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The wedding of Olivia Prospect and Clyde Wright is fast approaching. Olivia sits in the living room of the Wright home filling out invitations with Panola and Haven. Olivia: Thank you so much for helping me do this, ladies. I know hand signed invitations are a pain, but I want to make them personal to let my guests know how much I appreciate them. Panola: It is no problem, Olivia. This is how I did it with my wedding, except I wrote each and every word myself. Haven: Now when I got married my husband insisted on handling all the odds and ends. Little did I know he’d choose the cheapest printer and they ended up spelling our names wrong. Such a disaster much like the marriage. Panola: Haven, we might not want to talk about a marriage being a disaster and this girl is about to get married. Haven: Oh, I’m so sorry, please forgive me. You and Clyde are going to be very happy together. He’s a good man. Olivia: I know. That is why I worked so hard to get to him before any of the other women in Conroy Valley did. (Olivia’s phone rings) Olivia: Please excuse me for a sec, this is the boutique about my dress. (Olivia excuses herself to make a phone call) Haven: I am so happy for them. Especially Clyde considering all he has been through. Panola: Me too, but I am worried. Haven: What has you worried, Panola? Panola: He’s marrying his ex-wife’s sister and not just any ex-wife. Haven: Clyde didn’t know she was Paula’s sister until awhile after they met. Besides, Paula’s still in prison. Panola: But with that gang she used to run with you never know if you might try to have somebody on the outside come and mess with Clyde about this. I can’t stand thinking about it. Haven: This is a happy time, so try not to let anything stress you. Panola: I’m trying, but something just won’t let me rest. Feels like it’s in the air. ______________________________ On a country route, a smart looking electric car cruises down the highway. It passes a sign that says “Entering Conroy Valley”. Inside the car is a well dressed woman with a determined look on her face. At the Hayes home, Garland is straightening up when he hears a knock at the door. He takes a sip of beer and looks through the peep hole of the door. He deeply sighs, closes his eyes for a beat and then slowly opens the door. Garland: Paula. Paula: Hello, Daddy. Garland: What are you doing here? Paula: You should know how to better welcome somebody than that with all the southern home training grandma used to push on us. Ooh, this place looks just like it did when I left. Garland: You mean before you got locked up. Paula: But I worked my butt off being good in there and got me an early release. Can you believe it? Garland: Sort of. You sure ain’t no stranger to running a con. Paula: Oh, you’re still so funny, Daddy. I know you’re glad to see me but that masculinity thing just won’t let you show it. Where’s Adam? Garland: Who? Paula: You’re going to play that again? By now I thought you would have accepted it. Garland: Look, I can’t be dealing with talking about Adam and figuring out what you’re up to, so just cut to the chase about what you want. Paula: I need a place to stay. Garland: Can’t your mother put you up in the big old mansion in Charterwood with that bougie husband of hers? Paula: She hooked me up with some clothes so I get to working and all that, but I wanted to come home to where my roots are. You can fix me some of the sausage and gravy you cook so good and I can tell you about my plans. Garland: Don’t tell me about nothing illegal that you are trying to do, Paula. I’m too old for your mess. Paula: Don’t worry, it’s all gonna be really legit. I’m going to be doing some clothes merchandising. Somebody in the pen showed me a thing or too. (Paula picks up the newspaper and flips through it. She looks on the society page and sees the news about Clyde’s wedding) Paula: Isn’t that just cute as can be? (She smirks and throws the newspaper down on the table) At one of the Wright’s grocery stores, Clyde is taking inventory. Curtis walks in and shakes his head. Curtis: Clyde, Clyde. Man, why do you do this? You’re up in the office with Mom and I. You don’t have to take inventory. Clyde: I enjoy it. It’s a stress reliever and right now that is what I need. Curtis: This wedding is getting to you. I knew it would. You aren’t ready to be married again. Clyde: Oh, I want to be married. It’s just that it feels so right that it scares me. Curtis: What are you talking about? That makes no sense. Clyde: You probably don’t understand, but anytime something good happens for me I start psyching myself out and thinking it’s too good to be true. Curtis: I’d probably feel some kind of way if I got shot by my last wife. Clyde: Really, Curtis? Man, this is serious. Curtis: My bad, sorry. You’re thinking too much and that’s why you’ve always got them headaches. Clyde: That’s a sinus issue. Curtis: Whatever, I know what it really is. You’re afraid of Paula. Clyde: That’s ridiculous. She’s going to be in prison awhile longer and probably won’t be thinking about me when she gets out. Curtis: Even the sanest woman would flip if he ex-husband was marrying her sister. Paula didn’t even like the church mothers hugging you to long. You remember she almost flipped out in church that one time. Clyde: That is my past. Olivia is my future and that is where my head is at. I’m just worried about problems in general. Paula is the furthest thing from my mind. ______________________________ Meanwhile, Panola stops in at her office and finds Joseph there. Panola: Joseph, I thought you’d be at home. Is something wrong? Joseph: We got a big problem. Paula is out of prison. Panola: What? Hold on now, she wasn’t supposed to get out for another few years. Joseph: Yes, but apparently she was released for being a model prisoner. Panola: Our grandchild died because of her and she just gets out early, how? Joseph: That’s the way it works sometimes, babe. Panola: Can he get a restraining order or something? Anything to protect him. Joseph: He could do that, but it’s really best if he didn’t acknowledge her at all. She might not even come back to Conroy Valley. Baltimore was her real stomping ground, so maybe she’ll stay that. Panola: I don’t know, she was still mighty angry at him. I can still see her face in court and feel all that hate. Joseph: Look, I only told you just so we can be alert, not so you can start stressing yourself out. (Joseph embraces Panola) Panola: I’ll try to be calm, but I had been having bad feelings about her coming back. Clyde walks up the steps to his apartment and he suddenly feels a presence behind him. He turns around and sees Paula. Paula: Long time no see, Clyde. How are you? (Paula smirks at Clyde as he looks very nervous)

Haven Marlowe - Sandra Dee Robinson Panola Wright - Crystal R. Fox Joseph Wright - Darnell Williams Garland Hayes - Leon Greg Marlowe - Robert Scott Wilson Clyde Wright - Trai Byers Paula Hayes - Shannon Kane Adam Hayes - Kingston Faraday Curtis Wright - Trevante Rhodes Alicia Marlowe - Bridgit Mendler Stephen LeBas - Casey Moss Olivia Prospect - Laura Harrier And Victoria Rowell as Rose Prospect

Garland Hayes Raising his family on a supermarket checker’s budget wasn’t easy, but he managed to pull through. He divorced while his children were young and his wife, Rose got remarried to a wealthier man so he has harbored resentment over the years despite the fact that Rose helped raise their two children and provided financial support when necessary. Garland grudgingly accepted money from her only when it was absolutely necessary and he would grumble when the children would come back from visiting Rose with new clothes and toys. But life carried on and now that his children are adults, Garland feels useless. He still has work and also a bigger paycheck now that he only has to support himself, but that bigger paycheck only makes him feel more useless. His relationship with his son Adam is especially strained due to Garland not fully accepting who Adam is. The biggest burden on him is Paula. He tried his best to get her on the right track, even moving his family from Baltimore to Conroy Valley after the divorce for a fresh start. Garland has grown up in a small, rural town and remembered how peaceful things seemed. But it didn’t tame Paula’s spirit any as she would still go to Baltimore with friends and run with her gang. Garland relies a lot of faith, but with Paula being back now his faith is being tested and he finds himself downing one too many beers each night. Paula Hayes Some people are just rebellious spirits and Paula is one of those people. When her parents divorced she decided to deal with her anger by building another family. She joined a street gang called the Lady Warriors when she was 12 and was arrested numerous times by her next birthday. Her aggressive street persona earned her the name “Enforcer Hayes” among her gang friends and she was feared by many on the streets of Baltimore. Rose tried to cure the problem by buying her expensive things, but that only made Paula believe that she had no reason to change. After one of her many arrests, Garland let her sit in jail to learn a lesson, but Rose decided to bail her out. The conflicting parenting styles caused Paula to favor her mother over Garland, especially after Garland moved to Conroy Valley. Rose finally started to see that spoiling Paula had been a terrible idea after Paula married Clyde and made his life a living nightmare. Although she puts up a harsh facade, Paula has never gotten over the loss of her daughter and has spent years in prison feeling tortured about it. But that hasn’t changed her and in fact her personality has hardened. She is no long a street gang member and is looking for other ways to be “Enforcer Hayes”. Adam Hayes Life hasn’t always been the same for Adam and he has gone through many changes. Adam was born Amelia and realized early on that he was a boy. Garland was proud of his daughters and always treated them like princesses when they were little. He’d go to the dollar store and buy toy tiaras, wands and everything else that would make his daughters feel special. When he was young her pretended that he was a prince in a far off land and that got him through hard times, so he wanted his daughters to have their own version of his childhood game. Adam never was interested in any of those things and would go into his father’s closet trying on dress shoes, ties and hats. At first Garland thought it was funny, but as Adam grew and started picking out all his clothes in the boys section of the store, Garland became worried. Once Adam finally gathered the courage to let his father know his true identity, Garland as crushed. Amelia was his mother’s name and to see that name erased hurt him. Over time his youngest daughter disappeared and he saw a son appear before his eyes out of nowhere. Adam felt wonderful, but that happiness was overshadowed by the feeling of his father drifting away from him. Garland barely speaks to Adam now.

Panola Wright With a small business loan and some savings, Panola started a small chain of grocery stores through rural Maryland and in urban areas where there was a food desert. Panola has a heart for community and always gave back as she fought her way into the middle class with her husband, Joseph. She is a lifelong friend of Haven’s and they have both become pillars of the community. Panola was responsible for the opening of Conroy Community College by raising the seed money. She is fiercely protective of her family, especially her son Clyde who doesn’t always make the wisest choices. Panola is the friend that most people want and the enemy that no one wants. She’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but she can explode like Mt. Vesuvius if you do harm to her family. Joseph Wright He has been with Panola since they attended college in Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and had a privileged upbringing, but he chose to live a rural life when he married Panola. He was a tough prosecutor in Baltimore, but retired after he was shot in retribution for putting away a dangerous street gang member. Now he chronicles his life in Conroy Valley with a cooking show “Rural Lifestyles” and helps take care of his grandchildren. Joseph is the voice of calm for his sons and the dependable presence that Panola needs in difficult times. Joseph’s mother was never pleased with the fact that he moved to a rural town and chose not to marry into the upper levels of Philadelphia society, so he has to keep her in check whenever she visits. Clyde Wright There is probably no one in Conroy Valley with a more complicated life than Clyde. When he was 17 he married the wayward Paula Hayes. Panola warned him against it, but Clyde was blinded by what he thought was love. Almost immediately Paula after the marriage Paula became pregnant with their daughter and while she was pregnant she engaged in crime with a gang in Baltimore where she was originally from. At first Clyde didn’t realize what she was doing, but when he found out he begged her to stop to which she refused. Clyde’s life was a nightmare as he constantly worried about Paula and the baby. Once the baby was born Panola pushed Clyde to take sole custody and divorce Paula, but Clyde wanted to give her a chance. When she didn’t change he decided to follow his mother’s advice. Paula didn’t take the news well and shot Clyde in the chest, then kidnapped their daughter. Eventually the police caught up to her, but she led them on a high speed chase that resulted in a crash that killed her baby. She was tried and went to prison. Years later, Clyde is still struggling to put his life back together but has found some happiness with Paula’s half-sister, Olivia. With Paula recently back in town (unbeknownst to Clyde) after completing her prison sentence, Clyde is probably in for more trouble. Curtis Wright Unlike his older brother Clyde, Curtis hasn’t been on the receiving end of trouble, but has created it. His business practices are more aggressive than Panola would like, but he is quite useful as her right hand man. He is known as a small town corporate shark and some times does business in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops which makes him seem non-threatening to some adversaries. Who would believe that a guy dressed like that knows anything about business? Those who underestimate him only realize how he really is once it’s too late. The love of his life is Terri James who he has known since high school. Their relationship has been on and off, mostly due to his day and night commitment to work. But his attention to Terri might change when another man comes into her life.

Haven Marlowe The responsibility of being a matriarch of the family came too soon for Haven. Her parents passed away in a tornado that devastated Conroy Valley and heavily damaged the family dairy business. Haven was in her 20s when she had to rebuild the family business and raise her young brother and sister. More than 30 years, one divorce and two children later, Haven still has not found time to breathe and be her own person. Love of family is first for her, but she’d still like more than one sort of love. Greg Marlowe Greg took it the hardest when his parents died and Haven responded by always keeping him close to her as he grew up. This has caused tension between Greg and Haven’s eldest son, Stephen. Greg is only 7 years older than Stephen so there was almost a sibling rivalry of sorts that turned into deep rooted tension when they became adults. Greg has taken the high road and treated Stephen like a brother, but Greg’s emotional problems are aggravated by the tension. Greg continues to reach out to Stephen because of fear of loss. He suffers from chronic depression and anxiety that nearly cripples him to the point of not being able to get out of he bed in the morning. But he struggles through to help Haven run the dairy. Alicia Marlowe Although Haven works hard, Alicia is the workhorse of the family. She spends almost every waking hour practicing her art of hand crafting artisan cheeses that sell in some of the finest markets on the East Coast. Being the youngest she doesn’t remember much about her parents and was mostly insulated from the hurt. When she was first old enough to understand losing her parents she firmly grounded herself and refused to become like Greg. To Alicia emotions are something that you control and not something that you let control you. Stephen LeBas Stephen is Haven’s first born and her biggest handful. Her younger son Seth is attending college overseas, but Stephen has always stayed close by to make sure that he secures his place in the Marlowe legacy. The problem for Stephen is that he doesn’t much want to work for it and merely expects a crown of sorts just for being part of a prosperous family. He has a good mind for ice cream flavors, but he never follows up on any of his idea and instead spends most of his time traveling or attending parties. Because of his strained relationship with Greg, Haven doesn’t pressure Stephen about his lack of drive and ambition. Spoiling him has been her way of showing him that she loves him since he has always felt overshadowed by Greg. Stephen’s worst quality is his mean sense of humor at Greg’s expense. He mocks Greg’s emotional problems mercilessly.

Anatomy of Life is a modern telling of the age old chore of living life. Rural Conroy Valley, Maryland is home to several generations of the upper class Marlowe Family, the middle class Wright Family and the working poor Hayes Family.