|
head, in deep thought when Charlie steps into the room.] CHARLIE Excuse me, Mr. President. Mr. President. MR. PRESIDENT! JED Huh, whaÉOh, Charlie, I'm sorry, what were you saying? [Jed sits up as Charlie walks closer to the couch.] CHARLIE Toby and CJ are here Mr. President. JED Okay, you can send them in Charlie. [Charlie leaves as Jed puts his shoes back on and walks over to his desk. Toby and CJ enter the room looking upset.] JED Ah, Toby, CJ. What's going on? TOBY Well sir, it seems last night there was a, uh, there was a situation with, well with your daughter. JED Which one? TOBY Roni. JED Roni? Last night Roni went out on the town with the son of President D'astier, of France. TOBY Yes. JED So what else happened? TOBY She beat him up. JED What?! TOBY Your daughter, Roni, beat up the son of France's Preisdent. JED Are you serious? CJ Unfortunately, sir, he is very serious. And might I just add that the press already knows about this. Apparently, last night the President's son had to go to the hospital with injuries inflicted from your daughter. The doctors asked how he got the injuries and he told them. Now, as it turns out, there was a reporter there at the hospital, and he overheard the entire story. He just asked me about it at my briefing, and so the entire press corps knows, and it won't be long before the entire country knows. JED Oh come on CJ, you've got to be kidding me. TOBY I wish, because that would make my life a whole lot easier right now, but we are not kidding you, sir. JED So what happened? What did Phillipe say happened, that Roni felt she had to beat him up? CJ According to Phillipe D'astier, they were walking near the Potomac, and he had just finished telling a joke. Roni didn't take well to the type of joke he told, and so she beat him up. JED What type of joke? CJ That's what I don't know. JED Why don't you know? CJ Well, Jake, the reporter that got the story, he wanted to keep part of it secret so that his paper would have an advantage that no one else has. JED Where is Roni? TOBY She is in her room in the residence. JED Have you talked to her yet? Gotten her side of the story? TOBY No, sir. She isn't seeing anyone at this time, and refuses to come to my office, or to CJ's office to help us untangle this mess. JED Okay, tell you what, I'm gonna go see her right now. I'm going to find out what happened last night, how much of this, if any of it, is true; then I'm going to bring her down to your office CJ, and you can talk to her and figure out what to tell the press. CJ and TOBY Yes, sir. [Minutes later, Jed shows up in the residence, and knocks on Roni's door. She opens the door as Jed parades in and turns off the TV that Roni had on.] JED What the hell happened last night? RONI Nothing happened last night. JED Don't give me that Roni, Toby and CJ were just in my office. There is a story all over the news that you beat up Phillipe D'astier last night. RONI Oh, that. JED Yes, that. What the hell did you think I meant? So tell me, is it true? Did you beat him up? RONI Yep, I guess I did. JED Why? What the hell were you thinking last night, if you were thinking at all. What possessed you to beat up the son of the President of France? RONI I'd rather not say. JED You'd rather not say. I don't give a rat's *ss what you'd rather not say. You're gonna tell me NOW why you beat him up. We are going to sit down, and you are going to explain it to me. You are going to keep explaining it to me until I understand, and then we are going down to CJ's office, and you are going to explain it to her and Toby. After that, I may make you get in front of the press and explain it to them. And you can bet that I'm going to make you apologize to the President of France, and to his son. And you just better hope that none of this puts a strain on the relations between the two countries. Now, start explaining. RONI Jed, trust me when I tell you, that I can't tell you. I will apologize to the President, but that is it. I will not apologize to his son, I will not talk to the press, or anything else you just said. JED Like hell you're not. You're gonna tell me now Roni. See the past 17 years, you haven't known me, you don't know what I am capable of. The past few weeks, we have gotten to know each other, but to a very limited point, but nonetheless, I am your father, and as such, I want to know what happened last night. RONI Trust me when I tell you, you do not want to know what happened last night. JED Why won't you tell me? I already know it has something to do with a joke of some sort. He told you a joke, and you beat him up, or that's what the nation will be reading tomorrow. The nation doesn't know, hell, I don't even know you as well as I would like to, but that's what they will be reading tomorrow unless you speak up. Is that how you want people to think of you? RONI I could really care less what the nation thinks about me. JED Yes, well that may be, but you are not the only one who is going to get hurt by all of this. RONI You do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to do. JED Roni, just tell me. RONI I'm sorry Mr. President, but I cannot do that. If you like, I will apologize to the President of France, but that's all. If you want I can leave DC so that I don't cause you any more problems. I can go stay with a friendÉ.. JED No, you're not leaving. I just found out you still exist, I'm not loosing you now. RONI Then respect my wishes, and trust that I am using my best judgement in not telling you what happened. You may not have been the one to raise me, but know that I was raised, to some degree, by people who have good values, and who tried to instill those values in me. Just know that it had nothing to do with a joke. JED Fine, I will respect your wishes, for now. But I'm telling you now, if the only thing we offer in your defense is that it wasn't about a joke, no one is going to believe us. RONI Be that as it may. I'm a strong person, I can take whatever they dish out. JED You're wrong, but Abbey and I will be here for you to help you out. RONI Thanks, that means the world, even if you don't realize it. [Jed looks around the room and sees some fish he is certain that he hasn't seen before.] JED When'd you get these? RONI What? The fish? JED Yeah. RONI The movers got here earlier this morning with my stuff from California. Apparently my mom, I mean Mary, didn't want to have to keep my fish, so she sent them with the movers. JED What kind are these? RONI Those are beta fish. This one here is named Buster. And this one is Stinker. JED Buster and Stinker. Did Andrew come up with those names? RONI No, I did. JED Oh. What about these ones? What are their names? RONI Well the white coy fish is Casper. And the strange looking gold fish is French Fry. JED French Fry. And I suppose you came up with that one too. RONI What do you think, I'm crazy, my little brother, I mean Andrew named that one French Fry. JED Buster, Stinker, Casper, and French Fry. RONI Too many fish? [Jed and Abbey are in the presidential bedroom, sitting on the couch.] ABBEY She broke two of his ribs?! JED And his left wrist. ABBEY What happened? JED I don't know. She won't tell me. ABBEY So you want me to talk to her, don't you. JED The thought did cross my mind. Just don't approach her as I did, cause I got no where fast. ABBEY How did you approach her? JED Well let's just say that it didn't exactly set the right kind of mood in which she felt comfortable telling me what happened, actually, telling me just about anything. ABBEY You walked in yelling at her, didn't you? JED Yes. ABBEY Jed, you gotta remember, it wasn't us that raised her. We don't know what buttons to push yet, and how far to push. You shouldn't haveÉ. JED Yes, I know, but the fact is that I did. I'm gonna go apologize later. ABBEY How much later? JED I was thinking in a few years. ABBEY Seriously? JED I don't know, I have to go meet with CJ now. Then I have an idea of one way to get the inside scoop, but I don't know if it's gonna work. So I probably won't get around to it for a little bit. ABBEY If you want a moderator, I'm here. JED I don't think it got that bad. ABBEY Yeah, probably not, but I enjoy watching you try to apologize to anyone, let alone your own family. JED I gotta go. ABBEY Okay, I'll go talk to her now. I'll call you if she tells me anything. JED Okay. I love you. ABBEY I love you more. [Jed and Abbey kiss, and then walk out of the bedroom, separating, Jed going towards CJ's office, and Abbey going towards Roni's bedroom. In CJ's office, CJ is frantically pacing the room, when Jed walks in.] JED CJ, calm down, stop pacing the room, before maintenance has to come down here and replace the floor. CJ Sorry, sir. JED Listen, CJ. Roni won't tell me what happened last night, although she has assured me that it had nothing to do with a joke of any kind. She has agreed to apologize to President D'astier, but she refuses to do anything else. CJ SirÉ. JED Yeah, I know CJ. I had this conversation with her. She won't talk, and nothing I was saying seemed to matter. I'm sure you will do the best you can with the press, even though you don't have much to go on. Just out of curiosity, have you spoken to Phillipe D'astier about any of this? Perhaps he can shed some light on it. CJ President D'astier is not letting anyone from the White House through to his hotel suite. He is very upset about this sir, he said he's not going to rest until your daughter pays for what she has done. JED Okay, I'm gonna call him, see if he will talk to me, father to father, or at least President to President. CJ Good bye, Mr. President. JED Good bye, CJ. [Jed turns around as to walk out of CJ's office, then stops, and turns around.] JED Uh, CJ, I do have one question about this whole situation. CJ Yes, sir? JED Where the hell was the secret service, both Roni's detail, and Phillipe's detail when this happened? Why didn't they stop whatever was going on? And better yet, maybe they can clue us in on whatever did happen. CJ Well sir, I haven't had time to go find them yet, but I was planning on doing that here shortly. Although I don't expect to get very far, secret service agents are not allowed to discuss whatever their protectees do, with anyone. If they do, their protectees won't trust them, and then their job is a whole lot harder. JED Okay, well I'm gonna go call the president, and then I'm gonna talk to Butterfield, and order him to have the agents tell me what happened if they won't on their own. [Abbey knocks on Roni's door, Roni opens it and lets her in. They sit down on Roni's bed.] RONI He asked you to come and talk to me didn't he? ABBEY Yes. RONI So what's he want, you to tell me how sorry he is, or you to get me to tell you what happened? ABBEY The second one. He's gonna take care of the first one himself. RONI He's gonna apologize? ABBEY Yeah. Hey, you mind if I'm around when he does so? RONI You think it's funny too, don't you? ABBEY What? RONI The way he dances around when trying to apologize. ABBEY Yeah, it's funny, a cute funny, but funny. So do you want to tell me about it? RONI Not really. ABBEY You know you can tell me anything. You can trust me, him, us. RONI Yeah, I know. It's just I don't know how either of you would react to the news, and I don't really care to find out. ABBEY Is it that bad? RONI Yeah. Well, it definitely has the potential, which is why I just can'tÉ ABBEY It's okay. When you're ready, you'll come to us. RONI Thanks for understanding. ABBEY You think you can do me a favor? RONI I suppose, depending on what it is. ABBEY Can you cut him some slack? This is still very new to him, to me, it's a very weird adjustment to have to make, and you should know what I'm talking about. It's probably the weirdest for you. RONI Yeah, I understand. And I guess I can cut him some slack. ABBEY Thanks. RONI Abbey. ABBEY Yeah? RONI It's just that he showed a momentary, temporary, lack of self-control, in which I felt it necessary to reward the way I did. That's all. That's all I can tell you, if I say anything more, I will be giving it away, and that's not what I want. ABBEY Okay. [Butterfield and two other secret service agents are waiting outside of the Oval Office when Mrs. Landingham comes out of the office and ushers them into it, where they find the president sitting on one of the couches.] JED Butterfield, Johnson, Rivers, have a seat. Now, as you all are aware, last night, there was a situation with my daughter Roni, and the son of President D'astier, Phillipe. Phillipe is saying one thing, where as my daughter refuses to say anything other than Phillipe is lying. I was wondering, more then wondering, hoping, expecting, that you could tell me what happened. BUTTERFIELD Mr. President, as you are awareÉ JED Yes, I know, secret service agents are not allowed to indulge in what goes on with their protectee's life, but I assure you Ron, this is more important than just public relations. We are talking about the relationship of two countries. Johnson, I'm sorry, I've forgotten your first name. JOHNSON Bobbie, or Roberta. JED Right, Bobbie, you are the head of Roni's detail. Can you tell me what happened last night? [Johnson looks towards Butterfield to get the okay, and she gets it.] JOHNSON Well sir, I really can't tell you much. They were walking around the Potomac, when they decided to stop and sit down near the water. Roni then gave me a signal telling me to back off as far away as I could. I respected her wishes, and took Doug here with me. We were far enough away to where it was impossible to hear what was being said, but close enough to be able to tell what was going on and jump in once we realized what has going on. JED I'm confused, what was going on? You don't sound as if you are only talking about Roni beating Phillipe up. JOHNSON That's because that is not what happened, sir. From where we were, it looked as if Phillipe was trying toÉtoÉhow do I say this, help me out here Doug. RIVERS What Bobbie is trying to say, sir, is that from where we were, it looked as if Mr. D'astier tried to rape Roni. JED WHAT?! RAPE?! WHAT THE HELLÉ. JOHNSON Yes, sir, thank you Doug. From where we were, it looked as if Mr. D'astier was trying to rape your daughter. I wish we weren't the ones to have to tell you this. JED I don't care who tells me, just tell me. JOHNSON Well sir, Rivers and I, observing what we thought was a rape, ran towards them until your daughter gave me another signal that we worked out, telling me not to interfere, that she would handle it. Respecting her wishes once again, Rivers and I began backing up, not taking our eyes off of what was going on. From there, it all happened so fast that I don't remember the exact details of what happened. What I do remember is the two standing up and arguing very loudly. Mr. D'astier grabbed at Roni, and she responded by defending herself. At that point, Rivers and I could no longer ignore what has happening, and we ran over and pulled the two apart. Rivers, being in charge of Mr. D'astier's security, pulled him away and took him to the hospital, once he observed the weakened young man's condition was more serious than first perceived. I took Roni, and got her back here. She begged me to keep quiet. Knowing that I would have to fill out a report, I could not, or would not, agree to her demands, and she understood. Anyway, sir, that is all I know. JED Doug, do you have anything to add? Did the president's son say anything to you at all? RIVERS Sir, he did say something, but I assure you that I have no clue what it was that he said, for he was speaking in French, a language that I am not fluent in. JED Okay. I thank all of you. And ask you to not repeat anything said or heard in this office to anyone, unless I ask you to do so. JOHNSON and RIVERS Yes, sir, of course sir. JED Thank you Ron, I really appreciate it, you really saved me, and this countries relations with France. BUTTERFIELD Yes, Sir. JED Doug, it was a pleasure meeting you. Bobbie, it was nice to see you again. You may all go now. [Butterfield, Johnson, and Rivers all leave, as Mrs. Landingham comes.] MRS. LANDINGHAM Mr. President, your wife is on the telephone. JED Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Landingham. [Mrs. Landingham leaves, as Jed picks up the telephone, and we hear Abbey's voice over the phone.] JED Abbey, did she talk to you? ABBEY All she said is that he had a momentary, temporary, lack of self-control in which she felt it necessary to reward him the way she did. JED I'll say. ABBEY What do you mean? JED I know what happened. ABBEY How? JED She told me. ABBEY Yeah right, seriously, how do you know? JED You don't think she would tell me? ABBEY Jed, I just left her room, there is absolutely no way you could have already talked to her. JED Okay, Okay. I dragged it out of the secret service. ABBEY Now you've gotten me curious. I'll bite, what happened? JED I've gotten you curious? ABBEY Yeah, what'd you expect? JED I don't know. So, you sittin' down? ABBEY Yeah. JED He tried to rape her, she turned off his advances, but then he grabbed at her one to many times, and she did her stuff. ABBEY Did you just sayÉ? JED Rape? Yeah. [Roni is laying on her bed, with her radio blasting on one of the local pop music stations. Jed opens the door and tries to get Roni's attention, but failed, so he shuts the door, goes to the radio and turns it down, finally getting Roni's attention.] RONI Excuse you. JED I'm sorry, I knocked, but you must not have heard me. RONI What can I do for you? JED Why didn't you tell me? RONI Tell you what? JED I know the truth. I know what happened. RONI I told you nothing happened. JED WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING HAPPENED, HE TRIED TO RAPE YOU! [Jed, realizing he just lost it, attempts to regain his composure.] JED I wouldn't exactly call that nothing. RONI I guess that's where you and I differ. JED Seriously, why didn't you tell me. I thought Abbey and I made it very clear that you could come to us with anything. This is a very close family you've walked into, we talk about everything. I would do anything for my family, and yes, that includes you. RONI I'm sorry. You've gotta understand that I didn't not tell you cause I don't trust you. This is all still very new to me. Living in the White House, being one of the First Daughters, having a loving family that would walk through fire for each other, instead of setting each other on fire. JED Okay, apology accepted, just don't let it happen again. RONI I'll try, but I never make any promises. JED So I hear you broke two of his ribs, and his left wrist. RONI Really! Cool, serves the bastard right. JED Where did you learn to fight like that? RONI Oh, I've been in Tae Kwon Doe since I was like five. I'm a black belt now, in fact, I'm a second-degree black belt. And as such, I should have demonstrated better restraint, but that damn *sshole had it coming. JED I agree, I only wish you would have told me, and let me shoot him, Leo says I'm allowed to do stuff like that. RONI So now that you know the truth, what do we do now? Do you still want me to go in front of the press and apologize to the President and all that stuff, cause I will, if that's what you want. JED Well, all this stuff is in the report that Bobbie had to fill out, so with your permission, which by the way we actually have to have before we can do this, I was going to have CJ release that as the official White House's response to these preposterous claims. And if you want, you can speak with the press, but it's not necessary. And considering that Phillipe is the one that messed up, I suspect that you will be getting an apology from him, not the other way around. RONI Okay. Wait, what's exactly in this report? JED Just that it looked like he was trying to rape you, you sent the secret service away. Then he grabbed at you and you defended yourself, which is when they stepped in. RONI Yep, that's just about it. I guess I have no problems with that getting out, my only concern earlier was how to tell you about it. That's why I was so reluctant to tell you anything. I really apologize Jed, it won't happen again. In the future you will be the first person I come to when something happens, good or bad. JED That's good to hear. And don't worry too much about keeping this from me at first. I understand, cause I know I would have had a totally different response if you had told me. I probably would have flipped out ten times worse then what I did. Now come here and give me a hug, would ya? RONI Yeah sure thing, Dad. JED Did you just call meÉ. RONI Yeah. [Jed is completely caught off-guard by Roni calling him dad, but a good off-guard. The two hug for a good bit of time as Roni whispers to Jed.] RONI You're not gonna let this go to your head, are you, Dad? JED What? I didn't hear you, you're gonna have to speak up. RONI I said, you're not gonna let this go to your head, are you Dad? JED I actually heard you the first time, I just wanted to hear you call me dad again. [Roni glances at Jed, then starts to laugh.] RONI Well, you best start getting used to it, cause I think I'm finally ready to call you dad, and Abbey, mom. JED She's gonna be ecstatic. RONI Yeah. JED Okay, well I really hate to do this, but I have to get back to work now, you caused a lot of commotion in my staff, and I have to go untangle it once again. RONI Want me to come with? JED If you want, I don't mind, but I'm not gonna make you. [Jed and Roni walk out of Roni's room, Jed's arm around Roni, ushering her towards his office.] RONI So I hear that you wanted to apologize to me too. JED Abbey's got a big mouth. RONI So you gonna do it? JED I'm really sorry Roni, I shouldn't have yelled. I shouldn't have tried to make you do stuff you don't want to do. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I can promise that I will try my hardest not to let it happen again. So do you forgive me. RONI Yeah, I guess. Mom's gonna be upset. JED Why, cause she wanted to be here? Don't worry about it, she'll get over it. [CJ is in Toby's office, the two engrossed in a deep, somewhat heated, conversation, as Ginger knocks on the door.] TOBY Not now, Ginger. [Ginger opens the door extremely cautiously, and pokes her head in.] GINGER I'm really sorry to interrupt, Toby, but the President has just called for a staff meeting. It starts in five minutes. TOBY Okay, thank you Ginger. You may go now. [Ginger leaves and shuts the door behind her.] CJ You should really be nicer to her, she is a terrific person. God only knows how she has been able to work for you the past two years. TOBY I'm nice. CJ No, Toby, you're not. TOBY Well, she hasn't complained yet. CJ And if she did, what would you do? TOBY We have a staff meeting to go to. CJ You can't change the subject that easy, I will bring this up again. [Toby and CJ walk out in to the communications bullpen, where Toby walks up to Ginger's desk.] TOBY Ginger, CJ was just expressing some concern that I am not nice to you. Is this true? And does it bother you? GINGER No, sir. I've learned to live with it, in fact, I don't think I would be able to handle you, if you were to be nice more often. Your day of jubilee was scary enough. TOBY Thank you for clearing that up for CJ. CJ, lets go. Sam! Meeting! [Sam pops his head out of his office.] SAM What? Toby, did you call me? TOBY Yeah, we have a staff meeting now, so come one. SAM Staff? Now? Cathy, you didn't tell me about a staff meeting. [Cathy hangs up the telephone.] CATHY That's cause I just got finished rearranging your schedule to fit this meeting in, I was about to come tell you now. SAM Okay. TOBY Let's go! [Donna walks into Josh's office, attempting to locate him, with no luck, she then walks out, towards her desk, where she finds Josh sitting at her desk.] DONNA What are you doing here? I was just looking for you. JOSH Yeah, well I was looking for you, I was about to leave a message for you, but couldn't find a pen. Anyway, what's up, what do you want? DONNA You have a staff meeting to go to right now. JOSH No I don't. I looked at my schedule this morning, and there was no staffÉ DONNA That's because it was just arranged a minute ago. It starts in four minutes, so you better start going over there. JOSH Okay. I'm going. Hey, walk with me. DONNA Why would I want to walk with you? JOSH Cause I'm your boss and I asked you to, that and I need to talk to you about my chair. DONNA What's wrong with your chair? JOSH Your friend, was it Curtis? He didn't do a very good job fixing my chair, cause it's broken again. DONNA Want me to have him fix it for you again? He could really use the work. JOSH I'm beginning to understand why he needs the work. DONNA What's that supposed to mean, Josh? JOSH It's just that if he had done a good job with my chair the first time, which by the way, he did over charge me, then it wouldn't be broken now. No, I don't want you to have him fix my chair. I want you to order me a new chair. I've been looking through catalogs, and I finally picked out the one I want. I'll tell you which one after this meeting. Until my new chair gets here, I want you to switch me chairs, seeing how it is because of you and your friend that my chair, which I had grown quite fond of, is now broken. Gotta go. [Josh speeds up walking past Donna.] DONNA Wait, Josh. JOSH! I don't wanna give my chair up. JOSH! I like my chair. [Josh enters the Oval Office, a few seconds later, Toby, Sam, and CJ enter. Jed, Leo, and Roni are already in, sitting on the couches, Roni sitting opposite from the two best friends.] JED Good, you're all hear, now we can start the meeting. JOSH Is this about last night, and the press situation this morning? JED Yes Josh, that's exactly what it's about. Phillipe D'astier was lying when he spoke to the doctor. Now it took me some time, but I finally know exactly what happened, no thanks to my daughter. RONI I already apologized, and explained that to you. You said you understood. JED Yes, well I never agreed to let you live it down. Anyway, this is what happened. They were taking a walk around the Potomac, when they decided to stop and sit by the water and talk. Phillipe tried to rape Roni. After they both got up and verbally argued some, he grabbed at her and tried again, which is when she defended herself. At that point the secret service came and tore the two of them apart. That is what happened. Johnson and Rivers where both there, and are willing to make statements to this, if I ask them, but only if I ask them to do so. They did make out a report after last night, and I have gotten the proper permission to allow you to release it to the press, CJ. You think you can handle that, CJ, Toby? CJ Yes, sir. TOBY Mr. President, Phillipe D'astier is a big guy, Roni, here, is only 5'6", maybe 120 lbs. Phillipe is like a good 6 feet tall, 210 lbs. How exactly was she able to break two of his ribs and his left wrist? RONI Well, Toby, do you want to find out first hand, or would you prefer an explanation? TOBY An explanation will do. RONI I am a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Doe. I've been studying this particular form since I was five years old. It is the only good thing my parents, well, my former parents, did for me that was to my benefit, as I was able to demonstrate last night. JOSH You know, we should tell the press this, I'm sure no one would dare come after you again, not once they find out about this. RONI Hahaha Josh, very funny. JOSH I was being serious. RONI Yeah, and then no guy would dare come near me again. JED And the downside to this would be? RONI So Sam, you're very quiet over there, what's up? JED Hey, you're not allowed to change the subject. I'm the only one who can do that. RONI Sam, what's up? SAM Huh, oh, nothing. RONI Don't give me that Sam. I am really good at reading faces, and yours is screaming that you have a secret that you should tell, but you don't want to. SAM How'd youÉ RONI See, you just admitted it. So what's the secret? Come on, help me out, I gotta get this spotlight off of me. JED I hope you don't think it's that easy. RONI Well, I am hoping it is this easy, and I'm willing to try it too. So Sam, what's up? You gonna tell me, help me out here? Would it help if I told you that you were always my favorite? JOSH You told me I was your favorite! RONI Sam, come on help me out here, you're only getting me in more trouble now. SAM Am I really your favorite? RONI If you can help me get out of trouble here, then yes, you will be my favorite. SAM So what you're saying is that right now I'm not? RONI I didn't say that, you did. SAM What did you say then? RONI Okay, I can't take this anymore. Everyone is ganging up on me. CJ I'll help you out, after all, us females, we have to stick together. RONI Thank you CJ. CJ Hey, you think you could show me some of that karate? RONI Tae Kwon Doe. You mean like a demonstration? CJ Actually I was thinking of teaching me, cause it would come in real handy with the press and all, but now that you mention it, a demo probably would be better. JOSH Ooh, a karate demo. Do you have a uniform? Cause we want the full affect. RONI You guys are serious? JED Yeah, but you can't do it in here, if you brake something, Mrs. Landingham will yell at me. JOSH Hey, you think there's enough room in the mural room? CJ Yeah, there probably is. RONI The mural room? JOSH Yeah, why not. [Abbey is in her office reading some kind of paper, when Roni steps in.] ABBEY I was just about to come looking for you. RONI What'd I do? ABBEY I just saw CJ's press briefing. RONI Oh, that. ABBEY And Jed told me earlier, when I called him. Why didn't you tell me? RONI I already told you why I didn't tell you mom. ABBEY Yeah, okay. RONI Besides, it's not like I didn't give you enough of a clue. ABBEY I suppose your right. RONI So I came here to ask you if you were going to comeÉ ABBEY Wait, what did you just call me? RONI It took you long enough. ABBEY Did you just call me mom? RONI Yeah, you got a problem with that, mom? ABBEY No, no, I have no problems with you calling me mom. RONI Cool. ABBEY So you just woke up today and decided you were gonna call me mom? RONI No. ABBEY So something happened today? RONI Yeah. ABBEY And that would beÉ.? RONI Well, after our conversation earlier, I decided I was gonna start calling you mom and Jed, dad. ABBEY After our conversation? RONI Yeah. ABBEY Does Jed know? RONI Yeah, I called him dad earlier, right before he apologized to me. ABBEY He already apologized!? I missed it!? RONI Yeah, sorry. It was too funny too. So you coming later today? ABBEY Coming to what? RONI Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that you wereÉuh, CJ and Josh booked the mural room today, in about 20 minutes. They want me to give them a demonstration. ABBEY What kind of demonstration? RONI Tae Kwon Doe. ABBEY Tae Kwon Doe. RONI Yeah. ABBEY You know Tae Kwon Doe? RONI Yeah, I'm a black belt. ABBEY Wow! I didn't know. So is that how you were able to defend yourself? RONI Against that jerk, yeah. So you wanna come? ABBEY Sure. RONI Okay, I got to go to my room and get my uniform before I do this, cause Josh wouldn't let me do it in these jeans, he said he wanted a real demo, you know, the full affect and all. So I'll meet you over there. ABBEY Okay. [Donna, Josh, Sam, CJ, Leo, Margaret, Abbey, and Jed are all waiting in the Mural room for Roni to get there. Charlie slips into the room.] CHARLIE Excuse me, Excuse me. Roni didn't want me to do this, but I'm doing it anyway. Roni Bartlet, black belt in Tae Kwon Doe, is ready to dazzle usÉ [Roni steps into the room.] RONI Charlie, you can shut up now, I told you not toÉ CHARLIE Yeah, I did it anyway. RONI So is there anything particular that you guys want to see? SAM Don't you have like moves all worked out in a form for all the different belts? RONI Yeah. CJ Do you know all of them? RONI Yeah, you sort of have to, to be a second-degree black belt. JOSH I think what they are getting at is that they would like you to do those form thingys, and from the sounds of it, they want you to do all of them. RONI Okay, but that's gonna take a while. JED We have the time, remember, I am the boss around here. RONI You, I thought mom was the boss. ALL OOOOOOHH! She told you, sir. JED Okay wise *ss, do your thing. [Roni steps to the middle of the room and stands at attention, then at ready, and begins doing the first form, starting with a left down block and a right mid-section punch to the left, and turns and does the same to the right, as we fade out.] |
Get your own FREE Home Page
