Lost in America Page #12

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NANCY:

That's something.

DAVID:

It is something. Yes.

NANCY:

Well, look, I think we should

try to make the rest of the day

as pleasant as we can. Since

we're heading towards Hoover Dam

anyway, we should make that our

destination for today. We can

go there, look around, maybe

have a picnic or something, and

maybe just see the dam and just

have a nice day outside. What

do you think?

DAVID:

(staring straight

ahead, speaking

in a monotone)

Is that what you'd like?

NANCY:

Maybe it would be fun.

DAVID:

(still staring,

still speaking

in a monotone)

Fine. Hoover Dam.

CUT TO:

33EXT. HOOVER DAM - DAY

There are people walking around, tours going on and

children playing. The motor home pulls up. They park.

Nancy gets out with a bounce in her step, hoping David

might copy her. David gets out like Frankenstein,

walking very slowly, with no expression.

NANCY:

Look at this! Come here. God!

Just think. Men built this!

DAVID:

(still with no

expression)

Yes. Men did build this.

NANCY:

What about something to eat?

Hungry?

DAVID:

No.

NANCY:

I'm starved.

DAVID:

I don't think you can eat now.

NANCY:

Why?

DAVID:

Because with the little bit of

money that we have left, I think

we have to sit down and make up

a new budget. Until we do, maybe

we shouldn't spend it all on

cotton candy and other various

knickknacks here at the dam.

Nancy is beginning to get irritated and frustrated that

he will not talk to her like an adult.

NANCY:

Well, if that's your attitude,

I think you should give me half

the money and let me eat whatever

I want and you can do what you

want with your half. I think

that's the fair thing.

DAVID:

(the release of his

anger now begins)

The fair thing? The fair thing?

That's it! You're right. I've

been controlled! Boy, have I

been controlled! I guess any

doctor could have spotted it.

I was about to die, I was so

controlled. You took all the

money we had!

People can hear this echoing for miles around.

DAVID:

(continuing; now

yelling)

You took our nest egg and you

broke it up! You got yoke all

over the casino! You got the

white all over the coffee shop!

You threw the shells in the

parking lot! Fair? Fair?!

Where was I when you were

playing with the egg? Sleeping.

Sleeping. Goddammit!

NANCY:

Good. Get it out.

DAVID:

Shut up! Don't talk to me like

I'm an insane patient!

NANCY:

Let's just go back inside. You

can yell at me. You should, I

think it's right. I just don't

want you to yell out here.

DAVID:

Out where? This is where we're

going to have to live. Why not

yell out here? We're going to have

to do everything else out here.

We'll be sleeping out here and

eating out here and going to the

bathroom out here! Get used to

this cement, baby! This is it!

Out here is it! We found ourselves!

We found ourselves, alright! We

found ourselves with eight hundred

dollars in the middle of nowhere!

Nancy walks away. She sees a crowd that is gathered

around and she does not want to have an argument in

front of these people. David follows her.

34EXT. SIDE OF ROAD - HOOVER DAM VISITOR AREA

DAVID:

Where are you going?

NANCY:

I don't want to have an argument

in front of those people.

DAVID:

Why not? I think those people

are entitled to know how stupid

you are.

NANCY:

This is going to turn into a

personal attack, isn't it?

DAVID:

What else? A general attack? Who

am I going to attack? Nevada? I

can't attack the state. It wasn't

their fault. I can't attack the

motor home. It stayed in the

parking lot. I can't attack me.

I was fast asleep. By process

of elimination, who's left?

NANCY:

I am. I'm left, okay? And I'll

say it one more time - I'm sorry.

They are off by themselves now. They have reasonable

privacy. They are both very upset.

DAVID:

I don't want your apologies. I

want to know why? I want to try

to understand how it happened. Tell

me. How did it happen?

NANCY:

I couldn't sleep.

DAVID:

You couldn't sleep. I see. Now,

I remember nights where I couldn't

sleep. I'm just trying to think

what I did. Let's see. I tried

warm milk or I took a long walk or

I took Nytol and then, if all that

didn't work, I gave away all the

money I ever earned. But you

didn't try any of those things

first. You just gave away the

money first, right? What did you

intend to do? Have warm milk

afterwards? Tell me. I'm mixed

up.

NANCY:

You're not even listening.

DAVID:

I'm sorry. You're right. Go

ahead. You couldn't sleep. Then

what happened?

NANCY:

I don't remember. I just went

downstairs.

DAVID:

Why didn't you wake me up?

NANCY:

What would you have done?

DAVID:

What would I have done? I would

have followed you.

I would've seen you. I would have

watched you take your money and

begin to lose it and I would have

stopped you at thirty dollars,

maybe thirty-two dollars, at the

most. I would have said,

"Sweetheart, come back to bed.

We don't want to fool with our

nest egg." You know, Nancy, I

think you just considered nest

egg to be a term but to me, it

was a key to this whole experiment.

Why, I considered it like a third

person. It was our best friend,

our guardian angel. It was going

to allow us to do everything we

wanted to do. It was going to

watch over us during bad times

and laugh with us during good times.

It was going to help us roam and

purchase and eat and explore. It

was going to help us make love

and laugh and cry and now, it's

gone and who's got it? The Desert

Inn! They've got our nest egg.

They can sure use it, can't they?

They don't have their own. They're

a poor little organization. They

need our nest egg. Gee, I hope

they use it wisely. I know someday

those mirrors are going to have

to be reflocked and the red velvet

was looking kind of worn. And

those little heart beds are going

to need new sheets. I'm glad we

could help them pay for that. I'm

glad our life savings will go

towards making that room look a

little prettier. I'm glad we

gave it all to them, Nancy. I'm

just going to miss the little nest

egg, that's all. Won't you,

sweetheart? Won't you miss the

nest egg? In the middle of the

night, won't you feel kind of

lonely because little nest egg

is paying for the gas in Frank

Sinatra's limo?

NANCY:

Shut up, David!

(begins to cry; she's

getting hysterical)

Shut up! I don't want to hear nest

egg anymore! I don't want to hear

that word. Let me tell you something.

That's not the way you drop out

anyway. If you're really going to

drop out, you drop out with nothing!

DAVID:

You drop out with nothing? Oh

where did you read that? In the

Las Vegas Guide?

NANCY:

I didn't read that. I know that.

DAVID:

Oh, I see. Who told you?

NANCY:

Friends, people who know. I don't

have to answer you.

DAVID:

No. You don't have to answer me.

You can't answer me because no one

ever told you that. You never

had friends who dropped out. You

don't know anybody who dropped

out except for us. So how the

hell did you know that? Come on,

tell me?

NANCY:

Alright. The movie you're basing

your whole life on, "Easy Rider,"

they dropped out with nothing.

They had no nest egg.

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