As a Man Lies Dying
FADE IN:
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
Snippets of false luminescence pirouette across a ragged horizon, scalping the skull of a lethargic young woman, PENNY, trudging her way across a long highway.
Cars pass by with seldom irregularity, Penny holding her hand high in hopes of hitchhiking.
A car slows, stops: a few feet in front of her.
Penny crosses the street, hesitantly approaches.
A door opens.
Inside the door, inside the car, resides a young man, handsome, smiling.
Penny hesitates.
MAN
Well don’t just stand there like a damn fool! Come on in where it’s nice and warm and cozy too!
PENNY
Don't you need to know where I'm going or something?
MAN
Alrighty then. Where ya headed?
PENNY
The county hospital.
MAN
Well ain’t that just as lucky as luck gets! Just so happens I’m heading the same way!
PENNY
Really? Because the hospital’s back that way.
Penny points in the direction the man so recently departed.
MAN
Gosh darn’t! I knew I shouldn’t a trusted this thing!
The man beleaguers an ancient map.
MAN
Must be turned round something good...
A long pause.
MAN
Say! I don’t s’pose a good looking woman like you can help me find the way.
PENNY
I don’t know...
MAN
Ah cmon, I don’t bite.
PENNY
Maybe I’ll just walk the rest of the way.
MAN
Walk? That’s like twenty miles away!
PENNY
Thirty.
MAN
All the more reason!
Penny hesitates.
PENNY
You’re not like...I mean, this isn’t like, a sex thing, is it? Cus I’m not...
The man scoffs.
MAN
To even pontificate! And me a married man!
The man flaunts a cheap ring.
PENNY
And I don’t really have any money or anything, either, so if this is like a financial thing
MAN
(Interrupting)
Will you just get in the damn car already! Ain’t none care none bout that sort of thing! Just some good company, that's all! Is that too much to ask for? Some good company once in a while.
PENNY
I guess not.
MAN
Then get in already!
Penny looks left, right, sighs, and steps into the car.
INT. CAR - NIGHT
MAN
So what’s the occasion?
PENNY
Huh?
MAN
For the trip. The journey. Stomping around in the middle of nowhere like you do. You ain’t contagious, is you?
PENNY
No. It’s my pa.
MAN
(Interrupting)
Cancer?
PENNY
No. It’s
MAN
(Interrupting)
Say no more. I get where ya going.
PENNY
Well actually I don’t think you do.
MAN
No. No. I get it. I got it. Man comes of an age when women ain’t so pretty no more. Gets a little arousal from the other side of the ballfield; a little homoerotica. Say no more miss lady. I get it. I got it. Starts putting his pecker maybe places it don’t none belong no more. One thing leads to another and suddenly he’s got
PENNY
(Interrupting)
What?
MAN
Well, AIDS, ain’t it? Ain’t that what he got? AIDS?
PENNY
What? No. He doesn’t have AIDS.
MAN
Well if he ain’t got cancer and he ain’t got AIDS, what the hell he in the hospital for?
PENNY
Well it’s, you see, actually, I mean...
MAN
You ain’t knows, do ya?
PENNY
Not exactly.
MAN
Ain’t no exactitude about it. Either you is or you ain’t and you most assuredly ain’t. Well miss lady, if that’s the case, it must be AIDS. Some people get embarrassed bout that sort of thing; used to myself back in the day. Ain’t nothin wrong with a little homosexuality, but if he ain’t ready, he ain't ready; that’s up to him, ain’t it?
PENNY
It’s not AIDS! Okay? He doesn’t know what it is.
MAN
Well...
PENNY
And neither do the doctors. Or anybody, actually. It’s a goddamn medical mystery!
MAN
Well ain’t that just something? A real medical mystery! Right here in this here car oh mine. Woo whee! Ain’t I a lucky fellow?
Penny unbuckles her seat belt and leans out the car door.
The man slams on the brakes. The door slams shut.
MAN
Are you absolutely mental? Throwing yourself out the window! Jesus Christ! What the hell is wrong with you? I mean, my god! One minute we're sitting here speaking as two well meaning consenting adults discussing the vices and virtues of medical practice in the 21st century and suddenly you’re hurling yourself out the window like some sort of rabies ridden lunatic.
Penny smirks.
MAN
Alright. You caught me. Happy? I’m pretending. So I’ve dabbled a bit in the art of method. And sure, maybe I’ve taken the part just a bit too far. But I’m an actor, you see. And this is my first big show. Broadway! You know? No, not Broadway, New York City. Broadway, Buffalo, if you really must know. But, you know, Buffalo has a really thriving theater community. And many well known actors got their start there, too, so...
Penny nods sympathetically, almost pitifully.
MAN
And what do you know, anyhow? You wouldn’t of known a damn thing if I didn’t just save your life right back there.
Penny nods.
MAN
And another thing, too. I don’t need people like you telling me what to do. It’s my life too you know. I should at least have some sort of say in that sort of thing.
Penny smiles politely.
MAN
And another thing while we’re at it. All this uppity, negative, my father’s dying energy, I don’t need all that hullabaloo. All this sadness and moodiness you got going on in you. I get it, I got it, your dad's dying or what have you. But what's all this really about? I mean really. Did you really just think he would live forever? Is that really what you thought? He would just live forever and ever? People die. It’s what they do. It’s all they do. They have to. What else can they do?
Penny frowns, shrugs.
MAN
You know what, I think I've heard enough out of you. Better if you just go. I think you had it right back there not too long ago. Find someone else to deal with your dead daddy issues. Someone who doesn’t have a big important show coming up soon.
PENNY
He’s not dead.
MAN
Well I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but he will be soon. Whether it’s today or tomorrow or a hundred years from now. One of these days he’s gonna be dead, just like the rest of us.
PENNY
And what do you know? What about you? You’re just some bum who gets his jollies picking up girls off the side of the road. Like you could ever put on a broadway show. Really! You? You couldn’t even perform a haiku. So screw you, and screw your parents too, thinking they could raise something like you.
Penny opens the car door, leaps out.
MAN
My parents are dead.
Penny pauses, hesitates.
PENNY
Well thank god for that.
Penny slams the door shut and lumbers away.
EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY
Amongst bitter rays of morning light, Penny wallows, exhuasted, staring at the dilapidated monstrosity which stands before her: the county hospital.
Beyond the squat building, and before it too, is nothing but dirt, dust, crumbling asphalt.
West of the edifice, across a dirt road, lull two pumps: a gas station, abandoned.
Penny sighs, hesitates, and steps into the anachronistic structure which is the hospital.
INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - DAY
Yelling, screaming, bleating, swearing. Men, women, children, crying. Coughing, choking, gagging, bleeding. A middle aged man haphazardly wheezing.
A middle aged woman, JUNE, clutches the bars of a war torn wheelchair, occupied by a dry heaving, seizing husband.
June berates an overworked hire, battering the nurse with words of violence.
JUNE
Are you stupid or something? Or is this just your policy? Killing the innocent for the sake of insurance. He’s got a condition you know. A very serious condition. You can’t just leave him here like this forever. Unless you’d rather him dead. Is that what you want? A dead man walking? Is that what kind of hospital this is? A mortician’s oasis? Is that what you want, to slaughter my husband?
NURSE
Ma’am.
JUNE
What?
NURSE
Are you a relation?
JUNE
Do I look like his doctor?
NURSE
If you could simply fill out these forms
JUNE
(Interrupting)
This is a man on the brink of extinction and you want to discuss his medical history?
NURSE
If you could simply fill out these forms, we could see to it that
JUNE
(Interrupting)
We? We? What hellish dystopia includes your medical expertise? Did you go to medical school? Are you an M.D.?
NURSE
No ma’am, I simply meant to say
JUNE
(Interrupting)
Well don’t. And shut the hell up while you’re at it, too. And where the hell is that doctor, anyhow?
Through a set of doors steps a woman in white, smiling solemnly through bitter irritation.
DOCTOR
The Aeger’s, I presume.
JUNE
Who the hell are you?
DOCTOR
I’m Doctor
JUNE
(Interrupting)
Where’s doctor Stevens?
DOCTOR
Unfortunately doctor Stevens is currently unavailible at the moment, however
JUNE
(Interrupting)
No. Nope. Not gonna happen. I’d rather he pass alone than by the hands of these fools.
Penny sets a hand upon June.
PENNY
Ma, don't.
JUNE
What?
PENNY
This woman has dedicated her life to helping people like Pa.
JUNE
That’s what you think, but just last week
JUNE
(Interrupting)
Ma...
June glares, open mouthed, gaping, silent.
PENNY
Lets just do this, okay? Better this than nothing, right?
June mumbles, grumbles.
PENNY
Right?
June sighs, defeated, nods. Penny nods to the doctor.
DOCTOR
Right this way.
The doctor leads the way, followed by a parade: June, Penny, her father, RAMY, and two teenage boys, LUKE and JOHN.
INT. ACUTE CARE - DAY
Lying on a cot, coughing and choking, Ramy suffers, surrounded by his family.
Ramy smiles through sickness, through filth, through a decrepit, rotting carcass, feigning confidence without courage.
A doctor squeezes past the boys, past Penny, past June, to Ramy, aged a dozen years beyond his 42.
DOCTOR
Well, Mr. Aeger, looks like you’re all set. This nice young man here will run you through a few quick tests and then you’ll be all set.
JUNE
Wait. I’m sorry. What?
DOCTOR
Mr. Aeger is being released. In perfect health, by all I can tell.
JUNE
This man here? That man there? The man who couldn’t get off the floor, let alone stand? The man who peed himself again and again? The man who choked and dry heaved and who knows what else? That man, this man, is in perfect health?
DOCTOR
I can understand your apprehension, I would be too considering his previous condition. But science doesn't deceive, it’s immune to emotion. And by all I can tell, Mr. Aeger is the very picture of health.
JUNE
So what? That was all just...what, make believe then; just, play pretend?
DOCTOR
Certain medications may cause unfavorable symptoms time and again; but nothing serious, I can assure you.
JUNE
Nothing serious? That’s nothing to worry about? A flu is nothing to worry about. A cough or a cold I can get. But a man crawling on his hands, on his knees, coughing up blood, that’s not your run of the mill symptoms, now is it?
DOCTOR
Par for the course.
JUNE
What the
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Ma!
June pivots, turns, stomps out of the room. Penny attemps to chase after, held back by her brothers. The two boys shake their heads, nod to the doctor.
Penny sighs. The doctor smiles. The boys waddle off, searching for their mother.
PENNY
I’m sorry about that. Sometimes it can get a bit...emotional, sometimes.
DOCTOR
It’s fine. I understand.
PENNY
It's just, the thing is, he lives alone, you know. In the country. And with us so far away, well, you can understand.
DOCTOR
I can assure you, in a matter of days, nay, hours, this man will be back to his normal self. But, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, but...are there really no others?
PENNY
None that I know of.
DOCTOR
He never remarried?
PENNY
Too expensive.
DOCTOR
But not even a partner?
PENNY
Not any worth mentioning.
DOCTOR
So no one else? Not a single person?
PENNY
Not a one.
DOCTOR
Are you sure?
PENNY
Absolutely certain.
DOCTOR
I don't mean to pry, but if there is
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Just me and ma and my brothers is all.
DOCTOR
Well...I’d highly recommend he stay with someone for the time being.
PENNY
But we live in the country, and this is the closest hospital by a hundred miles. And this being 25 already, well, you can understand our trepidation.
DOCTOR
I completely understand.
PENNY
You do?
DOCTOR
Most assuredly.
PENNY
Good.
DOCTOR
And as such, as a medical professional, and a doctor at that, I can assure you, your father is in a perfectly stable condition. Science isn't fiction, it's not fake news. It's real, tangible, fact based, fact driven. There is no exception for your father. There is no God out to get you. He's gonna be okay. He's gonna be just fine. I swear my whole life on it.
INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - NIGHT
Penny and June harass a poor hire, swearing and cursing and yelling nonsensically, slowed only by the sight of a doctor approaching.
DOCTOR
Ah, the Aeger’s. So lovely to see you.
June lurches, lunges; held back by her family.
June squirms, squeals, throws the whole crew off her, stomping past the doctor and into the hospital.
A nurse steps in front her.
NURSE
Excuse me? Ma'm? This wing of the hospital is actually only for...
June pushes the nurse over; the nurse stumbles, tumbles, falls. June stomps down the hall with unkempt fury.
The doctor sighs and straightens her jacket.
DOCTOR
Yes, well, considering the circumstances, perhaps we should admit him, yes?
INT. ROOM - NIGHT
A dark, sappy, windowless room. Two chairs, a sofa, a meager table, a flickering television, a kitchen sink, tiled flooring.
Amongst this cacophony of horros reside the two boys, Pennny too.
PENNY
We never should have left.
LUKE
What else could we do?
PENNY
We could have stood our ground.
JOHN
And what, exactly, could we do?
PENNY
I don't know. Something. Anything. Even nothing would be better than this.
LUKE
What's done is done. We left, we came back. Now it’s over and done with. Maybe we were right, maybe we were wrong, I don’t know; but it doesn’t matter now, does it? I mean, we’re here now, aren’t we?
JOHN
Exactly.
PENNY
But what if, and don’t say I’m being dramatic or anything, because I know I’m not, but what if he has some sort of life threatening disease or illness or infection or something, and we only have so long to treat him, so long to cure him; what if we’re already too late? What if we had just stayed?
LUKE
Then we would have stayed.
PENNY
But we didn't.
JOHN
And that’s that.
LUKE
And this is this.
PENNY
Don’t you care about Pa at all?
JOHN
Penny, don’t say that. You know that we do, it’s just...
PENNY
What?
John looks to Luke, Luke to John. Luke sighs, nods.
LUKE
It’s just, well, the thing is...
PENNY
What?
Luke sighs.
LUKE
Pa’s been sick for a really long time now; and I mean, it’s not like we don’t want him to get better, we do, its just...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
Well, you know, what if...
PENNY
What?
JOHN
What if he can’t; what if he won’t? What if, well, what if this is all he’ll ever be, the best he’ll ever be, you know. I mean, Pa’s been sick for a really long time now, and it’s always been the same, right? Just all in his head. And ya, we know that it’s not. You and me and Luke and ma and all. And I’m sure that’s true, but...
PENNY
But what?
LUKE
But maybe he’d be better off better.
JOHN
Do you even remember the last time he was happy?
PENNY
He’s happy all the time. Just the other day he...
JOHN
(Interrupting)
We don’t mean like making jokes or whatever.
LUKE
We mean like actually happy.
JOHN
Like to be alive and all that.
PENNY
Well maybe its been a little while since then but soon
LUKE
(Interrupting)
How soon, Penny? It’s been more than days, weeks, months, or even years even. Face it Penny: pa’s not getting better.
PENNY
So what? So what if he’s not? Does that just mean we just give up?
JOHN
Not give up...give him...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
Options.
PENNY
What do you mean options?
JOHN
We mean, you know, in this state, we could, with the help of the doctors, you know, make him...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
Better.
PENNY
You mean kill him?
JOHN
It’s not like that. It’s just
PENNY
(Interrupting)
What? Top big of a hassle? Too big of a worry? Too much ado about nothing?
LUKE
It’s what he wants Penny.
PENNY
Like hell it is! Who told you that?
JOHN
He did.
PENNY
Who?
LUKE
Pa.
PENNY
To who?
JOHN
To us.
PENNY
What us?
LUKE
Us us. The two of us. Both of us. Together.
PENNY
Why not me?
JOHN
Because he knew you’d act this way.
PENNY
What way?
LUKE
This way. All, well, you know, dramatic and stuff.
PENNY
Since when is pa so gun ho about suicide?
JOHN
It’s not suicide, it’s...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
Okay, well, maybe it is, technically, but
JOHN
(Interrupting)
It's what pa wants.
PENNY
According to you.
JOHN
According to Pa.
PENNY
Who just so happened to only tell you.
The two pause, look to each other.
LUKE
He didn’t...only tell us.
Penny’s eyes widen with fury.
PENNY
That hydrophobic rabies ridden slut.
Penny lunges, lurches, hurtles out of the room.
INT. HALL - NIGHT
June stands before an arachaic machine, plastered by a pale luminescence, studying a sad collection of monotonus items.
Penny approaches, yelling, screaming.
PENNY
When were you gonna tell me?
JUNE
Penny.
PENNY
When were you gonna tell me?
JUNE
Don't.
PENNY
When were you gonna tell me pa wants to kill himself?
JUNE
It’s not like that.
PENNY
Don’t you dare tell me what death is!
June sighs.
JUNE
What do you want Penny?
PENNY
I want to know what he told you. I want to know what he said. I want to know when and where and why and what the hell made him decide not to tell me.
JUNE
He just decided. Thats all.
PENNY
When?
JUNE
A few weeks ago.
PENNY
What dO you mean weeks?
JUNE
It was just an idea; completely hypothetical.
PENNY
But now?
JUNE
Maybe not.
PENNY
So killing him? That’s our best option? Killing pa?
JUNE
You know that’s not what I mean.
PENNY
Then what do you mean?
JUNE
I mean, for him, this might be...best, to not have to...suffer.
PENNY
Is that what he’s doing? Is that what this is? Is that all life is to you: suffering?
JUNE
To him.
Penny pauses, pivots, turns, stomps away, turns back again.
PENNY
You can’t just do this, you know. Not without my permission. I’m his legal executor, so you can’t just do this.
JUNE
I know.
PENNY
And if I say he shouldn’t, he won’t. He won’t. Not now. Not ever. I mean, my god, he’s not in any sort of state of mind to make any sort of decision, let alone something as bonkers as this.
JUNE
I know.
PENNY
So you can blab and whine and beg all you want, but if I say no then that’s just how it'll be.
JUNE
I know.
PENNY
And one more thing, as his legal executor, I want you to leave.
JUNE
I can’t.
PENNY
You have to!
JUNE
The ICU? Sure. The hospital? Maybe. But him? No. If you want me to stay away, I will. I will. But I won't leave. Not now. Not again. Not after all this. I may not love him, at least not in the way you do anyways, but he was my husband, he was my life, if not anymore. I care for him too, you know, even if it’s not in the same way you do. And if you want him to persist in this horrible world, then so be it. You’re right, that’s up to you. But know that if you do, if that’s what you decide to do, it’s you who’ll have to watch him suffer, watch him endure, watch that miserable, wretched, vile body rot and obscure; all because you're too goddamn stubborn to do anything about him.
PENNY
Screw you!
Penny stomps off.
June sighs, inserts a quarter, another, another, presses a button, and withdraws a damaged soda.
INT. ROOM - NIGHT
Penny stomps into the room, all in a huff, all in a fury, slamming the door shut behind her.
LUKE
Well?
PENNY
Well what?
JOHN
Did you do it?
PENNY
Do what?
LUKE
Make up your mind?
JOHN
Make a decision?
PENNY
Screw you!
LUKE
So no?
PENNY
Just let me think for a minute.
JOHN
Alright.
LUKE
Then what?
PENNY
Then we’ll go from there.
LUKE
Where?
PENNY
Wherever we need to.
LUKE
Okay...so...what then?
PENNY
Just shut up, will you? For like, ten seconds! Okay? Do you think you can do that? Just shut up for a second.
A long moment passes.
JOHN
Well?
PENNY
Well, yes, no, I don’t know! Okay? An hour ago they wouldn’t even admit the poor guy, and now they wanna kill him?
LUKE
They don’t. We do.
PENNY
Right. Whatever. Maybe we should just ask them. Maybe that’s what we should do. Maybe we should just ask them for their opinion too.
JOHN
The same that said everything would be okay? That pa was hunky dory in every sort of way?
PENNY
Someone else then!
LUKE
Someone who didn’t go to medical school?
PENNY
Well someone has to know something.
JOHN
If anyone knew anything about anything we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about everything.
PENNY
Well what do you two suggest then?
LUKE
We wait.
PENNY
Wait?
JOHN
Till morning.
LUKE
Till he wakes.
PENNY
Then what?
LUKE
Then we tell him.
PENNY
Tell him what?
JOHN
Whatever you've decided.
PENNY
But I haven't decided.
LUKE
Yes you have.
JOHN
You already did.
PENNY
Maybe I’ll change my mind again.
JOHN
Will you?
PENNY
I don’t know, maybe.
LUKE
Well once you've decided it’s kind of already decided. There’s not a lot of coming back from that again. Better to just make up your mind then to keep going back and forth again and again.
PENNY
How is this so easy for you two?
The two look to each other, shrug.
LUKE
I don’t know. I guess we just always thought it’d end up this way eventually: with pa in the hospital and everything.
JOHN
Ya, to be honest, I didn't even think he’d last this long, actually.
LUKE
But he did; so you gotta give him that.
JOHN
So I guess in our own sort of way we kind of already grieved already, way back when we decided it was going to happen, anyway.
PENNY
And when was that, exactly?
LUKE
A couple years ago.
JOHN
We figured, better now than later, right? Less variables, you know?
LUKE
Right. So we did. And now it’s all over and done with; at least for us, anyways.
PENNY
Well what about me? What about my decision?
Luke shrugs.
LUKE
He died a long time ago Penny. I mean, technically, he didn’t, but I mean...
JOHN
He might as well have.
LUKE
Well not like that, exactly, but...
PENNY
But what?
JOHN
But if he dies today or tomorrow or twenty years from now it’s all the same. Pa’s gone, Penny. He left a long time ago. All that’s left is a rotting old carcass.
LUKE
More or less.
PENNY
That’s how you see him then? Just, garbage?
JOHN
Thats all thats left Penny.
LUKE
Maybe its time to move on.
PENNY
Well I’m sorry I can’t just move on like you two psychopaths!
LUKE
Yelling won’t change anything.
JOHN
It never has before.
PENNY
Just shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
The two quiet. A long moment passes.
JOHN
Well?
PENNY
I don't know.
LUKE
Will you?
PENNY
Eventually.
JOHN
Penny...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
It has to be soon.
JOHN
It has to be tonight.
PENNY
Why? Why does it have to be so soon?
LUKE
He’s sick, Penny.
JOHN
Really sick.
LUKE
And he has been for a really long time.
JOHN
And if not tonight...
PENNY
What?
LUKE
Well he can’t just go home, Penny. You know that. We know that. And we can’t, I mean, you know, we’re not millionaires or anything.
PENNY
So I’ll get another job then. I’ll work nights at the factory.
JOHN
We can’t pay our bills as it is, Penny, let alone his. And if we take him in, I mean...
PENNY
So that’s just it then? Just a couple of bucks to you two?
LUKE
You know that’s not true. But, well, I mean, with Medicaid and everything...and hospice too...I mean, we already owe so much as it is.
PENNY
Did pa tell you that? This? The whole finance thing?
LUKE
Well ya, sort of, kind of, I mean...I think part of him, you know, or at least some part of him, thought maybe...
PENNY
What?
JOHN
Thought maybe this would happen.
LUKE
Or planned to, anyways.
JOHN
He didn’t know when or where or anything.
LUKE
But he thought, well, you know, eventually...
PENNY
And how do you two know? Why not tomorrow? Or next week? Or next year?
JOHN
Have you seen pa lately?
PENNY
Well ya, but...
LUKE
But what?
PENNY
I don’t know.
JOHN
Well you have to. Do. Don’t. That's up to you. But you have to come up with some sort of decision sometime soon. You can’t just do nothing Penny. You have to do something. It doesn’t matter what, it just has to be something.
PENNY
You really think this is what he wants?
LUKE
If he didn’t, he’d say as much.
PENNY
I need a drink.
Penny stumbles out of the room.
INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - NIGHT
A nurse sways in and out of conciousness, within a small chamber, shielded by glass fogged by handprints.
Penny knocks. Glass rattles. The nurse jumps with a fright, startled.
Mumbling, gurgling, guttural rumbling. The nurse stares at the woman, withdraws the divider.
PENNY
Is there a bar somewhere?
NURSE
In the hospital?
PENNY
Where else?
NURSE
No.
PENNY
Is there anything else?
NURSE
No.
PENNY
Are you sure?
NURSE
Unless you want a face full of dirt.
Penny nods, shoves her hands deep into her pockets, lumbers off. The nurse sighs.
NURSE
Wait.
Penny turns. The nurse reveals a hidden flask.
Penny smiles, steps forward. The nurse pulls back.
NURSE
Meet me at the gas station across the street over there in about a half hour. I don’t wanna lose my job over a drink.
Penny smiles, nods, walks off.
EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT
Amongst dirt, dust, and rusting machines, reside Penny, the nurse, JAXKIE, sharing a drink.
JACKIE
It’s not that I don’t like my job, I do. It’s just...I don’t know. I just...I just wish I could do something more, you know. Like actually help people, and not just pretend to. Like to actually do something, something worth something, you know? But how can I ever do anything with everything I already owe? I mean, I basically just live to pay off debt, you know. And again, I like my job, I do, I just...I don't know. I guess I just wish I could do something more than just nothing, you know?
PENNY
But if it wasn’t for you, who knows where my pa would be. Or what he’d be, or even if he’d be, even.
JACKIE
But that’s just it. Don't you get it? It doesn’t matter if it was me or Suzy or Mary or hell, even Jesus Christ for that matter. All I do all day is press a couple of buttons to call a bunch of people who actually know what they’re doing. Hell, a lizard could do my job with enough training.
PENNY
Look here Jackie. If I had some sort of life threatening disease or illness or what have you, you’d be the first person I’d call, even before my own brothers.
JACKIE
You’re drunk.
PENNY
You’re sober.
JACKIE
I have to get back to work.
PENNY
Like hell!
JACKIE
If you’re still around in the morning, I can give you a ride home or wherever. I mean, if you’re still drunk or whatever.
PENNY
I’d like that.
JACKIE smiles peevishly.
JACKIE
Till then, then.
Penny raises the flask. Jackie crosses the street.
INT. ROOM - NIGHT
Penny stumbles into the room, leans heavily against the broad door.
The two boys grumble, groan, laboriously moan.
LUKE
Can’t you just make up your mind already?
JOHN
Or at least let us sleep till you do?
PENNY
What do you wanna do that for?
LUKE
This might come as a shock to you, but sometimes, some of us actually have to.
PENNY
But what about Pa? What about him? What about if this is it for him?
LUKE
Is it?
PENNY
I don't know, maybe.
JOHN
Well until then we’ll just keep sleeping.
PENNY
What about me?
LUKE
What about you?
PENNY
Can’t I sleep too?
JOHN
No ones stopping you.
PENNY
You two are. Saying I have to come up with some sort of decision sometime soon; like it really matters what I do.
John looks to Luke. Luke sighs, nods.
LUKE
Do you really wanna know?
PENNY
Know what?
JOHN
Why it has to be tonight.
LUKE
Why it has to be so soon.
PENNY
Because you won’t spare a dime on the poor old fool.
Luke sighs.
LUKE
Obviously that’s not really why Penny. If it was, we’d take him in in a heartbeat, you know that.
PENNY
Then what? What? What are you so willing to kill the man over?
Luke looks to John. John shakes his head. Luke sighs again.
LUKE
Pa...pa may have gotten in a little over his head...moneywise.
PENNY
Well ya, duh, of course he did; he’s in like, a bunch of debt. We all knows that. But what does that have to do with this?
LUKE
He never paid it back.
PENNY
Of course he never did. Thats why it's called a debt.
LUKE
But if he didn't, if he doesn't, do you know what that means then?
PENNY
Repossesion. I know that.
LUKE
But if you run out of stuff, do you know what they do then?
PENNY
Well no, not really.
LUKE
They start taking away your family's stuff too. Stuff thats in his name and Ma's name too.
PENNY
You mean like the house?
JOHN
And other stuff too.
PENNY
Alright. Bankruptcy then.
JOHN
Just the same.
PENNY
I don't understand. How could pa live? Pay bills, the rent?
LUKE
He couldn't. He didn't. The place we found him in wasn't even his. It'd been abandoned for a long time since.
PENNY
Wait. No. This doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't he just move back in? With us? With ma? With any one of his friends?
JOHN
Pride, mostly.
PENNY
But wait, no, I don't understand. How will him being dead be any different than this?
JOHN
Insurance policy. Would pay off everything, mostly.
PENNY
But I thought you said this was legal? The doctors were in on this?
LUKE
It is. They are.
JOHN
The insurance company just needs a little misguidance.
PENNY
Wait, no. We can't do this. This is theft! This is fraud!
JOHN
From a billion dollar company.
LUKE
And we're not even asking for that much money. Just enough to pay off his bills, his debts, the interest, the loans. Chump change to them.
PENNY
You can't just do this!
JOHN
I mean, we could, we can.
LUKE
It's just up to you to decide if we will.
Penny hesitates, stomps out of the room.
INT. HALL - NIGHT
Penny glowers, groans, mumbles, moans, paces incessantly, a maleficent fury. A doctor passes, pauses, turns, calls out to Penny.
DOCTOR
Excuse me, ma’am, are you Mrs. Aeger?
Penny pauses, pivots, turns.
PENNY
Ms. Aeger. I’m his daughter.
The doctor smiles, approaches, offers a hand in greeting.
DOCTOR
Ah, even better! I just spoke with your father and we’re both in agreement.
Penny ignores the doctor's hand.
PENNY
Agreement about what?
DOCTOR
We’ll keep him here for the evening
PENNY
(Interrupting)
He’s already been admitted.
DOCTOR
And assuming nothing changes, which I highly doubt considering everything examined; assuming all that, we’ll send him home in the morning.
PENNY
After all this? After everything that’s happened? You’d send him home? With no complications? You do remember what happened last time that happened, don’t you?
DOCTOR
Mere melodrama, Mrs. Aeger.
PENNY
Ms. Aeger.
DOCTOR
Yes. Of course. I’m merely proposing
PENNY
(Interrupting)
He die somewhere else?
DOCTOR
Excuse me?
PENNY
A man dies here and you look like a fool. A man dies at home and theres nothing you can do. You just wanna keep your record clean. Looks good on a resume.
DOCTOR
If you’re insinuating
PENNY
(Interrupting)
I’m not insinuating anything. You are whole heartedly slaughtering my father; all because you’re too goddamn scared to do anything about him. You're just trying to shove him off before he has a chance to stop breathing.
DOCTOR
I assure you, Mrs. Aeger
PENNY
(Interrupting)
You can’t assure me of anything. A couple of hours ago you assured me he’d be fine.
DOCTOR
And he is.
PENNY
We had to bring him back again!
DOCTOR
Yes, well, that was your decision.
PENNY
The man is dying for Christ’s sake! Was the cost of admission your soul and conscience?
DOCTOR
I can understand your apprehension, however
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Go to hell!
Penny pivots, turns, and stomps down the hallway.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
Ramy lies on a cot, snoring tumultously, machines beeping away ominously.
Penny fumbles, fidgets, cradles a limp hand, twitches compulsively.
Ramy opens his eyes, lies on his side.
RAMY
Hey sweetie.
Penny suffers a smile.
PENNY
Hey pa.
RAMY
How ya doin?
PENNY
Oh me? Just awful! Absolutely awful! I mean these chairs alone are something terrible! And the food! The food is just atrocious! And don't even get me started on these nurses!
Ramy chuckles. Penny smiles.
PENNY
Hey pa?
RAMY
Hey Penny?
PENNY
Do you...do you really wanna go home?
RAMY
Well I don’t wanna stay here, if that’s what you’re thinking.
PENNY
So that’s what you want then? To go back home again? You weren’t pushed or pressured by the nurses or doctors?
RAMY
What else can I do? Stay here? And what? Wither away? No way. I’d much rather be at home with you crazies.
PENNY
But pa...Luke and John said...and ma too...
RAMY
Oh, that. Just a silly whim of the will.
PENNY
But if you really want to.
RAMY
I’d never ask that of you.
PENNY
So you do? Want to...you know...
Penny pauses, hesitates. Ramy smiles pitifully.
RAMY
If I’m going to live, I’d rather it be with you.
PENNY
But if you weren’t?
RAMY
That’s up to you.
PENNY
Pa...you can’t...I mean...you know I can’t do that.
RAMY
I know.
PENNY
So why’d you ask me?
RAMY
I didn’t.
PENNY
Well maybe not in so many words, no, but...
RAMY
Penny. I’d never ask anything of you I know you could never do. That’s why I put me in the charge of you, no matter how sound of mind I might be. If it was up to me, well...
Ramy sighs.
PENNY
You’d be dead already.
RAMY
A long time ago sweetie.
Penny wipes away tears.
PENNY
But why can’t you just get better? Why can’t they just make you better?
Ramy smiles sadly.
RAMY
What’s wrong with me can’t be fixed sweetie. Not by you. Not by them. Not even by me. It’s who I am. It's what I am. I’m a very sick man, sweetie, and not just up here.
Ramy taps his head, chuckles.
RAMY
It’s not easy being me; and if I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, but I am, so I am. And if you want me to continue to be, then so be it. But just know that I’m miserable. Know that I hate it. Know that I’d do anything just to end it. But I can’t ask that of you sweetie. I can’t ask that of anyone. I can't even ask that of myself, even. I’m a coward, Penny. I always have been. But I chose you because I knew you never would be. Haven’t the others decided already?
Penny nods.
RAMY
I expected as much. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But that’s why it has to be you; not them, not me. You know what’s best for me. You’ll know what to do with me, whatever that may be. But I’m not coming back again, if thats what you're thinking. Not here. Not again. At least not by my own free choosing. So it has to be tonight, you see; it has to be you.
Penny dries her eyes, hugs her dad.
RAMY
Now go find your mother for me. I want to speak with her a moment. That is, if you haven't scared her off already.
PENNY
You know ma would never leave you.
RAMY
No matter how hard we try.
Ramy winks. Penny chuckles, stands, and stumbles out of the room.
EXT. COURTYARD - NIGHT
June extinguishes a cheap ciggarette, lights another, haloed by a meager, dust-ladened lamplight.
Penny steps out onto the courtyard.
PENNY
Bum a smoke?
JUNE
Haven’t you enough already?
PENNY
What’s one more?
June rolls her eyes, offers a smoke, a match. Penny obliges, pulls, blows.
PENNY
European?
JUNE
Marlboro.
Penny nods. June sighs.
JUNE
What do you want Penny?
PENNY
Just a smoke is all. Thats all I need. Yes sir ree. Just a good, fresh, hand rolled cigarrete for me.
Penny coughs as she blows.
JUNE
You're a lot of things Penny, but a liar isn’t one of 'em.
A long pause.
JUNE
Penny.
PENNY
I just thought, I don't know, maybe we could talk, is all.
JUNE
About what?
PENNY
You know what.
JUNE
What about him?
PENNY
I mean, he wants to talk to you.
JUNE
Does he?
PENNY
That’s what he said.
JUNE
He says a lot of things.
PENNY
Ya, well, do or don’t, see if I care.
June pulls, blows.
JUNE
Why do you?
PENNY
He’s my dad.
JUNE
Since when?
PENNY
Since always.
JUNE
Ya? And when did that happen? When you graduated high school? Or how about college? Or how about last week? Or how about last night? Jesus Christ Penny, when has that man ever been there for you?
PENNY
And what about you, ma? What about you? When have you ever been there for me, or the boys, or anyone, ever?
JUNE
What about the food you eat? Or the place you sleep? Or the private university you insist isn't worthless?
PENNY
Congratulations ma! You did the bare minimum. You stopped us from choking upon our own spittle! Mother of the year, you are! And what about school? Or food? Or hell, even a place to sleep for that matter. Half the time you're out of a job, or giving away whatever you have to afford some cheap liquor!
JUNE
What do you know about being a mother? About a hard days work? About anything, for that matter?
PENNY
Jesus Christ ma, there are fish that drink less than you! Can you even remember the last time you were sober, or went to the boy’s games, or any of my concerts?
JUNE
Who do you think paid for that instrument, those lessons?
PENNY
They were free, ma! It was charity for Christ sake!
JUNE
Well I’m sorry some of us have to work for a living!
PENNY
Work? You’ve quit every job you’ve ever had!
JUNE
Now you know that’s not my fault! You know thats not true! You know that if it wasn’t for your father
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Oh stop with the pity story already! We get it! We got it! He got you knocked up; you were only sixteen! You never had a chance! Boohoo! Well what about us ma? What about us? Don’t at least we deserve a chance?
JUNE
I’ve given you everything I’ve got.
PENNY
That’s just it ma: every thing. Just things. Never you. Never your love. Never your pride. Never anything but things you could never afford in the first place.
JUNE
What do you want from me? An apology? I’m sorry your dad screwed me. Happy? Does that make you feel better?
PENNY
Screw you!
JUNE
You’re dad sure tried to. Every chance he got. He didn’t care what I said, why I said it, or how many times I said it either. As long as he could get a good screw in! And you want that man to live with you? Well, good riddance. Two of a kind, really! Two peas in a pod.
PENNY
Go to hell!
JUNE
I’ll see you there!
Penny stomps out of the courtyard and into the hospital.
INT. ROOM - NIGHT
Luke and John slump over stiff wooden chairs, knocked unconscious by the spell of seductive slumber.
Penny barges into the room, huffing, puffing, all in a fury.
LUKE
What’s wrong?
PENNY
Besides pa?
LUKE
Besides him.
PENNY
Who do you think?
JOHN
Ma?
PENNY
Of course Ma.
LUKE
It's always Ma.
JOHN
Why can’t you two just get along?
PENNY
It’s not me, it’s her!
JOHN
It’s both of you.
PENNY
Says you.
LUKE
You won’t even try to listen to her.
PENNY
What for?
JOHN
Maybe you should.
PENNY
Why?
LUKE
Well she’s your ma, for starters.
PENNY
She’s your ma too.
JOHN
And we listen to her.
PENNY
And look what good that’s done you.
LUKE
I thought you wanted to help pa.
PENNY
I did. I do. Of course I do.
JOHN
Then listen to someone besides your own conscience.
PENNY
I listen.
LUKE
No you don’t.
JOHN
You never do.
LUKE
Not to me or John or anyone, ever.
PENNY
Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I don’t listen.
JOHN
But you make a decision before you even have a chance listen. You don’t think about anything but how this or that might affect your position.
PENNY
Who do you think looks out for you two? Ma? Pa? Pa hasn’t been home in over a decade and ma can’t do anything but drink herself silly. I’m the one who looks out for you two, who takes care of you two, who makes sure you get food and water and a place to sleep too. Not ma. Not pa. Me. I do that. And you call that a selfish attitude?
LUKE
You’re not listening Penny.
JOHN
We're not saying that Penny.
LUKE
We're saying you don’t actually hear us.
JOHN
You don't actually listen.
LUKE
Sure, you might do what's best for us, mostly, but not by choice; only by accident.
JOHN
And we know that you try, we know that you do. Its just, sometimes, well, most of the time, well, all the time, actually, you just do what you think is best for us without even asking.
PENNY
I do not.
LUKE
Then consider Pa Penny. Consider his misery. Consider the misery of wanting to die but not having the courage to.
JOHN
And forget about the money, Penny; forget about the economics of it. He’s miserable, Penny. That’s the truth of it. He’s sick and ill and disease ridden and always hurting.
LUKE
What do you want him to live that way for? So you can feel better? So you can feel like you’ve done the right thing? Like you’re brave or whatever?
JOHN
What about pa, Penny? What about him? What about what he wants out of all this?
PENNY
He doesn’t know what he wants.
LUKE
Does he, or do you?
Penny pauses, hesitates, and steps out of the room.
EXT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT
PENNY
Bum a smoke?
Jackie sighs, digs through her pockets, tosses a pack of cigarettes, matches.
Penny lights a nail, pulls, blows, coughs.
Jackie chuckles.
JACKIE
Need a ride?
PENNY
Take one if you’re offering.
JACKIE
Where to?
Penny shrugs. Jackie snickers, walks off. Penny tosses her cigarette, follows.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
A fence. A herd of bulls. Jackie pulls over to the side of the road.
Jackie steps out of the car. Penny follows.
Jackie leans against a fence. Penny also.
JACKIE
I’m not a nurse, you know. So if you think this will do you any good, it won't.
PENNY
No?
JACKIE
I’m just a glorified secretary.
PENNY
But I thought
JACKIE
(Interrupting)
Well don’t. It doesn’t do anybody any good. Just a pretty face is all. That’s all that matters anyhow.
PENNY
Not always.
JACKIE
It does when your me. When you don't have a degree. When a high school diploma is all you'll ever be.
PENNY
But what about university? Or even trade school, maybe?
JACKIE
With what?
PENNY
You could save.
JACKIE
20 grand?
PENNY
What about scholarships then?
JACKIE
What about you?
PENNY
21st century.
Jackie grimaces.
JACKIE
You know what that means? Straight out of high school. No hesitation. Your whole life depeneded upon an 18 year old kid's decision. Pretty screwed up, in my opinion.
PENNY
Well you could go back again. Night classes or whatever. Or I guess technically day classes for you, technically; but with financial aid alone
JACKIE
(Interrupting)
Loans, Penny. Call them what they are. They’re just loans. And when exactly am I supposed to go back again? When I’m at work trying to make a living? Or when I’m at home taking care of my kid and siblings?
PENNY
Well what about your husband then?
Jackie glares. Penny hesitates.
JACKIE
Let’s not talk about him.
PENNY
Okay. Family then.
JACKIE
What family? The few that could, can’t. They have to work too you know. Life isn’t just strawberry fields forever.
PENNY
Okay. Child care then.
JACKIE
And who would pay for that? Along with this? And don’t forget about that pesky rent.
PENNY
Well maybe, in the short term, you could use the loans to
JACKIE
(Interrupting)
You don’t get it, do you? It’s a catch-22. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If I do I’ll be broke, if I don’t I’ll stay broke. You think I want my kid's life screwed up? Even if there’s just an inkling of a chance that kid can be anything I can’t, I’ll take it. I have to. What else can I do?
Penny stares at the bulls, sleeping in herds, a family of three, four.
JACKIE
It’s the way the world works Penny. God, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, Yahweh, whatever...it’s all the same. I’m here and you’re there; always have been and always will be. It's just how the world works.
PENNY
But maybe it doesn't have to. Maybe it doesn't need to. Maybe, maybe theres a reason for all this. For us. For everything. I mean, with my schedule as it is, I hardly ever work that much, and even when I do, its not like I couldn't handle a few kids. I know everyone else would be pretty cool with it, and I'm sure the kids probably would be too. I mean, sure, its not ideal or anything. But if its this or nothing, this or poverty...I mean, why not? What do you have to lose?
Jackie grimaces.
JACKIE
When has privilage ever not been there for you?
PENNY
What?
JACKIE
You're so stuck up in your collegiate elitist attitude that you can't realize life isn't just perfect all the time.
PENNY
But it could be! It can be! I don't understand why you're getting so upset?
JACKIE
Because you don't get it! Because you'll never get it! Life isn't just whatever you want it to be. Its not just that easy. I have bills to pay Penny. Loans. Debt. Rent. I can't just shove my kids off to some unknown man.
PENNY
But I'm not just some stranger. I'm
JACKIE
(Interrupting)
What?
PENNY
Well...a friend.
JACKIE
Ya? And what kind of friend are you? All you ever do is piss and whine and moan; and now, what, that makes us friends?
PENNY
No, Jackie, of course not, but
JACKIE
(Interrupting)
What?
PENNY
Well I don't know. Why can't you just let me do this for you?
JACKIE
Because I'm not just some pet project! I'm not just some charity case! Jesus Christ Penny! What the hell is wrong with you? I just met you! And now, what, you want to save me? My kids? My family? Maybe adopt them as your own? Become their legal gurdian?
PENNY
No. Jackie. Of course not.
JACKIE
Then what? What is it that you want? Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone!
Penny swallows, looks out at the herd of bulls. Jackie blunders to the car, opens the door.
JACKIE
You're a nightmare, you know that? No wonder your pops wants to end it. Probably figures it can't get much worse than this.
Jackie clambers into the vehicle, slams the door shut, revs the small engine. Penny stumbles, pushes, pulls: locked.
PENNY
Jackie...
Tires roar, rubber rebounds, metal lurches; Penny abandoned to her ill fated luck.
EXT. ROAD - DAY
Road becomes gravel. Gravel, dirt. Penny slips, trips, falls, rolls: a shallow ditch.
Upon her back, upon the ground, upon dirt coagulated by mud, Penny lies, resolute in her demure, resolved in her failure.
Tires roll, rubber burns, a car slows, stops. An old woman, SHERYL, steps out.
SHERYL
Are you alright miss lady?
Penny turns her head towards the old woman, her cane, her stationwagon: hysterical laughter.
SHERYL
Oh dear oh dear. You must be hurt something real bad to laugh something like that. I better call somebody fast.
Penny hollers up to the old woman.
PENNY
Don’t bother. I’m just a bag of bones already rotting.
SHERYL
To even suggest such a thing! And you a beautiful young woman!
PENNY
I’m not worth all that. Or anything, either. Never have been, really. My pa got it right. Life isn’t much worth living.
SHERYL
Now you come right up here right this instant or I’ll start calling the law enforcemnt!
PENNY
And tell them what? You found a young woman lying stone cold sober, sprawled out in the mud, filthy and rotten? What exactly are they gonna do? Send me to the looney bin? And what about you? Probably send you too.
A click. A clank. A shotgun aimed at her.
SHERYL
Now I’m not one to anger easily sweetie, and don’t think I much am, cus I ain't, not yet. But I’m not one for negotiating either. So you come right up here right this instant or I’ll
PENNY
(Interrupting)
What? Shoot me? Do it. Try it. Make the world a much less miserable hovel.
A shot fired.
Penny jumps. Screams. A bullet wedged two inches above her.
SHERYL
Now I’m not asking again sweetie. Get in this here car o' mine before my aim starts improving.
Penny obliges, hands held high, sitting in the passenger’s seat of the car.
SHERYL
Uh uh. Other side sweetie.
Penny climbs over the divider and into the driver’s seat.
Sheryl sits down beside her, gun aimed at her.
SHERYL
Go on now. Get.
PENNY
Where?
SHERYL
Why wherever you wanna go sweetie.
Penny starts the car, palms aching, head sweating.
Penny hesitates. Sheryl cocks the gun. Penny drives.
INT. CAR - DAY
Penny stares out the windshield, hands 10 and 2, failing the resistance of perpetual shaking.
SHERYL
Now don’t you none worry none about that deary. No ones going to hurt you. Just do as you say and everything will be okay.
PENNY
You mean as you say.
SHERYL
No, sweetie, you. I’m here for you.
PENNY
You’re aiming a gun at me.
SHERYL
Well of course I am sweetie. You wanted to snuff it. What else could I do?
PENNY
So you thought, what, you’d just do the job for me?
SHERYL
Oh honey, sweetie, don’t be so naive; so gosh darn credulous. As if I’d ever hurt an innocent butterfly like you. I’m here to save your life, sweetie.
PENNY
Ya? How so?
SHERYL
If I didn’t come upon you just when I did, someone else might of and hurt you something bad.
PENNY
Are you absolutely insane?
SHERYL
No. Just practical.
PENNY
If you don’t want to kill me then why don’t you put that gun away?
SHERYL
And let you ram this car straight into a tree, killing not only you but also me? No, I don’t think so sweetie.
PENNY
Okay. Well. Then. What do you want then? My wallet? My money? My social security number?
SHERYL
I don’t want anything sweetie, just for you to be happy.
PENNY
Well you sure have a funny way of showing it.
SHERYL
Would you rather I drive sweetie?
PENNY
I’d rather you not point that gun at me.
SHERYL
Well now that’s just silly! Don’t you think sweetie? All this hullabaloo all about a little old rifle? Why honey, sweetie, you’re a grown woman. Why don’t you just tell me where we’re going.
Penny sighs.
PENNY
The hospital.
SHERYL
Super!
PENNY
Not for me.
SHERYL
No?
PENNY
For my father.
SHERYL
I’m sure he loves you very much sweetie. He must be so proud.
PENNY
No. You don’t understand. I’m going to the hospital to see my father.
SHERYL
Of course you are sweetie. I understand.
PENNY
I really don’t think you do though. I’m going to the hospital because my father is in the hospital.
SHERYL
Of course he is sweetie.
PENNY
And he’s the one sick. Not me. Okay? He’s the one bedridden.
SHERYL
Of course he is sweetie. I understand.
PENNY
But I really don’t think you do though. He’s the one dying. Don’t you understand? My father is dying, like actually dying, and worse of all, worse than anything actually, is the fact that he actually wants to. That’s all he wants, actually. To kill himself. To commit suicide. To end it all. And for what? Nothing.
SHERYL
They wouldn’t let a man like that do a thing like that; not in a hospital, most assuredly.
PENNY
But that’s just it, don't you get it, they’re the ones doing it: committing the crime that is somehow legal. Doctors. Nurses. Medical proffesionals. Those who promised never to commit any wrong doing.
SHERYL
Harm, sweetie, not wrong doing.
PENNY
Whatever. It doesn’t matter. But you get my point, don’t you? It’s not me you need to save, it’s him.
SHERYL
What do you want me to do, sweetie? Go in guns ablazing?
PENNY
Well no, not exactly, but if you could just
SHERYL
(Interrupting)
What?
PENNY
Well I don’t know, do something!
SHERYL
What can I do sweetie?
PENNY
I don’t know! Something! Anything!
SHERYL
Is he in pain?
PENNY
Well ya, sure, but
SHERYL
(Interrupting)
A lot?
PENNY
Well ya, sure, but
SHERYL
(Interrupting)
And do they know? What it is? Or what to do?
PENNY
Well no, but...
SHERYL
What?
PENNY
Well what about me? I mean, you practically shot me! How is my father any different than me?
SHERYL
Are you your father sweetie?
PENNY
Well no.
SHERYL
Are you terminally ill?
PENNY
Well we don’t know for certain if
SHERYL
(Intereupting)
He does.
PENNY
What?
SHERYL
He knows. When you know, you know, and he knows.
PENNY
You can’t just know something like that!
SHERYL
He does.
PENNY
How?
Sheryl shrugs.
SHERYL
He just does.
Penny pulls over to the side of the road.
SHERYL
Take a moment if you need it sweetie. As many as you need, really.
PENNY
It’s not that.
SHERYL
No?
PENNY
We’re out of gas.
Sheryl leans over the cushioned divide. A sigh.
SHERYL
Well that’s not so bad. A gas station shouldn’t be too far off. In fact, I’m pretty sure I just saw one a mile or so back.
Penny nods morosely.
PENNY
We’re not gonna make it, are we?
SHERYL
Make it where, sweetie?
PENNY
To the hospital, before he ends it.
SHERYL
I'm sure we will sweetie.
Penny breaks down bawling.
SHERYL
Oh honey. Sweetie. It’ll be okay.
PENNY
What if its not. What if he does. What if he, they, them, decide
SHERYL
(Interrupting)
He wouldn’t.
PENNY
You don’t know him.
SHERYL
No. I don’t. And I hardly know you at that. But I do know fathers. And daughters too at that. And I know for a fact that no father would ever make a decision such as that without their daughter, without their child, without saying goodbye to the ones they've never forgotten. I know that to be a fact.
PENNY
You’ve never met a man like my father then.
Sheryl pauses.
SHERYL
No. I don’t suppose I have. But if he did. If he does. If he would. Well, you deserve better than that.
PENNY
You don’t know me.
SHERYL
I don’t have to. Everyone deserves better than that. Even a scumbag like me deserves better than that.
Penny dries her eyes, chuckles.
PENNY
So what do we do now?
SHERYL
Now, now we go get gas.
Sheryl sets down her gun and steps out of the car. Penny pauses, hesitates, stares at the gun.
Penny steps out of the car and follows the old woman.
EXT. GAS STATION - DAY
Sitting on a bench, smoking a cheap cigarette, sits a teenage boy, sixteen and not a day more.
Seeing the two women, the boy smiles, pulls, blows, tips his weathered hat.
The old woman hobbles up to the boy, the young woman beside.
BOY
How can I help you two now?
PENNY
Our tank ran out about a half mile back. Think you could lend us some gas?
BOY
Lend? What do I look like? Some sort of shark to you?
PENNY
Look, if you could just lend us some gas I’m sure we could pay you just as soon as we get back. Just give us half. A quarter. An eighth. Just enough to get us here if you have to.
BOY
And how do I know you two even own an automobile?
PENNY
What the hell else would we possibly need gas for?
BOY
A bomb.
PENNY
What?
BOY
Like terrorists or something.
PENNY
Jesus Christ kid, do we look like terrorists to you?
BOY
Well...
The boy looks the woman over, her afghan body, her mocha skin, her middle eastern features.
PENNY
Jesus Christ kid! What the hell is wrong with you? You white trash punky little
SHERYL
(Interrupting)
May I?
Penny rolls her eyes and stomps away.
Sheryl leans in close to the young man.
SHERYL
Between you and me, I think she’s just the same. One of those god hating, muslim loving, American raping terrorists. But here’s the thing kid: I’m in deep, you understand? Real deep. And I need a little assistance every now and again. If you get what I mean.
BOY
You mean, like, the CI of A? Like, spies and stuff?
Sheryl’s eyes widen.
SHERYL
Now don’t you none go blurting out no secrets kid. I’m in deep, you understand? Ain’t no coming back again. So lend us some gas, will ya? And we’ll be on our way. Do your part, kid. Be a hero. Save the US of A.
The boy eagerly nods and fumbles away.
The boy returns with a can, haphazardly fills it, glares at the young woman, and winks at the old.
SHERYL
Now how much do we owe ya?
BOY
On the house. Anything for
The boy leans in close.
BOY
A real life American hero.
The two salute.
The boy glares at the young woman and shuffles back into the station.
The old woman approaches Penny, smiles conspiratorially.
PENNY
What was that all about? I thought you said you didn’t have anything.
SHERYL
I didn't. I don’t. Just some dumb hick stuff I learned back in the day.
Sheryl winks. Penny chuckles.
The two stroll back to the car a half mile away.
EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY
A dilapidated car pulls into a graveled lot. Penny removes the keys from the ignition, pauses, hesitates.
PENNY
Well this is it then, I suppose.
SHERYL
Unless you’d rather I
PENNY
(Interrupting)
No. Better not. Better I do this one on my own. Or at least, with my family, you know. You can’t choose em, but...
SHERYL
Good luck, sweetie.
Penny opens the door, pauses.
PENNY
Do you think...do you think I’m doing the right thing?
SHERYL
That depends.
PRNNY
On what?
SHERYL
What you’re doing.
Penny shrugs.
SHERYL
Then you’re doing the right thing sweetie.
PENNY
But how do you know?
SHERYL
Assurance is a blind woman’s ignorance sweetie. If you don’t know, you know.
Penny shakes her head. Sheryl chuckles.
SHERYL
Honey, if everyone knew everything about everything no one would know anything about anything. Better to go find out than to sit here waiting.
Penny nods, smiles, and steps out of the vehicle. Penny turns back to Sheryl. Sheryl smiles.
Penny steps into the hospital.
INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - DAY
Penny peers through the glass window, the glass divide, the fishbowl which protects the nurses from the masses: no sign of Jackie.
Penny sighs and knocks upon glass. The divider sways.
NURSE
Can I help you?
PENNY
I’m here to see Mr. Aeger. He’s my father.
The nurse nods and searches the catacombs of her files.
NURSE
I’m sorry, Mr. Aeger
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Was released already. Of course he was. Of course that’s exactly what happened. Of course the one time I leave the hospital
NURSE
(Interrupting)
I’m sorry. Perhaps I’ve misspoken. Umm, you know what, let me call the doctor.
The nurse closes the divider and dials a number, speaking conspiratorially to a doctor.
Penny peruses the room: a man holding a disembodied finger, a child holding his nose, bleeding through cloth, a young woman cradling her eye.
The nurse removes the divider.
NURSE
He’ll be right out.
Penny smiles and sits near no other, staring down at her shoes, twiddling her thumbs idly.
A long time passes.
A young doctor enters.
Penny stands. The doctor offers a pitiable smile.
DOCTOR
Ms. Aeger, I presume.
Penny nods. The doctor sighs.
DOCTOR
Your father...I mean...Mr. Aeger...he’s...you see...I’ve...I mean...
PENNY
What?
A trepidatious sigh.
DOCTOR
My condolences, Ms. Aeger.
PENNY
You mean he’s...
The doctor nods and stares at the floor.
PENNY
And what? Nobody thought to call me to tell me what’s happened? To inform me about the death of my own father?
DOCTOR
We tried to, but
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Of course you did. Of course that’s exactly what happened. I’m sure you tried a lot of things while you were killing him.
DOCTOR
I’m not really sure what you’re implying.
PENNY
I’m not implying anything! Will you just, can I just...where is he?
DOCTOR
Down those steps and to the right. In the morgue. The cremation’s at noon.
Penny pauses, hesitates, steps down the steps and into the morgue.
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
Mold, filth, decaying grime.
Before a dead body, before a wrapped carcass, stand John, Luke, June. Penny pauses, at the precipice of the room.
PENNY
What the hell?
JUNE
Penny...
PENNY
No ma, what the hell? You weren’t even gonna tell me? Jesus Christ ma; how heartless are you?
JUNE
You know his faith.
PENNY
Screw his faith! His religious sect or whatever! What good are they gonna do to a man already dead already?
JUNE
If the man wanted to be cremated immediately following his passing the least we could do is honor his last will and testament.
PENNY
You couldn’t even bother to call me and tell me what’s happened?
JUNE
How could we? You weren’t at home. Or if you were, you wouldn’t pick up the phone. And if not there, then, well, what else could we do? It’s not like we knew where you were. Where you’d been. Where you’d gone to. My god, Penny, we had no idea what happened to you.
Penny hesitates.
PENNY
Well you still should’ve waited.
JUNE
Till when? For what? He’s dead, Penny, dead. He’s not getting back up again. What could you possibly have to say to a dead man lying?
LUKE
Ma...
JUNE
Luke, stay out of this. John, you too. In fact, why don’t you two go upstairs for a little while. Get a snack from the vending machine or something. I need to talk to your sister alone for a little while.
JOHN
But ma...
JUNE
Go.
The two oblige and sulk up the steps.
JUNE
Now Penny, I know you and I haven’t seen eye to eye on a few things
Penny scoffs.
JUNE
Okay, a lot of things. Hell, most things, if not everything. But this is different. This is new. This, for once, is not about you. Or me, or the boys, or anyone else, either. Because this, this is about your father, and only your father. And I know it may not be what you wanted, god knows it’s not what I wanted, but it was his dying wish. His last will and testament. And the least we can do is grant him that. Can’t we? Can’t we at least do that? Can’t we at least look past our own differences for the sake of your father? At least for the time being? At least for another hour? At least until after the cremation?
PENNY
Why? What for? It’s not like he's coming back from the dead. Or being reanimated by doctor Frankenstein or his mosnter. He’s gone, ma, gone: you said so yourself. So why are you still so afraid of him?
A long, trecherous silence.
JUNE
What we did, what we were, it wasn't good for us, for anyone.
PENNY
So you left.
JUNE
Because I loved him.
PENNY
Then why'd you let him suffer?
JUNE
Because he was sick. Because we were sick. Because us, together...it was never good for you kids.
PENNY
You don't know that.
JUNE
We fed off each other, me and him. We got a kick out of it, out of all this. The drinking, the beating, the stealing. That was us. Who we were. Who we are. But when you were born, well, we never planned that far. But when my ma found out, and his pa too, well, we had to. And maybe they were right, maybe this was best, I mean, look at you.
PENNY
Ma...
JUNE
And they thought that would change us. They thought we would change. And, to be honest, we thought so too. But when we didn't, when we weren't, when we were just the same, well, we figured, why not try again? So we did. And how did that turn out? No better than you. I didn't wanna be that way, I don't wanna be that way, but as long as I'm with him, whenever I'm with him, I'm always that way. So I figured, it had to be him, it had to be him. He had to be why. He had to be the reason why. I figured, if I could just get rid of him, well, then, I don't know, that would just make things better somehow...but it didn't. It didn't. I thought it was him, I thought he was why, I thought he was the reason why; but turns out, he was only an excuse, a cheap wretched tallisman. When he was gone, when he had left, when I was no different. Well, that was somehow worse somehow, that somehow made things worse...I guess its cus I knew it was me, I knew there was nothing I could do about me. I knew, for the first time in a long time, that he didn't have anything to do with me. And was he any better, without me? I don't know, it doesn't much seem so. I guess we were just doomed in that way. Like fate or destiny or whatever. But I don't know...but it could've been worse. It could've been worse. You could've had us both. At least this way, you're only half broken.
PENNY
And what about him? What about him? You think this is any better for him?
June smirks a gruesome smile.
JUNE
Thats the one thing you never understood about him.
PENNY
What?
JUNE
To him, life was just the way to the end. He hated it, all of it, every minute of it, from beggining to end. But he could never end it. He could never do that. He was a coward. Still is. Never had the courage...and maybe that was noble, maybe that was brave, maybe that was selfish. I don't know. But it doesn't matter now, does it? He's dead. He finally did it. Or, at least, someone did.
PENNY
You mean...
June nods. Penny pounces up the steps.
INT. HALL - DAY
The two boys struggle with an archaic machine, pushing one button after another, mumbling under haggard breath, failing to make much of their effort.
Penny pauses at the top of the steps, wearily approaches.
PENNY
Which one of you was it?
LUKE
Penny...
JOHN
It’s what he wanted.
PENNY
How can you just do this?
The two shrug.
JOHN
People die. It’s what they do. There’s no use getting upset about it.
PENNY
But he didn't just die, did he? He didn't just pass. You killed him! You murdered him! You slaughtered our father!
LUKE
Can't we just talk about this later?
PENNY
I wanna do an autopsy.
JOHN
What?
PENNY
I wanna know what happened.
LUKE
You do. He died. Thats what happened.
PENNY
I wanna know how.
JOHN
It doesn't matter how.
PENNY
Of course it matters!
LUKE
Why?
PENNY
Because it just does, okay. I wanna know what happened.
JOHN
Penny...we can't.
PENNY
Why?
The two sigh.
LUKE
The insurance company, remember? The plan and all that? If they find out what actually happened, they're gonna start asking a lot of questions.
PENNY
So you did, then? Murder our father?
JOHN
You weren't here Penny.
LUKE
Pa couldn't take it.
PENNY
You can't just do this!
JOHN
We already did.
PENNY
So thats just it then? After all this? After everything thats happened? After everything I did? All, what, for nothing?
LUKE
Penny, its not like that.
JOHN
It's just what the poor guy wanted.
LUKE
This was his way of making amends. Of saying I'm sorry. Or at least trying to, anyways.
PENNY
So we're okay with this then? Committing this last crime for him?
JOHN
We're just following orders: his last will and testament; how can we be to blame for this?
LUKE
We didn't even give it to him.
JOHN
And neither did the doctors.
LUKE
I mean, sure, we asked, and they provided, but when it came down to it, like to actually doing it, it was just him, and him alone. Plausible deniability, you know.
PENNY
And you couldn't even wait for me?
JOHN
We wanted to. We did. We begged him to. Really, we did.
PENNY
But?
LUKE
He said no. Said it had to be then. Said he couldn't see you again, knowing what he did.
PENNY
So this is it then? After everything thats happened? Its all been decided then, all by him?
JOHN
Its just what he wanted.
A long pause.
PENNY
What if I tell them?
LUKE
Who?
PENNY
Everyone. Everything. What happened. What he did. What you did. What we did.
JOHN
He'll still be dead Penny.
LUKE
There's nothing you can do.
Penny moves to speak, pauses, hesitates.
JOHN
Better to swallow your pride than to hold onto it forever. We understand why you’re upset, we do; we were too. We’ve just had more time to process it than you.
Penny bites back bitter tears.
LUKE
We should probably start heading down there soon.
Penny sighs and nods and gestures, exasperated, following the two boys down the steps and into the morgue.
INT. MORGUE - DAY
June stands opposite Penny and the two boys, their father between them, a mortician before them.
MORTICIAN
Typically people like to say a few words before we begin.
JUNE
I have nothing to say.
Luke and John shake their heads, look to Penny.
PENNY
What’s said is said. No use getting mushy about it.
MORTICIAN
Simple enough.
The mortician pushes the carcass into the fire, watching him burn, ashes to ashes.
Penny wipes away tears. June looks away, saddened. The two boys look to each other, down at the floor, exhausted.
The mortician withdraws a small bag: the dead man’s ashes.
MORTICIAN
And who should I deliver these to?
June looks to Penny. Penny to June.
PENNY
I don’t want em.
JUNE
Neither do I.
Penny and June turn to the boys.
LUKE
Don’t look at us. We don’t want a dead man's ashes.
MORTICIAN
Very well then. I'll dispose of them properly. However, I must ask, as a licensed mortician, and a father at that: are you sure about this? Are you sure you want to do this? Are you absolutely certain this is what he wanted? How he wanted to go? How he wanted to be remembered? Spread by some unknown mortician; practically a stranger? We all have our quirks, I know, and maybe he was stranger than I’ll ever know, but I must admit
PENNY
(Interrupting)
Just give me those stupid ashes.
Penny snatches the ashes and stomps up the steps. The two boys follow. June also.
INT. CAR - DAY
Penny climbs into the car, followed by the boys, June.
LUKE
Where to?
PENNY
Well I don’t know. Where did pa wanna go to?
The two boys shrug.
PENNY
Ma?
June pauses, hesitates.
JUNE
There’s a field. About thirty miles out. A farm. Your father and I used to drive by it, talked about maybe even one day buying it. Never really happened though...but, I think he’d like that. I really do. I think your pa would really like that view.
Penny nods.
PENNY
Okay. Well. Then. Where is it?
JUNE
Just start driving and I’ll tell you when I see it.
Penny nods, starts the car, and drives off.
EXT. FIELD - DAY
Amongst cows, bulls, dirt, and mud, resides an old, beat up, run down car.
From this dilapidated vehicle disembark John, Luke, Penny, June. Solemn, silent, reverent, quiet.
The four approach a barbed wire fence. June withdraws the young man's ashes.
LUKE
Wait, mom, doesn’t like, someone like, own this or something? I mean, shouldn't we at least ask for permission before we
John elbows Luke in the stomach.
LUKE
What?
JOHN
Respect the dead a little, why don’t ya?
LUKE
I’m just saying...I mean, isn’t this like illegal or something? Spreading his ashes over private property? And what if the cows eat em? Or the bulls for that matter? Do you really think that’s how pa wanted to go, eaten by cows and bulls?
June glares at her son.
LUKE
I’m just saying.
June looks to Penny.
JUNE
Why don’t you say something Penny?
PENNY
About pa?
LUKE
Isn’t that the whole point?
Again June glares. Luke looks away. June looks back to Penny.
JUNE
You don’t have to if you don’t want to.
PENNY
No. I will. I should. Pa would’ve wanted it that way.
Penny pauses, sighs, breathes heavily.
PENNY
Pa...pa would’ve said something really stupid right about now. Something about how we all have time to die but no time to live. Or something stupid like that. But...I don’t know, I guess there’s nothing really much to say, really. I mean, I guess pa tried, in his own sort of way. And sure, he wasn’t a great guy, or a good guy, or even an average sort of guy, really, but sometimes, sometimes he was okay. I don’t know. I don’t really know what to say. He was what he was and now he’s dead and now these cows and bulls will probably eat him whole, and part of me thinks, ya, pa kind of deserves that. And not in a good way or a bad way or any sort of way, really, but just in the way he was; just the kind of guy to be eaten by cows and bulls; whatever that sort of thing means anyway. And ya, I guess that’s all I really have to say, really. I mean, pa was the kind of guy who’d turn convert just for the sake of sympathy. The kind of guy who wouldn’t pay his taxes because he had some sort of principle. The kind of guy who would go to work every day not because he had to or wanted to or even because he should for that matter, but just because he had nothing better to do for the time being. But...I don’t know. I guess I’m not sad in the way I should be. I mean, I am: sad, and angry, and confused. But I’m not...I don’t know. I guess I just thought I’d feel differently than I do. But I don’t. Not really...But I guess that’s just it, you know. Life or whatever. If you go around thinking you’ll be dead one day, one day you will, and then where will you be? Eaten by cows and bulls I suppose. I don’t know. I guess that’s all I really have to say, really. Pa was pa and now he’s dead and that’s about it. Anything to add?
June smiles, shakes her head, releases the ashes; caught in the wind, spread over the grasses.
The two boys wallow off. June smiles, pitiable, wanders off.
Penny sighs, dries tear soaked eyes: miles and miles of cows, bulls, feeding upon unfettered grasses.
A road. Dilipidated. Empty. Abandoned.
Only Penny and asphalt. Penny and gravel.
No Luke. No John. No June. No car.
Just Penny and her ill fated luck, tumbling down the old country road.
FADE OUT