Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark, New Jersey

Sometime within the last three weeks.


:: As the scene fades in we see Erica Rayner stepping out of the Newark Liberty Airport and hailing one of the two dozen cabs sitting idle waiting for their next paying customer. A group of men, all of which are overweight and dressed as though they don’t care about their appearance at all see Erica signal for a ride and as is customary, the next man up in the motor pool walks away from the group, walks over to Erica and walks her over to his cab which is sitting some roughly 10 yards away. The driver opens the rear driver’s side door allowing Erica to step in, carryon bag in tow. The man, who I dressed in a black track suit with a New York Yankees cap gets in the cab and with the push of a button starts the meter which will add up as the ride progresses. ::


“Where to?”

“420 Stag Trail Road. North Caldwell.”

“Very good.”


:: The driver inserts his key into the ignition, turns it 90 degrees and the car’s engine fires up. By Erica’s recollection it should take no more than 15 minutes for the cab to arrive at their destination, 20, if there is traffic. Erica pulls an IPad out of her carryon bag, swipes her finger across the screen bringing the slick unit to life. Swiping her way through the various screens she settles on her email which takes a moment to update. 205 New Emails in less than 24 hours.”


“So Miss, what brings you to New Jersey? Business or pleasure.”

“A bit of both actually.”

“First time?”

“No, I grew up here. Moved out to Arizona after graduation from college.”

“Arizona eh? I’ve never been. Actually, I’ve never been out of the North Jersey-New York Metropolitan area.”

“Well if you ever get a chance you should go out there, it’s very nice.”

“I’ll make a note of that.”

“You should. If you don’t mind I need to check a few emails.”

“Understood.”


:: Erica looks back down at her IPad and starts scrolling through her emails, trying to read as many as possible and marking those she deems important with a small red flag. Before shutting the unit down she comes across an email from her newly minted half-brother and boss, Theo Pryce. She hesitates for a moment trying to decide whether she wants to actually read the email or just wait for another time. A few moments of silent reflection pass before Erica decides to open the email. ::

Erica, I know this is all a lot to digest and things are never going to be the same for either of us but I have to be honest with you. I never had much of a family growing up. Sure I had parents but my father was wrapped up in his work and my mother was more worried about what social events she wanted to go to. Still is for that matter. I feel like this news gives me, gives us, a second chance so to speak. I understand that you need some time to sort things out. Please take as much time as you need. Theo

:: As Erica finishes reading the email the cab comes to a stop out front of their destination. 420 Stag Trail Road. The home can be described as a mansion though one on the more modest compared to some of the others on the road. ::




“$23.45 Miss.”


:: Erica pulls a credit card out of her wallet, swipes it through the Credit Card machine attached to the back of the drivers seat. A few seconds later the machine prints out a small receipt which Erica tears off and stuffs into her bag before departing the cab.::


“Wait here. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“I have to charge you.”

“That’s fine.”


:: Erica takes a second, collects her throughts and then walks up a set of 8 stone steps before settling at the doors landing. She looks around for a second and then hits the small circular button located on the panel to the right of the door. Immediately after the button is pushed the homes doorbell can be heard from inside the home. Roughly a minute later the light above the door way comes on and the sound of the locking mechanism being turned signifies that someone is indeed home. Erica picks her carryon bag up off the ground just as the door opens. Standing in the door way across from Erica is a woman in her mid to late 50’s with clearly dyed hair as the roots can clearly be seen along the scalp. The woman is wearing a robe white satin rob, tied shut to go along with what looks to be very comfortable slippers. ::


“Hello Mom.”

“Erica…My God…what are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

“You know Mom, I’m not sure yet. That’s why I’m here.”

“Well don’t just stand there, come in and give your mother a kiss.”

:: Erica takes a few steps and enters her mother’s home, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she does. They women proceed into the kitchen where Erica gently lays her bag onto the floor and takes a seat at the kitchen bar. ::


“I was just going to sit down and look over the circulars. Would you like some coffee?”

“Sure.”


:: Erica’s mother grabs the coffee pot off the counter and pours two cups, one for her and one for her daughter. She places her daughter’s cup in front of her and motions to the far side of the bar where the cream and sugar is located. Erica nods her head but instead leaves the coffee as is. ::


“So Mom. How are things?”

“Same as they always are. Work is work. Enough to pay the bills, the girls are doing well. We are supposed to head down to the Borgata on Friday night for a ladies weekend.”

“Sounds fantastic. I’m glad things are going so well for you.”

“Thanks Erica, you look well. Are things not going well for you?”

“Things are fine. Work is going well. It’s always why I am here.”

“I don’t follow. What does your work have to do with me?”

“Well Mom…” Erica grabs a manila folder out of her carry on bag and slides it along the bar towards her mother.

“What is this?”

“You tell me.”

“I have no idea. What's wrong?”

“Is there anything you want to tell me Mom? Anything that maybe you weren’t allowed to until after I graduated from college?


:: Erica’s mother puts her coffee down and looks down at the folder. Then back up to Erica, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. ::

“Erica…”

“Go ahead Mom. Open it up.”

“Erica…I don’t know what to say. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you. It’s all I thought about every day from the moment you were born.”

“I understand Mom. You couldn’t say anything, lest you risk losing everything you’ve worked so hard to get in life.” Erica motions around, making it perfectly clear to her mother that she knows that the home her mother lives in is obviously well above the means of her mother.

“Now that’s not fair.”

“Not fair? Not fair? Don't you dare lecture me about fair? You let me grow up believing that my father ran out on us. Do you know what that is like for a little kid? All my life I thought my father didn’t love me. That I wasn’t good enough for him and that’s why he left. When all this time you knew that wasn’t the case. You committed adultery and I was the result. And instead of being honest with me you lied. Every day of my life you lied. And you would have kept on lying if it weren’t for my boss, my, half-brother and his never ending curiosity.”

“That’s not true. I would have told you…”

“When Mom? When was the right time for you tell me? When I turned 40? On your Death bed? When Mom?”


The weight of Erica’s words start to weigh on the elder Ms. Rayner and she begins to sob. Unaffected by her mother’s tears Erica takes a sip of her coffee and then places it back down on the bar.

“Erica, I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, some things I’m not proud of. But you’re it. You are all I have. I didn’t want to lose you so I did the selfish thing and I kept it to myself. I know you’ll never understand this but it hurt me more to keep it inside than you will ever know. In some twisted way I felt like dealing with that lie was my self penance. I felt that you were so innocent in all of this, that telling you the truth would only hurt you.”

“You know what Mom. It might have. It might not have but that should have been my decision to make. And now I know the truth. That my father didn’t run out on me. That he did what he felt was best for his family. He had an affair, I was the result but at the end of the day he had a family already and he had to go back to it. But lucky for you he was willing to pay for you to have this life. Tell me Mom. Was paying for all of this, paying for me to go to college, was that your idea or was it is? Did you blackmail him into feeling guilty or did he actually feel guilty all on his own?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because his son, my half brother is an egotistical and self important asshole that seems incapable of guilt, so I want to know if perhaps his father…my father, was a better man than him or if you had some hand in it.”

“Thomas was the one who wanted to pay for you to go to school. He wanted to pay for everything you would ever need. He didn’t want you to want for anything. Ever. Maybe he felt guilty, or maybe he truly believed that doing this was the right thing to do. I never asked. He offered and I accepted. There was no way for me to raise you on just what I made so of course I let him pay for whatever he wanted. “

“So you knew that the Scholarship I got was also a fraud? That I didn’t earn anything but instead was handed a free college education by a man making up for his own guilt?”

“Not at first. He told me at your graduation.”

“What? He was there?”

“Yes he was. He stood in the back, didn’t say a word. I don’t think he would have said anything to me if I hadn’t seen him out of the corner of my eye and approached him before he could get out of the auditorium. He was so proud of you. He checked in on you all the time. Thomas was a good man. He loved you.”

“He didn’t even know me. Not until he hired me. And even then he looked me in the eye, every single day, and never told me the truth.”

“He wanted to. I know he did. He told me as such but he didn’t know how. He and his wife had grown apart, he wasn’t really concerned about that part of it anymore, he didn’t know how to tell you. He finally had you in his life, he didn’t want to lose you again.”

“Poor him.”

“Erica he loved you. I know he did.”

“Yeah well he never had the balls to tell me. Just like you never had the balls to tell me the truth. Thanks for the coffee mom but I have to go.”

“What? You came all this way and you are just going to turn around and leave?”

“I came here to look you in the eye and see if you would finally tell me the truth. I’ve done that and now it’s time for me to leave.”

“Well what are you going to do now? When will I see you again? Thanksgiving is right around the corner.”

“I don’t know Mom. I’ll let you know. Have fun in Atlantic City.”


:: Erica picks up her bag, heads down the hallway, out the front door and back to the cab. Her mother still sitting at the bar, tears streaming down her face. ::


“Now where too?”

“The closest bar you can find.”



Fade to black.