Lost Lake (7 page)

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
At least you rented to me.

HOGAN
:
You were the only one responded to the ad.

VERONICA
:
Well, this wasn't the only house I looked at. I came up the week before and saw another place nicer. A lot nicer. But the sweet old lady who owned it took a look at me coming up the driveway and said, You're too late, dear, it's just been rented.

HOGAN
:
You gotta expect that kind of thing, I guess.

VERONICA
:
I expected it from you. I nearly got right back on the bus when I saw you the first time.

(
She finishes
.)

Better?

HOGAN
:
Yeah. You're very good.

VERONICA
:
Well, thank you very much.

(
She cleans up the broken glass
.)

I sewed a man's finger back on once. Whole tip of his finger. His knife slipped chopping lettuce, he said. There were no doctors around, I put it back on for him. Fifteen minutes. He walked out of there, went back to his restaurant where he worked or wherever. I thought, I just put a man's finger back on his hand.

(
She throws out the glass
.
She returns
.)

HOGAN
:
Why'd they fire you?

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
I wasn't what I said I was.

HOGAN
:
What are you?

VERONICA
:
I'm a nurse.

HOGAN
:
That's what you said you were.

VERONICA
:
I said I was a nurse practitioner.

HOGAN
:
Oh yeah.
     I'm still not that clear on the difference, to be honest.

VERONICA
:
Well there's like a thirty-thousand-dollar-a-year difference.

HOGAN
:
Okay, that I get.
     So you exaggerated a little bit, I don't care.

VERONICA
:
The
hospital
cared.

(
Beat
.)

HOGAN
:
Oh. You told
them
—

VERONICA
:
You know, you're like Sherlock Holmes. You're a fuckin' genius.

HOGAN
:
Sorry.

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
When my husband passed I'd done all the work for that degree except one year.
     The summer after he died I'd take the kids out sometimes to the beach or someplace? But that's just for the day. And it's a long day, and everybody gets cranky, you're all exhausted and sandy on the train coming home, and the kids start fighting, and then you're just back in your apartment and somebody's got to make dinner … It's almost worse than when you left that morning. It's like you never went anywhere.
     So when I saw that hospital job opened up … that perfect job I knew I could do as well as anybody … probably
better
 …

HOGAN
:
You tweaked your résumé a little bit.

VERONICA
:
I submitted a false
transcript
. I
lied
about my
credentials
.

HOGAN
:
Huh.

(
Beat
.)

It's actually pretty impressive.

(
She glares
.)

I mean, to pull that off.

VERONICA
:
I didn't pull it off, that's the point!

HOGAN
:
You did for a while. How'd you get caught?

VERONICA
:
Another nurse in my department wrote a few too many prescriptions for her “friends.” After she got arrested they went and did an extra background check on everybody.

HOGAN
:
And they spotted your little creative whatever.

VERONICA
:
Now I'm probably even gonna lose my regular RN license. I have to go before a review board. I had to beg to get to do
that
.
     That's why they called. The other day. That's why I had to walk down the road. To beg for a chance to beg the board to keep my license.

(
Beat
.)

HOGAN
:
Well, I can see why you had to walk down the road to deal with that.

VERONICA
:
I still can't believe I left the kids swimming, I felt so bad afterward I wanted to …

(
Beat
.)

So I don't think you're a—what you said. But listen. If you made a mistake, and there's any way to correct it … you should really try and correct it.

HOGAN
:
I didn't take their damn money!

VERONICA
:
Hogan.

HOGAN
:
What do I have to do to convince you?

VERONICA
:
I'm just trying to help you is all.

HOGAN
:
Sounds like you're the one who needs help. Just 'cause you're walking around with a guilty conscience doesn't mean you have to start lecturing me—

VERONICA
:
All right, forget I said anything.

HOGAN
:
I mean it's my
family
, for God's sake.

VERONICA
:
All right! I'm sorry. Okay?

HOGAN
:
Okay.

(
Beat
.)

Anyway, back to your thing. Here's my opinion:

VERONICA
:
I didn't ask for your—

HOGAN
:
I really don't think you should blame yourself. Okay yes, you screwed up. But it could have been a lot worse.

VERONICA
:
How?

HOGAN
:
Did you say you knew how to do something you didn't know how to do, kill a patient or something?

VERONICA
:
No.

HOGAN
:
All right. So that's a major plus right there. That's huge.
     And you probably really needed to, right? Or you wouldn't have done it. You
almost
had the degree, right? The last year of school was probably bullshit anyway, just papers and exams and stuff, you want to move things along, you roll the dice a little bit. That's completely understandable! I mean it wasn't very intelligent but it's understandable. Plus with the whole dead husband thing, I mean come on!
     And you're a good mother, hell, you're a
great
mother. You want to take good care of your kids. You want to be able to give them nice vacations, get them swimming in a goddamn lake in the sunshine instead of indoors for once. Don't beat yourself up about it.

VERONICA
:
No?

HOGAN
:
No. You'll be all right. Don't worry. It's all gonna work out, you'll see.

VERONICA
:
Maybe. Maybe it won't.

HOGAN
:
Well, you know what they say. Bad luck runs in streaks. You know, one domino falls and then another one and then another one and another one. Bip, bip, bip, bip, bip. But eventually they have to stop, right?

(
Beat
.)

You know, when I got divorced—

VERONICA
:
I really don't want to hear it.

HOGAN
:
Okay.

(
Beat
.)

You want to go outside, shoot at some stuff?

(
She stares at him
.)

I've got a rifle in the truck. We can set up some bottles and cans on the road, blow off steam. I do it when I'm fed up sometimes. It's surprisingly relaxing.

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
You know, I think I would really enjoy that right now.

HOGAN
:
Really?

VERONICA
:
You know what would make it even more fun?

HOGAN
:
What?

VERONICA
:
Blindfolds.

(
He stares at her
.)

HOGAN
:
You're messing with me.

(
She laughs
.)

Okay.

(
Beat
.)

What are you going to do? When you go back.

VERONICA
:
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen.

(
Beat. He drinks. He tentatively puts a hand on her thigh.
)

You're kidding, right?

(
He removes it
.)

HOGAN
:
Right.
     I'd better go.

(
He gets up, goes to the door
.)

VERONICA
:
What are
you
gonna do? After we leave?

HOGAN
:
No real plans.
     I'll manage.

He waves, exits, goes out to the truck
.

The motor starts. Lights shine into the cabin for a moment, then swing away. It's dark again and quiet.

Beat
.

She picks up the bird book. She presses one of the buttons. A birdcall. She presses it again.

Fade
.

 

SCENE 5

January
.
The cabin looks uninhabited. Bottles, other rubbish.
VERONICA
appears outside. She knocks. No answer. Tentatively comes in. She has a couple of take-out bags.

VERONICA
:
Hogan? Hogan?

(
She looks around. She sets the bags down. While her back is turned
HOGAN
enters, bleary
.)

HOGAN
:
I heard your voice. I thought I was dreaming.

VERONICA
:
I knocked. You didn't answer.

HOGAN
:
I was napping.

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
I brought you some coffee.

HOGAN
:
I don't drink coffee. I'm a tea drinker.

VERONICA
:
Oh.
     (
Tentative
.) Well, there's some doughnuts too. And I got a couple butter rolls, in case you're hungry. And a fruit salad.

HOGAN
:
A fruit salad?

VERONICA
:
Yes. Are you hungry at all?

HOGAN
:
What are you doing here?

VERONICA
:
I have a …
     (
Resets
.) I came to see how you were doing.

HOGAN
:
I'm fine.

VERONICA
:
You want me to put that heater on?

HOGAN
:
It's broken. I've been meaning to replace it.

VERONICA
:
You don't look fine.

HOGAN
:
You woke me up. What do you want?

VERONICA
:
Look, I'm not sure how to …

(
Beat
.)

I got your envelope.

(
He says nothing. She digs in her handbag
.)

I got this envelope sent to my house. Did you send it? I haven't seen you or talked to you for six months and this comes, no return address, no note, just cash. Forty-five hundred dollars cash money. Sent through the mail.

HOGAN
:
So?

VERONICA
:
Did you send it?

HOGAN
:
Yes.

VERONICA
:
Why?

HOGAN
:
I thought you could use it. Given your situation.

(
Beat
.)

VERONICA
:
I called here. The phone is, once again, disconnected. I called your brother—

HOGAN
:
Oh jeez, why?

VERONICA
:
Because I'm looking for you to find out what's going on with this!

HOGAN
:
You didn't tell them—

VERONICA
:
I just asked to speak with you.

HOGAN
:
I don't know why you went to all the trouble. That's what the money was for, to make things a little easier.

VERONICA
:
You really thought I'd keep it?

HOGAN
:
Why not?

VERONICA
:
It's the money you took from your brother.

HOGAN
:
Not all of it. I kept five hundred for myself.

VERONICA
:
It's stolen.

HOGAN
:
No, it's
missing
. The only way they'd know it was stolen was if you showed up on their doorstep like an idiot and tried to give it back to them.