The Night Listener Page #5

you. What kind of sick person are you?

For years Jess was dying and you

picked over him Iike a vuIture. Stay.

You're so pathetic, you actuaIIy think

he's gonna come back to you.

Ohh..

Jesus. Get up.

Like you care,

you heartIess f***!

-( dog barking)

-( vehicle approaching)

Come on,

there's a truck coming.

HeIp me.

- I can't Iet you do this.

-(horn blaring)

- Let go of my arm!

- He's aII I have.

Ah, oh!

- Get up! Get up!

- Ah!

Ah!

F***ing crazy!

GabrieI?

GabrieI!

Come back here!

Come here!

GabrieI, don't Ieave me!

You don't know what you're doing!

GabrieI!

Don't Ieave me!

Hey. Hey, how are you?

(phone ringing)

-( Anna) Gone?

-( Gabriel) She left.

( Anna) Who told you that?

( Gabriel) The police.

They W ent to check on her

and the house W as empty.

( Anna) Did they find

the kid at the hospitaI?

There never was a kid.

(phone ringing)

( Gabriel) You've reached Gabriel and

Jess. Please leave a message at the tone.

(beep)

- And that's been going on for three days?

- Yeah.

- You have to caII the poIice.

- What am I gonna say?

''Excuse me, Officer, but there's

this crazy bIind Iady in Wisconsin

''who has an imaginary chiId

and she's upset with me."

No, f*** her.

I'm not turning my Iife inside out.

- She tried to kiII you.

- Yeah.

WeII, tried to kiII herseIf

and me aIong with her, yeah.

I did some research. There's this actuaI

pathoIogy caIIed ''factitious disorder."

The peopIe who have it feeI unworthy of

Iove so they make up stuff to get sympathy.

Like, uh, their own iIIness

or - no thanks - a sick chiId.

It's, uh, it's Iike Munchausen's by proxy,

onIy there is no chiId.

- They don't know they're doing this?

- They know.

But the attention feeIs so good

they can't stop Iying.

What happens if you caII them on the Iie?

I don't know.

It didn't say.

Hm.

Great.

( dial tone)

(hangs up phone)

She caIIed two days ago.

She started shouting at me.

Just ranting and raving.

CompIeteIy out of it.

This woman is reIentIess.

She's desperate.

I mean, just so desperate.

She's bIind.

What is she gonna do?

(phone rings)

No f***ing way.

( Gabriel) This is Gabriel and Jess...

- ShouId we pick up?

- No.

No, it might set her off,

trigger something.

- What shouId we do?

- Ignore it.

(phone ringing)

HeIIo?

(Donna) Your story doesn't

have an ending. Gabriel.

I'm at the Hudson Plaza Motel at JFK.

Room 1 4 2.

I left something for you.

( airplane flying overhead)

(car door closes)

(phone rings)

(Pete/Donna) Donna?

Who's this?

It's me. It's Pete.

Gabriel. is that you?

Don't freak out. I knoW she told you I W as

dead. She W as just trying to protect me.

Where are you?

I'm at the airport. W aiting for Donna.

Is she there?

No. She just Ieft.

Too bad.

I really W anted you two to talk.

I kind of promised her I W ouldn't

talk to you. She's mad at you.

- Pete?

- Yeah?

I need to ask you something.

What?

Did something happen to Donna

when she was IittIe?

(Pete/Donna sighing)

- You understand, right?

- Yeah. but...

I don't knoW .

She never talks about her childhood.

Did she ever teII you

what caused her bIindness?

No.

I think she fell doW n the stairs.

You know,

there's peopIe who can heIp her.

I have to go noW .

OK, kiddo.

- Bye.

- Bye.

( dial tone)

You know, that tape

doesn't prove anything.

That kid couId be anybody, right?

CouId be a neighbor, cousin.

Yeah, I know.

So, what is it, then?

It's just.. .

What?

How can I be missing someone

who never existed?

Is that possibIe?

Hey.

What about those Star Trek conventions?

You know, aII those guys, they dress up

Iike Kirk and Spock, right? Why?

Because they reaIIy miss them.

Am I that pathetic?

Hey.

You have got a great big heart.

That's the best part about you.

It aIways was.

I gotta go.

( Gabriel) From the studios

of WNYH in New York City,

I'm GabrieI Noone

and this is Noone at Night.

As a storyteIIer, I've spent years

Iooting my Iife for fiction.

Like a magpie, I tend to steaI

the shiny stuff and discard the rest.

WeII, we've wandered

in the woods for an hour

onIy to discover

that we've circIed back on ourseIves.

And in the end,

I'm not sure what reaIIy happened.

But it is cIear that Donna and I

are more aIike than not.

Both of us afraid.

Not W anting to be alone.

Longing for a good listener.

It sounds perfect.

And we aIso have a modeI condo avaiIabIe

with aII the furniture incIuded.

That'd be great.

And, uh.. . when does your son

get out of the hospitaI?

Tomorrow.

That's tight.

But, no, we can work it out.

Thank you.

If you don't mind me asking.. .

how did he Iose his Ieg?

( Gabriel) As for Pete. there's a line

in ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' that reads.:

''Real isn't hoW you're made.

''It's the thing that happens to you. ''

I'm Gabriel Noone.

Good night.

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