Friday - 2/5
THE LOFT
After hearing the knock, Alanis opened her door to find her mother on the other side.
KIT: Hey, baby!
ALANIS: Hi.
Kit gave Alanis a hug and shut the door behind her as she walked in.
KIT: So, this is your place, huh? It’s really nice!
ALANIS: Thanks.
KIT: Where’s your father? I thought for sure he’d want to spend as much time as he could with you now that he’s in town.
ALANIS: One would think.
KIT: Baby, I know you’re frustrated with him, but he’s trying.
ALANIS (under her breath): He’s got a funny way of showing it.
KIT: Anyway, what did you want to talk about? When you called, it sounded urgent, so I hopped in the car and drove straight here. I only stopped at a motel to sleep for a few hours.
The two sat down.
ALANIS: Actually, Dad is what I want to talk about.
KIT: What about him?
ALANIS: I heard some things recently.
KIT: Sweetheart, are you okay? You seem upset. Have you been taking your meds?
ALANIS: Yes, Mom, I’ve been taking my meds. In any case, the meds don’t make it so I don’t get upset, they make it so I don’t feel like it’s the end of the world when I do get upset, or so that I don’t become manic when I’m happy.
KIT: Okay, I’m just checking.
ALANIS: Anyway, like I said, I want to talk about Dad. Yesterday, before I called you, Joey and I were talking. He told me that he’s apparently met Dad before.
KIT: Really? Well, that’s interesting. I don’t know how that could be, as your Dad’s been on missions for so long, and none of them have been near Salem.
ALANIS: He also told me that when they met previously, Dad kidnapped him. This was about four or so years ago, I guess.
KIT: What? That’s crazy! Baby, your dad’s an ISA agent, he doesn’t kidnap people! Why would Joey say something like that?
ALANIS: I don’t know. I wondered that, as well. Then, he told me that my Dad isn’t in the ISA atall.
KIT: How does he know about the ISA?
ALANIS: His dad is one of Director Donovan’s top agents.
KIT: Why on earth would you tell him that your dad is in the ISA? I told you, I specifically said that nobody outside of our immediate family should know! If word got out, it could put your dad’s job at serious risk!
ALANIS: Joey brought up the ISA first, and I told him to keep it secret. He’s not gonna tell anybody.
KIT: And you think he will? Do you really trust him that much?
ALANIS: Yeah, I do. Joey is a good guy. Next to Mads, he’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met and I know he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.
KIT: Clearly, that’s not the case, since he’s making up these ridiculous lies about your father! Claiming that he kidnapped him a few years ago! That’s preposterous! He’s either mistaken or trying to start trouble!
ALANIS: Joey wouldn’t do something like that! And, I will admit, at first, I thought he must have made a mistake, too.
KIT: He most certainly did!
ALANIS: And then I started thinking about it. Dad was gone for years on end. Five years, almost six. And according to Joey, the person who kidnapped him showed up five years ago, first disguised as a pirate. And then he mentioned the tattoos.
KIT: Baby, a lot of people have tattoos in all sorts of places.
ALANIS: But he knew it was a lyre.
KIT: It’s a harp. It’s his little joke. His last name’s Harp, so he got a few harp tattoos.
ALANIS: This is all semantics. After that, he mentioned Aunt Mila.
KIT: What? How would he know about Mila? None of us have heard from her in years.
ALANIS: Yeah. Five years, to be exact. The same time Dad left on his “mission” is when we lost contact with Aunt Mila. Five years with almost no contact, except for the occasional staticy phone call that lasted all of two minutes.
KIT: Your dad had a lot on his plate, sweetheart. He did the best he could, but you know that the ISA is strict on not letting people give away their location. If he had stayed on the line too long, he could have given away his location to the people he was hunting.
ALANIS: I don’t know anything that I thought I knew anymore.
Alanis stood up and turned away. Kit got up and put a hand on her shoulder.
KIT: Baby, your father is a good man.
Alanis turned to look at her.
ALANIS: I want to believe that. I don’t want to believe that he would be capable of doing something like that. But I also don’t want to believe that my boyfriend would make something like that up. But ever since Joey told me about it, I’ve been thinking, and the more I thought, the more it all made sense. Dad was never even in the ISA, was he?
KIT: How can you say something like that?
ALANIS (voice breaking): I don’t want to! It feels horrible to think that my Dad could do the things that Joey claims he did, but his story makes sense.
She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.
ALANIS: So I need you to tell me the truth. I need to know if my father is really a criminal. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me it’s all just some big misunderstanding. Just tell me the truth, please, Mama!
KIT: Baby…
Alanis let out a sob, and put her hands over her mouth.
ALANIS: Oh god!
