JEANNETTE:

Ms. Beady? I really appreciate it that you came back, I would have understood if what happened yesterday ...

JEANNETTE:

Hello, is this the registrar?

REGISTRAR:

Yes, how can I help you?

JEANNETTE:

Well my daughter is going to be in high school next year, and she's disabled. We don't presently live in your school district but we have a friend who says you have a really great program. So I wanted to know if you can tell me the geographic boundaries from which your school draws so we can move into that area so my daughter can go to your school.

REGISTRAR:

I'm not sure I understand. You want to know if you are in our boundaries?

JEANNETTE:

No, we know we aren't. But we'd like to sell our house so we can move into your area.

REGISTRAR:

Wow!

Sell your house just so you can go to our school! I mean, we have a really good school, I wish my own kids could go here but we've got a really great house.

I don't think I could do that.

REGISTRAR:

Are you still there?

JEANNETTE:

Yes, but I don't want to talk to somebody who thinks their house is more important than their kid's brain.

JEANNETTE:

Margarita?

Could I speak to you, outside?

JEANNETTE: (Whispers)

Hello?

ADAM:

Hi Jan, sorry to call you.

JEANNETTE:

What's wrong?

ADAM:

Sarah's okay.

ADAM:

The Governor and the State's Attorney General are saying Jeannette Mussoli is an unfit mother for her disabled daughter.

JEANNETTE:

What? They actually used that name?

ADAM:

Yes, they did. They're filing a court action to take Sarah away from you.

JEANNETTE:

Hmmm

There's nothing they can do until Monday.

ADAM:

Yeah, I'm sorry, Its Friday night here.

JEANNETTE:

Well its Saturday morning here. More then enough time to deal with things, later.

Good bye.

PRINCE:

I want, all of you.

JEANNETTE:

Then take me back to bed and you can have everything there is.

STEWARD:

Is there something I can do for you Miss Mussoli?

JEANNETTE:

No.

I'm sorry. Just a beautiful vacation, over too soon.

AGENT:

Welcome home Ms. Mussoli.

JEANNETTE:

Thank you.

STATE TROOPER: (O.S.)

Jeannette Mussoli?

JEANNETTE:

No.

STATE TROOPER: (Raising voice over noise)

You have been served.

JEANNETTE:

Adam?

MARGARITA:

He's not here miss.

JEANNETTE:

Well at least you are. I guess this breaks the rule about not attracting a lot of negative attention to you for what I've done.

MARGARITA:

I told the people I know why you did it. Now they're mad at the governor.

JEANNETTE:

Thank you.

SARAH:

It wasnt a big deal. It was kind of boring really.

Mom!

JEANNETTE:

Edgar, mind if I put you to work? I have some money.

EDGAR:

Let's get to work then.

JEANNETTE:

Call the local police and get those reporters off my property.

JEANNETTE:

Set up some security for our movements. I don't know what they're going to be so just get some body on retainer.

Start a suit against the Governor, the Attorney general, that idiot State Trooper who tried to serve me at the airport, and anyone who connected the names Jan Day and Jeannette Mussoli. I am not a public person. I have done no public appearances, no TV, I did only radio interviews and none of them originated from my home state. Those people have not only violated my privacy but they have endangered an innocent minor who is unable to defend herself. A minor who is presently the subject of a public suit to see that she is well taken care of.

Don't make it look like a counter suit. Its a completely separate issue. They could have run their suit without revealing my name and address. They have endangered me, and my daughter, and everyone who comes into this house. Imply Margarita but don't add her name to the reveal if you don't have to.

And finally, start a counter suit for expensess. I've got the money to pay you, if this doesn't drag on forever but afterwards I'll be broke again, and unable to pay to take care of the minor child they so care about. They will have created the situation they said they were intent upon correcting.

EDGAR:

Yes, Jean, I'll get right on it. Nice to have you back.

JEANNETTE:

This isn't Jean. Jean wants to go hide in a corner and cry. They got Jan. And Jan's a heroin.

I think they must have forgotten that.

SARAH: (amplified)

Mom?

JEANNETTE:

Yes?

SARAH: (amplified)

Is Adam coming over tonight?

JEANNETTE:

No, I don't think so.

SARAH:

Why not?

JEANNETTE:

Well Sarah, Adam has a life of his own. We can't ex-

SARAH:

He's been here every night and weekends.

JEANNETTE:

Yeah, well. Don't you think that means he needs a little time for himself? A break?

SARAH:

From taking care of me?

JEANNETTE:

I think from me.

SARAH:

You were gone all last weekend.

JEANNETTE:

Yeah.

JEANNETTE:

I shouldn't have said he needed a break from "us." Its me.

He's kind of upset with me and he needs a break. Until he can remember how much he loves you and can come over even if it means running into me.

SARAH:

He doesn't sleep with me.

JEANNETTE:

What does that mean?

SARAH:

It means he likes spending time with you too.

SARAH:

Its because of your trip isn't it?

JEANNETTE:

Yeah.

SARAH:

He said you were acting.

JEANNETTE:

He did? Well he was right. It was a tough acting job.

SARAH:

Did it mean you had to have sex with other men? For money?

JEANNETTE:

Yeah, it did.

SARAH:

And he's jealous?

JEANNETTE:

I guess you could say that.

SARAH:

Why wasn't he jealous when you went to LA and made the videos?

JEANNETTE:

Because we weren't going together then and because ... well that's personal.

SARAH:

You think he'll get over this? I mean, its not like you care about those guys, is it?

JEANNETTE:

No, its not. And if he comes back, it will be because of you.

JEANNETTE:

Sarah, I'm sorry that ... well that what I did has come between you and Adam. That wasn't what I wanted.

SARAH:

I know, but you knew it was possible?

JEANNETTE:

Yes, I knew it was possible. But I was paid two million dollars for the weekend. Two million dollars, means we'll never be short of money.

SARAH:

As long as I don't break something else.

JEANNETTE:

Yeah, as long as you don't do that.

EDGAR:

I'm sorry. I asked Mr. Garcia to be here because he's going to be called as a witness.

JEANNETTE:

We have no problem with Mr. Garcia being here. We like to have him around.

JEANNETTE:

So. What's the situation?

EDGAR:

They won't quit. Its politics.

JEANNETTE:

Surprise.

EDGAR:

The Conservatives have been saying the governor isn't with them on social issues. He's using you to shore up that part of the base.

JEANNETTE:

By tearing apart a family?

EDGAR:

By going after a woman who's own father calls a harlot. Whom they can prove is an actress in pornographic videos. Who provides an unsuitable family environment. Who brought her paralyzed daughter to the set of a porn shoot.

ADAM:

What?

SARAH:

That's Bull!

Sorry. But it is.

I told you about that. It wasn't porn, it was just nude. It was on the beach with a lot of people watching. She was by herself. There wasn't a guy there.

JEANNETTE:

Sarah, as much as I appreciate your support, technically you don't have to have a guy AND a girl for it to be pornographic. But there were a great many people there who can attest that it wasn't a "porn shoot."

EDGAR:

They don't really care. It grabs headlines, the details don't. And they don't need to even win their case in court if they win the in the court of public opinion.

JEANNETTE:

Which means we will still loose.

EDGAR:

You'll be together. But ... they have a very good chance of winning in court.

The association with pornography makes you guilty, no presumption of innocence. And to prove your innocence we have to prove a negative, that nothing untoward happened.

JEANNETTE:

This burns me. I'm a conservative, and they're doing the very things that lost the republicans my vote.

EDGAR:

I'm sorry. You're a conservative?

JEANNETTE:

I'm a real conservative. I don't give a damn who other people marry. How is it any one elses damn business what a woman does with her body?

A child isn't a citizen until they can work and vote.

I support less government. Like why is the government wasting billions a year trying to keep people from smoking, snorting and ingesting what they want?

I support less government, like get your government out of my bedroom. What I do in my bedroom is none of your damn business, as long as the persons I do it with are over 18 and not under coercion.

EDGAR:

I think they'd say, if you'd kept your bedroom activities inside your bedroom you wouldn't be in this trouble.

JEANNETTE:

And that's bullshit. Sorry dear.

I didn't bring those men into my house, past my daughter. I protected her from all of that. Its they who have forced it upon her.

EDGAR:

And they're not done.

ADAM:

How's that?

EDGAR:

Well, as part of the case they will need to take depositions from everybody.

EDGAR:

That includes Sarah.

JEANNETTE:

No it doesn't.

EDGAR:

I'm afraid-

JEANNETTE:

The issue here is whether I'm a fit mother. Whether I've exposed her to things a minor should not be exposed to. Their questioning will expose her to just those things.

So until they take away my right to say so, I'm saying no. I'm her mother and they can't interview her.

EDGAR:

It'll be interpreted as you have something to hide.

JEANNETTE:

In the press maybe, but in court its the logic of the arguments, isn't it?

EDGAR:

Mostly.

JEANNETTE:

Then we have to out logic them. That shouldn't be hard. This whole thing is topsy turvy.

EDGAR:

What did you mean by that?

JEANNETTE:

I meant that you have a conservative who's trying to polish his family values credentials while breaking up a family. I meant that conservatives don't like people living off the public's money. But when I do everything I legally can to be self sufficient they try to get the government to step in.

They want Child Protective Services to take custody of my daughter. An agency the conservatives have trimmed the budget of year after year. An agency the conservatives have attacked for miss management, including the abuse of children in their charge.

They want me to stop paying Sarah's medical bills and the state will take them over. They want me to stop providing twenty four hour, around the clock, care for Sarah so the state can provide it instead. The state's own evaluations say they will not provide for my daughter as well as I have. They want to punish my daughter because I used every legal means available to me to provide for her.

EDGAR:

You could have sued the school.

JEANNETTE:

Yes. People have been recommending that since hours after the accident. But I don't believe in frivolous lawsuits. It was Sarah's fault she fell and broke her neck. I feel certain the school's first response to a lawsuit would have been to remove those playbars from their grounds. Playbars that dozens of kids enjoy every day. That I enjoyed, that generations of kids have enjoyed for hundreds of years.

Why?

Because my kid fell, like other kids do every day. But I sued and so the school has to remove what thousands enjoy because one mother took the easy way out. No, to me, that's not good mothering.

EDGAR:

Thank you. No further questions your honor.

HARRIS:

Your honor, I'd like to rebut.

JUDGE:

You may proceed.

HARRIS:

Thank you, your honor.

Miss Day, is it your contention then that having intercourse with twenty one men in the course of two days, in front of other men, women and a video camera is good parenting?

HARRIS:

Ms. Day?

HARRIS:

Your honor, will you please instruct-

EDGAR:

Your honor, I believe Mr. Harris is confused.

Legally Ms. Day is a fictional person and therefore it is impossible for her to be in this courtroom or a party to these proceedings.

JUDGE:

Are you trying to make a joke?

EDGAR:

We are merely pointing out that the Attorney General and the Governor are as mistaken in this particular as they are in others.

JUDGE:

Ms. Harris, I see Ms. Mussoli is the object of this complaint. And I believe that's who the bailiff swore in. I'm afraid you'll need to direct your questions to Ms. Mussoli, unless you wish to call a new witness.

HARRIS:

No your honor.

But these little details don't protect the minor from exposure to her mother's activities. Ms. Mussoli, do you consider-

JEANNETTE:

Excuse me your honor.

JUDGE:

The witness may not address the court directly. You have a lawyer for that.

EDGAR: (standing)

Your honor. It has been Ms. Mussoli's contention that these proceedings are exposing her daughter to things that she never allowed in the home. She wonders why it is necessary for her daughter to listen to this part of the proceedings.

JUDGE:

Valid.

Can someone take the child-

ADAM: (Stands)

She can take herself out of the courtroom. But I'll keep her company.

JUDGE:

Thank you Mr. Garcia.

JUDGE:

You may proceed Ms. Harris.

HARRIS:

Thank you, your honor. Ms. Mussoli, does you idea of good parenting include having sexual intercourse with twenty one men in two days, in font of other men, women and a video camera?

JEANNETTE:

If its the only way to earn the money she needs for the operation she needs?

Yes.

Under-

HARRIS:

That will be fine. Then-

EDGAR:

I object your honor. Ms. Harris has purposefully left an incomplete description of the events. I believe Ms. Mussoli was about to add an essential qualifier to her answer.

HARRIS:

Judge, Ms. Mussoli appeared to understand the question enough to answer it.

JUDGE:

Ms. Mussoli, did you wish to make an essential qualification to your answer?

JEANNETTE:

I think so. Because I never would have done what I did if Sarah had been present. I wouldn't have done it if people were later going to describe it to her in detail. I wouldn't have done it if I had to use my real name. There's a hundred other specifics I wouldn't have done it under either. I did it because ...

HARRIS:

You needed the money?

JEANNETTE:

Because I felt I could protect Sarah from the consequences. I knew that I would have to suffer them, but then, that's part of being a parent.

EDGAR:

Jeannette, I want you to absorb this moment.

JEANNETTE:

And what am I supposed to absorb?

EDGAR:

A Superior Court judge just described you as a model citizen, someone it would be best that all the other citizens of the state observed and copied.

We just won a major victory for the common people of this state. They can't be condemned because of their morals and they don't have to fall into the neat niches the system and people in power have laid out for them.

JEANNETTE:

Edgar, you need to widen your perspective.

JEANNETTE:

This is bigger than your little war. There's only one thing that matters here and you've seem to have forgotten that.

EDGAR:

And what is it that matters here?

JEANNETTE:

That.

JEANNETTE:

That's all that matters here. I'll bet you that there isn't a torture in hell that's worse then knowing you had the opportunity to do what was best for your kid and you didn't take it. Maybe I'll go to hell for what I've done, I don't know. But the devil doesn't scare me anymore. I've looked into the face of what's worse then anything he's got, and I didn't blink.