Season 2, Episode 12

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, ATTIC – NIGHT

Mi lays on her mat gazing up at the ceiling. She just lays there, thinking about what to say to her dad, if she can come back.

Tyson comes up and finds Mi just lying in bed.

TYSON: Supper’s ready.

Mi gets up, slides out of bed, and proceeds to the kitchen. Tyson can see that Mi is still thinking about her dad.

EXT. TULSEN FARM – NIGHT

A flashlight shines on a tractor in a tree. It looks like it has been placed recently. Luegon, Shiro, Kobai, & Ni with a mountain of bumps on her head spot the tractor.

SHIRO: Would you care to explain why the tractor is in a tree?

NI: I wanted to prove that my power was better than a slow-moving machine.

LUEGON: Tractors are not cheap. Plus, y’all are only going to be here only for the summer anyways, so I need the tractor.

NI: Isn’t that what farmhands are for?

Luegon slugs Ni down so deep in the ground her feet stick out like saplings. Kobai telepathically brings the tractor down.

SHIRO: Clearly, I need to take more drastic measures with you two.

KOBAI: I would like to point out that this is entirely Ni’s fault.

SHIRO: You two were out here her together. I know you have more sense than to let her do something like this.

Ni mumbles something underground.

SHIRO (to Ni): Just because y’all’s birthday is tomorrow doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for this.

Ni mumbles something underground.

SHIRO: Be glad I won’t refund y’all’s gifts.

Ni mumbles underground again. Shiro puts his foot down.

SHIRO: さあ、ここで聞いてください、私がそれを失う前に、あなたたち二人はあなたの部屋に直行します!分かる！

Silence. Kobai stares at Shiro.

KOBAI: Dad, you’re bilingual?

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, KITCHEN – NIGHT

Three filled cake pans wait to be placed in the oven. Mayla checks the oven. Gale sees the three pans.

GALE: Don’t you think this is a little excessive?

MAYLA: It’s Mi, Ni, & Kobai’s birthdays tomorrow. I always bake three because they are triplets.

GALE: Still…

MAYLA (hiding something): Plus, Mi loves sweets so she will probably eat the entire cake herself.

GALE: But she’s not here.

MAYLA (stressing): Maybe she will. She loves my cakes. Plus, Ni is very energetic. She burns up a lot of calories just by standing. And Kobai is always mentioning how sugar is necessary for brain function and the mind does not have its own supply of sugar, so therefore-

GALE: You really love cake, don’t you?

Mayla has been found out.

Front door opens. Ni & Kobai march up to their rooms. Shiro walks into the kitchen and spots the three pans.

SHIRO: I guess it was too late to stop you.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE – NIGHT

Supper’s over. Sadie picks up the dishes.

MI (picks up dishes): Thank you for the meal.

Mi takes the dishes and puts them in the sink.

SADIE: Gonna help me with the cleaning?

Mi places a stopper in one sink, turns the faucet on it, and adds some dish soap. Sadie joins Mi and the two of them wash the dishes.

Thomas & Tyson watch from the table. Daniel gets up and leaves the room.

Mi scrubs the plates until they almost sparkle. Thomas & Tyson can almost see them gleam from their seats.

SADIE: I didn’t know you could do dishes.

MI: I’ve help me sister a few times. Mainly because my dad told me to.

SADIE: What is his like?

MI: He’s a barber. He cuts hair.

SADIE: What made you run away? Afraid he’d cut your hair in the middle of the night?

MI: I thought I told you.

SADIE: Tyson told us tomorrow is you and your sisters’ birthday. Are you hiding from them?

Mi puts a dish down. Sadie can see she has hit a nerve.

Mi steps out of the kitchen. Everyone watches her. Daniel walks back in confused by what Mi is doing.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, ATTIC – NIGHT

Mi takes off her shirt. She looks at the mirror and sees her bandages. Just underneath are the scars from her first day here. How much has changed since then.

Mi unwraps the bottom bandage, revealing her cauterized wound, just above her hip and almost on her rib cage. Mi feels the rough patch of skin. This could have been what Shell would have felt like. Maybe even how she would have looked like.

Mi can’t help but look at her wound and herself in the mirror, question if this is what she really looks like.

TYSON (O.S.): I’d probably sleep shirtless as well. It’s supposed to be boiling tonight.

Tyson stands on the staircase. Mi attention has not shifted from the mirror.

Tyson walks into the room and stands behind Mi, looking at her reflection.

TYSON: I’ve never understood why girls like to look at themselves all the time.

MI: I never did. We didn’t even have a mirror this big, either.

TYSON: It’s my late granny’s. We got that after her house was repossessed. (beat) Are you going to go back home?

MI: I don’t know.

Tyson reaches into his pocket. He places something in Mi’s hand. Mi brings the clenched hand up.

TYSON: In case you decide to leave without me knowing. (heads to staircase) You can open it now or wait until tomorrow. Your choice. (stops before leaving) Happy birthday, Mi.

Tyson walks downstairs.

Mi looks at her hand, wondering what Tyson slipped in it. She opens it. In the palm of her hand, a necklace made with the wolf’s tooth unwraps itself.

Mi gazes at the present unlike anything she has ever received before. She takes one look at herself in the mirror. She places it near her neck to see what she will look like with it on. It doesn’t work.

Mi notices her hair, how wild and uncontrolled it is.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, KITCHEN – DAWN

Gale walks downstairs to the kitchen. She finds a sleep deprived Mayla frosting a cake, though it looks like she’s defusing a bomb by how much precision she’s using.

Two of the cakes are already frosted, one for Kobai and one for Ni. They look as though Calif had painted them.

GALE: Mayla?

MAYLA (addicted): SHHH! It’s only complete. Just two more hours.

Mayla practically stares down the frosting to make sure it is perfectly placed on the cake.

GALE: Have you been frosting all night?

MAYLA (deranged): Need to be careful. Need to be careful. One wrong move will ruin the blend of colors and designs ruining the taste of the cake. Mustn’t mess up. Mustn’t mess up. Mustn’t mess up. Mustn’t mess up. Mustn’t mess up. Mustn’t mess up.

Gale slowly walks away from the kitchen, making sure not to set Mayla off more than she is.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, ATTIC – DAWN

Mi wakes up. She lays there for a bit. She can see the necklace Tyson made for her lying on a box next to her.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, KITCHEN – DAWN

Mi walks into an empty kitchen. The clock on the wall says 4:46. Her first time being the first one up.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, THOMAS & SADIE’S ROOM – DAWN

The master room of the house, it only has enough floor room with two dressers and a bed to just barely walk on. Sadie & Thomas sleep soundly on.

SNIFF SNIFF Thomas smells something. Sadie is still in bed.

THOMAS (soft): Sadie?

SADIE (asleep): What?

THOMAS (soft): Do the boys know how to cook?

Sadie opens her eyes and realizes that Thomas is in bed.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE – DAWN

Thomas & Sadie sneak up to the kitchen. They look around the corner to see Mi cooking scrambled eggs. Thomas & Sadie walk in.

MI: Good morning.

SADIE: Morning.

Sadie looks at Mi’s cooking. They’re a little burnt but not charred black.

SADIE: First time?

MI (takes pan off stove): Is it bad?

SADIE: Try it yourself.

Mi pours the eggs onto a plate. She puts the pan down and grabs a fork. Sadie turns the stove off.

Mi takes a bite of her eggs. She chews and swallows.

MI: I guess not bad for a first time.

SADIE: You ain’t upchucking, so that’s a good sign.

MI: My sister does all the cooking. And the baking.

THOMAS (takes a seat): Birthday cakes as well?

MI: She’s probably still decorating them. She would spend all night baking on our birthdays. (plays with food) She has always been diligent with her cooking. I just ate it.

SADIE (beat): Okay, I’m not ready for an emotional story, so how about I make this easy on you: go home, kiss your dad’s- butt, make up with everybody, and enjoy cake.

Mi can’t help but feel grateful for what Sadie said.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, KITCHEN – DAY

Three exquisite birthday cakes decorate the table. Mayla lies dead on the floor, exhausted from her long night yet not asleep. She knows they will have cake and the thought keeps her awake.

Gale & Shiro look at the mostly-dead Mayla. Luegon looks the other way at something else.

GALE: Is she going to be all right?

SHIRO: This happens every year.

LUEGON (points): And that?

Shiro & Gale turn around to see…

Calif belly snacking in the foyer.

SHIRO: She’s upset about an art show she was going to be in.

GALE: Did she have to withdraw?

SHIRO: Yep.

LUEGON: Are you going to do anything?

BOOM An explosion happens outside.

THUD Something big lands outside.

NI (O.S.) (outside): It was in my way! It wasn’t my fault!

KOBAI (O.S.) (outside): You forgot to factor in the vibrational force of the shock!

NI (O.S.) (outside): It’s not my fault that big cylinder thing couldn’t withstand a root!

KOBAI (O.S.) (outside): Where did you get that tire swing in the first place?

Kobai & Ni continue to argue outside.

SHIRO: So who wants to handle who?

Gale can tell that today is going to be a long day. Luegon heads outside.

INT. DOUGELL HOUSE, ATTIC – DAY

Mi puts on the shirt the Dougells gave her. She looks in the mirror and notices her hair. She pulls it back to see what it looks like.

Mi looks over at the necklace Tyson gave her. She grabs it and messes with her hair.

Tyson walks up. He spots something and stops to admire whatever it is.

TYSON: Wasn’t how I thought you would use it.

MI (O.S.): How do I look?

TYSON: You look good. Are you about to go?

MI (O.S.): Yeah. Do you think your dad could give me a ride?

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, LIVING ROOM – DAY

Xena plays with Josiah on the floor. Ni, Shiro, Kobai, & Calif watch an old show on the television. Ni is annoyed, Calif is upset, & Kobai feels as though she was just roped into this mess.

CALIF: Why isn’t this in color?

SHIRO: Because it’s old.

KOBAI: The color television didn’t come to be until the 1960s. Even then, some shows still filmed in black & white.

NI: Better question, why can’t we pick and why are we stuck on inside on our birthday?

SHIRO: You just destroyed a $2500 tank. Do you really want to make your uncle angry?

KOBAI: Is he that terrifying?

SHIRO: He once put a bull’s leg back into its socket when he was 15. Care to see what he can really do?

KOBAI: I’ll pass on that aspect. Though a dislocated bull femur sounds quite interesting.

Calif, Shiro, Ni, & Kobai continue watching in silence. Josiah hobbles out of the room. Xena chases him.

NI (explodes): THAT’S IT! (gets up) I’m going outside!

Shiro grabs Ni and holds her in an arm lock. No struggles to break free.

SHIRO (holds Ni firm): What did I just tell you?

NI (struggles): It’s a beautiful day outside!

SHIRO (holds): You do not want to see your uncle right now! He will have your head before you can even see him!

KOBAI: This is quite pointless.

Calif belly snacks out of nowhere. Ni fights to break out of Shiro’s hold. Shiro loses some footing but still holds Ni down tight.

A drowsy Mayla walks into the room carrying a big knife and sees the fight.

MAYLA (sleep deprived): IF YOU DON’T STOP FIGHTING, I’LL EAT THE CAKE MYSELF!

KOBAI: Sister, you are in no condition to be making demands.

MAYLA (in Kobai’s face): I made the cake. I make the rules. Do you want to challenge me?

Ni continues to try to break from Shiro’s grip. Shiro loosens his grip and Ni flies out.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, FOYER – DAY

Ni crashes onto the floor of the foyer. In the dining room, Xena puffs up into a ball of fur. Josiah just laughs.

SHIRO: Get back here Ni!

Shiro jumps at Ni. Ni leaps into the air, lands in front of the door, and grabs the knob.

NI: You will not (yanks door open) stop-

Ni turns around to see standing in front of the door-

EXT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, PORCH – DAY

BEAT Mi stands at the front door. Her hair is in a messy ponytail. The necklace Tyson made for her acts as a scroungy for the ponytail with the tooth on the right side.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, FOYER – DAY

Ni stands there, surprised by Mi’s sudden appearance. Shiro also sees Mi standing there.

NI: Mi.

Mi looks up at her father. His face is hard to read.

MI: Can I come in?

Shiro give a slight nod yes. Mi steps inside.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, DINING ROOM - DAY

Xena peeks out of her fur. In the foyer, Mi stands just in front of the front door. Her puffed-up fur shrinks.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, FOYER – DAY

Shiro & Mi stand where they are, looking at each other after so long. Shiro hasn’t changed much to Mi. Mi looks completely different to Shiro & Ni.

MI (to Shiro): Can I talk to you alone?

INT. TUSLEN FARMHOUSE, LIVING ROOM – DAY

Kobai, after subduing a sleep deprived Mayla, notices Mi standing in the foyer.

SHIRO (to Kobai): Kobai, can you give us the room?

Ni walks outside onto the porch. Kobai picks ups Mayla & nudges Calif. Calif refuses to move. Kobai picks Calif up and drags her & Mayla out of the house onto the porch.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, FOYER – DAY

Shiro looks towards the dining room.

In the dining room, Xena grabs Josiah & takes him out back.

In the quiet house, in the foyer, Shiro & Mi stand there, alone. Only these two in the entire house. You can hear a clock from the next room count every second that passes.

Mi looks at her father with a face he has never scene on her before, a meek, sorry look. Shiro shows no change in his expression, not even flinching.

MI: Do you like my new shirt? I lost my old one. It was torn bad when I left. The people I stayed with gave it to me.

Shiro stands like a statue fixed on Mi.

MI (CONT’D): I helped out on their farm. It sounds unbelievable coming from me, but I did. It was hard like I imagined, but I didn’t stop. I just kept getting back up and helping. I wish I had done so a few years earlier.

Shiro stands there, waiting for Mi to finish.

MI (CONT’D): It was my fault for getting those grades. It was my fault for skipping school. It was my fault that our home caught on fire. It was all me. I’m sorry for being selfish and lazy and running off like that. And I’m sorry because I could have killed Shell. All because all I did was nothing. (Shiro walks up) I just- I- I-

Shiro hugs Mi. Mi does not understand the meaning of this.

SHIRO: Happy birthday, Mi.

Caught in the warm feeling, Mi hugs her father back. The room seems brighter.

EXT. TULSEN FARM – DAY

Thomas & Luegon lean up against Thomas’ truck.

THOMAS: She’s your niece?

LUEGON: Yep. I hope she didn’t cause you any problems, though I don’t really know her. At least that one.

THOMAS: She was more help than I was expecting.

LUEGON: Really. How’d Sadie handle her?

Thomas laughs. Luegon joins him.

EXT. DOUGELL FARM – EVENING

Tyson stands outside the house looking at the setting sun. Sadie joins him.

SADIE: Well, I’m glad she’s gone.

TYSON: Ma, she lives down the road.

SADIE: You know what I mean.

TYSON: She wasn’t all that bad. Besides, I think she’s more interesting than she lets on.

SADIE (suspicious): Is that why you and your father were talking last night?

TYSON: No. He wanted to know if I’d help him with that deal tomorrow.

SADIE: Don’t go fooling yourself. Take it from someone who used to be one: girls like her are nothing but vixens looking someone to pray on.

TYSON: Ma, what gave you that idea?

Sadie walks onto the yard.

TYSON: She wasn’t that bad.

SADIE: And what makes you say that?

Tyson recollects.

FLASHBACK – INT. DOUGELL FARM, SHELTER – DAY, STORM

FROM 2.11, when Mi & Tyson are sitting on straw behind the rafters.

MI: Can you keep a secret?

Tyson looks at Mi, a bit uncertain how to answer.

Mi holds up her hand. A small little flame sits in her palm. Tyson sits up amazed at what he is seeing.

The fire in her hand lingers longer than before.

END FLASHBACK

EXT. DOUGELL FARM – EVENING

Tyson sits on that memory. How he feels about it is a mystery to himself.

TYSON: Something she showed me.

SADIE: And what did she show you?

TYSON: A family secret, I think…

Sadie glares at Tyson, still not trusting Mi.

SADIE (walks off): I wonder what’s taking your pa?

Tyson looks at his palm, still thinking about what Mi showed him.

The truck pulls up. Thomas gets out with some pieces of cake for everyone.

THOMAS: I got dessert if anybody wants it.

Daniel runs out of the house and grabs a piece.

Tyson puts the thought away and goes to grab himself a piece of cake.

INT. TULSEN FAMRHOUSE, DINING ROOM – NIGHT

Three empty dishes big enough for the cakes line the table and a frosted Mayla lays across the table surrounded by plates marked with frosting and cake crumbs. She is close to fully crashing but rambles on. Josiah & Xena have cake all over their faces. Gale cleans Josiah’s face.

Shiro, Kobai, & Calif sit at the table. Calif continues to eat her cake. Kobai & Calif have finished.

Ni, wearing a cyan beret, bounces around Mi looking at her new hairstyle.

NI: Nice hair.

MI: I can say the same about yours.

NI: Oh-ho-ho-ho, trippy sister-

SHIRO: Don’t ever say that again.

NI: You have missed so much. Oh, the stories we shall have to recount to you later. Or tonight. Or right now. Or for-

Mi puts Ni in a headlock. Ni squirms in a vain attempt to get out.

MI: Have you gotten worse since I’ve been gone?

NI: Let me go.

MI: What, not going to shock your way out?

KOBAI: Well, at least some things are consistent. Even with slight variations in certain parameters.

MAYLA (spontaneous): SPACE CUCUMBERS!

Mayla crashes on the table.

SHIRO (gets up): And some traditions don’t change either.

Mi let’s go of Ni & gets up.

MI: It’s okay, Dad. I’ve got this.

Mi grabs Mayla and takes her out of the room. Shiro, Calif, Kobai, Xean, & Ni watch Mi doing something out of character, even surprising Kobai.

NI: What’s gotten into her?

KOBAI: I haven’t a clue.

Shiro grabs dirty plates off the table.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, MAYLA’S ROOM – NIGHT

Mi tucks a tuckered-out Mayla in bed. Mi smiles at the sight of her sister and leaves.

INT. TULSEN FARMHOUSE, 2ND FLOOR – NIGHT

Mi closes the door to Mayla’s room. Shiro walks out of the upstairs bathroom.

MI: Hey, Dad. Do you think you can help me with my hair?

SHIRO: How about tomorrow?

MI: Sure. (Shiro starts to leave) Hey Dad. (Shiro turns back) Thank you.

Shiro smiles. This is the first time Mi has asked him to do her hair.

SHIRO (heads to bed): Good night.

Mi looks around at the quiet floor. She hasn’t spent as much time here with everyone, but she knows that she is back home.

MI: Good night, Dad.

FADE OUT