All Families Are Different

The scene opens on Bruce, a handsome blue-collar man, as he sits solemnly at the dining room table cracking his knuckles. He is staring blankly at a photo of his wife. The woman died two months earlier after a sudden illness and his family has been devastated, especially his step-daughter Laurie, who went from being a typical happy girl to a distant, resentful stranger. Now, he is waiting for her to come home -- and she is late. Two hours late for their appointment, a session with a therapist that Bruce has arranged in the wake of his wife's death. When she finally returns home, he stands up to confront her but before the man can say anything, Laurie lashes into him. He's not her real father, he can't tell her what to do anymore, she's 18, an adult, she's going to leave any day now. They quickly descend into a screaming match in the living room, where Bruce tries to talk reason with his daughter and she hurls insults and hits him. Finally, he is forced to grab her and pin her down, to stop her tantrum. There is a long, intense pause as they stare, breathing hard, inches from each other. He tells her they are going to this therapist and that's an order. She spits in his face. The father, beside himself, grabs her by the wrist and pulls her outside to the car. Scene cuts to a neatly appointed office. A therapist sits behind her desk, working on a laptop, when there is a knock on the door. She opens it to reveal Bruce, looking defeated, with his angry, tear- stricken daughter be...