The Jacket

BECKER: Don't get all worked up, Justin. I expected some common sense on your part and clearly I was expecting too much. [Beat] Just open the drawer.

DR. GRIES: We never should have done this to him...

BECKER: Well, what are we gonna do about it now?

DR. GRIES: You ok?

BECKER: I'm fine.

DR. GRIES: [Beat] Listen, I hate to bother you...

BECKER: Then don't.

DR. GRIES: But... what about Starks?

BECKER: What about Starks?

DR. GRIES: Should we be...

BECKER: Should we be what? Trying to change him any way we can? [Beat] Yes.

DR. GRIES: But the Jacket? I mean...should we be leaving him in like that?

BECKER: How did you come to know their names?

STARKS: You just told me. The last time I was with you was when I was in the Jacket. I'm in it right now, Dr. Becker.

BECKER: I don't understand...

STARKS: I'm in it as we speak. [Beat] You're haunting yourself right now. [Beat] I guess sometimes we indict ourselves if no one else does. You didn't make history like you wanted to, huh, Dr. Becker. It turned out different, didn't it?

BECKER: I didn't put you in Alpine Grove.

STARKS: No. [Beat] You put me on drugs and then you put me in the Jacket.

BECKER: Of people like you. People I was just trying to help. They couldn't get worse so I thought, with medication, they might get...

STARKS: Medication? What kind of meds do you chase with nights in a cadaver drawer?

BECKER: It was part of the treatment I intended...I didn't know what the effects would be...

STARKS: So, what, you guinea pig sick people to find out?

BECKER: The three of you weren't regular patients. You were criminals that ended up at Alpine Grove.

STARKS: No, we were patients.

BECKER: I don't know how you died. The last time I put you in the Jacket was just after you told me you remembered killing that police officer...

STARKS: I didn't say I remembered killing him. I just repeated some words to get myself back in there.

BECKER: I know. [Beat] I knew that when you came out.

STARKS: How?

BECKER: Because...because you came out and said something you couldn't have possibly have known. You came back and repeated three names...

BECKER: You died, Starks. Years ago, in the hospital.

STARKS: I know. [Beat] You killed me, didn't you?

BECKER: No. I didn't. I swear I didn't. I probably helped push you to kill yourself, but I didn't do it.

STARKS: I didn't kill myself. I died from a blow to the head. How'd it happen? I have to know.

BECKER: Who are you?

STARKS: I think you know. Your eyes say you do.

BECKER: [Beat] You're his son?

STARKS: No. I'm not his son. I'm him. [Beat] What? You look like you've seen a ghost. You can come here and touch me, old man. I'm the real thing.

BECKER: How...how are you here?

STARKS: Becker, how do you sleep at night?

BECKER: You in here. [Beat] Works like a drug.

BECKER: I'll say a prayer for you in Church today, Starks. Maybe the Gods can pick up where the medicine left off.

STARKS: You sure you know where to find one?

BECKER: I've managed to every Sunday of my life. [Beat] Some of us are God- fearing men, Starks.

STARKS: And what does that mean?

BECKER: Means we believe in doing his work and fear what the world would be like if we didn't at least try to.

BECKER: And what's that?

STARKS: My business?

BECKER: Yes.

STARKS: Getting away with things. Like whatever I may or may not have gotten away with Officer Harrison.

BECKER: You killed him?

BECKER: Hello, William. I understand you've been asking for me almost every hour. I would've been here sooner but you gave our little state visitor quite a bit to talk to me about.

STARKS: That's too bad.

BECKER: It is. But when it comes down to it, you just have to patient with them. They'd rather have their vacation, too, so they just push dealing with our "practices" off to the New Year.

STARKS: They make it hard for you to get away with your business, huh?

BECKER: Temporarily.

STARKS: Long live the Organization for the Organized!

BECKER: Sit down, Mr. Starks! Sit down, Mr. Starks!

STARKS: We are not birds of a feather.

BECKER: Maybe not. [Beat] But I do think you're in a tree... woofing like a dog. And I'm just trying to help you the only way I can think of.

STARKS: I didn't dream it. I may have been asleep but it wasn't a dream. BECKER sits down in a CHAIR, half-shrouded in the light.

BECKER: I had a patient a few years ago. His name was Ted Casey...

STARKS: I don't give a shit about your patient!

BECKER: I wasn't pausing to see if you did. [Beat] But, incidentally, you should, because you're birds of a feather.

BECKER: You're just suffering from delusions that are unfortunately part of your condition.

STARKS: Don't give me that. I know what's real, goddamnit! You strapped me in something and stuck me in a drawer.

BECKER: Relax.

STARKS: Don't act like I don't know what's real. [Beat] I'm not the one that's crazy here.

BECKER: [Pointedly] Of course you're not.

BECKER: We were forced to use restrains if that's what you're referring to.

STARKS: That wasn't a fucking restraint.

BECKER: Actually, that's exactly what our equipment is.

STARKS: I don't know better. All I know is that you left me in there.

BECKER: In where?

STARKS: [Uncertainly] In that thing...the Jacket.

BECKER: He's recovering on the third floor.

STARKS: Are you kidding me? He's not psychotic!

BECKER: Then how would you describe him, Beth? Merely rebellious?

BECKER: You said you couldn't remember killing Officer Harrison. Correct?

STARKS: [Beat] You don't believe me, do you?

BECKER: It's not my job to believe you.

BECKER: Well, your condition's pretty serious.

STARKS: [Beat] So they say. [Off Becker's steady gaze] What?

BECKER: I'm just looking at you. Does that make you uncomfortable?

STARKS: Depends on what you're seeing.

STARKS: He died because he bled to death from a blow to his head. Someone had to have given him it.

DAMON: I never touched your father! I swear!

DAMON: Look here, I don't like you getting in my face and saying this bullshit to me...

STARKS: That's too bad.

DAMON: I thought you said you never knew your father.

STARKS: I didn't. [Beat] Did you have anything to do with his death?

DAMON: I don't know what you're talking about, man. I swear. This is some weird shit you're telling me... and I don't know how come you're doing it.

STARKS: My father used to talk about you.

DAMON: Oh yeah, what'd he say?

STARKS: Did you know my father?

DAMON: Oh yeah, sure. He killed a cop, right?

DAMON: That's right! Goddamn, you're the spitting image. I didn't know he had a son.

STARKS: He didn't either.

DAMON: Do I know you from somewhere?

STARKS: You may have known my father, William Starks.

LORENSON: Where? [Beat] It's Becker isn't it? He's doing stuff, isn't he?

DR. GRIES: Later. I'll tell you about it later. We got a session to catch now.

LORENSON: What should they be looking for?

DR. GRIES: They should just be looking harder.

LORENSON: It's the ticking of a box on a sheet of paper no one cares about.

DR. GRIES: They don't care about all the things we do right. [Beat] But they might ...they might care about what we're doing wrong. [Beat] That's what they should come here to look for.

DR. GRIES: We're late.

LORENSON: I wish they'd skip the formality of this annual review and just cut our budget. Our silence on the matter should be enough to appease the civic conscience without wasting an hour we don't have.

DR. GRIES: Maybe it's not such a waste.

STARKS: I need to get this letter to someone.

DR. LORENSON: I can't take you out of here in your condition...

STARKS: And I can't stay here in my condition. I am going to die tonight. It's already been decided.

DR. LORENSON: No, it hasn't.

STARKS: Yes. [Beat] It has. Everything up 'till today is done. Everything starting with tomorrow is up for grabs.

STARKS: This is really happening, isn't it?

DR. LORENSON: [Beat] What do you need me to do?

STARKS: [Beat] Thank you.

STARKS: You done with your small talk?

DR. LORENSON: Sure.

STARKS: Good.

DR. LORENSON: You look like you've lost some weight. Are you eating?

STARKS: I am. One of the few things I remember doing is eating. So I guess I must be exercising it off in my dreams.

DR. MORGAN: I'm sorry I can't tell you more about your father's death, Mr. Starks. Our own medical examiners determined only that he died from a blunt trauma to the head but that was right around the time the Alpine Grove's staff changed and I'm afraid we didn't have the best record system before then.

STARKS: His body was found on January 1, 1993, but do you know if that was long after he had died?

DR. MORGAN: No, I don't. I'm sorry. I wish I knew more.

STARKS: What about Dr. Thomas Becker or Dr. Loel Lorenson? There was also a Dr. Gries, I think.

DR. MORGAN: Well, Dr. Lorenson is still here at the hospital. If she was here at the time your father was, then I'm sure she'd be of more help to you.

STARKS: What about Dr. Becker and Mr. Gries?

DR. MORGAN: Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with Dr. Becker and Dr. Gries passed away three, four years ago.

JEAN: Jackie, go play in the snow.

JACKIE: Why?

JEAN: Just do it.

JEAN: I'm sorry? Your face looks awfully familiar, I just can't quite place it...

JACKIE: Mom, this is the guy that drove us home that afternoon we were stuck on the highway. The guy you yelled at for no good reason...

JEAN: Oh, yeah.

JEAN: Get your fucking hands off my daughter!

JACKIE: Mom, he just fixed our car.

JEAN: Jackie, get in the car. NOW!

JACKIE: How you doin'?

STARKS: I'm doing fine.

JACKIE: It's ok. It's ok. Relax. It's just a cut. We can get it fixed. But we need to get you to the hospital now. How'd you get that?

STARKS: I fell down. [Beat] But I'm alive.

STARKS: I think so.

JACKIE: You're bleeding pretty bad there.

STARKS: [Beat] You be good to yourself, Jackie.

JACKIE: Ok.

JACKIE: I've been ok.

STARKS: Good. How's your mom?

JACKIE: Ok, I guess.

STARKS: You gotta stop thinking like that.

JACKIE: Then, where are you going?

STARKS: Nowhere. [Beat] I just think I'm gonna be sick.

JACKIE: What?

STARKS: When we first met, when you were 7, where was the house you lived in with your mother? Do you remember your address?

JACKIE: 112 Orchard Way. [Realizing, in a whisper] You're not coming back, are you?

STARKS: Lorenson's the only one that could let me out of there. I need something to persuade her that I was there. Get me something to take to her.

JACKIE: Ok. Ssh. Rest.

STARKS: What's happening to me? Why am I getting so much weaker?

JACKIE: Because your body can only take so much of what they're putting you through.

STARKS: Where are we going?

JACKIE: To the hospital.

STARKS: If everything hadn't happened the way it has, then I wouldn't be here right now, sitting in a car with you, touching your face.

JACKIE: Why are you saying that? [Beat] We don't have long, do we?

JACKIE: That's all you got from him? That bastard helped take your life away from you.

STARKS: No, he didn't.

JACKIE: What? How can you say that? He's the one that put you in that goddamn medieval...Jacket. He's probably the one who killed you.

STARKS: They've got lives to be grateful for.

JACKIE: William, you're not making sense.

STARKS: [Beat] They're at Church. And I bet that's where Becker is.

STARKS: Of course he will. [Beat] What day of the week is it?

JACKIE: It's Sunday.

STARKS: I don't know. Maybe that's because this whole thing is a dream. How can you have a street with no cars on it?

JACKIE: I don't know. But this isn't a dream. I'm real, and so is where we are.

STARKS: Then why isn't there anyone around?

JACKIE: [Beat] I don't know.

JACKIE: What? What are you thinking?

STARKS: There're no cars on this street.

JACKIE: They're not here.

STARKS: They're not.

JACKIE: [Beat, lost] No.

STARKS: You're sure?

JACKIE: Yeah. I called the number yesterday to make sure. Thomas Becker, retired M.D.

STARKS: Me, too.

JACKIE: Here, drink this. I'll get the heat going.

STARKS: Of course it makes me mad. It makes me more than mad. Just like remembering the face of the man who killed that officer and knowing nothing more about him. But what's it gonna do for me to find them now? I can't fix everything in three days.

JACKIE: You've got to get yourself out of that place. They're going to kill you if you don't.

STARKS: I might not be able to.

JACKIE: It's not a prison, it's a hospital. There's got to be some way out of there and you've got to find it...

JACKIE: What about Captain Medley? He never told them what happened to you over there. His testimony...that coward wanted them to think you were crazy.

STARKS: I know. It was perfect. [Beat] Erase my sanity and you erase anything I'll ever say.

JACKIE: How long do we have?

STARKS: I don't know.

JACKIE: They told me Becker's in Shelbourne now. I looked him up and he was listed.

STARKS: I don't believe a thing she just said.

JACKIE: Me neither. Who was the boy she was talking about, Eugene?

STARKS: I have no idea.

JACKIE: You think Lorenson kills you?

STARKS: Maybe. I don't know. Seems more likely Becker does, but at the very least she knows how I died.

JACKIE: Let's see if they have an address for Becker. I also want to figure out more about the kid you helped her with.

STARKS: Why?

JACKIE: Because that's the part I believe is true. You probably did help her somehow with the boy and Eugene's name did come up over and over again on the abstracts I pulled.

STARKS: I didn't kill Officer Harrison.

JACKIE: I know.

STARKS: How? Did they figure it out after I died?

JACKIE: No. They never figured it out. I did. Most murderers don't stop to help a drunk woman and her little girl on the side of the road. Not without hurting them.

JACKIE: [Softly] I want to trust you. Should I trust you?

STARKS: Yes.

JACKIE: Then we need to figure out what happened to you. It's the only thing we can do.

STARKS: I know.

JACKIE: Alpine Grove still exists. I looked it up on the net. We should go there and see if there's still anyone around who might have known what happened to you.

STARKS: If they don't take me out before then. [As an afterthought] What's the net?

STARKS: Do you really believe me?

JACKIE: I don't know. [Beat] I thought I was crazy after you left that day. I died. I still think I could be crazy. But then I replayed that night in my head -- the parts of it I could remember -- and it was like...I don't care if I was, or am. I haven't felt that way in a room with someone my whole life. [Beat] And when you left, all I wanted was...

JACKIE: [Beat] You bled to death.

STARKS: What?

JACKIE: I don't know how you got the cut to your head, but you died bleeding from it.

JACKIE: But no one knew until after...

STARKS: After I...

JACKIE: The Jacket. That's what they call it, right?

STARKS: Yeah.

JACKIE: It was banned, you know... and it led to an investigation of Dr. Becker's mistreatment of some of his patients. That's when they found out how badly he was drugging his patients...

JACKIE: I'm telling you I don't care what time you think you're in. You're not William Starks. [Beat] I don't believe in many things, but I believe in death. And it doesn't give back what it takes. So whoever you are...I did a nice thing, you've made me regret it enough already, so please, just leave.

STARKS: I'll leave. But look at me. Look at my face, Jackie. I'm not lying. I met you and your mother. I told you then that I'd lost my memory. [Beat] There was no one for miles around so I know you know there's no way I could have known that from a pair of dog tags you had lying around.

JACKIE: Please...

STARKS: I gave you my dog tags.

JACKIE: No, you didn't. They found William Starks' body dead in the snow.

STARKS: How'd he die?

JACKIE: I don't know. But he did die. STARKS falters under the news. JACKIE looks around, through her now blurred eyes, like she might find some help in the apartment. She settles for the BOTTLE of VODKA on the table, lowers the iron fork and takes a long heavy drink, then laughs nervously as she looks up.

JACKIE: I know what this is...I picked you up when I was drunk and you probably thought I'm just fucked up enough to fall for this. But the thing is I know what I'm doing when I drink. I just usually don't care. Right now, I do though. And I want you out. Now.

STARKS: It's December 25th, 1993 today.

JACKIE: No, it's not. [Beat] It's December 25th, 2004.

JACKIE: I looked it up.

STARKS: How?

JACKIE: Stop it! Stop it! JACKIE covers her ears and looks at him, pleading with her eyes. STARKS' eyes plead right back.

STARKS: I'm sorry for upsetting you, [beat] but I'm not lying to you.

JACKIE: You can't be William Starks. He's dead.

STARKS: [Beat] What?

JACKIE: William Starks is dead... [Beat] I've been to his grave.

STARKS: [Beat] What?

JACKIE: His body was found New Year's Day, 19...1993. At Alpine...

STARKS: Jackie, I'm William Starks. I can prove it.

JACKIE: What? Now you're gonna show me some kind of driver's license?

STARKS: No, I don't have anything to show you. I'm here from a mental hospital.

JACKIE: Well, you belong in one.

JACKIE: What'd you do? Snoop all over the place? You had no right. You had no right to go through anything.

STARKS: [Beat] I know it doesn't make sense. It doesn't even make sense to me.

JACKIE: If you don't get out of my house right now, I'll call the police.

STARKS: I think I can remember what's on them.

JACKIE: William Starks. [Beat] Thanks.

JACKIE: What're those?

STARKS: Dog tags. [Off her blank look] They've got your name and date of birth for identification.

JACKIE: What for?

STARKS: [Beat] In case you get lost, or can't remember who you are.

JACKIE: You're just gonna walk?

STARKS: Yeah, I'll hitch a ride or something. [Beat] Let her throw it all up before she gets back behind the wheel.

JACKIE: But I like it I guess.

STARKS: Hey, can you reach the gas pedal?

JACKIE: Yeah.

STARKS: Your mom take anything before this happened?

JACKIE: Yeah, but I don't know what.

STARKS: [Beat] What's your name?

JACKIE: Jackie.

JACKIE: Come on, mom. Don't fall asleep...

STARKS: You two ok?

JACKIE: Our car won't start.

JACKIE: Because Becker resigned after the charges brought against him by State Patient Advocacy Groups.

LORENSON: I see you've done your homework. [Beat] Alpine Grove's undergone a lot of changes since then. At the time, we didn't have the...resources to help our patients the way we needed to. [Beat] Now, we do. And things are different.

JACKIE: Just a little, when we were looking up information about William's father. How did he help?

LORENSON: It's complicated, but [looking at Starks] in a way, your father let me know how I'd get through to him.

JACKIE: How?

LORENSON: He just said...that I'd shock Eugene and then things would change for him.

JACKIE: I don't understand.

LORENSON: I still don't either, even after all these years.

STARKS: You know how to get there?

LORENSON: Sure. It's an easy address. A little far out there, but easy enough.

STARKS: Good.

STARKS: I don't know when it'll happen but soon I think, you'll shock the boy and it'll wake him up.

LORENSON: What are you talking about?

STARKS: You'll figure it out and you'll do good by him.

STARKS: He's having absence [pronounced "absance"] seizures when he stares off into space like he does. He has them so often that that's why he hasn't learned to speak properly.

LORENSON: Who told you this?

STARKS: You did, in the future. You figured it out because a part of you already knows this. That's how it works. [Beat] I'm just telling you something you already know, even if you haven't realized it.

LORENSON: William, I can't indulge these delusions, even when you're in this state.

STARKS: Listen to me. That's all I ask.

LORENSON: I'm not gonna let that happen.

STARKS: You still don't believe me, do you?

LORENSON: I do believe you...

STARKS: No. Listen to me...the kid, Eugene...

STARKS: Can I get some paper and something to write with.

LORENSON: What for?

LORENSON: You're going to be ok, William. We just need to get your fever down and we'll be able to hopefully stabilize you.

STARKS: Who are you kidding, Doc? You or me?

STARKS: Who...who kills me?

LORENSON: You have nothing to fear, William.

LORENSON: I know. I know it all. Save your strength. I already know everything you're going to say. [Beat] You're in the Jacket right now, aren't you?

STARKS: How...how do you know?

LORENSON: You told me this was how it happened.

STARKS: I did?

LORENSON: Yeah.

STARKS: Some part of you suspects -- even if you don't know for sure -- that what I'm saying is true.

LORENSON: I don't know how you know about Eugene, but these ideas are part of your delusions.

STARKS: NO! They're not my delusions! Look, just leave my business with Becker to me!

LORENSON: How do you know about Eugene?

STARKS: You told me about him. I saw you and I think you thought I knew something about him. So you told me.

LORENSON: Why don't you help me?

STARKS: Because I don't have time.

LORENSON: Why not?

STARKS: I'm about to die unless I do something to stop it.

LORENSON: And how do you know that?

STARKS: Because of the future. I know what's going to happen.

LORENSON: William, that is just another facet of my delusions.

LORENSON: [Beat] Like who? Like MacKenzie maybe?

STARKS: Maybe.

LORENSON: Ok fine. Tell me about it. Tell me about the future. 2004. What does it look like?

STARKS: It doesn't look all that different.

LORENSON: The future doesn't look different?

STARKS: No. Not for people like me. [Beat] Not in the places I come from.

LORENSON: What about the world?

STARKS: I didn't see that much of it -- same as now. I only saw it as part of my own life.

STARKS: I don't know. [Frustrated] Remember?

STARKS: Come on. Tell me what you do know.

STARKS: [Beat] I've seen a time that's not this time. And I'm only able to see it when I'm in the Jacket.

LORENSON: Well, what time is it?

STARKS: 2004.

STARKS: You don't understand.

LORENSON: Then help me understand. You know, you're not alone. A lot of Gulf Vets have begun to experience curious symptoms. What you have might well be a syndrome and, if so, it's not one we know enough about to be treating it this vigorously.

STARKS: This has nothing to do with that.

LORENSON: What do you mean?

STARKS: You have no idea what's going on.

LORENSON: No, I do. That's what I'm saying to you.

STARKS: Listen to me! You don't! The Jacket is my only chance in this place.

LORENSON: You'll die if you keep smoking those in your condition.

STARKS: I'll die either way.

STARKS: Exactly.

LORENSON: Well... [beat] let me know how your search turns out.

STARKS: [Beat] We will.

LORENSON: It's important for you to know who your father was, isn't it?

STARKS: [Beat] Yeah, it is.

LORENSON: So maybe Dr. Becker would know. [Beat] But, as I'm sure you know, the statute of limitations has run out for charging the hospital with any liabilities.

STARKS: Why would we do that?

STARKS: Well, do you think Dr. Becker would have any idea?

LORENSON: How do you know about Dr. Becker?

STARKS: My dad wrote some things down before he died.

STARKS: How'd he get it?

STARKS: [Beat] I don't know.

STARKS: But Dr. Morgan said you were around when my father was...

LORENSON: I was. But I saw a lot of cuts and a lot of blows. I'm sorry I don't know more about your father's. [Sincerely] I didn't know about everything that went on here.

STARKS: What case?

LORENSON: I was working with a boy named Eugene.

LORENSON: At the end, he made me change my mind about a lot of things.

STARKS: You thought my father was crazy?

LORENSON: My God you look exactly like him.

STARKS: I never knew my father. Did you?

LORENSON: Yeah, I did. [Beat] He was my most memorable patient.

STARKS: Why?

LORENSON: You should be careful. You could be killed if they found you out here.

STARKS: Believe me, I know.

STARKS: Why, what would you do?

STARKS: I could try to...make it stop.

STARKS: No. I don't want it to.

LORENSON: So it's helping?

LORENSON: You were convicted of the crime.

STARKS: That conviction doesn't convince me of anything. Until I know that I did it, I'm not going to accept that I did.

LORENSON: You may never remember at all. [Beat] Your mind's grasp of reality and the real events that have happened to you has been damaged.

STARKS: No. The real events that have happened to me have been fucked up. Not my mind.

STARKS: And if I didn't want to come?

LORENSON: I guess I'd ask you why.

STARKS: Because I don't think I'm crazy.

LORENSON: You're not crazy.

STARKS: MacKenzie, [beat] what if we are crazy?

MACKENZIE: [Shrugging] What if we are? There're crazier things than thinking up fictions for yourself. [Beat] Everyone does it, don't they? Even Becker. That roller coaster car pops more pills than all of Ward 3.

STARKS: Becker does? Are you sure?

MACKENZIE: I've been here for 11 years. It's my neighborhood. 'Course I'm sure. He's as drugged up as the rest of us...I guess he has to be to put up with all this.

MACKENZIE: Geez, how's that for a fucking "thank you"?

STARKS: Is it true?

MACKENZIE: 'Cause Lorenson's got her claws in it now. When she started getting suspicious about me was when they stopped using it on me. Women!

STARKS: So what am I supposed to do?

MACKENZIE: You could still always give Becker an itch. 'Course you might get killed when he goes to scratch it, but seems to me you're saying that's about to happen anyway. [Beat] Just be careful not to walk yourself right into something.

MACKENZIE: It's gonna be sticky.

STARKS: Why?

MACKENZIE: Oh no, you're pretty young. Your body'll be able to handle a lot more of it than you think...

STARKS: No. [Beat] I mean I found out while I was in it that my body's gonna be found in four days.

MACKENZIE: I know you need one when it's really cold.

STARKS: [Cutting in] MacKenzie, listen to me. Listen. I'm going to die.

MACKENZIE: Mortality's actually a great thing to be familiar with. It means you're sane on some level.

STARKS: [Gravely] No, I mean in four days, I'm supposed to die.

MACKENZIE: [Beat] How do you know?

STARKS: The Jacket.

STARKS: What were you talking about the other day?

MACKENZIE: I wasn't talking about anything.

STARKS: Yeah, you were. What you said about them taking me out to the woods...

STARKS: Yeah, well 30 times probably would make you seem crazy.

MACKENZIE: Or just plain stupid. You'd think by the twentieth time, I'd have found an alternative method. Maybe a more effective one, if you know what I mean.

MACKENZIE: I tried to kill my wife.

STARKS: Don't you go to jail for that?

MACKENZIE: I tried something like 30 times. There is, as STARKS rightly figures, no suitable response to that.

MACKENZIE: That's Kingsley. Old bastard hears us, I'm sure. He just doesn't want to bother answering so he makes us think he can't talk. I know. I tried it on my mother for two months once before she fished out my tongue. Literally. [Beat] You're the cop killer, right?

STARKS: Yeah, guess so. How'd you know?

MACKENZIE: TV. Helps numb [makes a "crazy gesture"] any active mind. [Sticking out a jittery hand] Rudy MacKenzie.

TENNY: Can you drive?

STARKS: Sure.

TENNY: Great, get in. We'll switch off in a bit.

TENNY: Hey, Mister, you need a ride?

STARKS: Where are you going?

TENNY: I'm going to Canada but I can let you ride with me up to the border.

TENNY: It's worse than war. It's worse than anywhere you've ever been.

STARKS: I doubt it. [Beat] I don't think prison's so bad you don't want to remember it...

TENNY: You ever been to jail?

STARKS: No.

STARKS: I'm sorry.

WAITRESS: Yeah, me too. [Softly] Every day for the last ten years.

STARKS: That when you stopped being a nurse?

STARKS: They told me I joined the army when I was seventeen. That's when my father died and, before that, it was apparently just me and him since I was born 'cause my mom split.

WAITRESS: So you never knew your mother?

STARKS: I guess not. But, as of now, I never knew either.

WAITRESS: I'm sorry.

STARKS: Yeah. [Beat] How about you?

WAITRESS: Never knew my father. I grew up with my mother. Actually, I grew up around my mother. She was great though. I mean, the way she was with her friends... She was this woman who had so much life in her, she had to find ways to kill some of it just to be like the rest of us. [Beat] She died young.

STARKS: How?

WAITRESS: She fucked herself up day after day and then, one day, she fell asleep with a burning cigarette. [Beat] I came home from work and she was gone.

STARKS: But hey, who can forget those words? The man just wants simple and good things for his woman -- that she be warm and happy. How hard can that be to remember?

WAITRESS: May be easy to remember, but not easy to get. Being warm, maybe -- but, look, you don't even have a coat and I still have to chop wood to make a fire. [Beat] And, being happy...you tell me if that's simple.

STARKS: This is a great song.

WAITRESS: You remember it?

STARKS: You don't think that's crazy?

WAITRESS: Maybe. [Beat] Maybe not.

WAITRESS: Well, good for you.

STARKS: [Beat] Why?

WAITRESS: [Beat] Real is overrated.

STARKS: [Beat] Why'd you stop?

WAITRESS: Shit happens, and your life changes. 'Bout the best explanation of a lot of things that happen. [Beat] So how come you don't know where you're coming from?

STARKS: I don't know, but I think part of it's...

STARKS: So you're a waitress, right? I mean...from the uniform you were wearing.

WAITRESS: Yup. That's me.

STARKS: You like it?

WAITRESS: [Beat] I do it.

STARKS: Have you always been a waitress?

WAITRESS: This is pretty good. Considering...

STARKS: Thanks.

WAITRESS: You want a drink?

STARKS: Sure.

STARKS: I only lit it because it was so cold in here. I'm sorry if...

WAITRESS: No, it's fine. [Beat, swallow] Thanks.

WAITRESS: What's this?

STARKS: The best I could do with what was in your fridge.

STARKS: [Beat] Yeah, I'm fine.

WAITRESS: You know what? It's Christmas Eve. And you look clean -- I mean, you're normal-looking. [Resolutely, for her own benefit] It's Christmas Eve, and I have a couch.

WAITRESS: Great. That was our last option. What am I going to do with you?

STARKS: Nothing. [Getting up] Thanks for bringing me this far.

WAITRESS: Where are you going? You'll freeze out there. You don't even have a coat.

STARKS: I'll manage.

WAITRESS: No, you won't. You'll die of cold out there and then I'll have to feel guilty. And I've already got more guilt than I know what to do with. [Beat] Do you want something to drink?

STARKS: No, I'm ok.

STARKS: No.

WAITRESS: Well, don't you somewhere? Stuff? Belongings?

STARKS: No. [Beat] Not around here.

WAITRESS: Well, how'd you get here?

STARKS: [Beat] I was dropped off.

WAITRESS: Do you have a motel or something? Money?

WAITRESS: Well, where are you from?

STARKS: I'm not sure. [Beat] I don't really know.

WAITRESS: Of course you don't know.

STARKS: Why "of course"?

WAITRESS: Because in my life, it wouldn't make sense for me to pick up some normal guy with a place where he's from and a place where he's going to. It'd be too simple. I probably wouldn't know how to handle a situation like that.

STARKS: Well, you definitely didn't pick normal or simple this time either.

STARKS: I'm not sure.

WAITRESS: You don't have anywhere to stay?

STARKS: I don't think so.

WAITRESS: All right. [Beat] You got somewhere you need to go, Mister?

STARKS: I'm not sure.

WAITRESS: Let me ask you that again. This time, look around and consider your options.

WAITRESS: In case you hadn't figured, it's Christmas Eve. You're never gonna get a cab here.

STARKS: [Beat] Thanks.

WAITRESS: If you're deaf, read my lips...I don't need a psycho following me today.

STARKS: [Beat] I'm not deaf.

WAITRESS: Good.