Allegra (Laura Leighton) is witness to everyone dressing down Rhonda.
This episode deals with the crashing down of all of Rhonda's lies. Almost everyone in the Harpers universe have a few things to be said to the vituperative woman. Especially with what she had done to the kids.
Scene One[]
Background: Elaine's Eats, a new diner style restaurant that had recently opened on Charles Street. The owner, Elaine Schreiner is inside her office, working on some paperwork. From the apartment upstairs, comes the strains of Mozart. Elaine's sister, Aviva, is listening to some Mozart, as she is preparing for an upcoming concert. Aviva is a production assistant for the Boston Symphony, and her love of classical music is the one serious thing about the often times ditzy woman. Aviva comes down, she is worried.
ELAINE: What's the matter, Viva?
AVIVA: I am wondering if Mozart had some screaming in it?
ELAINE (amused): You should know it doesn't, dear.
AVIVA: Then, why am I hearing some yelling?
ELAINE: Yelling?
AVIVA: Down the street.
(Elaine goes out to the main dining room, and she sees Rhonda Whittenberg screaming and yelling at someone.)
ELAINE: I think there is your answer, Viva. The queen of mean herself.
AVIVA (innocently): How can someone be so cruel and vindictive like that?
ELAINE: I have no idea, dear. But I do know this. She is a user. She used everyone. She nearly destroyed the Minzell family completely by nearly demolishing Jamie's mental health.
AVIVA: Jamie? She nearly demolished him?
ELAINE: Yes, I fear she did. He was all of twelve at the time.
AVIVA: Wow! That is vile.
ELAINE: Yeah, I wonder who she is yelling at?
(The two sisters see Jennifer Harper bolting down the street, furious.)
AVIVA: Jennifer? Are you all right?
JENNIFER (angry): No! All I want to do is belt that Rhonda Whittenberg in the mouth and knock her teeth out! And kick her backside for good measure! If I knew I wouldn't be convicted of it, I would grab her neck and silence her foul tongue forever.
ELAINE: Hey, hey. Calm down, Jenn. You need something to drink.
JENNIFER: What I want to drink, you don't serve, Elaine. What I need is a stiff vodka.
AVIVA (gently): We have no vodka, but will a Pepsi do?
JENNIFER (taken by Aviva's bubbly nature and smiling): Yeah, it will do.
(Aviva goes in and gets a drink for Jennifer.)
ELAINE: What happened?
JENNIFER (sighing): Rhonda got on my case again about what happened to my friend, Amber.
ELAINE: Who was Amber?
JENNIFER: A girl we knew when my sister, Violet, and I were in school. She killed herself a few years ago. Rhonda was rubbing it in about her.
ELAINE: That is terrible.
(Aviva brings out her drink.)
AVIVA: Wow. That is awful. I am very sorry.
ELAINE: Rhonda is going too far on things. Way too far.
JENNIFER: What can we do?
ELAINE: I don't know, dear. I really don't.
(Elaine and Aviva watch a forlorn Jennifer drink her soda.)
AVIVA: Should I make her something to eat?
ELAINE: Yeah, I think so. I'll call her mother.
(Elaine calls Sandra Harper, while Aviva, who is an excellent cook, fixes Jennifer some lunch.)
Scene Two[]
Background: AJ and Jamie's condo. AJ is talking on the phone with Sandra Harper.
AJ: That is a terrible thing, Mrs. Harper. And Rhonda making no bones about what she was doing?! She had no call to scream at your daughter like that.
SANDRA: What are we to do? Elaine Schreiner called me and told me what happened.
AJ: I know Anngelique has had her issues with her. Do you want me to call her?
SANDRA: No, thank you, she's the one I am calling next.
AJ: OK.
(Jamie comes out of the bedroom. He is very tired.)
JAMIE (sleepily): What is going on?
AJ: Rhonda strikes again.
JAMIE: Now, what did that bitch do?
AJ: She started screaming and yelling at Jennifer Harper.
JAMIE (astonished): Jennifer Harper?! Now she is messing with the Harpers?!
AJ: According to Jennifer's mother, Sandra, she is.
JAMIE: I remember she made an enemy of Erica Harper in prison. Now she is taking her venom that she had at Erica out on everyone in Beacon Hill. What is her problem?
AJ: She is going too far. She has to be stopped.
JAMIE: But how? You know our history with that wicked witch.
(Enter Anngelique. She has a key to the condo, since she is there all the time.)
ANNGELIQUE (hearing her brother's question): I don't know, honey. But she is going to be stopped.
(Anngelique goes to her brother, who Rhonda had hurt worst of anyone, and gently hugs him.)
Scene Three[]
Background: Dylan's townhouse. Ashley Harper is crying and she is running to the house. Audra is shocked to see her niece crying, since Ashley never really cried. On the rare occasions that she did, it was usually for a big reason.
AUDRA: Sweetheart, what's the matter?
ASHLEY (in tears): Some mean ol' woman stormed over and just started screaming at me to grow up!
AUDRA: What do you mean, sweetie? Who said that to you?
ASHLEY: She wouldn't even tell me her name. She had blond hair like Derek and I.
AUDRA: I think I know who it is, darling. You come inside and play.
ASHLEY: I am tired, Aunt Audra. I want a nap.
AUDRA: All right, baby. I'll tuck you in.
(Audra holds her niece as she cries. Dylan and Sheila come out, they are concerned.)
DYLAN: Audra, what happened?
SHEILA: Are you all right, Ashley?
AUDRA: Someone walked right over to Ashley and started yelling and screaming at her to grow up!
DYLAN: Who on earth would do that?
AUDRA: I think it was Rhonda Whittenberg.
(Enter Anne Whittenberg, a newcomer to the Harper's world. She's lived in the neighborhood a long time, and she was the mother of Ben and Allegra. She was also a member of the Abbott family.)
ANNE: I think I know who it was who screamed at your daughter, Dylan.
DYLAN: I think we do too, Anne. Was it Rhonda?
ANNE: The very same.
DYLAN: This time she has gone too far. I swear, she goes out of her way to cause trouble.
ANNE: Yes, she does. My son, Ben, was married to that wicked woman for far too long. All she did was cheat on him whenever the whim hit her.
SHEILA: Whom did she cheat on him with?
ANNE: Anyone. But it was what she did to Jamie Minzell that I am disgusted the most about.
DYLAN: Wait! Remember what he said she did to him when he broke down in Arthelle's courtroom?
SHEILA: Yeah, I do. He was devastated by what she did to him.
AUDRA: I don't understand. What did that woman do to Jamie?
ANNE: It's understandable, Audra. According to my children, Rhonda had nearly demolished the Minzell family. She bragged about what she had done to them. She drove poor Jamie, who was only twelve years old at that time, into a nervous breakdown, and had him institutionalized!
AUDRA (disgusted): She didn't!
ANNE: Yes, she did. The poor young man.
DYLAN: That is why he hates Rhonda.
SHEILA: And he broke down in court the way he did.
ANNE: I want to make it right for him.
DYLAN: I think we all do. Leave it to us, Anne.
ANNE: I trust you.
(Anne leaves)
AUDRA: What do you have planned?
DYLAN: I want to make her pay for what she did to everyone. Her lies have to stop!
SHEILA: I agree. Anngelique warned me of how devious and vituperative she was. I didn't believe her.
DYLAN: You had no idea. You weren't to have known about how evil she was.
SHEILA: I want to see her pay.
AUDRA: And she will. Right now, I am gong to get Ashley to bed. She wants to take a nap.
DYLAN: All right. (Giving his little girl a hug) Go with Aunt Audra, honey. She's gonna tuck you in.
ASHLEY (tears in her eyes): Night, Daddy.
DYLAN: Night, sweetheart.
(Audra leads Ashley into the house. Dylan is furious.)
SHEILA: Are you all right, hon?
DYLAN: I am fine, dear. But when we're through with her, Rhonda will not be. I am not going to let that bitch get away with yelling at my child! I will see her pay for it!
(Sheila puts her arm around her cousin.)
Scene Four[]
Background: Allegra's house. Anne had just left and she is talking with Ben.
BEN: She's gone too far this time.
ALLEGRA: Why? What has happened?
BEN: Dylan called me, and he was very angry. He told me about what Rhonda did.
ALLEGRA: What did she do this time?
BEN: According to the reports from everyone. She's been doing some rather nasty things. He was upset that she yelled and screamed at his daughter.
ALLEGRA: She didn't!
BEN: Yep, caused her to cry too.
ALLEGRA: Again, she is bullying children! Just like she did to Jamie.
BEN: She has got to be stopped. She's been going on a tear lately. With Erica dead, she's been taking out her venom on everyone else. And it's gone on far too long. She destroyed Jamie, and I am not going to let her destroy another child's life, the way she did to Jamie.
ALLEGRA: You're right, Ben. She has to be stopped, and soon.
BEN: She's caused too much damage to everyone. She's aimed her venom at the Harpers now. And that is playing with fire.
ALLEGRA: And as if that wasn't bad enough, she screamed at Jennifer Harper as well.
BEN: Jennifer Harper too?
ALLEGRA: Yes. AJ called me and told me. She told Aviva and Elaine Schreiner what she did to her.
BEN: This has got to stop! And it's going to stop right now! I'm going to call everyone. She is going to be confronted.
ALLEGRA: Absolutely. I want to see this.
(Ben calls Dylan. He nods and agrees with Dylan's plan of action.)
BEN: Dylan was thinking the same way I was.
ALLEGRA: Dylan has a plan?
BEN: Yes, we're going to have Rhonda be confronted.
ALLEGRA: I am glad.
(Ben and Allegra smile. Rhonda is finally finished.)
Scene Five[]
Background: Atchley Mansion. Everyone is gathered to confront Rhonda for her lies and the damage that she has caused to everyone. Anyssa is tired, but she knows she has to be there. Especially for her niece, whom Rhonda bullied into tears.
ANYSSA: How is Ashley doing, Dyl?
DYLAN: She's fine, now. She is over there playing with Maggie.
ANYSSA: That is good. I am glad. Is Ashley back to her normal self?
DYLAN (grinning): Yes, after her nap, she went on a rampage about Rhonda and her bullying. She was really mad.
ANYSSA: That's our girl.
DYLAN: She got over her tears, and went on a boil.
(Enter: Sheila. She is watching all the hub-bub.)
SHEILA: Hey you two.
DYLAN: What's going on, dear?
SHEILA: She's coming!
(Dylan and Anyssa wince)
DYLAN: Oh, God.
ANYSSA: We're ready, Sheila.
SHEILA: I don't think I would be. She would turn my stomach.
DYLAN: Sheila, you can't be kicking yourself for your first impression of that witch. Rhonda had all of us fooled. She played herself to be something that she wasn't.
SHEILA: I know, honey. She's just made me feel bad.
DYLAN: You wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. No sin in that one.
SHEILA: I know. I just feel bad.
(Dylan hugs his twin cousin)
DYLAN: Look, hon. She lied to you, me and all of us. Her reckoning is now.
SHEILA: Yes, and here she is.
(The entire company is sheerly disgusted with Rhonda as she saunters in, looking like the belle of the ball!)
RHONDA: Here I am! Finally people are realizing who I am! As it should be!
MARILYN (acidly): You really think you are all that!
RHONDA: And why shouldn't I think that? Because I am!
ANNGELIQUE: You really ARE a stupid woman!
DYLAN: You messed with the wrong person!
RHONDA: Oh, really?!
DYLAN: Really! You had NO right to say what you did to my daughter!
RHONDA: Oh, please! She has to grow up!
DYLAN (nearly losing his temper): She is a little girl. She is only five years old!
RHONDA: SO?! She should grow up!
DYLAN: Oh, how I hate you! You dirty piece of filth!
SHEILA: Damn you, bitch! She is a five year old little girl! Why the hell do you think you have the right to bully her?!
RHONDA: Because I can!
DYLAN: You're a liar!
RHONDA: I am NO liar!
DYLAN: Oh, really?! If you're not such a liar, then why in the HELL did you try to pass yourself off as someone you weren't?! You lied that way, and you think that you weren't going to be held accountable for it?!
RHONDA (bragging): I destroyed Jamie, I can certainly destroy a little puissant like you!
(The group groans with that remark. Dylan shoots her a vicious glare.)
DYLAN (in an icy voice): You listen to me, you stupid little piece of gutter trash! You just said that to the wrong person! You may not care about what you say to other people, people whom you can bully with impunity, but I am warning you that I am not like those others. I have power, I have influence, and I can most certainly break you! You messed with my cousin; then you had the nerve to mess with my friend, but you made a grisly mistake in messing around with my daughter! You mess with her, you mess with me! She may stand up for herself, but she also has a daddy who cares!
RHONDA: How dare you not cower before your better!
DYLAN (laughing in scorn): You?! My BETTER?! Please, bitch! You're nowhere NEAR my better! And you casting aspersions that way makes you look more like a fool!
RHONDA (stunned that Dylan will not break): You're supposed to be an airhead!
(Again the crowd groans! Rhonda could not have chosen a word that Dylan resented more. This serves to make him even angrier)
DYLAN (enraged): That is a declaration of war to me, you stupid bitch! You don't EVER call me an airhead! I can't hit you, because of what you are. You are, whatever you are, a lady, and I was taught that you don't hit a lady!
RHONDA: Ha! See! You ARE an airhead. You cannot even touch me!
(Anngelique comes up and knocks Rhonda down hard!)
ANNGELIQUE: Maybe he can't, because he has courtesy, a concept that is alien to you, I am sure. However, in Dyl's place, I CAN!
RHONDA: DAMN YOU! How dare you HIT me! ME! I am a HOLLISTER! I am better than you are!
(Allegra comes up to her, and slaps her hard!)
ALLEGRA: No, you're not! You're nothing but a stupid little piece of garbage with no compassion, no scruples and absolutely NO sense of decency whatsoever!
RHONDA: And why not?! I am better than the whole damned lot of you are! You Harpers are a batch of losers!
(By now, Jennifer, recovered from her embarrassment by Rhonda, earlier in the day, is really mad! She walks up to Rhonda, and hits her hard, knocking her down to the ground!)
JENNIFER (screaming): I was taught never to fight, but by God, bitch, you pushed me to it! You think you are better than the Harpers?! You really ARE a deluded little twit! You are FAR from being our better! We Harpers have been here WELL before your family ever set foot here! You think you are a thousand times better than we are? You are clearly out of your mind!
RHONDA: Stupid bitch! I am ALWAYS going to be your better!
JENNIFER (in a biting tone of voice): Oh, is that so?! Well, let me tell you this, you stupid cow! I don't think of you as anywhere NEAR my better! You will never be anything like Dylan, Sheila, or Anyssa! You aren't anywhere NEAR fit to touch their shoes!
RHONDA: I will NOT listen to any of this! You cannot dare to tell me what I am and what I am not! You are a damned little snip!
JENNIFER (scornfully): Look at how you are behaving! You have made it clear what you really are! A delusional piece of garbage who thinks she is better than anyone else!
RHONDA: I AM better! Can't you see how much better I am than you?!
ANYSSA (laughing in scorn): You really are bananas!
RHONDA: You better speak kindly to me!
ROSEMARY (infuriated): You are no better than I am! And you will NEVER be my better!
CARA: You do nothing but make the lives of everyone you come into contact with miserable!
RHONDA: All of you will burn in hell for what you are saying to me!
ADAM: Don't you even go there. This was all your doing, and you brought all of this on yourself! How dare you!
RHONDA: Mark my words! You will pay for this humiliation!
DYLAN: I don't think so, Whittenberg! You deserve to be humiliated! Your behavior is so abominable that it makes Attila the Hun look like a cardinal saint! You are so evil that even Genghis Kahn is more tolerable than you are! You evil bitch! That is what you are! You are nothing but an evil bitch!
RHONDA: I may be! But I am always going to be better than you are!
CRAIG (in a savage fury): Get out of my house, bitch! You are NOT welcome here!
RHONDA (again ignoring a direct order): I am ALWAYS welcome here!
SHARMAINE: No, you're not! You stupid slut!
ALLEGRA: Craig, allow me!
(Allegra grabs Rhonda and shoves her to the door. She then kicks her out!)
RHONDA: You stupid whore! I will destroy you!
ALLEGRA: No, you will not! Because if anyone's reputation is going to be trashed, it will be yours! Because you are the damned slut, Rhonda Whittenberg! Not me, not Dylan, not Sheila, not Anngelique, nor anyone else. It is YOU!
(Allegra slams the door in Rhonda's face! She is forcibly marched off the grounds by security. Outside of the Atchley mansion gates, she is sobbing in rage. Nobody has ever humiliated her in such a public fashion. She could not believe it. The scene fades.)