Jekyll & Dad

JEKYLL & DAD
CONSERVATIVE DAD BY DAY AGGRESSIVELY FUCKS HIS STEP-DAUGHTER EACH NIGHT

SCENE OPENS on an over-the-shoulder tracking shot of Lucy, a 19-year-old teen, as she reads aloud from a Spanish book, talking to her friend Emma through a closed bathroom door. When Emma doesn’t respond, she gets anxious and checks on her, seeing she’s not there. She must’ve left the bathroom using the other door. We follow her in an extended tracking shot as she heads out into the hall and starts looking for her friend – first in the nearby bathroom where Emma was supposed to be, then when she finds it to be empty, she searches the various rooms of her house. She moves at a fast, worried pace, and quickens even more as she gets more and more panicked with each empty room she finds. Every so often, she calls out Emma’s name with increasing panic and volume in her voice.

Finally on the opposite end of the house outside another bathroom she finds her friend Emma — who seems to be having a perfectly friendly chat with Lucy’s step-dad, Mr. Edwards. They look up at her a bit in surprise as she comes stumbling in, looking a bit panicked and out of breath. She tries to play it cool, saying ‘There you are!’ to Emma with a feigned smile as she tries to calm herself down. Emma explains that they were out of toilet paper in the other bathroom so she went off looking for another bathroom, and she was just heading back when she ran into Lucy’s dad and they started chatting. Emma gushes that ‘I had no idea your step-dad’s a policeman, Lucy, you never talk about him!’ Lucy comes up with a lame excuse, while Mr. Edwards waves off Emma’s interest in his line of work saying it’s really no big deal, he just has always wanted to help people, and so on. Mr. Edwards comes off as mild-mannered and jovial as he talks, but Lucy seems in a hurry to bring Emma back to her room, saying they should get back to studying if they want any hope of doing well on their finals.

Mr. Edwards suggests that Emma should stay for dinner, but Lucy interrupts saying Emma can’t stay, she has piano lessons later. Mr. Edwards tells Emma that she’s welcome if she changes her mind, or if she wants to come back after her lessons for a late night study session. He makes a mean pot of coffee! Emma graciously thanks him, while Lucy continues to come up with excuses and tries to subtly pull Emma out of the room. A bit flustered, Emma manages to say it was nice meeting him, before giving in to Lucy’s shepherding tactics. Mr. Edwards calls out to the girls that it was a pleasure to meet her too. Once the girls are out of sight, Mr. Edwards’ hand slowly balls up into a tight fist, trembling with rage. Without warning, he slams his fist against the nearby wall as the picture cuts to black in time with the THUD.

CUT TO TITLE PLATE

Later that evening, Lucy and her step-father are finishing up a meal in silence at the dining room table. Mr. Edwards continues to give off a mild-mannered, very civil appearance as he eats small bites with a fork and knife, a napkin spread across his lap. Lucy meanwhile has a distant facial expression as she stares down at her food, and her body language (arms folded, one leg rubbing up and down the length of the other) is nervous and guarded.

That Emma sure seems like a nice girl, Mr. Edwards remarks to Lucy. ‘She’s 19, same age as you?’ he asks. Lucy’s eyes dart up at him but quickly dart back to her food, as if she doesn’t want him to notice her reacting. Lucy says she guesses Emma’s alright, she only really knows her from calculus class. Mr. Edwards jovially says that’s not what Emma told him earlier, she says the two of them have known each other for over a year. In fact, she was surprised at how long it took Lucy to invite her over to their house for once. ‘Well,’ he says as he picks his napkin up from his lap, dabs his face gently with it, and then crumples it up and places it on his plate, ‘it’s a shame about Emma. Guess it’ll be just us two tonight.’ Mr. Edwards takes a pause to enthusiastically eat a bite of his food, and then says ‘What did you think of my little trick with the toilet paper?’ Lucy tells him that he’s a sick fuck, doesn’t he know that, and asks when this is all going to stop.

He snorts and ignores her, instead telling her that she should eat up since she’s hardly touched her food. He then continues on to say that it’s his responsibility to take care of her, especially after Lucy’s ‘little accident.’ He’s put his career on the line for Lucy. ‘If you mother were here, things would be different, but we all know whose fault that is, don’t we?’ he accuses Lucy. He rises from his chair and stands menacingly behind her. So when is this going to end? It can all end with one little trip to the police station so that they can tell everyone what Lucy did, or they could just go on with the arrangement they have now. Lucy stares at her food as Mr. Edwards continues to taunt her. The choice is hers. Does she want to go down to the station and tell the truth? Does she want to spend 10-15 years in jail? No? Then she wants to keep doing what they’re doing? Lucy quietly gives in and says yes. Mr. Edwards backs up and tells her to go finish her homework while he washes up. ‘I’ll come see you in a bit, huh?’ he says in a fatherly tone that highlights how twisted he really is.

CUT TO a teen’s bedroom, in the dark. Lucy waits sitting curled upright on the edge of the bed in a nightshirt and panties, staring with dead eyes at the closed bedroom door. After several long seconds of waiting, the doorknob turns slowly, and Lucy’s body tenses up. It opens, and her father in only his boxers stands framed in the doorway, a silhouette against the light of the hallway. His posture is completely different, looming menacingly with his two hands clutching the sides of the door frame as if ready to rip the frame off. ‘Are you ready to kiss your step-dad goodnight, Lucy?’ he says in a taunting, growly voice.