Season Premiere: The scene opens with an air-borne view of a small, bay-side town named Dominica. It’s one of those disgustingly cute towns that your mothers make you drive three hours to see, full of bed and breakfasts, harbour-side shops, and cobblestone streets. People smile and wave as they pass each other on the streets and kids run down the sidewalks together, weaving in and out of stores. Nydia has been working every day since school let out and is finally taking a much-needed day off. She stopped by the Cumino mansion to say goodbye to her mother before heading off to the country with her best friend Paul Lozzie. Paul is another lower-middle class resident of Dominica, like herself, and the two met in shop class at school. Nydia was the only one who didn’t freak out when Paul sawed his left pinkie finger off, and because of her, his finger was reattached, good as new. The camera shows Nydia bounce into the Cuminos’ kitchen, where her mother is chopping vegetables for a stew. Paul is following behind her, sniffing the air hungrily and licking his lips. He sits down on a stool opposite of Mary Stella, swipes a chunk of carrot, and pops it into his mouth with a grin. Paul: “Mrs. Alvarez…is there anything you can’t cook?” Paul: “Food thief? Me? What an insult! Here I go and give you a nice compliment, and you go and whack me with a spoon…” Nydia interrupts with a giggle. Paul trails off and an awkward silence in the room. What he has just said is true; Paul rarely has any food in the house. His is one of the poorer families of Dominica, and everyone in town knows it. Mary Stella: “Well, Paul, when the Cuminos are done with their dinner, I’ll wrap some up and have Nydia take it over to your house for you. Mrs. Cumino is gone…on one of her ‘vacations,’ so there should be plenty left.” While the air isn’t cleared, it is less tense, and the two friends go back to joking around and stealing bits of vegetables. Suddenly remembering why she went to visit her mother in the first place, Nydia perks up and turns towards her mother. Nydia: “Oh! That’s right…now I remember why I came over! Mama, Paul and I are taking a ride up to Lake Flora for the day. We’ll probably eat a picnic lunch and go swimming…that sorta thing. We should be back around ten o’clock or so….So don’t wait up, okay?” Nydia simply rolls her eyes and dismisses this comment with a wave of her hand in the air. Nydia: “Jaime needs to get a life. When will he learn that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself? Anyway, he’s younger than I am; I should be looking out for him!” With that, Nydia and Paul left the Cumino mansion, heading towards Nydia’s blue vintage VW Beetle, which is parked out in front. There is a slight argument as to who gets to drive. In the end Nydia wins, and Paul climbs into the passenger side. They expertly pull out of the long driveway and buzz down the street, Paul’s industrial music blaring from the car’s speakers. When they reached the stop sign at the end of the street, the camera follows a black Monte Carlo sedan that is crossing the intersection heading away from Nydia and Paul. Looking through the passenger window, the audience sees two almost identical looking Asian men. The passenger is clean-cut, wearing glasses and a nice dark blue suit. He is obviously disgusted with the grunge-rock music that is playing on the radio and goes to change the station. Without taking his eyes off the road, the driver smacks the other man’s hand before the station can be changed. The driver is very grungy-looking himself. His hair is long and shaggy, and his face is covered by a goatee and day-old stubble. He is dressed in a janitor’s uniform, and there is dirt underneath his fingernails, confirming his occupation. This identical duo is the set of twin brothers David and Divad Alan. Divad is the principal of Dominica High School, and David is the school’s janitor. Even though he goes out of his way to be nice and pleasant to everyone, Divad is loathed by the community. Everyone believes that he is an “evil” twin. In reality, his brother David is the corrupt one of the duo. David is outright nasty sometimes, but the citizens of Dominica believe that his insults are just a part of his “quirky” humour. This aggravates Divad to no end, and David uses his influence as often as he can to make his brother feel miserable. David speeds the car into the parking lot, nearly crashing into a student riding on her bike. The girl steers out of the way just in time, and is ready to flip the driver off until she notices that it is David behind the wheel. She extends the rest of her fingers along with the middle one and waves cheerily to the janitor. David waves back, then pulls quickly and expertly into a space marked “reserved for janitor.” There is no spot marked for the principal. David and Divad exit the car and enter the building. The second they walk through the doors, David is greeted by the cheers of salutations of the jocks who are in the building for summer sports practice. The approach the duo, completely ignoring Divad, and begin to talk amiably with his twin. Jock Number One: “Hey, David, what’s up? How’s your summer so far?” The whole team cracks up, slapping David on the back and telling him what a funny guy he is. Divad clears his throat and timidly addresses the group. Divad: “How is your summer going, boys? Is everything going well in practice?” The boys look at Divad with obvious disdain and snicker at his “uncoolness.” Jock Number Two: (rolls eyes, sighs) “Hello, Mr. Alan. Our summer has been fine. How has yours been?” Before he can answer, one of the teammates pushes his way to the front of the group and turns his attentions to David. Jock Number Three: “Hey, David, how the hell can you be related to this guy, much less live with him?” General agreement among the throng of jocks. David smiles, grabs his brother, and gives him a very hard noogie. David: “Ah, leave him alone, guys. He hasn’t been laid in a couple of years. That’s why he’s such a hard-ass.” David drops his brother, and grins at the group. David: “Now get outta here and practice so you guys can win a game for once.” The boys laugh heartily, slap David on his back, and walk off past the brothers. Divad is obviously upset and does his best to smooth out his hair and make himself look “professional” again. As they walk down the hall way, Divad opens his mouth several times as if he is going to speak, but always closes his mouth without saying a word. Finally, as they reach his office, Divad stops and turns to David. Divad: “Why do they like you so much? You’re such a…a…a jerk to everyone, and yet they love you still! Why!?” Yes, David and Divad Alan are former Siamese twins! This is a tender subject for David, a memory he wishes not to remember. He runs his hand over his side, where his scar is hidden underneath his uniform. After a slight pause, he grabs Divad by the neck and pushes him forcefully against the wall. David: “Look, I had to kill the doctor who delivered us so that our secret wouldn’t come out, and I will kill you in a heartbeat as well to make sure that no one knows what I’m really like.” He drops Divad, brushes his hands off and grins maliciously. David: “So no more talk about who’s ‘evil’ and who’s ‘good’ okay? I liked being loved by everyone. You don’t like it, go buy a self-help book. I got work to do. Have a nice day, okay, brother?” With that, David walks down the hallway as his brother helplessly watches. When he is gone completely from sight, Divad sighs and enters his office, shutting the door behind him.
The view pans to a large, grey mansion sitting atop an impressively high hill. It looks as though it belongs in Hollywood on a tour of the homes of rich movie stars. This is the abode of the richest family in Dominica, the Cuminos. The family is made up of Thomas, the patriarch, Dianne, his emotionally disturbed and alcoholic wife, and Bryce, their relatively normal son. The Cuminos own much of the small town, and have done so since its founding in 1785. No one knows exactly how these Italian immigrants made their fortune, although there were rumours of Mafia connections. The family tries to keep a low profile, and have tried to make sure that Bryce had a decently “normal” childhood—public schools, birthday parties, punishment whenever he did something bad. Because of this, Bryce is not like his father, or his male relatives at all. Many people who know him know that he wants no part of the “family business,” but alas, he is doomed to inherit his father’s fortune.
Employed by the family since before Bryce was born is Mary Stella Alvarez. A single mother of two, Mary Stella works as the family’s cook, and helped to raise Bryce whenever his mother needed some “rest time.” The Cuminos consider the Alvarezes to be a part of the family, but Bryce is the only one to truly treat them that way.
The eldest child of Mary Stella is Nydia, an independent and pretty 17-year-old who works part time in the house as a maid and an assistant to her mother. She and Bryce were born only a week apart, and have been best friends since they were in diapers. Nydia’s younger brother Jaime, however, is resentful of the Cuminos’ wealth. He is ashamed that his older sister and mother are servants to the family, and he refuses to join them. Since he is only 15, there aren’t many places he can work. Since school ended, however, Jamie has been employed as a bus boy in the popular restaurant “Down by the Bay,” but hopes to someday become a chef, like his mother.
Mary Stella: “I’ve yet to learn how to cook a teenage food thief without burning him to a crisp.” She gently whacks him with a spoon ladle and he pretends that he is hurt.
Nydia: “Paul, all you think of is food…if you had your way, my mother would be cooking for you instead of the Cuminos.”
Paul: “Well, if I had any food at my house, then your mom could cook for me, yeah…”
Mary Stella: “Well, all right. I won’t stay up, but I can’t say anything about Jaime. You know him…he’s so worried about you.”
Paul: “Oh, come off it, Nydia. You know that he’s always going to consider himself to be your older brother as long as he’s about eight feet taller than you are. And he will never get a life; that would make yours far too simple.
Nydia: (sighs) “I guess you’re right. Ah…forget Jaime. He just needs a girlfriend. Let’s go before we waste anymore time and the day is over before it’s even started.”
David: “Pretty crappy so far. I keep having to show up every morning to clean up after you meat-heads, since, you know, everyone knows that jocks are too dumb to clean up after themselves.”
David: (grinning) “Because you’re the ‘evil’ one, remember? I’m a saint compared to you!”
Divad: (flustered) “But I’m not the evil one! You are! There are medical documents proving it! You were born on the left side, and everyone knows that the Siamese twin born of the left is evil!”
