EPISODE 182
Written by: Bre L. Drew
May 2, 2022
Last Time on Town and Country
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Will plans to visit Jerome Hawkins in prison to see if he's responsible for his brakes being tampered with.
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Deirdre felt guilty for being the one responsible for Emma's coma since she was the one who paid the person to mess with Will's car, causing the accident.
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Ernest and Thora's marital problems were coming to a head.
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Presley warned Tommy to treat Jordan better.
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Max, along with Courtney, was appointed by Daniel to be temporary Co-CEO's during his sabbatical.
HUDSON COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
When he entered the Hudson County Correctional Facility, memories flooded back to Will Jackson. They reminded him why he was so determined to get out of here in the first place when he was serving his three-year sentence. However, when McKnight suggested that Jerome Hawkins might have something to do with his car breaks not working, which not only caused Will's injuries but landed Emma in a permanent coma, at first, he didn't pay it any mind.
But the more he thought about it, nobody else would want revenge against him than the one he sent to prison when he kidnapped Shauna due to their past behind bars. So that is why he made the hour-or-so drive in his new car to the one place he never wanted to set foot in again. After proceeding through security, he is guided by a white male officer with a gut into the prison visitor's room; when he steps in, the smell of ammonia brings a small wave of nauseousness to him. The room contains a few people speaking to their loved ones through plexiglass over the phone.
Concurrently, a young Hispanic guard escorts out the person in question, wearing the trademark orange prison jumpsuit. The two take their places behind the plexiglass.
They both pick up the phone to speak.
"Long time no see, Willie," Jerome Hawkins greets his visitor.
HOME FARM
"Here goes nothing," Tommy Covington tells his nearly nine-month-old son Jeremy, who is in his arms, somewhat fixated on the phone screen. The two men were in the expansive dining room where breakfast is served each morning.
With a tap on the screen, Tommy skims through his grades for this semester, unsure of how well he did in this particular semester.
His sight is met with surprise when he sees them.
"Hey Jer, it looks like your daddy isn't stupid after all,"
The baby begins to drool, and Tommy grabs a napkin to wipe the saliva from his son's chin.
"I take that as a "Congratulations, Dad," he tells the baby.
The sound of heels clicking onto the marble floor.
"What's going on in here?" Jordan McKnight asks.
Today she is dressed in a pale purple square neck top and blue high waist bootcut jeans, carrying a tote bag.
Tommy lifts his head to acknowledge the mother of his son.
"Oh, grades are in. I got 3 A's and one B,"
A genuine smile appears on Jordan's face. "That's great, Tommy,"
"Thanks," he says to her. "I thought I didn't do all that well this year."
Jordan stares at her son, whose eyes seem to recognize her but knows she isn't ready to reach out to him. She also believes Tommy felt that way because he has been primarily raising their child since she left town after his birth.
Jeremy's nanny, Lillith, emerges from the room, eagerly ready to take their son for the day.
"Have a good day and be on your best behavior for Lillith," Tommy says to the boy as he passes him to her.
While walking out Jordan could swear that the red-haired woman is silently judging her for being a deadbeat mother.
Jordan is about to let Tommy have his privacy when he calls out to her.
She turns back to him, wondering what he is going to say to her now.
Tommy gets out of the chair at the table and comes toward her. The young man recalls the other day that Jordan's brother Presley told him to lay off her, especially when it comes to their son.
"How is therapy going?"
"Uh, it's going okay. I have another session today, and I just want you to know, Tommy, that I'm doing everything I can to be a mother to Jeremy."
He gives a tentative nod. "I know he wants to have that too,"
"Have a good day," Jordan says to him. She then walks out of the room.
MCKNIGHT RESIDENCE
Ernest McKnight comes out of the bedroom inside the ranch-style home dressed for the day. Any minute, he is leaving to go to the station for work. In the dining area, he sees Thora McKnight folding laundry. Their glances meet one another as well as silence. It has been like this for years, but recently, it seems it has increased due to Ernest essentially turning his back on both of their living children. Thora admitted to him that she couldn't keep on living like this.
"Let me guess; you're leaving for work?" Thora asks, somewhat rhetorically.
"Yup, like I've been doing for the last thirty years." Ernest answers. "Thora, how long are you going to keep this up?"
Thora folds one of her shirts expertly. "Keep what up, Ernest?"
Ernest moves closer to his wife, deciding they need to deal with this right away. "Being cold and distant to me, it's bad enough we weren't talking, but you're sleeping in Jordan's room."
For some time now, the two haven't slept in their bedroom.
Thora removes herself from the chair and turns to her husband.
"Well, Ernest, I'm surprised you even noticed we weren't sleeping together. I mean, it's been so long since we actually cuddled, let alone made love. Hell, we don't even talk anymore."
Ernest shakes his head at his wife, partly out of frustration, though what she is saying does have some merit to it.
"Look, I know you haven't been too happy with me, but I care about you, and I know you care about me, or we still wouldn't be married."
"Hmm," Thora scoffs.
"What does that mean?" he proposes.
Thora is about to say something to him when the sound of his iPhone rings.
"Just like clockwork," she states, irritatedly.
Ernest picks up the phone. McKnight, What? Dammit! I'll let them know myself. " He furiously ends the call. "Can we talk about this later?"
"I have heard that one before," Thora says.
Ernest proceeds out of the door in a rush, unsure of where his marriage stands.
COVINGTON GROUP
"I assure you, Mr. Worcestershire, the groundbreaking will happen next week." Max Covington informs the businessman over the phone in his father's office suite on the twentieth floor of the Covington Group.
"I will be overseeing that development until my father returns."
Due to his father's sabbatical, he, along with his sister Courtney, are our temporary Co-CEOs; he is somewhat exasperated with how much the guy is speaking to him when his wife, Shauna Covington, enters the door in a black short sleeve double knit dress with black heels.
"We will be in contact," Max tells him, though unsuccessfully in getting him off the phone.
Shauna realizes Max hasn't looked her way yet. At first, she waved both arms to get his attention. Though, he is still pretty fixated on his phone conversation.
"Yes, the weather here is finally cooperating." Max rolls her eyes.
By now, Max sees his wife, whom he grins at before putting his concentration back into the business call.
Shauna smiles cleverly when she gets an idea.
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"Sir, sir,"
Max tells the guy to hold on for a second, wanting to know what Shauna is doing. "What?" he mouths out.
"Mr. Covington, the New York office is on the line; they want your feedback on the new tower being built in the financial district. They need a response like right this second. " Shauna creatively responds.
It does not take long for him to decipher what is being said.
"Mr. Worcestershire, you heard that? I look forward to speaking with you again. Bye." Max ends the call.
"Have I told you how much I love you? Recently, "he says,
Shauna walks over to her husband, who is dressed nicely in his new suit, and sits on his lap.
"Well, I'm hoping you tell me now," she winks suggestively.
Max puts his arms around her as they kiss passionately.
RADCLIFFE RECEIVING HOSPITAL
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Jordan emerges from her psychiatrist's office on the third floor of the hospital, nearly out of breath.
"Sorry I'm late, but there was an accident on the freeway that had traffic backed up for miles."
Dr. Pierre Toussaint, sitting behind his desk, puts his hand out.
"It's all right. "I got your message from the clerk; please have a seat so we can begin," he says in his usual friendly manner.
She complies with what she is told and sighs heavily. She is still not used to talking about herself in an emotional sense; it is something she is still trying to get used to.
Dr. Toussaint grabs a pen off the desk. "Jordan, how would you describe your upbringing?"
Jordan is at first taken off guard by that question.
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"I don't get how that is going to help me hold my own son without wanting to fall apart."
Dr. Toussaint maintains his calm demeanor.
"Just go with me here. Everything I ask does have a point in your recovery."
"Uh, typical. Dad's the police chief, mom is a housewife, youngest of three... I had a decent childhood. My brother EJ died; he was killed while on duty as a cop. She could feel the tears coming down her cheeks. "I really don't like talking about this."
The psychiatrist quickly moves to offer his patient some Kleenex, which she accepts. He waits for a few moments for Jordan to get herself together before proceeding with the rest of the session.
"After EJ's death, my family broke apart. My dad threw himself into work, my mother became so depressed she didn't leave her room for weeks, and my other brother left town to become a man of God. I used to hate coming home because I was always alone."
Dr. Toussaint nods instinctively.
"It seems to me perhaps you're unable to bond with your son because you are afraid to get closer to another person, who you perceive might abandon you."
"Just like my family did to me," she fills in for herself. "So instead, I did what my parents did, but I took it a step further by moving two thousand miles away for seven months."
Dr. Toussaint smirks at her. "But you came back, and you're making an effort to not only be there for your child, but to seek help for your wellbeing."
Jordan does her best to remain optimistic while she carries on with the session.
COVINGTON GROUP
Shauna applies lipstick to her lips in the office. Max tucks in his shirt. The husband and wife had just finished having sex, and now they were getting themselves back together since it was still several hours into the workday for both of them.
"Did we just have sex in your father's office?" Shauna asks in amazement.
"Well, we weren't slow dancing, that's for damn sure," Max says flippantly.
Shauna chuckles at his comeback. "Well, I'm glad we had some time together, "
Since her husband has taken over the leadership role, she hardly sees her husband at home until late,
"You are right; I've been neglectful towards you; it is just so much I never knew about running this place," he replies. "Not to mention the tension between Courtney and I."
Shauna returns to her feet by sliding back on her heels.
"You two will work it out; I know how close you two are."
"I hope so," Max exhales.
Shauna approaches her husband.
"I have a meeting with the design team in twenty minutes. But I will see you later."
The married couple kisses one another before she takes off, leaving him alone in the office with more work to do.
HUDSON COUNTRY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
"Whatcha doin' here?" Jerome asks. "You missed me, or you need somethin from me,"
Despite his lack of accommodations, Will still see that his ex-cellmate is still full of smugness.
Will does his best to keep himself in check, knowing he is not going to get anything out of him if he acts hostile.
"Jerome, did you have someone mess with my car?" he asks straightforwardly.
The convict lets out a roaring laugh while shaking his head.
"Huh?"
"Someone messed with my brakes, and because of that, me and a good friend of mine got hurt in a collision."
Jerome shrugs his shoulders. "And how in the hell would I do that from here?"
Will scoffs ruefully.
"Stop with the bullshit man; you know you still got connections from behind bars you could've talked to someone to cut the brake line in my car."
"Now, why would I do that?"
"Jerome, we both know why; don't play with me," Will remarks.
The prisoner rolls his eyes.
"If I did something like that, trust me, you wouldn't be breathing," Jerome says threateningly. "By the way, how is Shauna? That girl was shaped like a brickhouse."
Nearly two years ago, Jerome kidnapped Shauna out of revenge for the drug deal he and Will were involved in during their time here together. And worked with the police to rescue Shauna and to arrest Jerome and his associates who aided him.
Will's anger rises from within.
"Keep my niece's name out of your damn mouth,"
"Time's up!" the guard states near Jerome.
"Sorry you wasted gas fare to come out here, but maybe it's somebody you know who wants your bitch ass dead."
With that, Jerome gets up and is taken back by the guard.
Will slams the phone down as he gets off the stool to leave the room, hoping never to lay eyes on this place again. Though he couldn't help but feel pissed off, he made a blank trip. It wasn't what was said that made him aware that Jerome didn't have anything to do with this. Then again, perhaps it was someone else who was after him; he just needed to think about who that could be.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
The Saunders family pays tribute to Peter.
Ernest informs Daniel and Deirdre regarding the investigation.
Thora confides in Presley.
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