CAROLINE has
just arrived to see MANNY
MANNY
So that’s
it. I know it’s not much, but it will
have to do for now.
CAROLINE
It’s nice,
Manny.
MANNY
It’s not
exactly the Ramos estate, but it beats staying in a hotel room one more day.
CAROLINE
How are
things going with you? How’s the
AA? Or should I not be asking about
that.
MANNY
It’s alright,
you can ask. It’s not easy, you know,
but I know I can’t drink if I ever want to have a life. Things got pretty bad when I left
CAROLINE
In
what way?
MANNY
The booze
just brought out a side to me that I never knew I had. I was feeling that when I was here and it
just exploded after I was gone.
CAROLINE
I’m not sure
I’m following you.
MANNY
Let’s just
say I got into my fair share of bar fights and mishaps while in a drunken
stupor. It wasn’t pretty. Sometimes I’m amazed I survived that.
CAROLINE
Wow, I can’t
see you as the violent type, Manny.
MANNY
It’s not who
I want to be. It’s not who I can ever
allow myself to become again. That’s why
I can never have another drink, Caroline.
I don’t think I would recover if I ever had another relapse.
DANTE walks
into the family room and finds ELIJAH sitting on the couch.
DANTE
Oh, hi
Elijah.
ELIJAH
What’s up,
Dante?
DANTE
Not too
much. Just got back
from
ELIJAH
Another
vacation for you?
DANTE
Hardly.
I had to help a friend with some troubles she was having.
ELIJAH
How noble of
you.
DANTE
So what’s
going on? Is your mother around?
ELIJAH
She’s
upstairs scrubbing the toilets. I’m
waiting to take her to lunch.
DANTE
I see. Well, take it easy.
ELIJAH
Later.
DANTE
Elijah, do
you have a problem with me?
ELIJAH
Why would you
think that?
DANTE
I’ve actually
thought it since we were kids, and I was talking to my friend, Damien, last
night and he said you came into Sutter’s Mill and the two of you talked.
ELIJAH
Look,
Dante. I have never made any secret
about how I feel about you, but it really doesn’t matter, now does it.
DANTE
Yeah, it
does. If someone has a problem with me,
then I want to know about it. Your
mother has worked for us my entire life and she’s wonderful, but you and I have
hardly said two words to each other all these years. So I know I haven’t done anything to you.
ELIJAH
Like I
said. Don’t worry about it.
DANTE
What? Are you jealous of me or something?
ELIJAH
Jealous?
Are you kidding me? What is there
to be jealous of?
DANTE
You tell
me. Coming from less than fortunate
circumstances is nothing to be ashamed of, Elijah.
ELIJAH
Oh, is that
how you see my life? I don’t want or
need your pity, Dante. There’s a reason we’ve
hardly spoken over the years, so why don’t we just see if we can continue that
tradition.
DANTE
Fine,
whatever. But life’s too short to be so bitter,
man. Lighten up.
Dante walks
away.
KAREN is
sitting at a table with CYRUS. He has
just told her he is writing a note to his secret crush.
KAREN
A note! Oh my God.
CYRUS
What?? Do you think it’s a bad move?
KAREN
Cyrus, who is
this crush of yours?
CYRUS
Karen, I don’t
really feel comfortable talking about it any more than I already have. It’s kind of personal.
KAREN
Look, Cyrus,
I don’t mean to pry into your personal business, but if you need someone to
talk to about, please feel free to share it with me.
CYRUS
That’s very
kind of you to offer, Karen. I
appreciate that. But I’m still sorting
through my feelings and don’t think I can verbalize them yet. I hope you understand.
KAREN
Uh,
yeah. Sure.
CYRUS
Thanks. You’re a good friend.
ANGELA
I don’t want
to be an alarmist, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to talk to you and see what
you thought about all this.
Well, it
could be a harmless crush, but breaking a pot on your front porch and the
contents of the last letter are a little strange. I think you should let me take these letters
down the station and run them for prints.
There’s always a chance this is some nut job who has a record. If that’s the case, this might be enough to
bring them in for questioning.
ANGELA
Angela, if you’re
concerned about this to that degree, why don’t you get your brother to stay
with you for a few days.
Damien walks
in.
DAMIEN
Did someone
call for me?
ANGELA
Damien. What are you doing here?
DAMIEN
I had some
news I wanted to share with you and thought I should do it in person.
ANGELA
Damien, I
don’t know if you remember Dee Levin, but our family has known her and her
brother Dan for years. She’s Paul’s
step-sister.
DAMIEN
Yes, I
remember. You just returned to
Yes. Dan and I both came back a few months ago.
ANGELA
I was just
telling
DAMIEN
Well, I think
I may know who this person is. Cyrus, your intern.
ANGELA
How do you
know that?
DAMIEN
He was just
about to tell me who he has a secret crush on last night at Sutter’s Mill when
we got interrupted. I was sure he was going
to tell me it was you, Angela.
ANGELA
Last
night? At what time?
DAMIEN
It was around
10 I guess.
ANGELA
That’s about
the same time, I got this note and heard someone on my
porch. Damien, do you know what this
means? It couldn’t have been Cyrus.
DAMIEN
Then
who?
ANGELA
There’s only
one other person it could be. Manny Ramos.