45 Wendy comes Home

Show Notes Description: "Wendy Comes Home"

Wendy, dirty from traveling rough, unexpectedly returns to her affluent family home after a long absence, hoping to "start her life". Her parents, Connie and Pete, are immediately thrown into conflict by her arrival. As Pete pours himself another drink and Connie obsessively focuses on Wendy's well-being—and the potential of a grandchild—the emotional wounds from Wendy's sudden departure, fueled by a volatile relationship with her father, are reopened.

The domestic drama quickly escalates as Connie reveals she knows about Pete's affair and demands he leave the house. Pete counters, accusing Connie of her own infidelity and exposing the depth of their loveless marriage. However, the couple's explosive fight is overshadowed by a much darker revelation: Connie used her daughter's return as a catalyst to poison her husband. What happens when a family reunion becomes a premeditated act of murder, and will Wendy escape the house before it's too late?.

🎭 Major Themes

• Family Conflict and Dysfunction: The central tension revolves around the toxic and fractured relationships between Wendy, Connie, and Pete.
• Adultery and Marital Breakdown: Connie and Pete's marriage is marked by years of sexlessness, infidelity, and deception, leading to a desire for separation and revenge.
• Betrayal and Resentment: Pete harbors deep resentment toward Wendy for shouting her hatred for him when she left. Connie ultimately betrays Pete with murder, believing he is an "obstacle to their happiness" with Wendy.
• The Weight of Expectations: Connie is fixated on the idea of a grandchild to fill her life and home, demonstrating a disconnect from Wendy's actual experiences and needs.

What is Scripts-Aloud?

Scripts Aloud brings drama right into your ears. By using text-to-speech software, theater scripts go from the page into drama, every week. Typically 10-minute scripts are presented in each episode. It's like having a Theater Festival - right on your phone!

WENDY COMES HOME
by
Rick Regan
Rick Regan
[e-mail]
919-218-8834
INT. LIVING ROOM OF THE SULLIVAN HOME - AFTERNOON
The room is comfortable and fresh, with the feel of an
affluent home.
CONNIE, the mother, enters and goes directly to the bar
table at the side of the room. She looks at the bottle of
scotch, opens it, unscrewing the cap. She is holding a
small paper cup and pours the contents into the bottle of
scotch. She reseals the bottle and shakes it, putting it
back down on the table. Connie exits.
WENDY, a young woman about 23, enters the room. She is
carrying a backpack with a tent and looks very dirty from
travelling rough. She looks around at the empty room.
WENDY
Hello? Mom? Dad? Anybody home?
She sets her pack down against a far wall, then sits on
the sofa in the middle of the room. She closes her eyes
and is soon asleep.
Connie comes in from another room, carrying folded
napkins and a laundered tablecloth. She sees Wendy. She
puts the linens on a nearby coffee table. Connie sits in
one of the high-back chairs and stares at Wendy, watching
her sleep.
CONNIE
(quietly to herself)
Oh, honey...
Connie leans back in the chair and nods off to sleep
herself. After a few minutes of a nap, Connie wakes up,
looks around, picks up the linens and carries them into
the adjoining kitchen.
PETE, Wendy’s father, comes in from the side entrance. He
has a briefcase and a suit jacket folded over his arm. He
sees Wendy, stopping in his tracks.
PETE
(loudly)
Ahem!
Wendy wakes up quickly, disoriented but she sees her
father.
WENDY
Daddy?
PETE
You’re home?
WENDY
Is...is that OK?
PETE
Well, I don’t know. Let’s see what
your mother says.
WENDY
Mom?
PETE
Yeah. I, uh... don’t know what to
make of this. Do you...need some
water or something?
WENDY
No, no, I’m fine.
PETE
What are you doing here?
WENDY
(uncertain)
Um...I called Mom about coming
back.
PETE
I see. And she said, that’s
alright?
WENDY
Yeah.
PETE
OK, look, I’m make myself a drink,
then I’m going to go change
clothes. Do you need to unpack, or
take a shower or anything?
WENDY
Well, that would be great.
PETE
(pointing to the
pack)
That your stuff? Of course it is.
Take it down to the guest room,
and go clean up.
WENDY
Can’t I go to my room?
PETE
No,
WENDY
Why not?
PETE
Uh, we made some changes. Just go
to the guest room.
WENDY
Yes, daddy.
Wendy gets up, takes her pack and heads down the hall.
At a side bar table, Pete pours some liquor into a
cocktail glass. He scoops some ice in from an ice machine
below the table.
PETE
(sighs)
Oh boy.
He takes a long pull of the drink, draining it, then
refilling it.
Connie enters from the kitchen.
CONNIE
Peter, you’re home?
PETE
Yep. And I see that you’re not
alone.
CONNIE
Did you see Wendy?
PETE
Just for a sec. I told her to go
to the guest bed and clean up. She
smelled like she hadn’t had a
shower in a while. And she looked
like a bum.
CONNIE
But she’s home.
PETE
Yeah. Did you tell her she could
come home?
CONNIE
She called me and said she was
ready to come back and start her
life. I said that we’d be glad to
have her back.
PETE
Is that right? Well, you may feel
that way, but I don’t.
CONNIE
Peter, listen to me. It’s our
daughter. Of course we want her
back home.
PETE
Did she bring the dirtbag with
her? Going to be pretty snug, I’d
say.
CONNIE
She hasn’t said. But I haven’t
seen Grinder, or anybody.
PETE
Fuckin’ Grinder. Piece of work,
that guy. Hauling our daughter all
over the country. Lord know what
happened out there.
CONNIE
I think you know, or can guess.
PETE
I don’t want to know. I just know
that the last time I saw her, she
was heading out that door,
shouting about how much she hated
our life, and me. You remember
that?
CONNIE
Yes. But...maybe she’s changed,
learned from being on the road.
You said yourself, you had to get
out into the world of, what was
it?, ‘roughnecks and roustabouts?’
PETE
A young man needs that kind of
experience. Tempers the character.
But a young woman just gets chewed
up in that world.
CONNIE
You underestimate Wendy.
PETE
I’ve known her as long you.
CONNIE
Why are you so angry? Aren’t you
glad to see your own flesh and
blood, returned home, safe?
PETE
You burn some bridges and you
can’t get back.
CONNIE
Is that right? Well, maybe the one
who should go...is you.
PETE
Me?
CONNIE
Peter, I don’t know how to say
this...
PETE
Spit it out!
CONNIE
I want you to move out.
PETE
You want to kick me out of my own
house? What’s the matter with you?
CONNIE
Peter, I know you have been lying
to me, about nights out, about
‘business trips’. How long have
you been seeing her?
PETE
How do you know any of this?
CONNIE
I have my spies.
PETE
Right. Connie, everybody’s
hometown best friend. Get all the
gossip, do you?
CONNIE
I think you should leave?
PETE
Leave?! I just got home! I’m not
going anywhere.
CONNIE
Well, then we should make a plan.
PETE
Oh, is Wendy part of your plan?
CONNIE
It seems that you two have a
‘toxic’ relationship. I want her
to feel welcome at home.
PETE
But not me?
CONNIE
You are a liar and a philanderer.
I can’t trust you anymore.
PETE
I was hoping we could agree to
deal with this as grown ups. Not
name calling and insults.
CONNIE
(insistent)
What should I say, then? You come
home smelling like her. I can
smell her on your fingers, on your
breath! At least do me the
courtesy of taking a shower before
you come home. Because you smell
like pussy!
PETE
Connie, can you hear yourself?
CONNIE
And you want to settle up “like
adults.” Honestly...
PETE
We haven’t had sex in five years!
Connie! And that doesn’t seem to
bother you in the slightest. But
it bothers me! At least I feel
alive again. But you...
CONNIE
What? What about me?
PETE
Doesn’t it get to you? Or, at
least, do you think about how I
might feel, about seeing my wife
just drift away, into becoming a
ghost?
CONNIE
Well, I’m going to haunt you until
you leave! And besides, you never
ask!
PETE
I tried a thousand times, a
thousand different ways. But after
getting shut down every time, I
gave up.
CONNIE
On us?
PETE
No, not us. I still believe in us,
you and me. Believe it or not, I
still love you.
CONNIE
Well, I’m not sure the feeling is
mutual.
PETE
So you are giving up, on us.
CONNIE
I still love you too, Pete. I just
don’t think I can handle the lies,
the deception.
PETE
Then we should consider opening up
our marriage. People do that.
CONNIE
It looks like you already have.
PETE
(suspicious)
And you? Hmm?
CONNIE
I’m not interested in a sham of a
marriage.
PETE
Oh, is that why you spent the
night with one of your old high
school flames, at the reunion?
CONNIE
(insistent)
Nothing went on! How did you know?
PETE
I didn’t, until right now. But,
it’s pretty easy to guess. You’re
not happy with me so it’s easy to
dip back into the well.
CONNIE
He’s married.
PETE
So are you. But that didn’t stop
you, did it?
CONNIE
It’s not like that!
PETE
So you are lying, and
‘philandering’ too. Guilty. That
makes both of us.
CONNIE
It’s not the same thing.
PETE
It doesn’t matter. Here’s my
question...
Just then, Wendy comes in, freshly showered and in clean
clothes.
WENDY
Mom? Dad? I’m back.
CONNIE
Wendy, I’m so glad you are back.
WENDY
Dad?
PETE
I’m glad you are safe.
Wendy moves to sit back down on the sofa. Connie sits
back down in the chair and Pete, after another refill,
sits down in the opposite chair.
CONNIE
Tell us what’s going on, honey.
WENDY
Well, it just seemed like it was
time to come home. Or maybe it’s
that I feel like I’m ready to be
home. Get a job. Get a place. You
know, start life.
CONNIE
And what about...your friend.
WENDY
Grinder? He’s still out there.
Like the song says, ‘He’s looking
for that home, and I hope he finds
it.’
CONNIE
I see. So...just you.
WENDY
Is that alright?
CONNIE
Well, yes, but, honey, how far
along are you?
WENDY
What?
CONNIE
That’s obviously why you would
come home.
PETE
What?!
CONNIE
It’s OK, Wendy.
PETE
No, it’s not!
WENDY
No, it’s not like that!
CONNIE
Dear, I can tell by looking at
you. I’d say, maybe, eight weeks.
Does that sound about right?
PETE
With that drifter guy?
CONNIE
Pete, would you pipe down! I’m
trying to be supportive of our
daughter and my grandchild! We
should make our home open and
welcoming for a new life. Think of
it! A baby in the house again!
WENDY
Mom!
CONNIE
This is a good thing, dear. You
made the right decision to come
home.
WENDY
I’m not pregnant!
CONNIE
(condescending)
I know about these things. I’m a
mother.
WENDY
So am I.
PETE
What?!
CONNIE
Well, not yet, dear.
WENDY
Mom, I had a baby, out there. We
were in New Mexico. Grinder took
me to the hospital. He helped me
the whole way.
CONNIE
But, but...where’s the baby?
WENDY
I gave it away.
CONNIE
What?! How could you?!
WENDY
How could I do anything else? I
couldn’t take care of a baby. I
couldn’t take care of myself.
PETE
Did that drifter do that to you?
WENDY
No! No, I never even kissed
Grinder. I pleaded with him to
come with me, come home, but he
just wants to live out on the
trail.
CONNIE
I can’t believe you would do that.
WENDY
So, I know that I am not pregnant
now.
PETE
Then why did you come home?
WENDY
I had to grow up out there, on the
trail. I missed you guys. I missed
my life. I want to start over. Is
that OK?
PETE
Hmmm. Connie?
Connie looks at Wendy, then at Pete. She looks around the
room.
PETE
Connie?
WENDY
Mom?
CONNIE
Hmmm. What is to become of me? I
had thought I was going to be a
grandmother. I thought that the
house would be filled with new
life, and that we would do it
together. But now, you are home.
And when you get your feet on the
ground, you’ll move out. And it
will just be me, in this big
house.
PETE
And me.
CONNIE
No, dear. You won’t be here.
(to Wendy)
I wasn’t expecting you today. I
had plans to get everything
cleaned up and out of the way
before you got back.
PETE
What do you mean I won’t be here?
That’s what I was trying to say.
We can live here, go on as normal,
you and me. If you want.
CONNIE
But I don’t want that. I want a
grandchild. A little boy or a
little girl. But now, I will be
all alone.
PETE
Babe, we can work it out.
CONNIE
Not anymore. You’ll be dead by
morning.
PETE
What?! Are you going to suffocate
me in my sleep?
CONNIE
No, I used the old method. Look,
dear, you look tired. Why don’t
you go up to bed for a while. Get
some rest.
PETE
(puzzled)
Maybe you’re right. I think I
drank these too fast. I’ll go lie
down.
CONNIE
That’s good, dear. And take a
refill with you. It’ll help you
sleep.
Pete gets up. He refills the glass and heads out, up to
the main bedroom.
WENDY
Mom?
CONNIE
He’ll be dead by morning. Then we
don’t have to worry about him
anymore.
WENDY
Mom! How could you?
CONNIE
I had no choice. I had to. With
you coming back, he was just an
obstacle to our happiness. Now, we
can be together.
WENDY
Oh, my god. This cannot be
happening. I’m getting out of
here. There will be police,
ambulances. I can’t be here.
Wendy heads off to the guest room.
CONNIE
(calling)
Wendy!
Wendy comes back, carrying her pack.
WENDY
I have to get out of here. I can’t
be connected to any of this!
Wendy storms out the front door.
Connie sits in the room alone.
CONNIE
New Mexico. Of all places. A
grandchild in New Mexico.
Above, we hear Pete’s body THUMP!, hitting the floor.
END