in conversation. Seras eyes are still red from crying, she doesnt participate in the conversation. All have a sandwich on a plate in front of them. TRISTAN No, its normal. ROLAN Its freaky the thought that one day, you might just stop existing. TRISTAN The thought that one day, you didnt exist is even freakier. JULIAN I dont know. Life after death, nothing ness after death TRISTAN One of the oldest questions in the universe

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(He swallows a bite of his sandwich) Its why people created religion. A momentary pause from the conversation. TRISTAN Think about it. So you die, right? You have a funeral, an autopsy depending on your death-method. At your funeral everybodys there, friends, family, heck, even a few of your enemies. The other two pay close attention, considering his story. TRISTAN (Continuing) Eulogies. Flowers. And then, everybody leaves and youre there, alone. Stuck. JULIAN Goddamn. TRISTAN A person has to consider this possibility. That theyre might not be a heaven or hell. Just nothingness. Rolan and Tristan stare at Sera. She fiddles with bread crumbs on her plate. JULIAN So, do you have a conclusion? TRISTAN Hm? JULIAN To your journals or whatever. You know how to live. TRISTAN In a way.

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(He puts down his sandwich, this is getting serious) You got to be happy with your life. Consider you die tomorrow. Are you happy? Probably not, youre just a kid. Live so that youre okay with death. ROLAN Wow. Is that it? TRISTAN Yep. ROLAN I dont really know what to do with that TRISTAN Neither do I well figure it out one day. ROLAN Is that why you like onions? TRISTAN No onions just taste good. JULIAN (Picks up the diary and reads aloud.) Onions. Onions. Onions, onions, onions. These can make you cry. And you dont use them in pie. You can decide to eat them dry. Or soak em up to fry. Best stuff to add to any sandwich; onions and always will be. (Looks up) Thats the end of that entry. ROLAN No, its the sauce. TRISTAN Sauce... no.

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SERA Well it certainly isnt onions. They all look shocked. Its the first time she dais something today. ROLAN No, no, no. Mayo. Ranch. SERA Dill. Grandpa appears from behind them and voices his opinion. GRANDPA Oh please. They all turn around. GRANDPA Its the bread. Theyre all surprised to see Grandpa here, talking to them, without his interrupting pig of a wife. GRANPDA You guys just sneak on down here, every night and have sandwiches? TRISTAN Yep, pretty much. And we prep Rolan up so he gets brave enough to ask out Mary. GRANDPA Mary. A girl? JULIAN Yes. GRANPA A pretty girl? JULIAN (Looking at Rolan, making fun of him) Only the prettiest of them all. The gold nugget in a pile

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of twigs. The one good seat in the overcrowded theatre! TRISTAN How long have you been here? GRANDPA Oh, well I heard your speech. TRISTAN What did you think? GRANDPA Its good it makes sense. TRISTAN Input? GRANDPA Some other time. But we need to sort this out first. You consider this: Remove the bread from a sandwich. What do you have? A salad. Precisely. Bread is what makes a sandwich the one element that differentiates two very different foods. Dont forget that. Grandpa reaches into the fridge and grabs himself some bread. He nibbles on it slowly as he speaks. GRANDPA (Continuing) Its important for people to understand good bread makes the sandwich. You have a wet piece of bread bang! sandwich ruined. You have some expired mayonnaise, just use some ketchup youre fine. TRISTAN Interesting. GRANDPA Im not done here. The problem with you people, you add too

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many ingredients. Eventually everything gets scrambled up, you end up tasting nothing. People dont realise it. You guys need to start stripping ingredients away from your recipes. One by one. The closer it gets to its bare essential, bread, the better. You know, keep it simple. Its key. You actually experience more from simpler ingredients. He takes a huge bite from his bread. SERA That makes sense. Right? ROLAN Yeah. Won me over. TRISTAN Didnt realise you could talk so much. GRANDPA Didnt realise you could understand so much. TRISTAN Good one. GRANDPA Why the drunk act? TRISTAN Youll have to read my diary. GRANDPA (Takes a bite from his sandwich) I already have. All four young-uns look at each other, confused. GRANDPA Oh and, Rolan, quite an entertaining outburst you had the other night. (Slight smile)

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Just dont do it again. And with that, he leaves the room. Julian looks at Rolan and Tristan. JULIAN (Mouthing) Mind-Blown. Lets run. TRISTAN Lets go. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - MORNING Everyone is gathered around the breakfast table. No one is speaking. Well, except for one person who cant seem to keep their trap shut. GRANDMA -he graduated with a 90 I believe. Went straight to oxford. I remember his father once told me Not bearing to hear the story anymore. TRISTAN Hey, so theres a party today after school, I hear. ROLAN Hm? TRISTAN (To Sera and Rolan) You wanna go? ROLAN Whos party? Grandma attempts to interrupt them again. GRANDMA And his brother, why he became an engineer I believe, Princeton. All the-

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TRISTAN - Julians friend. He told me last night. ROLAN Why didnt he tell us? TRISTAN Not sure but apparently a lot of people are going. ROLAN Really? TRISTAN My bet would be that Mary will be there. GRANDMA My goodness, another girl. Hopefully one that has a proper education on good behavior. She shoots a reproachful look at Sera. Sera smiles in sarcasm. ROLAN (Ignoring Grandma) How do you know? TRISTAN (Winks) A little bird told me. ROLAN Well, Sera? SERA Ill go for you. ROLAN Great. STEPHEN Whos Mary? SERA Rolans love interest.

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STEPHEN Is that so, I would love toROLAN No you wouldnt. When is it? GRANDMA (In anger, muttering in the background) Preposterous. Interrupting always. Addressing you mother and father that way. TRISTAN Right after school. ROLAN That early? TRISTAN Yeah ROLAN Are you driving us? STEPHEN Oh, uh, we could driveROLAN No thank you. Tristan? TRISTAN Umm. (looks at his father, not meaning to offend him.) Sorry, dad. Yes, Ill drive us there. ROLAN Disco. Julian coming? TRISTAN He said he would. ROLAN Fun. TRACY Should I bake some-

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ROLAN No. GRANDPA You get her, Rolan. GRANDPA Dont encourage them, Harold. The Ethiopians look at this family exchange in bewilderment. DIMITRI I think well leave after dinner today. ROLAN (Looks at his mother) I think thatd be better for everyone. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE - DAY Sera and Rolan enter. Immediately ROLAN Tristan, lets go! TRISTAN Little problem. ROLAN What? TRISTAN Car wont start. ROLAN Can we walk there? TRISTAN Thatd take too long. ROLAN So what are you suggesting? STEPHEN Im gonna drive. Rolan is expressionless.

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ROLAN (Dry) Fine. STEPHEN Lets go. INT. CAR - DAY Theyre all driving casually along a normal road. STEPHEN So, Raoul and Janine are coming to dinner today. TRISTAN Janine? STEPHEN Oh right my secretary. TRISTAN Fun. After a moment. STEPHEN So, this Mary, how are you gonna woo her? Rolan ignores. TRISTAN Um, well weve been sneaking him out at night so he can run. As fit as a horse. STEPHEN Oh, really! Wow, how far do you run? Tristan answers for Rolan. TRISTAN 6k, every day. STEPHEN Impressive. You have a line? TRISTAN

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A what? STEPHEN You know something to start conversation. A topic you can mention TRISTAN (Looking at Rolan) No, he doesnt lets come up with one now. STEPHEN Right well, whats something you have in common? Rolan ignores again. SERA They both like Harry Potter STEPHEN Ah, theres something. TRISTAN Ive got nothing. STEPHEN Well maybe that can work. TRISTAN I saw a few on the internet: Im no Luna, but I sure do love good. Or, would you be so kind as to greet my basilisk with your chamber of secrets. STEPHEN There you go. (He chuckles) Huh, Rolan? ROLAN Whatever. A long silence. After a few minutes, Stephen gets angry. STEPHEN Goddammit.

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He steps on the accelerator. Really steps on it. The cars is now going over 120 km on city streets. TRISTAN Dad, whats wrong? No answer. Faster. TRISTAN Dad, youre going too fast. Nothing. Faster. TRISTAN Dad. Stop it. Stephen pulls over right in front of a house. STEPHEN Suicidal daughter. A son that hates my guts and a drunk college student whos ruining his future as I lay watching. Thats whats wrong. An awkward silence. STEPHEN Congratulations, youve reached your destination. Get out of the car. Take a bus back home. They comply. INT. MACK STREET - DAY Stephens car speeds away. Brothers and sister look at each other. INSERT SHOT: Three squirrels are chasing each other. However this is not done playfully. They look like they want to kill each other. TRISTAN Youve gotta start talking to him again, Rolan. ROLAN

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How could I? TRISTAN Well, then. Without further ado. They walk up the front steps of the house in front of them. They ring the doorbell. One. Two. Three. A person comes and answers the door. Despite it being full daylight, the house is already full of teenagers a-partying. The guy who answers the door has his hair combed and is wearing an unbuttoned dress shirt that reveals his bear muscly chest. GUY Tristan, my man. TRISTAN Gore! Whassap, hows it going? GORE Ah not bad, not bad. This must be Rolan and the beautiful Sera. ROLAN Yup. TRISTAN Sorry, hes a little nervous is she here yet? GORE Oh yeah man, in the back. TRISTAN (To Rolan) Lets go tough guy, its your chance. Rolan walks through the party, bumping into everybody as he searches for Mary. Finally he spots her in a corner, alone, drinking from a red plastic party cup.

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Slowly, he walks to her. ROLAN Hey. MARY Oh, hi Rolan! I didnt know youd be coming. ROLAN Haha, I know, I didnt even know I was coming till this morning. MARY Cool. Awkward silence. A song comes on. ROLAN So wanna dance? MARY Uhh sure. They get up and do awkward little dance moves: shimmies, jazz hands and a few weird twerks. Out of a door comes Ethan. Walks up to Mary and starts dancing with her. No limits, Ethan even goes in for a kiss. She gives it back enthusiastically. ROLAN Oh so, you guys are a thing now? MARY Us? Oh, no no, no, no. ETHAN Just hanging out. ROLAN (Curtly) Great. MARY

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Is there anything you wanted to tell me? ROLAN Oh, yeah I, uh. ETHAN Well go one, spit it out. ROLAN Shut up (Beat) I dont know Will you would. Um wanna go for a date sometime? She looks at Ethan and starts laughing. MARY Oh, no, Im sorry. It just came out of the blue. More laughter. MARY Okay, okay. Look. Um, youre cool and everything you like books, which is kick-ass, but , I know how much look at your family. Ethans told me all the problems youre having. I dont wanna mess anything else up, you know. I dont want to be in the middle of it. Oh god, I hope that didnt sound harsh. ROLAN Oh, no. No, dont be sorry. Im just gonnaHe walks away, leaving Mary staring at him in pity. Ethan runs up to him, puts a hand on his shoulder. ETHAN Hey man, I didntRolan turns around and lands a colossal blow on his face. ROLAN

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You, little fucking shit. Punch. Punch. Punch. Ethan doesnt get the chance to defend himself. ROLAN First you break up with my sister. Another blow. ROLAN Then, you steal the girl of my dreams. People rush up to Ethans aid. Sera and Tristan hold back Rolan. ROLAN Im gonna kill you. He escapes from his familys grasp and strides to Ethans side. Punch, punch, punch. Ethan is bleeding badly. Other people finally manage to hold back Rolan. TRISTAN (To Rolan) Is that Mary? What went wrong? ROLAN That asshole ruined my chances. TRISTAN Well Im sorry to hear that but TRISTANS POV Tristan notices the shirt Marys wearing. TRISTAN Hey, the shirt Um, excuse me Mary, you mind if I take a picture MARY What? Why?

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TRISTAN Nothing, just let me Did you get that at Dinklings? He walks closer to her, manically taking pictures. Finally he reaches on the inside of the shirt to check the tag. For a brief moment, he can see the initials T.C. on it. Mary slaps him as hard as she can. MARY Freak! Whyd you do that? Tristan is momentarily fazed. Suddenly, everyone is wearing the transluscent, sleeveless green shirt. He snaps pictures everywhere, reaches around for everybodys tags. All of them have the initials T.C. on them. Rolan, Sera and Tristan get thrown out of the household. EXT. MACK STREET - DAY Tristan comes back to his senses. Everybody is wearing a normal shirt again. Rolans face is expressionless and clenched. TRISTAN Well, that was fast. Weve been in there for what? Like ten minutes? ROLAN I want to talk to Julian now. Rolan takes his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. No answer. ROLAN Dammit, why are you not answering?! He starts texting a message to Julian. SERA

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Rolan wanna talk about it? We can talk about it. ROLAN No, Id feel more comfortable just talking about it with Julian. TRISTAN Well, lets go then. They start walking to the nearest bus stop. INT. BUS - DAY All three of them are just sitting there. On the bus. INT. MONA DRIVE - DAY Out of the bus come the three siblings. They make their way to Julians house. EXT. JULIANS PLACE - DAY Face still empty, Rolan stands in front of his friends house. ROLAN I cant remember the last time Ive been here TRISTAN Well, we can wait here. You go up. Rolan walks up the front steps and knocks on the door. No answer. Rings the doorbell, no answer. Another time. Knock. Knock. Knock. No answer. Rolan notices a small square piece of paper on the floor. He picks it up and reads it. PIECE OF PAPER Rolan, Im sorry. My father got a promotion and he was moved up to New York. We had to move. I didnt tell you,

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Im sorry, I couldnt. I know youll be fine with Mary. See ya, I know well meet again. Face still vacant, Rolan walks back down to his brother and sister. SERA Well? ROLAN They left. New York. TRISTAN On vacation? ROLAN No. Without talking, they make their way home for dinner. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ENTRANCE - EVENING The thee sibling enter. TRACY Sera? Rolan? TRISTAN Yeah? TRACY Were having dinner! Come join us. ROLAN (To Sera and Rolan) Fine lets just go. INT. COREY RESIDENCE DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Dimitri, Mary, Viola, Darcy, Marilyn, Tracy, Stephen, Raoul, Grandpa, Grandma and Babydoll are sitting around the table. Sera, Rolan and Tristan enter. TRACY Cmon, join us. STEPHEN

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Youre home early. TRISTAN Complications. They find a seat. Tracy gets up and brings them plates. STEPHEN How did it go? TRISTAN Badly. Actually, today went worse than anyone could expect. STEPHEN Huh. GRANDMA (Mumbling) And Munroe had another child. Mhm, his wife left him but somehow the children just kept coming. DIMITRI Interesting. Awkward silence. Tracy brings in the main dish, wrapped in Aluminium foil. TRACY And, heres dinner. STEPHEN What is it? TRACY Soy rice with steak! STEPHEN Mmmm, I love you so, Tracy. Rolan looks disgustedly at his parents Awkward silence. TRISTAN

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Well shall we lighten the mood? I have jokes. Would you like to hear them Janine? BABYDOLL Id love to hear them. TRISTAN Okay, but these are really dark. You ready for it? BABYDOLL I love dark humour. TRISTAN Well then, how about this how come orphans like to play tennis? TRACY No! Dont. BABYDOLL How come? TRISTAN Because its the only place where they can get some love. BABYDOLL Thats terrible. TRACY Tristan dont stop. Darcy looks uncomfortable. ROLAN Why not? You always say your world war II jokes and your suicide jokes. TRACY But not now, Tristan, dont. TRISTAN Continuing, why cant orphans play baseball? STEPHEN

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Tristan TRISTAN Cus they dont know where home is. Babydoll laughs. Viola comforts Darcy, who is feeling worse and worse. VIOLA You know Darcys adopted. DARCY Its fine. TRISTAN Oh. Im sorry. TRACY Hes not the only one? Stephen shoots her a look. STEPHEN Tracy? SERA What did you say? TRACY I said hes not the only one. TRISTAN Who else? TRACY All three of you. Dead silence. SERA What? TRISTAN Im sorry, what was that? TRACY Yes. You are adopted. TRISTAN

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Yeah, see thats what I understood the first time. SERA Where do we come from. TRACY You, Atlanta. Rolan, New York City and Tristan, well nobody knows. SERA Who are our parents? TRACY You dont know them. Junkies, lowlives all of them. Whores and drug addicts. GRANDMA Yes, whores. SERA Andum, well why have you kept this from us? STEPHEN Well, the usual. What you see in those dumb movies we didnt want to offend you. SERA (To Grandpa) And you knew too? GRANDMA Dont answer her, Harold. Its between Tracy, Stephen and their children. TRISTAN No kidding, I wonder why Tracy would bring it up in a family dinner. BABYDOLL Perhaps I should leave? RAOUL I should go too.

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TRACY No! You stay! Raoul you helped us out so much with the kitchen, this is the least we can do. RAOUL Sure. TRISTAN So, Tracy. Why bring it up now? Of all moments? TRACY Do not, call me Tracy. TRISTAN Oh, Im sorry. What term would you prefer? Mom. Sorry, apparently no one even knows who she is. TRACY Dont raise your voice at me. We did what we thought was best. I didnt know how youd react! Maybe you wouldve followed your lowlife parents and become a dumb street junkie. TRISTAN Oh, well then, well done! I applaud you forethought. GRANDMA Although you became one anyway. TRISTAN Shut the fuck up, Grandma. How could you think that? You think were so nave as to just throw our life away because of our our heritage? TRACY

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Youre right, and Im sorry, we should have told you earlier. SERA (Clearly losing it) Can I have some rice, please. Mom. TRACY of course, sweetie. (Gives her a generous portion of rice) Anyone else want some? Darcy, Viola, have some. VIOLA Um, sorry, Im a vegetarian. STEPHEN Rolan, what do you make of all this? TRISTAN This isnt over, were gonna talk later. No answer. Hes just playing with his food. TRACY A vegetarian? But, youve been eating dinner every day since you came here. VIOLA No, just the rice. STEPHEN (Chuckles) Vegetarian DIMITRI What about it? STEPHEN Look, Im sorry but I think its dumb. What was it you said the other day Tristan? Being a vegetarian is a huge missed steak!

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DIMITRI Im sorry, I think its an impressive value for a person her age especially, to express. STEPHEN I mean, were all beings of nature. Ever since the dawn of humans we ate meat. Why would we stop? BABYDOLL Im a vegetarian. STEPHEN Oh, honey? Are you? Im sorry. TRACY Honey? STEPHEN What? TRACY You said honey. DIMITRI To save the earth and its ecosystems, thats why you become vegan. STEPHEN Really? How? DIMITRI We eat animals too much. Theyre dying and going extinct. Vegetarianism slows the rate of extinction. The animals go extinct, the end of the world. Were done. That is how itll happen. STEPHEN See, I dont get that. Now if you dont have this steak? Youre saving another cow from

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being killed, and the world will end? VIOLA Yes. Exactly. SERA No its not. First a bunch of famous celebrities die; Robert de Niro, Brad Pitt. Heck Eli Powers just died last weel! A hotel massacre up in Canada. Itll be a disaster. Then, the Yellowstone supervolcano will get damn near close to erupting and killing us all. Also an asteroid will be headed straight into our sweet little planet. A pandemic will take over the planet. Well be devastated by earthquakes, and yes extinction of animals will take part in it too. But then somehow, we solve everything, and everything looks like itll all be fine and dandy but no, were all gonna end up killing each other in a dumb war about dumb things. And that will be the end. A melancholic quiet. Then, trying to completely ignore her: STEPHEN Wow. Unfortunately for you, my friend, I happen to love steak. If you dont have that piece of steak, I am most likely gonna have it as a second. Bang, your efforts would be rendered obsolete. MARY What is wrong with you? BABYDOLL I cant believe you. STEPHEN

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What? Im just demonstrating the futility of an individuals efforts. VIOLA What if thats not why I do it? STEPHEN Why else would you do it? VIOLA What if I hate meat. STEPHEN Then dont eat meat what do you want me to tell you? Good job. VIOLA What if Im religious? TRISTAN And youll sacrifice meat for religion? Bullshit. VIOLA Yes I would? Whys that a problem? GRANDMA I remember my mother, god bless her soul, she would always condemn the nonbelievers, she wouldTRISTAN Nice story. Why would you give up meat for religion? VIOLA Because its what constitutes my religion? TRISTAN Theres another thing, why the hell would a religion be restricting your from eating something delicious. Why keep obeying it?

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MARY Because, faith and loyalty. TRISTAN What are you pledging your faith to? A guy who creates delicious, edible animals, and then tells you not to eat them. Sounds kind of cruel. Thats some hitler shit right there. GRANDMA HITLER? GOD? How dare youTRISTAN Hey, just the way I see it. Pledging allegiance to some guy who causes the worst catastrophes on earth. DIMITRI But he also is responsible for the good stuff that happens. TRISTAN Oh the good stuff Okay, lets see, did you know that more than 80 percent of the population makes less than 10 dollars an hour. Although thats not terrible, consider this: I would estimate the majority of people in China, India and Africa live in terrible, dirty, abusive living conditions. Wouldnt you agree? Heck of course you do, you lived in Ethiopia! DIMITRI Yes, I suppose. TRISTAN So if the majority of the world is suffering, how the hell can god be considered a good fair guy? The Good stuff

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is by far outnumbered by the bad. Grandma mutters some sort of prayer. Tracy lowers her head in exasperation. DIMITRI You have a point, but whatever ordeal god gives you in this life, he will reward you accordingly in heaven. TRISTAN Oh, please. Heaven. GRANDMA What about heaven, child? TRISTAN Its a childs dream. Produced solely to make people comfortable with the idea of death. Grandpa takes a slice of bread. MARY What faith do you follow? TRISTAN None. My own. MARY Really, what does that entail? TRISTAN Doing what I want, whenever I want. STEPHEN Really? Well any other beliefs? TRISTAN Yes, that there is no afterlife. That everyone should be treated rightly and

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equally. Oh and, of course Im not a huge fan of crime either. GRANDMA What about the gays? TRISTAN What about them? DIMITRI Youre views? TRISTAN I have none, theyre cool. Why do you have any? DIMITRI Well yes, marriage. RAOUL What about it? DIMITRI Marriage its a part of religion. Im fine with their couples. Just marriage, why anger so many people by disrespecting their tradition. STEPHEN Fully behind you on that one?

STEPHEN Well, the whole things blown out of proportion really. Why they need to marry? I just dont see why. TRISTAN Really? Since when, did you feel this way? STEPHEN Well, forever actually. Just never wanted to say it

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TRISTAN Seriously? I thought you were liberal. I thought all of us were liberal! STEPHEN Well no, Im liberal in terms of races and money-use slash poverty distribution, or, um well whatever. TRISTAN Whats wrong with gay people? DARCY Theyre gross TRISTAN Well that came out of the fucking blue didnt it? You barely speak these past few weeks and now you finally do and its that you come up with? BABYDOLL Please, the majority of them are just doing it to act different. Im sure they can choose to love a girl if they didnt want to piss of everybody. TRISTAN You too babydoll? BABYDOLL What? Stephen and Babydoll look at each other. BABYDOLL (Mouthing) How does he know? Stephen shrugs. Tracy smells somethings up. DARCY Its weird. Unnatural.

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TRISTAN Unnatural? Is this how you raise him? Ill have you know I have plenty of gay friends that are awesome. RAOUL (In a small voice) Im gay. But nobody paid attention to him. DARCY And you still hang out with them? What if they touch you? TRISTAN (Jokingly) Well then I guess I become gay if they touch me so be it. Mom, dad, Im gay. RAOUL Im gay. Again, another quiet prayer is heard from grandma. TRISTAN Raoul, my man! RAOUL Im leaving. And so he does. The room is quiet again. TRISTAN So what now? We tackled my adoption, my familys lies, religion, homosexuality what else? DIMITRI I must say, I am surprised. Never imagined what you were like sober. Tell me, what do you want to do later, as a career?

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TRISTAN I have no clue. DIMITRI I could get you a job TRISTAN No thanks, sir. Ill do fine by myself. DIMITRI What about you, Tristan, Sera? GRANDMA Oh you dont want to get us started on those. SERA Why not? I want to be a psychologist! GRANDMA We had this conversation before! Why would you be a psychologist? SERA So I can help people like me you know the ones who try to kill themselves? Awfully quiet. SERA And, I think Rolan wants to be a writer. Rolan nods, nonchalantly. TRACY (Scoffs) A writer. TRISTAN What would you rather they be? Doctors? TRACY

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Im sorry but I would prefer my children to pick a path that is more certain. Writer and psychologist. Talk about child daydreams. GRANDMA I dont understand why anyone needs a psychologist. They dont do anything. SERA They listen. GRANDMA You have family to listen. SERA Oh and look at us, were listening so well. Were pros, at listening. GRANDMA Dont speak to me that way. SERA I cant believe this. God, that Quebec city trip cant come fast enough STEPHEN Yes, about that BABYDOLL Im going to get some water. STEPHEN Come back quickly. Um, well as you can see, Sera, we had quite a few guests over these past few weeks. SERA Yes? STEPHEN Well Im sorry but heres the thing. We dont have enough (Whispers) Money.

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(Normal voice) To pay for the rest of your trip. SERA Youre kidding me STEPHEN No, Im not. Quiet. SERA Youre telling me, I gave up the one last thing I had left, the one thing I still had hope for; I gave it up for them? DIMITRI We should get going. (To his family) Are your bags ready) TRACY I dont know what to say SERA (Sarcastic) Oh, no, no, no. Dont worry about it. Its fine. Perfectly happy. After a moment. TRACY (Whispering to Stephen) You called her honey STEPHEN What? Who? TRACY Janine. You called her honey STEPHEN Oh no that was that was nothing! TRACY Why would you call her honey?

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STEPHEN Honey, youre imagining things! And speaking for the first time in the conversation ROLAN Is he? Babydoll walks back in. STEPHEN (Coldly) What? ROLAN Im just saying I heard it too. Im sure others did as well. STEPHEN What? I turned around and I thought it was you Tracy? ROLAN No, no, I remember. You turned around, looked her straight in the eye, and then said it. BABYDOLL Whats going on? STEPHEN What? No, I would never call baby- Janine, honey. ROLAN No, no thats right, you call her babydoll. BABYDOLL What is going on?

TRACY (Gets up)

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Oh nothing, I just learned my husbands cheating on me (Slaps Stephen) No problem at all! ROLAN Why is it a problem? DIMITRI Think we should go? Yeah, we should go? TRACY What? Your fathers cheating on me! ROLAN Well I wouldnt complain too much if I were you TRACY And whyyy not? ROLAN Well, cus youre cheating on him too what goes around comes around, right? TRACY What are you talking about? DIMITRI Lets go! ROLAN Oh, come on, I saw you two. (Points at Dimitri and Tracy) The day of the kitchen accident. Having fun on your bed, Stephen. Deadly quiet. MARY Dimitri what is he talking about? DIMITRI

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Lets go, well talk about it in the car. MARY You had sex with that woman? DIMITRI Lets go. Arguing along the way, the Ethiopian family make their way to the front door. DIMITRI Well I would say thank you for having us over for two weeks, but considering the lack of hospitality, the snide comments, and you and your familys selfishness, I just say goodbye. May we never hear from you again. TRACY Get lost. TRISTAN This evening has proven to be quite revealing hasnt it? TRACY You, get out of this house I dont care, just leave. All youve done is mess everything up everything TRISTAN No, mom. Thats all you guys have done. TRACY Go do drugs and get high, throw your life away see if I care. TRISTAN What do you know about drugs mom? Tristan pulls out a bag of white powder and blows it all over everybody. The effect is instantaneous.

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Stephen, Tracy, Babydoll and Sera get up immediately, searching for an exit. Grandma pulls Grandpa up with her. TRACY (Coughing) I know theyre expensive and you probably blew away a hundred bucks right there. Haha! TRISTAN Too bad that was white flour. On that note, he exits. ROLAN Im going for a run. TRACY No, youre not, youre in trouble. ROLAN Why? Im leaving. Starts tying his shoelace. Stephen, Tracy and Grandma start shouting threats at him. TRACY If you open that door, young man. STEPHEN Youll see whats coming. TRACY Shut up, Stephen, you still cheated on me. STEPHEN Well you did too TRACY Well at least not with slutty secretary. BABYDOLL Hey! TRACY

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Why are you still here? Why? GRANDMA When you come back, youll wish youre in hell! ROLAN I already am. On that note, he exits. Once the door closes: EXT. STREET - NIGHT A pair of sneakers in running motion. We pan up and see Rolan, running. INT. COREY RESIDENCE SERAS BEDROOM - NIGHT Sera is sitting in front of a desk, hand over her face, obviously sad. However, shes not crying just sniffling and breathing heavily. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Rolan, running. INT. COREY RESIDENCE SERAS BEDROOM - NIGHT Sera slowly gets up and walks up to her window, staring out into the night. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Rolan, running. INT. COREY RESIDENCE SERAS BEDROOM - NIGHT Sera opens the window and steps out into the roof of the Corey residence. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Rolan, running. EXT. COREY RESIDENCE - ROOF - NIGHT

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Sera walks up to the edge of the roof. The fall could definitely kill her if she landed correctly. Toes curling downwards around the ledge of the roof. MUSIC INTENSIFIES EXT. STREET - NIGHT Rolan, running. Finally he makes it to his street. He turns around and looks at Mias house. Then, he turns around and runs back home. EXT. COREY RESIDENCE ROOF - NIGHT Sera sees Rolan running back home. He doesnt notice her. Just goes straight inside. INT. COREY RESIDENCE - NIGHT Rolan enters, walks straight up the stairs and into his room. INT COREY RESIDENCE ROLANS BEDROOM - NIGHT Rolan almost jumps into bread, but he makes the mistake of looking out the window. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ROOF - NIGHT Sera hears Rolan enter his room. She looks back down, and back at Rolans room. Down, Rolans room. She sees him looking at her intently. His face gives away nothing. Down, then Rolan. Down, then Rolan. Seras toes wrapped around the ledge. Finally she steps away slowly. Then, runs towards Rolan via his window. INT. COREY RESIDENCE ROLANS BEDROOM - NIGHT Sera hugs her older brother. Not crying but not smiling either. They just hold each other. SERA

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Im sorry. ROLAN About what? INT. COREY RESIDENCE ROLANS BEDROOM - MORNING Rolan wakes up, alone. He looks at his cult move and TV show posters. He is still strangely calm and undisturbed. INT. COREY RESIDENCE - CONTINUOUS He walks down the stairs. Upon seeing him, his mother raises her voice. TRACY Clothes again! Stop sleeping in your clothes. No answer. TRACY Have you seen Tristan? He hasnt called back Im worried. No answer. TRACY You think he left? ROLAN why not? I wouldve. TRACY Okay, Stephen! Me and your father wanted to tell you somethingSTEPHEN (O.S) Yes? TRACY Hes up! Come on, get down here. STEPHEN Coming.

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Stephen appears from the office door. He walks to his wifes side. STEPHEN Rolan we just wanted to say were sorry. We know that tough on you and Tristan realise what through. TRACY things have been and your sister I guess we didnt we put you

STEPHEN And last night that wasnt how everything was supposed to happen. Youre sister we are sorry about her field trip, tell her that, shell listen to you moneys just tight. TRACY I apologize for bringing up the adoption thing so bluntly. After a short silence TRACY Do you want to meet them? Your parents? ROLAN No. STEPHEN Good cus we didnt really know how to contact them Tracy nudges him. STEPHEN But if you really want to, well find a way. ROLAN I dont. Im going for breakfast. TRACY

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Okay, okay. You and your sister take your time. ROLAN (V.O.) And the days passed one after the other, Tristan was never seen again. Although, he did leave an envelope full of cash in my room. Most likely to pay for Seras trip. Im not entirely sure how he made so much INT. COREY RESIDENCE - DAY Multiple shots of the Corey household kitchen, hall, dining room. ROLAN One day, Stephen turned around in the kitchen, holding a plate. He crashed into Grandpa. Immediately, Grandpa fell, breaking his waist bone and dislocating his elbow. INT. WHITE HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Grandpa is sleeping. Rolan and Sera are standing beside him, not wanting to wake him up. SERA I cant stay here. Lets walk. INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY SERA Whatll happen to him? ROLAN Hell be fine. They have bread here. SERA You think so? They stop in front of Alice and Judys ex-room. An employee is removing Alice Fosters name from the plastic plaque beside the door.

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SERA Excuse me? EMPLOYEE Yes? SERA Ms. Foser is leaving? EMPLOYEE Yeah she just left. Check downstairs. Sera runs down the stairs as fast as she could. Racing to find a friend she famously mistreated. ROLAN Whos Alice? SERA A friend! They are now in the main floor, Sera looking frantically around. Rolan staying in the corner, not knowing what to do. After a dramatic moment, Seras face drops into a morose frown. ROLAN (V.O.) She wasnt there. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN NIGHT. Sera and Rolan sitting quietly. ROLAN (V.O.) The only thing stopping my sister from killing herself again is the promise of the field trip Tristan paid for. After that, I didntt know what I would do. Sera finishes her sandwich. SERA Im going to bed. I probably wont see you tomorrow, I have to leave early for the field trip.

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ROLAN Right! Have fun. She walks away. ROLAN (V.O.) I didnt know what I would do INT. COREY RESIDENCE LIVING ROOM - DAY Rolan is sitting on a chair, looking out the window, at the break of dawn. He stares at Mias place, and once again finds her staring back. ROLAN Sera had already left. Now it was just me left with Tracy, Stephen and Grandma. None of them gave a shit about Grandpa they havent visited him these past three days. The one thing they care about now is looking normal to people to society but that morning was when it all cleared up what I had to do. Stephen wakes up early. FOOTSTEPS are heard walking down the stairs. STEPHEN Hey bud, youre up early. Wanna mow the lawn today? Old Joes been looking at us more frequently these past few days. ROLAN (Fake) Sure dad, Ill go. EXT. COREY RESIDENCE BACK YARD - DAY Rolan violently drags the lawn mower through the grass, leaving wheel marks through the messy lawn.

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He notices nosy neighbour Joe peering nosily through his window. His gigantic nose touched the glass in front of him as he leaned forward. ROLAN (V.O.) First things first. (Sarcastic) You gotta mow the lawn. Rolan raises his right hand and gives Joe the middle finger. Joe becomes instantly shocked. Offended, he turns around and WHACKS his curtains at the window. Rolan gives a victorious crooked grin. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - DAY Rolan enters the house all sweaty and dirty from yardwork. ROLAN Hey, mom, dad. I wanted to say Im sorry. And I forgive you too. You to grandma, I know how rude and unrespecting Ive been towards you Sorry! GRANDMA I was wondering when youd come to your sentence. Unexpecting, Tracy gets up from her seat. TRACY Oh, honey its nothing, were fine. Dont worryROLAN Itd make me feel better if you let me make it up to you. TRACY Oh you dont have to ROLAN Yes, mom. I want to mom. Please. TRACY

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Well fine, what did you have in mind? ROLAN How about I make you lunch? TRACY Now? ROLAN Yeah. TRACY Well, its still pretty early fine, we can deal with an early lunch. Right Stephen? STEPHEN Sounds good. And so Rolan got to cooking. Through a series of jump cuts, he lays out bread, then cheese and bacon. Rolan starts boiling up something on the stove. Some kind of sloppy-joe like sauce. He checks around to see if nobodys looking, then gets to searching the drawers. He finds what hes looking for; a bottle filled with a reddish liquid. On this bottle was a warning that read: WARNING Ingestion of these contents will result in Death. ROLAN Bingo. He looks around to make sure his plans remain secretive they do, so he pours the whole bottle in his sloppy-joe sauce. His eyes so lost compared to that nice caring boy we met at the beginning. INT. COREY RESIDENCE KITCHEN - DAY Rolan places down his plate of sloppy-joe sandwiches in the center of the table.

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TRACY Sandwiches its been a while. I missed them. ROLAN You should never have switched to rice. TRACY I can see we all regret that decision. STEPHEN Oh my god, yes. GRANDMA Your rice was fine darling. After a moment of silence. ROLAN Well, dig in. TRACY Um, honey, there are only three here, arent you going to join us? ROLAN Ugh, I would but I have a lunch date. TRACY Really? With who? STEPHEN A pretty girl? ROLAN Yep. Eat up. STEPHEN I was starving. They all take a bite of their sandwich. Stephens eyes widen at the delectable taste of the sandwich his son made for him. STEPHEN Mmmmm.

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ROLAN Im glad you like it. In a few seconds, everybody finished their sandwiches. STEPHEN Well, Im suddenly feeling drowsy, Tracy, wanna join me for a nap? TRACY Yeah, me too. Ill be right up. GRANDMA Ill stay here. TRACY Okay. Tracy hugs Rolan. TRACY Have fun on your date! Tell me all about it later! ROLAN Alright, thanks. Tracy and Stephen leave and go all the way back up to their room. Rolan makes for the front door. ROLAN See ya Grandma. GRANDMA Goodbye. Rolan goes in the car, he pulls out of his driveway and pulls over a few seconds later in front of Mias house. He walks up to the front door. Knock, knock. To his relief, Mia answers. MIA Hey!

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ROLAN Hey Im Rolan, I live in that house. MIA Oh, yeah, Ive seen you around. (Worried expression) You didnt happen to hear all the screaming going in these past few weeks here did you? ROLAN From your place? No, way. Enough chaos was going on in my house. MIA Oh, I was worried cus maybe you were here to complain about the noise and everything and then wed be in well trouble? An awkward silence. MIA So why are you here? ROLAN I wanted to ask you out on a lunch date. MIA A lunch date? what now? ROLAN If its no inconvenience. Mia looks at the inside of her house. MIA I dunno Im not supposed to leave the house for another week ROLAN

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Come on, Im sure youve broken rules before I brought sandwiches. MIA Sandwiches? ROLAN Well, actually no. (Laughs) Just toasted bread. MIA Well, still better than what I had planned. Sure, lets go. ROLAN Really? MIA Yes, yes, yes. Before my parents come back from shopping. ROLAN O- okay. They make their way to Rolans car. He starts driving. They stare at each other awkwardly. MIA You know, Ive got to tell you something. ROLAN What? MIA I have been looking at you guys quite a lot from my ivory tower. ROLAN Really? Crazy, am I right? MIA No, no, no. Nothing too bad. (She adds) So what made you come over?

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ROLAN I dont know. A feeling... was it right? MIA More so than youd ever believe. ROLAN Try me. MIA People talk about me a lot, you know? What Ive done? What I could do? You probably heard stories about me? ROLAN Only rumors. MIA Rumors rumors especially. The worst. ROLAN Well whats been going on with mes pretty crazy too. So? Whats your point? MIA Well I told myself I was gonna put an end to it myself. Soon. ROLAN Put an end to it? You mean like She nods. ROLAN What about now? Will you still do it? MIA Lets just worry about this lunch date now. She takes a bite of the toasted bread.

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MIA You know? I actually like this better than a whole messy sandwich. Its better, right? ROLAN (Takes a bite) Yeah, before somebody told me that people need to appreciate bread more, cus it was the main part of a sandwich. The other ingredients just sorta distract you from the main flavor of the bread. I didnt give it much thought, but yeah I suppose its true. Right? Mia looks at him, mouth full of bread, eyes fully focused on this knight in shining armor. Through huge mouthfuls of bread, she manages: MIA Must have been a wise man. Your grandpa? ROLAN Yeah, Harold Corey. He liked bread. They drive on. INSERT SHOT: A duck is pecking at the remains of an animal previously ran over by a car. Probably another duck. Blood stains the otherwise yellow bill of the animal.

THE END