Mom's Not Coming Back, Sweetheart

Scene opens on 18-year-old Molly, fresh out of bed, hair messy, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. She pads into the kitchen and stops when she sees Ken at the table looking grim. He tells her the bad news straight: her stepmom split and isn’t coming back. Molly’s face drops. Ken stands up, wraps his arms around her, but that hug lasts a second too long and the air shifts. Cut to title. Nights later, Molly’s asleep when a scraping sound wakes her. Shovel in dirt, rhythmic, right outside her window. She sits up, listens, hears the front door creak open and shut. Curious, she slips out of bed, cracks her door, and nearly collides with Ken in the hallway. His shirt’s streaked with soil and he’s gripping a shovel like it owes him money. She asks what the hell he’s doing. “Late-night gardening,” he says, cool as anything. Couple weeks after that, Molly overhears Ken on the phone with some insurance rep, casually tossing around the words “probably dead.” Molly freezes, back to the wall, heartbeat in her ears. Ken finishes the call, rounds the corner, finds her trembling. He drops to a squat, calm as can be, and tells her she’s stuck with him now—he’s not going anywhere. Then he lays it out: he’s got needs her mom used to handle. Molly’s face flushes, but she doesn’t hesitate. She offers herself right there in the hallway, voice small but certain, ready to step up and take care of Daddy any way he wants. He smiles like the devil just got handed the deed, and there’s a glint in his eye that says this isn’t the only secret he’s sitting on.