Screenplay: Family

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

JENNY (45) and RICHARD (49) FENG are sitting at the dining table with their three children, YEN (24), ZACK (21), and JADE (20).

Each member of the family eats in silence, and for a moment only the CLACK OF CHOPSTICKS can be heard as each person, with the exception of Richard, picks cautiously at the slew of shared dishes on the table.

Richard, on the other hand, is attacking the food with gusto and pride.

Yen, Zack, and Jade share sidelong glances as they negotiate the dishes, each one a ‘healthy’ twist on a traditional recipe, such as eggs scrambled with boiled tomatoes.

Jenny valiantly plows on in a show of support.

Richard plucks a piece of boiled chicken deftly with his chopsticks, and puts it on Jade’s bowl of rice. Jade smiles at Richard, and immediately takes a piece too, putting it in Zack’s bowl.

ZACK
Thanks.

RICHARD
(to Jade)
Eat more. So thin how to become Miss World?

JADE
(playfully)
Who says I want to be Miss World?

ZACK
Yeah. It’ll all be over when she gets to the question and answer section anyway.

JADE
You shut up.
(to Richard)
I’m not going to be any Miss World.

RICHARD
If you don’t want to be Miss World what do you want to be?

JADE
Don’t know.

JENNY
She doesn’t want to be anything. All she wants is to laze around at home and watch T.V.

YEN
She wants to be an air stewardess.

Richard frowns at Jade.

RICHARD
Air stewardess?

ZACK
Don’t you have to be, like, of a certain height to become an air stewardess?

JADE
Ay, I got onto the cover of Cleo, okay? If they think I’m tall enough to be a model I don’t see why I’m not tall enough to serve drinks and fluff pillows on a plane.

RICHARD
Air stewardesses don’t earn a lot of money.

JADE
I’m not going to be an air stewardess forever. Just a few years.

RICHARD
What about university? You’re not going to university?

YEN
I think the university will still be there in a few years, Pa.

RICHARD
I’ll ask you what you think when you start paying for her education.
(to Jade)
Why don’t you go to a university here first? Look at your brothers. They’ll -

JADE
Have plenty of options when they get their degrees -

RICHARD
You can try flying afterwards if you like. Didn’t NUS already send you their brochure?

Jenny tries to put a piece of vegetable in Zack’s bowl, but he shakes his head.

JADE
Okay, but if I go to uni first can I stay in a hostel?

Zack smirks into his bowl as Jade kicks him under the table.

RICHARD
We’ll talk about that when you get into NUS.

JADE
Yeah, where have I heard that before.

Zack pushes his chair back with a SCRAPING SOUND and leaves the table with his bowl and utensils, going to the sink. He washes his bowl and utensils, and various cooking ware already in the sink.

JENNY
(to Zack)
Do you want some soup? Your father spent four hours boiling it.

ZACK
Save some for me. I’ll drink it later.

RICHARD
That means you can throw it away.

JENNY
Are you going out?

ZACK
Yeah. I’m going over to Janus’ place. I might be staying over.

RICHARD
Isn’t he the one in Beijing now?

ZACK
No, that’s Calvin. Janus is the one still doing National Service.

RICHARD
Is he the one that you stay over at every weekend?

JENNY
(quickly)
What time are you coming back tomorrow?

ZACK
I’ll be back for breakfast. I’ll buy some soya bean milk too.

JADE
I’m going out later too.

RICHARD
(to Yen)
Where are you going?

YEN
I’m not going anywhere. I think.

JENNY
(to Jade)
Where are you going?

JADE
Out.

RICHARD
Don’t talk to your mother like that.

JADE
What?

JENNY
Where are you going out to?

JADE
Don’t know. Haven’t decided yet.

RICHARD
What’s wrong with staying at home?

JADE
(gesturing to Zack with her chopsticks)
Why aren’t you asking him that?

JENNY
Because he doesn’t come home at 4 a.m. in the morning.

JADE
Yeah. He doesn’t come home at all. Why can’t I stay over at my friend’s place?

RICHARD
Because you’re a girl.

JADE
Pa, I love you, but sometimes you’re full of shit.

Jade pushes her chair out with a SCRAPING SOUND.

RICHARD
Sit down and finish your food.

Jade remains standing, and shovels the rice in her bowl into her mouth quickly. She shows the empty bowl to Richard, goes to the sink, and dumps her bowl and utensils in it for Zack to clean. As she walks by the table on her way to her room -

JENNY
And don’t think I don’t know you’re still smoking.

Jade exits the kitchen.

JENNY (CONT'D)
(to Richard)
I’m telling you, your daughter -

YEN
Ma, don’t.

Zack finishes, and wipes his hands on his shorts. He walks by the table on the way to his room, and exits the kitchen.

An awkward moment passes as Yen, Jenny, and Richard eat quietly, Richard now attacking the food with not so much gusto as with anger.

JENNY
(to Yen)
How’s work at the office?

YEN
It’s okay.
(a brief pause)
It’s tiring, actually.

Zack pokes his head into the kitchen.

ZACK
I’m going now. Bye, Ma. Bye, Pa.

JENNY
Bye-bye.

Jenny gives Richard a look. Richard remains silent. Zack waits an instant more, and then leaves.

A few moments pass, and then a door in the distance OPENS AND CLOSES.

A few moments later, A TELEVISION SHOW BLARES.

RICHARD
(bellowing)
TURN THAT THING DOWN. ARE YOU DEAF?

The BLARE quietens, but still remains CLEARLY AUDIBLE.

Yen goes to the rice cooker and scoops out another bowl of rice.

YEN
By the way, I have to go to work early tomorrow. And they also want me to work late for the next couple of weeks.

RICHARD
They’re not paying you enough, if you ask me. Always asking this and that.

YEN
Yeah.

Yen comes back to the table and sits down, picking at the dishes with something approximating enthusiasm.

YEN (CONT'D)
It’s especially bad now, because they like to test the scholars during our last attachment before they decide where to post us permanently after we get back.

RICHARD
You better make sure you don’t screw up then.

JENNY
And make sure you get first class honors. I’ll buy some birds nest for you to take back to America. Drink before your exams; it’s very good for your brain.

YEN
Yeah.

Yen takes a piece of meat and puts it in Richard’s bowl.

YEN (CONT'D)
So I was thinking... maybe for the next couple of weeks I can just stay with a friend who lives near SPH.

Jenny and Richard stop eating.

YEN (CONT'D)
It’s just for the next few weeks. It makes no sense for me to leave from here so early and come back so late - I’ll be tired out during work.

RICHARD
What do you think this house is? A hotel?

YEN
That’s not at all what I meant.

JENNY
Yen...

RICHARD
You’re only back for ten weeks and you can’t even spend ten lousy weeks with your family?

YEN
I just think -

RICHARD
We’re not discussing this anymore. You’re not “staying over at a friend’s place”. It’s not fair to me, and it’s not fair to your mother.

Yen looks to Jenny.

JENNY
Yen, please. Is it the room? I know it’s bad that you have to share a room with Zack, but I can get you a better mattress and -

RICHARD
Stop it.

YEN
Okay. Forget it. Forget that I said anything. I’ll stay here until I fly back to Columbia.

Yen picks more food from the dishes and eats quietly. Jenny places a placating hand on Richard’s arm as the latter stares at Yen resentfully, Yen pretending not to see.

Richard tries to continue eating, but he can’t. He puts his bowl and chopsticks down with almost scary control, as though he is on the verge of snapping.

RICHARD
I don’t -

YEN
It’s okay. Let’s not talk about it anymore.

Yen pushes his chair back with a SCRAPE, goes to the rubbish bin, and empties his bowl. He dumps his bowl and utensils into the sink.

Yen goes back to the table, and pushes in his own chair, as well as Zack’s and Jade’s. He leaves the kitchen.

JENNY
It’s not -

Richard shakes his head. He remains in his chair for a moment, and then he gets up, and takes one of the dishes. He goes to the rubbish bin, wipes all of the food into the bin, and puts the plate into the sink.

He disposes of every single dish in the same way. When the last dish is emptied, Richard remains standing at the bin with the last empty plate, his back to Jenny.

Jenny gets up and goes to the sink. She takes a dish rag from the sink and returns to the table, wiping it down. Then she replaces the rag, and goes to the Richard. She hugs him from behind, as he wraps his hands around her encircling arms.