"Hello?" "Hello?" "Bastard!" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Jerry, is that you?" "Jerry, it's you, isn't it?" "Oh, you son of a bitch." "Jerry?" "Fuck you." "Where are you?" "Did you get out?" "You know what, if you're gonna call me, you might as well say something." "'Cause all you do this way is freak me out." "You know what?" "I don't need this shit." "You fucking hard-leg." "I can call the cops, you know." "Oh, they trace it to you, you're busted back direct, you know?" "I got a gun." "Excuse me." "Four Coors and a Jack." "Damn, you're jumpy." "Four shots of Wild Turkey." "Make it snappy!" " You still coming over tonight?" " Of course I am." " There's a party at Caldwell's after." " I'm not going to no party." " Suit yourself." " I wish you'd come over more." "Are you forgetting about my significant trouble at home?" " Bring her." " She's too touchy about the custody." " Yeah, how's that going?" " Back to court a week from Friday." "But I don't think the state's too hot on reuniting children with their beautiful, lesbian mothers." "Probably could've picked a place other than Oklahoma to be a homo." "Like we picked this place?" "She's not going anywhere unless that baby boy is here." "I like Lavoice." "She's a character." "I knew more characters a few years back." "Like in here, man, it used to be all great people." " Now it's a bunch of damn career women." " If you call menopause a career." "When you drop those off, come to the jukebox." "I want to introduce you to somebody." "Be cool, okay?" "She's a little touchy with strangers." "Oh, I understand." " You think he's good-looking?" " Ted Bundy was good-looking." "Oh, look at you." " Come to the party with us." " Ah, I'm too fucked up." "Look at you." "You're such a horn-dog." " What the fuck is he doing here?" " He's going to the party with me." "What kind of shit's he into?" "Dude, he's all right." "He's just quiet." "Well, I don't know him." "What if he's an ax murderer or..." "No, he's harmless." "He's just hanging out." "Don't bring people by here, R.C. I don't like it." " He's been calling again." " What does he want?" "Fuck if I know." "He don't say nothing." "He just breathes." "How do you know it's him?" "Who else would it be?" "Oh, then you're not sure." "I know it's him." "The calls started right after he got out." "Hey, you gotta be careful." "This guy's dangerous." " I know it." " I can't believe they let him out." "I thought he'd kill somebody in there and they'd throw away the key." "Were you gonna give somebody else a chance in there?" " I've never been so lucky." " If he comes by, you can't let him in." " If he don't come by?" " I'm not an ax murderer." "Do you know it's been two years?" "Maybe you should get bars on your windows." "Oh, great." "Maybe you can just throw peanuts at me to catch in my mouth, like..." " You can get an attack dog." " I can take care of myself." " He's not gonna be satisfied..." " I'm not an ax murderer." " Maybe I do need a dog." "What'd you say?" " Can I use the phone?" "Sure." " I'm not an ax murderer." " I didn't really think you were." " Oh, okay." " Is Lavoice there?" " Here you go." " Oh, no, no, no." "A big dyke named Lavoice, all right?" " You're very beautiful." " Huh?" "I said you're very beautiful." " Thank you." " He said what?" "Speak up." "Are you all right?" "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." "I just don't take compliments real well." "Yeah, yeah, look." "Yeah, I'm out of here." "I gotta go." "Some guy grabbed Lavoice or squeezed something, and she slapped him, so he threatened her or some shit." " I hate to eat and run." "Saddle up." " Oh, I've changed my mind." " What's the matter?" " Nothing." "I'll just go from here." " Will you call me?" " I will see you at work." " No, call me." " All right." " Promise?" " Yes." "And we'll do something this week." "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." "The best thing you can do, I think, is just relax and try to get him to have a drink." "And if you get really, really nervous, you can just come to the party, right?" "I'm not coming to that party." "You're gonna be, like, kicking some guy's ass." " There'll be blood and stuff." " I'm not gonna kick anybody's ass." " Have fun." " See you later." " You want one last drink?" " I guess I'll go." "Yeah, I should go to bed." "You've known each other a while?" "A few years, I guess." "I just met her tonight." "Are you sure you don't want a drink?" "People who don't drink make me nervous." "Well, I make people nervous anyway." " Why is that?" " 'Cause I pick up on things, I think." "That makes people uncomfortable." " "Pick up on things"?" " Things not apparent." "That's a talent." "What do you pick up on from me?" "You're lonely." "I know that much." "That hardly makes you Jeane Dixon." "Who's Jeane Dixon?" "That woman." "You know." "That psychic." "That woman who said to Teddy Kennedy that Jack'd get shot." " I'd like to see you again." " How do you mean?" "I mean, see you again, what I said." " I don't know." " Okay." "I don't party like this every night, so don't be thinking..." " No, I just wanted to see you." " Why?" "Why do people like to see each other?" "I mean, I don't want anything weird." "A man's the last thing I need." "I don't want to go to bed with you." "Well, don't butter me up or nothing." "Well, I'm not good for much anyway." " How do you mean?" " Women aren't really my bag." "You a homo?" "I'm not anything, really." "I'm done with that." "I'm just looking for a friend." " You a con?" " No, ma'am." "Hell, don't call me "ma'am." Makes me feel like your mom." " You're not old enough to be my mother." " Good." "She's dead, anyway." "Sorry." "She's been dead a long time." "You don't sound like you're from Oklahoma." "I'm from Beaver." "Well, we're all from beaver, ain't we?" " Pardon?" " Skip it." "It's up in the Panhandle." "My dad's a preacher up there." " Yeah?" "What kind of church?" " Doesn't have a church." "Well, where does he meet his people?" "He doesn't have any, really." "First day I moved in here, I meant to take that piece of shit down, and..." "I kind of got to where I like it." "There's stuff in it." " "Stuff"?" " Hidden stuff." "You mean, like a..." "What do you mean?" "People and things, if you really look at it." "You gotta look at it hard enough, you'll see it." "That's weird." "Did you hear that?" "No, I don't hear nothing." "Listen." "You're hearing things." ""Helskatoot."" " What is that?" "Is that..." " Goddamn cricket." "Can you tell where it's coming from?" " Sounds like it's..." " It's over here, right?" "No." "If you find it, don't kill it." "It's bad luck." "Why is that, do you think?" "I don't know." "Some smart-ass cricket probably made it up." " It's in the bathroom." " Really?" "Yeah." "I bet it's..." " It's out here." " Where?" "I don't know." "Up there." "It's the smoke alarm." "Battery's probably dead." "Can you get it?" " Nope." " Well, kill the son of a bitch." "Not bad luck to kill a smoke alarm." "I need something." "Here you go." " Success." " Success." " You should get rid of that." " How come?" "They're dangerous." "They have Americium-241 in them." " What's that?" " It's an element." "A radioactive element." " No shit?" " More radioactive than plutonium." "Jesus." "No wonder I feel so lousy all the time." "Yep." "Here." " What are you doing?" " Oh, I'll just..." "Okay, then." "I should go." "Where do you live?" "I'm kind of between addresses right now." " Does that mean you don't got a place?" " No, I got a place to stay." "Where?" "Nowhere." "Just where I stay." "If you want, you could stay here tonight, sleep on the couch." "I don't want to put you out." "Somebody sleeping on the couch when I'm sleeping's not putting me out." "Okay." "That'd be nice." "It's just a crappy sofa." "Nice of you." "What's the matter?" "Tooth." " I've got aspirin." " I'm okay." "Do you mind if I sleep on the floor?" "Suit yourself." "Thanks for making coffee." "You're welcome." "How do you stand that little shower?" "I could barely get under it." "I ain't mad you didn't come down to Stringtown to meet me when I got out, but you might at least been ready for me back here." " It don't look like you knew I was here." " I didn't." " You didn't get my letter?" " No." "You look good." "Have you lost weight?" " Not really." " Yeah, you did." "You got anything sweet around here?" "Oreos or something?" "I got a sweet tooth, you know?" "Oreos?" "Graham cracker, maybe?" "I was gonna get you some flowers." "Jerry, get out." "Oh, I just got here." "I got some business to clear up down in Healdton." "It's gonna take me a week or two." "Then I'll be back up." "I ain't got a whole lot of shit, so you don't have to go rearranging the furniture or anything." "You ain't seen Mickey, have you?" "I hear he's looking for me." " He get his parole, too?" " He did this time." "He's an egg-sucking son of a bitch." " He might show up here." " No, he won't." "Yeah, I know you two have always been a little sweet on each other." "Now, don't think I didn't notice that." "'Cause I did, I saw it..." "Little looks, you know, touches." "Is that why you ratted him out?" "Yeah." "It is so fucking dark in here, isn't it?" "Still snorting this shit?" "Apparently." "No wonder you got so goddamn skinny." "I didn't get skinnier." "You just got fatter." "Ah, you crack me up." " You still working at that honky-tonk?" " You know I am." "Still running with that little queer gal?" " Her name's R.C." " R.C., yeah." "R.C. You ain't gone queer on me now, are you?" " You better believe it." " 'Cause you..." "You know what'd happen if I..." "If I really thought that." "Don't you threaten me." "I'd get another court order if I thought it'd do any good." " Oh, you shouldn't have done that." " You knocked my door down." " You wouldn't open it." " I don't have to." "I ain't interested in this history, Aggie." "I got bigger fish to fry." "You tried to kill me." "That was a rough one, yeah." "I was bad to drink back then." "Oh, back before you found God?" " Who was that boy here last night?" " You been watching my place?" " I saw him leave." " Calling me eight times a day." " I haven't called you once." " Right." " Who was he?" " Nobody." ""Nobody." Just "nobody" leaving at 10:00 in the morning?" " Must've spent the night." " "Must've spent the night."" " Did I do something wrong?" " Oh, I don't know." "Did you?" " You're ridiculous." " Huh?" "Did you do something wrong?" "Goss, don't do this." " I ain't doing nothing." " I just don't wanna go back over..." "I ain't going back over nothing!" "I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe you ain't too happy to see me, girl." "I missed you." "Didn't you miss me?" "I can't say I did." "No." "That hurts." " I waited two years for this." " Don't give me that." "No, it's the God's honest truth." "I've been waiting two years for this shit." "For you." "You ain't getting shy on me, are ya?" "We're gonna have to get over that." "You know what, Goss?" "I can't tell if you're fucking serious with this shit!" "I hate you!" "Oh, God, I wish to Christ I had just taken Lloyd and gone out to San Diego like..." "I was really looking forward to seeing you!" "But you know not to mention his fucking name around me." "I ain't the one who lost him!" "Now, whose fucking fault is it you got slapped, huh?" " Mine." " That's fucking right, it's your fault." "Now, you got some time to get your ducks in a line before I come back here." "Maybe by the next time I come home, you'll be a little bit nicer to me, you hear me?" "Huh?" "We can have a civilized conversation." " You hear me talking to you?" " Yeah." " Hidy." " Hello." "Come on in." " Jerry Goss." " Hi." "Hi." "Didn't catch the name." "Peter." ""Peter"?" "Just plain old "Peter"?" " Goss..." " Peter Evans." ""Peter Evans." Okay." "Where's your purse, Aggie?" "It's under the bed." "I love you so much." "I'll see you real soon." "Peter Piper." "Excuse me, Pete." "Oh, what a punch." "Are you okay?" "Fuck, he's a big, old boy." "Do you need anything?" "Let me get you a rag." "Maybe a couple of those aspirin." "Can I..." "Can I have a couple for my tooth?" "Thanks for helping me." "I didn't really do anything." "Where'd you go?" "I woke up, and I thought..." "I went to get us some food." "I hope you don't mind I took the key." "No, that's all right." "Who was that guy?" "My ex." "He's a nut." "Would you maybe make me a vodka and coke?" "I don't have to work tonight." "How long were you married?" "Long enough to still get scared at night." " Do you have any kids?" " No." "I don't like that guy." "I don't like that he hit you." "I can't say I'm wild about it myself." "He said he's coming back here." "Eventually." "Maybe you need some kind of security." "I can take care of myself." "Why do you get scared at night?" " I was just kidding." " You should be scared." "How come?" "People can do things to you, things you don't even know about." "Like what?" "They try to control you." "They try to force you to act a certain way." "They can drive you crazy, too." "I shouldn't talk about it." "I don't know if it's safe or not." " I think we're pretty safe here." " No." "Not really." "You're never really safe." "One time, maybe, a long time ago, people were safe, but that's all over." "Not anymore, not on this planet." "We'll never really be safe again." "We can't be, not with all the technology, the chemicals, the information." "Well, I don't like to think about that." "Sometimes, though, when you're lying in bed at night, you can feel it..." "All the machines, people working their machines, the works, humming." "I don't like to go on about it, 'cause it freaks people out." "I wish I didn't think about it either, but they don't let you forget." "They want you to know they're there." "That what's there?" "The machines?" "Nothing makes them happier than knowing people are aware the machines are up and running." "That's some pretty wild shit." "Yeah, I know you hate me." "You think I hate you?" " I don't know." " I don't hate you." "Okay." "Why do you think I hate you?" "I don't know." "I wouldn't let you stay here if I hated you." "Yeah, I guess that's right, unless..." "Yeah, I guess that's right." " Well, we're friends." " We are?" "I don't have a lot of friends, but the ones I have, I'm real good to." "But you don't trust me." "Why do you say that?" "You lied to me about having children." "How'd you know that?" "I told you, I pick up on stuff." "Well, I didn't lie." "I don't have children." "I had one." "What happened?" " I lost him." " He died?" "No, he disappeared." "Really?" "Yeah, in a grocery store, nine... 10 years ago now." "How old was he?" "Six." "Do you have any more questions?" "'Cause if you do, ask them now." "I don't wanna talk about it again." "What was his name?" "Lloyd." "When did you stop looking for him?" "Couple of years ago." "Except in my sleep." "I still look for him in my sleep." " Do you ever..." " No." "I did lie about one thing." "I do get scared at night." "If you want, you can..." "You can stay here again." "Okay." "It's kind of nice having somebody around, you know?" "Different." "I haven't been to bed with a woman for a long time, but I think I could go to bed with you." "Come here, boy." "Motherfucker." "Fuck!" " Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" " What's the matter?" "Fucking bug!" "A fucking bug bite!" " A bug?" " Where are you, little motherfucker?" " What kind of bug?" " Look at these bites." "Jesus, those look like spider bites." "Well, I felt it a second ago." "It's like a bedbug or some shit." " Maybe you killed it." " No, I had it between my fingers, but it squiggled out." "Pull back the sheet and find it." "Ah, little fucker!" "I was just about to fall asleep." "I don't see it." " There." " What?" "Right there." " Where?" " There." " Where?" " There." "You see it?" " What?" " Right there." " This?" " No." "This." "That there." " Well..." " There!" "Right there, Agnes!" " It's right there!" " Don't get all upset." " But do you see it?" " Well, I don't know." "Right there." "It's really small." "Well, I guess." "What is that?" "It's a fucking bug." "No, I know that." "What kind of bug?" " Like an aphid." " An aphid?" "An aphid is like a, a..." " A bedbug?" " No." "Well, yeah, kind of." "More like a louse." " Louse?" "Oh, lice." " Not like head lice." "More like plant lice." " Oh, like a termite." " No, that's more like a thrip." " "Thrip"?" " Like a termite." " You mean "tick"?" " No, a tick's like a flea." "A thrip's like a termite." " What's a bedbug like?" " A bedbug." "No, I mean, what is a bedbug?" "A bedbug." "I thought that was a nickname." " This is an aphid." " A plant lice?" " I think so." " And they bite?" "This one sure did." "Well, maybe it's not really an orchid or whatever." " Aphid." " Oh, aphid fucking schmafid." "Whatever." "Could you just kill it so I can get some sleep?" " Fucker." " Oh, that showed him." " Hold on." "Get up." " How come?" " There might be more." " There's not." "We would've seen them." " You almost didn't see that one." " Well, it was very small." "That's my point, Agnes." "They're small." "We may not have seen them." "Oh, Jesus!" "Look at my wrist." "You wanna wake up in the morning and find this?" "It's morning, and now I am awake." "Sort of." " Do they travel in packs or something?" " "Packs"?" "Well, if there's one, do you have reason to suspect there's others with them?" "Makes sense." "And you're assuming it's a "him"..." "Some rogue aphid on his travels instead of some matriarchal type with a big brood somewhere." " "Matriarchal"?" " You ever watch "Big Valley"?" " Sure." " Barbara Stanwyck?" "Like her." "Where'd you learn to talk like that anyway?" "School." " I was home-schooled." " No shit?" "My father didn't believe in school." "Must've done a pretty good job, throwing around words like "matriarchal."" "Well, I learned that from "Big Valley"." "This is clean." "You got a nice body." "So do you." "Better looking without clothes on it." "I agree." "You know how some people look nice, and then you see them naked and they're a big disappointment?" "Yeah." "Why'd you say you weren't one for the ladies?" "It's true." "Could've fooled me." "You're different." "How am I different?" "You don't..." "You don't speak the codes." "How long has it been since you was with a woman?" "I don't know." "A few years, I guess." "Must've gotten a bad one." "No." "I just decided it wasn't worth it anymore." " What wasn't?" " You have a center, right?" "I mean..." "A place inside of you that's just you, that hasn't been spoiled." "And I think it's really important to try and keep that space sacred." "In some sense." "On some level." "But sex or relationships cloud that space." "Or they cloud me, I guess, and make it difficult to be just me, and not have to worry about being somebody else." "I sound like a big asshole, don't I?" "Not at all." "I like hearing you talk." " Aren't you gonna answer it?" " No." " Why not?" " It's Goss." "You were Goss once." "Hello?" "Hello?" " Goss, right?" " I don't think so." "What'd they say?" "Just static." " There you go." "See?" " Where?" " There." " I'm sorry." "Where?" " Right there." " Squish him." "There you go again." "How do you know it's not the super-mother aphid, and she's carrying a million eggs?" "Oh!" "What are plant lice doing in my place?" "Biting me, for one thing." "You know what?" "I got to get this place sprayed." "I'll do it." "I'll buy some stuff tomorrow." "Fuck that." "It's their room." "They should pay for it." " But someone would have to come in." " Goddamn right, they will." "Well, you do what you want, but I wouldn't." "How come?" " Never mind." " No, wait." "How come?" "No, I shouldn't say anything." "It's your place and I don't want to interfere." "Why wouldn't I want someone in my place?" "'Cause you're a con?" "Why didn't you just tell me when I asked?" "I've never been to prison." "I've just got people after me, that's all." "Oh, you've just got people after you." "Well, who?" " I don't want to drag you into it." " Drag me into what?" "Agnes, please." " I'm not comfortable telling you." " Drag me into what?" "You don't trust me?" " You can trust me." "I'm not gonna..." " I trust you." "That's not it." " I don't want you to get hurt." " I'll take my chances." "I won't." "So, what, you're going?" "Where?" "You don't even got nowhere to go." "I'll be fine." "Oh, well, all right, then." "Just fuck you!" "You know what?" "You may think it's easy for me to just take you in here, but I ain't the kind of woman who moves from man to man." "Fact is, it's been quite a while since I even had anyone to get close to, you know what I'm saying?" "Not that I need a man." "Oh, I need a man like I need a hole in the goddamn head, but..." "I just get lonely sometimes, you know?" "It was kind of nice having somebody around for a change." "It was different." "Oh, you son of a bitch!" "I..." "Got in some trouble with the Army." "I was stationed at Sakaka in the Syrian Desert during the war, and..." "These doctors, they kept coming in and giving us shots and pills." "A lot of the guys were getting sick with vomiting, diarrhea, migraines, black-outs, and I was having..." "I was having some weird thoughts." "And I started feeling sick, so they shipped me home and they put me in this hospital at Groom Lake and they started running these..." "These tests on me." "And they had every kind of doctor you could imagine just..." "Just probing and jabbing at me and asking me all these weird questions," "feeding me more pills." "Those fucking doctors were experimenting on me." "I went AWOL." "I was a lifer, too." "I didn't have anywhere to go." "And they don't respond too well to some drugged-up guinea pig just taking off." "I don't know..." "That I'm not carrying a disease or a contagion." "Oh, Jesus." "That's how they start." "Typhoid." "Legionnaire's disease, a government screw-up." "AIDS." "With the fucking monkeys in Africa." "They're after me." "These people don't fuck around, Agnes." "I shouldn't have told you that, but I needed to tell somebody." "And I trust you." "I know we haven't known each other very long." "I don't want to go." "I don't want to go." "Oh, babe, don't leave me." "No." "My..." "Peter." "Can I help you?" "Hidy." "No." "Agnes isn't here." "No shit." " Where is she, Peter?" " The liquor store, I think." "Goddamn, Peter." "I think if I were a roach, I'd probably take the hint." " Where's the TV?" " I don't think she has one." "We had one once." "A 19-inch RCA, sure-touch tuning." "I bought it with the money I made driving a sausage truck." "I drove that truck 20 hours a day sometimes, just so I could feed my wife and my kid." "You ever do anything like that?" "Who the fuck doesn't have a TV?" "How are you supposed to know what's going on in the world, man?" "Jesus, we could be invaded by Martians or some shit, you know?" "Fuck, they could be evacuating the whole goddamn city right now, and me and you'd be sitting here with our thumbs up our asses." "Could be." "Who got this stuff out?" "I did, for the microscope." "You little shit." "Well..." "You might put it back before Aggie gets home." "She ain't gonna like it very much." "What you working on, Peter?" "Just looking at something." "Don't touch that, please." "I'm..." " I'm looking in..." " What are you looking at?" " A bug." " Excuse me." "A bug?" "Just a..." "Just a bug?" "In my blood." "Oh, in your blood?" "Hey..." "You know, you remind me of somebody." "You know who you remind me of?" " Do you know who you remind me of?" " Who do I remind you of?" " This guy I knew in the pen." " In the pen?" "Yeah." " I just did a deuce for armed robbery." " Wow." "Guy named Porterfield." " You're not related to him, are ya?" " I don't believe so." " "I don't believe tho."" " No." "You know what we called him?" " Do you know what we called him?" " What did you call him?" "We called him Mrs. Porterfield." "You kind of..." "Kind of remind me of him a little bit." "What the fuck are we looking at?" "A bug, in my blood." " In your blood?" " Yes." "Yeah?" "Well, I don't see nothing." " It's very small." " Yeah, I'll bet it is." "You're pretty much just jacking off here, aren't you?" "Why don't you answer me when I ask you a question?" "I thought that was a rhetorical question." "Do you know what I'd do to you if I ever found out you were fucking with Agnes?" " Look, I don't know who you are or..." " You don't know who I am?" "Didn't we just meet in here a little while ago?" "Yes." " And you forgot me that quick?" " No." "Well, I remember who the fuck you are!" "Right." "My point is that I don't want any trouble with you." "Yeah, well, my point is, you ain't gonna get no trouble from me." "I'm staying here for a while." "So find someplace else to do your experiments." " I don't think you want to stay here." " Oh, yeah?" "Why's that?" " Place is crawling with these things." " Oh, right." " With your little bugs." " We're infested." "I believe you are, Peter." "You let him in here?" "He picked the lock." " Come here, girl." " Get the fuck out of here, Jerry!" "You look good, baby." "Mustache tickles a little bit." " That's okay." " Not mine, yours." " Jerry, you can't stay here." " Hey, wait a minute." "I'm just gonna be here for a little while, hang my hat." "What was the name of that girl you used to run with?" " Lavoice." " Lavoice." "I been trying to remember that shit." "I been trying to think." "She was a trip." "Remember that time over at Mickey's she laid up on the balcony and took a big old shit?" "Landed on..." "Remember that shit?" "Landed on a cop car?" "That was the funniest shit I've seen in my fucking life." "It was the pork party." "Was that the fucking pork party?" "It was, wasn't it?" "Aggie, you got to remember the pork party, baby." " You know what, Jerry?" " Hey, Mickey had this pork..." "Like the can of pork, like Spam or some shit like they give you in the Army?" "That drunk son of a bitch starts throwing it all over the place." "Next thing you know, end of the night, he's passed out on the fucking floor in the kitchen, pot on his head, pork dripping all over..." "I know, that shit's some funny shit!" "It's fucking dripping all over his chest, and he can't get up." "He starts doing one of these numbers 'cause the fucking linoleum and shit is so fucking greasy he can't..." " Jerry." " Wait a minute!" "Jerry." " What?" " Get out!" " Are you throwing me out?" " Now." " Well, I misunderstood." " Yeah." "You know, I was gonna stay here for a while, but I guess that's a bad idea, what, with you being infested with your little fucking bugs and shit." "I got to admit, though," "I'm disappointed, Aggie." "And you I owe an apology to." "Here I was all this time thinking you was some fucking weirdo freeloading, coke-head son of a bitch." "I had no clue you were taking such good care of Aggie." "That's important." "I appreciate that." "Thank you." "I'll be around." " Can you believe him?" " Come here and look at this." " You found it?" " You need to look at this now, please." " Yeah, police department, please." " What?" " Stop!" "Ow!" " Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Sorry." " What are you doing?" " I'm calling the police department." "Don't do that, okay?" "Don't ever do that." "Agnes, it's B and E, plain and simple." "He violated his parole." " You can't fuck around with this guy." " It's not that easy." " Agnes, please." " Agnes..." " Can you see it?" " What?" " Do you see the bug?" " Yeah." " Agnes?" " Can you tell what it's doing?" " No, it's kind of..." " It's feeding." " Feeding?" "On what?" " My blood." "It's feeding off my blood." " So you're saying that..." " I'm saying it's feeding off my blood." " It's a parasite." " Well, we knew that." "No, we knew they were biting." "Bugs bite for different reasons, see." " These are biting for food." " None of this stuff's working?" "No, they're immune to the sprays." "Thought they might be coke bugs." " Couldn't find any in Agnes' stash." " "Coke bugs"?" " Bugs you sometimes find in cocaine." " There are no bugs in cocaine." "The DEA sprays the larva on the coca plantations in South America, Central America." "They're genetically engineered to survive the purification process." "If they can't wipe out the drugs, they want to wipe out the users." "You didn't know about this?" "That's hard to believe." "Thanks for telling me." "Well, they don't get to all of us." "You don't have them." "I told you, I checked." "Believe me, if you had them..." " You've had them before?" " You ask a lot of questions." " Maybe we should take this to a lab." " A lab?" "What for?" " Well, find out what it is." " I know what it is." " What is it?" " It's a blood-sucking aphid..." "Look, this aphid business, I don't really..." " What's that?" " A burrowing aphid." "Dig it out." " Let me see it." "Agnes?" " No!" " Let me see." "Where?" "Where is it?" " Look, it's right there." " Can you see that?" " I don't see it." " That little speck under the skin." " I can't see shit, Agnes." " Well, it's real itty-bitty!" " Why can't I see it?" " I don't know!" "Why can we see it?" " Is it under the skin?" "Give me that thing." "I'll dig it out and show you." "You can see it better." "It's..." "Place is crawling with them." " When I talked to Carl before..." " Wait a minute!" "You talked to who?" " Carl, the manager of the motel." " Why?" "Whose idea..." " Just to tell him we were infested..." " Why did you tell him that?" " Why shouldn't she?" " I didn't tell him nothing..." "Just tell me exactly what you told him." "Exactly." " Just that there was bugs, and it's weird..." " Yeah?" "It's weird?" " So what are you saying?" " Nobody's seen them but us." " It's just really weird." " You've already said that, Agnes." " We saw a doctor." " Oh, Ronnie..." "We had to check out the spots." "Oh, fuck." "Oh, shit, no." "Okay, either you don't grasp the situation, or you're just fucking me over, okay?" "No, no." "I didn't say anything to him about you." " What kind of doctor?" " He's a dermatologist." " What'd he find?" " No bugs." " You picked them off." " He said they didn't look like bites." "Would you please not talk while I address Agnes?" " He gave me something for a rash." " Let me see it." "Now." "It's just a lotion, that's all." "Here." "I'm not dumb." "I didn't say anything about you." "I wouldn't do that to you." "They got to you, goddamn it." " If you're a part of this..." " No!" "I'm just trying to make sense..." "Okay, you tell me." "Do we have the bugs or not?" " I'm just looking for an explanation!" " Do we have bugs or not?" " I don't know." " It's not a matter of opinion." " An organism just is or isn't." " Right." "So, are there bugs or aren't there?" " Some..." " No, don't give me "some" bugs." "Presence of bugs, absence of bugs." "The sign outside says "vacancies" or "no vacancies."" "It doesn't say "possibility of vacancies."" "Now, do we have bugs or not?" "Yeah." " Then your doctor is lying to you." " Peter, do you have sores like hers?" "His are worse." "Show her." "Show her, Peter." "Show me." "Oh, God." "Did you put something on that?" "Oh, my God." "You think an aphid did that?" " I know what did it to me." " Aphids can't bite." " You know a lot about aphids?" " No." " Do you know anything about aphids?" " No." "We do." "Ronnie!" "Ronnie, you haven't even told Peter your news yet." "They got custody of Lavoice's kid!" "Isn't that great?" "Ronnie's gonna be an aunt or a mother or whatever." " That's terrific." " Listen to me." "There are no bugs." "There are no bugs on this microscope, there's no bugs on your skin, in your skin, in this room." "There are no fucking bugs!" " That's odd, actually." " I was with the doctor, Peter." " Agnes, tell him what he told you." " No, I don't..." "He said her wounds were self-inflicted, that she did it to herself, just like you, or maybe you did it to her." " Oh, you think I would do that to her?" " I don't know what your deal is." "I don't know who the fuck you are or what you're about." "But all I know is I regret bringing you in here." "I can't do nothing about you, but suggest that you get some serious fucking medical attention!" "But I can do something about my friend, and by God, I intend to." "You even try to stop me and I'll introduce you to an old friend of yours." " What does that mean?" " Somebody's been asking about you." " Who?" " Dr. Sweet." "Who's Dr. Sweet?" "What are you talking about?" " You know what I'm talking about." " Yeah, I do." "Groom Lake." "Your friend is gonna turn me in." " Tell me, what..." " He's asking about Peter at the bar." "What'd he tell you?" "Not much." "But apparently, I didn't know you were staying here, so maybe I should have asked some more questions." "But he's obviously not somebody you wanna meet or he would've known where to find you." "Peter." " Quit playing games." "Tell him..." " I am not playing, Agnes!" "You know what?" "She would never do that." "She would never do that, Peter." " You try me." " She wouldn't." "No." " You don't mean it, Ronnie." " Try me." "I'm stunned that you think" "I would try to stop Agnes from going with you." "I'm only staying here because I was invited." "I don't stay where I'm not wanted." "I wouldn't attempt to keep somebody where they don't want to be." "Agnes is an adult and she is free to do as she pleases." "I thought you'd see it that way." "As for Dr. Sweet, tell him what you wish." "I have no doubt he already knows where I am." " Right." " But as for your contention there are no bugs, I disagree." "You're gonna stay with me for a while." "I want you to pack a bag." "Agnes, look at me." "I want you to pack a bag." "Peter!" "Are they bad?" "Get off!" "Help!" "Why are you doing this?" "Why are you doing it?" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Peter!" "Oh, my God!" "It's okay!" "It's okay!" "It's okay!" "Stop!" "Oh, my God!" "It's okay." "It's okay." "Oh, my God." "Who do you think you are?" "You come in here and try to take from me the one thing in the world I have?" "Why can't you just leave me with one thing?" "This is the only thing in the world I have." "Why are you trying to take it from me?" "Get out of here!" "Get out of here and never come back!" "Get out of here!" "Peter, let's leave." "I can't take it." "We can't." "They're watching." "But it seems if they knew where you was, they'd just grab you." "They're playing with me." "Maybe we could sneak out." "It's too risky." "I have a sister in San Diego." "She'd take us in till we got on our feet." "I was gonna take Lloyd out there, get away from Goss." "She invited us." "But I waited too late." "Who knows?" "She probably hates me now, too." "I can't believe R.C. did that to me." "I can't imagine what I did to make her hate me so much." "Fuck, I don't believe I didn't see it coming sooner." "Spying little bitch." "I don't know why I love you so much." "I don't hardly know you, truth be told, and we ain't even done that much in bed except that one night and I don't care." "Seems all we ever talk about's bugs." "I guess I'd rather talk with you about bugs than nothing with nobody." "Not that I've got much to say, unless I talk about misery." "Who wants to hear that?" "I don't." "I just get so sick of it." "My lousy life." "Laundromats and grocery stores and dumb marriages and lost kids." "Lloyd, he's the only good time." "That's it." "We're the only ones." "No one else in this motel has bugs." " Yeah." " 'Cause they're my bugs." " I brought them here." "They come from me." " You mean in your clothes?" "No, my skin." "There's an egg sac under my skin." " "Egg sac"?" " That's why they didn't grab me." "My God." "Where did it come from in the first place?" "The eggs are under my skin." "They hatch, they need air, they come out, they need food, they come back, they eat." " Well, no." "What do you mean?" " Think about it." "No!" "They wouldn't have done that to you." "Who are they gonna do it to, a pig?" "They have to try it on a human to see if it works before they spray Baghdad." "They wouldn't have done that to you." "Oh, right." "What was I thinking?" "The government wouldn't conduct experiments on their own people." "Like feeding LSD to enlisted men at Edgewood Arsenal or sitting around watching the poor fuckers in Tuskegee die from syphilis." " Why don't you fucking wake up?" " Where is this egg sac?" "What are you doing..." "Oh, my God, Peter!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" " The sac's in my tooth." " Oh, my God!" "It's not possible!" "I had this tooth filled at the base." "The sadistic sons of bitches put an insect egg sac under the filling." " Maybe what we got is a bug problem..." " They're eating me!" "I know." "I know." "I'm just trying to play the devil's advocate thing here, okay?" " Okay." "Okay." " Maybe, maybe..." "You're looking for a connection to the Army, so you're..." " Bullshit." "Bullshit." " Hear me out!" "You have no idea what these people are capable of." "I'm not a child!" "I know who I am!" "At least go to a real dentist!" "It's not safe." "I'm being watched too closely, Agnes." "They haven't grabbed me yet because they want to see how the experiment turns out!" "You cannot know that!" "Peter!" "Stop it!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Peter!" "Oh, God!" "Jesus Christ!" "What?" "What?" "What?" "Millions." "Is this the White residence?" "I'm looking for Peter Evans." "I was told I could find him here." "I have it on good authority that Peter is staying here." "I don't mean any harm." "If I could just talk to Peter..." "Could I speak with you for a moment?" "I assure you I'm here with the best of intentions." "All right." "Thank you." "Shut up!" "Settle down!" "Shut up!" "You can't..." "You can't take me!" "I'm Phillip Sweet." "All of my credentials are in there." " As if you couldn't fake that!" " Just listen to the man!" " You're in way over your head here." " Why don't you wait outside?" "Give us some time alone." "Bug problem?" "You should know." " I should?" "What are they?" " Aphids." ""Aphids"?" "Look around, asshole!" "They're in right now." "They like to go in sometimes." " And the tin foil?" " Scrambles the signal." " You're receiving a signal?" " Transmitting." " You're transmitting a signal?" " Not me, the bugs." "The bugs have a transmitter?" "The bugs are the transmitter." "And the tin foil scrambles the signal?" "It helps." "I'm sure it does." "Peter Evans has been incarcerated in an Army hospital for four years." "I know." "He's been diagnosed as a delusional paranoid with schizophrenic tendencies, although personally I'm not a big fan of labels." "His doctors believe he's potentially dangerous to himself or even others." "Aren't you his doctor?" "More of a consultant, really." "He told me about you." "He said you got a kick out of it, like some Nazi." " "Got a kick out of it."" " Your experiments." "My experiments." "So now he's being hunted by the Army and the CIA." "And you think they'd send a doctor to find him?" "I'm here on my own." " 'Cause you care about Peter so much." " Yes, I do." " Know why he was institutionalized?" " No." "No." "You wouldn't." " May I have a drink?" " No, you can't." " How often do you hit that thing?" " Often as I like." " May I?" " Suit yourself." " I'd be careful." " I'm okay." "Yeah, you're also sitting on 20 gallons of high-test." "I can only imagine what this is for." "I don't see a jet ski in here." "Bugs are a fairly common delusion among paranoids." "Bugs, spiders, snakes." "Spiders." " You haven't had any snakes, have you?" " You're the first." "Have you at least entertained the idea that the bugs are a delusion?" "How do I know you're not a delusion?" "Touché." "Well, that's no delusion." "Where do the bugs come from?" " Peter." " And how's that work?" "You injected him." "I injected him." "Right." " When did you first see the bugs?" " When they got here." " He saw them first?" " They're his bugs." "Yes, they are." "And when I take him away, the bugs'll disappear." "You want the bugs to disappear." "I can handle it." "We're..." " We're winning the fight." " Really?" "The bugs are retreating?" "No, but we can find the egg sacs now and cut them out of his body." "You keep up that cutting, there might not be much left of Peter." " For you or for me." " I know what I'm doing." "You're being watched." "I could talk to them." "They'd listen to me." "Peter comes in out of the cold, first thing I'd do, I'll get him in surgery so they can cut out those eggs." " Egg sacs." " Egg sacs." "Simple procedure, under the proper conditions, with a trained medical staff." "Don't put him back in the hospital." "They'll take him away from me." "No, they won't." "I won't let them." "You can do that?" "I am his doctor." "He's my project." "He is?" "I don't want to see him locked up." "I want to help him." "Well, why would you stop what you started?" "We made a mistake." "I made a mistake." "I didn't realize..." "I didn't know what they were using it for." "What they're doing, it's dangerous." "It's wrong." "Have him call me." "Let me take him in." "Because if you leave it in their hands," "I can't vouch for Peter's chances." "Why are they doing this?" "It's what they do." "I can't trust you." "Yes, you can." "I can do something for you." "I can help you." "Your son, Lloyd." "What do you know about Lloyd?" "I can help you find Lloyd." " You know about Lloyd?" "What?" " I shouldn't say anything else." "No." "If you know something about my son, you have to tell me!" " They're watching." "If I say too much..." " Who?" "Oh, just tell me..." "Is he alive?" "Is he alive?" "Just..." "Is he okay?" "Where is he?" "Tell me where he is." "Just tell me where..." " Please?" "Please?" " I have to be discreet." "If I say too much, they might hurt him." " You don't want that, do you?" " Oh, no!" "No!" "But he's alive?" "Oh, my..." "Help me bring Peter in, and I'll help you find Lloyd." "Oh, Peter!" "Peter, Lloyd's alive!" " Peter." "Good Lord." " He's alive!" "He's gonna take you in, he's gonna cut out all the little egg sacs, and he's gonna help us!" "Peter." " Peter, what are you doing?" " What are you?" " What are you doing?" " You need to come back..." "From the factory." "Sound card's good." "What do you run on?" " You need your meds." " New model." " We need to talk, talk to one another." " Do you know him?" " Do you know him?" " He knows me." "It's all right." "Munitions, R and D, nice work." " What's happening?" " You believed it." "No, he'll bring me..." "He'll bring me Lloyd!" "She's not part of this." "He'll tell you anything you want to hear, Agnes." " This is between you and me." " That's how it's programmed." "It's always been you and me." " I don't understand." " I'll cut it open." "I'll show you." "Machine!" " Machine!" " Oh, God, Peter!" "Machine!" "Machine!" "He said he was gonna help me find my son!" "Stop it!" "Oh, stop it, Peter!" "Peter, stop it!" "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" "Touch it!" "Here." "Feel it." "Okay?" "This isn't real." " Real!" " See?" "It's not real." " Real what?" "I don't..." " No, no, no, no." "It's synthetic." " It's not even close." "See?" " I don't understand." " What are you talking about?" " No, no, no." " He said he knew where Lloyd was!" " Agnes, Agnes, listen to me." "It doesn't know where Lloyd is." "It doesn't know anything." "It only knows what they program it to say, okay?" "No, shut up!" "They can't wait for me to come outside." "They've come to collect me." "The experiment is over." "They've come to pick up their petri dish, and they sent a machine to do it." "Agnes, it is a fucking machine!" "You can see for yourself." "They're sending in machines." " Okay, okay, okay, okay." " Okay?" "Okay." "I don't really understand." "You have to explain to me what is going on, Peter." "Listen!" "Listen!" "If you want to know what is going on..." " You have to listen to me!" " I'm listening!" " You have to!" " I'm listening." "Because you don't know the fucking enormity of what we're dealing with!" " I'm listening." " May the 29th, 1954, a consortium of bankers, industrialists, CEOs and politicians held a series of meetings over three days at the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Holland." "They drew up a plan for maintaining the status quo." " What's that?" " It's the way things are." "It's the rich get richer, the poor get poorer." "They devised a plan to manipulate technology, economics, the media, population control, world religion, to keep things the way they are." "They have continued to meet once a year every year since the original meeting." "Look it up." "Under their orders, the CIA smuggled Nazi scientists into the States to work with the American military and Calspan, developing an inner-epidermal tracking microchip." " A what?" " A surveillance tool, a computer chip that has been implanted in the skin of every human being" " born on the planet since 1982." " Oh, my God!" "The test group for the prototype was the People's Temple." "And when the Reverend Jim Jones threatened to expose them, he and every member of his church were assassinated!" "But it's not enough just to track people, to spy on them." " They want control." " Yeah." "So they create the Intelligence Manned Interface biochip, a subcutaneous transponder computer chip imprinted with living brain cells." "They needed lab rats to test it, and they found us." "Me, in the Gulf, and another soldier working at Calspan at the time, Tim McVeigh." " Oh, wait." " They turned us into fucking zombies." "Remote control assassins!" "And then they picked Tim up, chucked him in a prison factory." " But I found my chip and I cut it out." " Oh, my God!" "So they sent me back to the lab for further testing and a new experiment." " You're John Doe number 2!" " No, no, no, no!" "That's who they want me to be." "That is the flaw in the IMI biochip." "They can't get to everybody." "People slip through the cracks, they find the chip, they cut it out, like me or Ted Kaczynski." "They need a chip that will self-perpetuate, that will spread like a virus, that people can pass to each other, to everyone!" "They got it!" "Oh, you mean the bugs." "They got the bugs." " A living, breathing organism." " Oh, my God!" "The ultimate parasite, implanted via a queen bug, the super-mother, who mates with a drone, lays egg sacs in the body of the host, and governs a growing army of rapidly multiplying, brainwashing bugs." "They gave those things to you, and you gave them to me." " You gave those fucking things to me!" " Maybe." "What?" "What?" "Of course you did." "Agnes!" "I don't believe that my presence here is accidental." "What?" "Peter, what are you talking about?" "What are you saying?" "I couldn't have done that." "I didn't..." "I didn't do that." "Unless." "Unless..." "Unless." "Unless..." "Unless I, like, know something that I don't know I know or I've got something I don't know I've got!" " What don't you know?" " What?" " I don't know." "There's a lot." " What don't you know?" "I don't..." "I..." "Jesus!" " Think, Agnes!" "What don't you know?" " Lloyd!" "Lloyd!" "Lloyd." "I don't know what happened to Lloyd." " What happened?" " I don't know." " You do know." "Put it together." " No." "No." " The pieces will fit." " I don't know." "They don't fit." " You have to look hard enough." " You don't think I haven't been?" " They don't fit!" "I don't know." " You have to look harder." "You have to." "I don't see it." "What are you trying to get me to see?" "Come on." "You'll see it." " I don't know where to start." " Start at the beginning!" "I took him to the grocery store, and we were shopping." "And he was right there in the cart." "And I went back to get an onion 'cause I forgot the onion, and I just..." "I just turned away." " And then he was just gone!" " No! "He was just gone"?" "No." " He couldn't get out in a few seconds." " So he couldn't have gotten out." "No, he didn't get out." "He got..." "He got..." "He got..." "Somebody took him." " Somebody took my boy because I was..." " Ah, "Somebody." "Somebody."" "Well, no, not anybody, 'cause he was smart." "He wouldn't have talked to strangers." "I told him not to talk to strangers!" " And he was smart!" " So then it had to be..." "It had to be somebody that he knew!" "It had to be somebody he knew, that he wasn't scared of, like his daddy!" "It was his daddy!" "Goss took him!" "Goss took him, and the police couldn't help me." "And I tried so hard, and they couldn't help me!" "Couldn't help you?" "They wouldn't help me." "They wouldn't help me, the police and the FBI, because they..." "Because they paid Goss to take him." "They paid Goss to take him and he gave him to them!" " He gave him to them!" " Okay." "Okay, okay." "Get another piece." "Get another piece." "Oh, God, R.C. was here." "R.C. was here and she left 'cause she was spying on you." " And she was spying on us." " Think." "What?" "No, and you brought the bugs." "The bugs were under your skin in the egg sacs, and you brought the..." "And R. C..." " I brought the bugs." " And R.C. brought you." "R.C. brought you, then you brought the bugs and then R.C. brought the bugs!" " Yes!" " R.C. brought the bugs!" "The fucker!" "R.C. brought the bugs!" "And then, and then..." "And then Goss..." "And then Goss got out of jail." "They let him out of jail and he wasn't supposed to get out." "And they gave him this early parole, and he came here and..." " Just when I showed up." " Yeah, yeah, because they sent him." "Because they sent him." "They let him out early to send him here." "He made a deal." "He got an early parole." "And they let him out to send here because of the bugs, to track the bugs, to check on the bugs, to watch their progress." "And R.C. told us that there weren't any bugs." " But R.C. brought the bugs." " Right." "They made her bring the bugs." "Oh, the boy!" "The boy, Lavoice's little boy, they gave her the kid!" " Fuck!" " They never would've done that." "A couple of fucking queers!" "They wouldn't have given them that kid!" "And they made her bring me the bugs to give me, to give them the kid!" "And then, and then..." "But, wait." "No, no." "You never had bugs before you got here." "They had you all that time, they did all those things to you, and you never had no bugs until you got here, until after you, until after we..." "Oh, my God!" "After we..." "After we..." "Oh, it's..." "It's "we," it's us, it's..." "They..." "They..." "They gave you the..." "What'd they call that..." "The drone." "They gave you the drone." "And gave me the queen." "They gave me the mother!" "And that's when they came out." "That's when they mated, when we made them!" "When we..." "And then, and then, and then..." "Oh, my God, it had to be me." "It had to be me from the very beginning because they took..." "They took Lloyd." "They took him somewhere, they took him to this laboratory, and they..." "And they cut him, and they cut him open, and the stuff matched or whatever, the DNA and the blood, it all went together, and so they started to build..." "They started to build, they started to build the queen, the mother, and they gave it to me." "They gave it to me." "The juice, the bug, the mother, the bug, the super-mother bug." "I am the super-mother bug!" "I am the super-mother bug!" "Oh, my God!" "We made them!" "We made them!" "We gave birth to them!" "And they will never leave us." "They will never leave us because we made them." "And those people..." "Those people are trying to come in here to kill us because the bugs won't go out into the world to do their work!" "They would never leave us!" "They will never leave us!" "We are all they know." "And they're trying to come in here to kill us, to send the bugs back out into the world!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God, do you know what we have to do?" "You know what we have to do?" "We have to kill them." "Yes, yes, yes." "It's better knowing." "Oh, we have to kill them." "We are responsible." "What is it?" " Who is it?" " Pizza Harris." " When did I order a pizza?" " You order a pizza?" "No." " Just leave it!" " You gotta pay me, lady." " How much is it?" " $14.74." " What's on it?" " Everything." " Everything?" " Everything." "Everything." " You want change?" " No." "Just take it." "Yeah, whatever." "If we don't open the door, they'll know we know." "Okay, ready?" "Okay, one, two..." "No, no." "No, no." "Hold it." "Hold it." "How does it look?" "I'm no expert." " Oh, I don't think that's clean!" " Vicious bastards!" "Aggie!" "Open the fucking door!" "Aggie?" "Damn it, Aggie, open this door!" "Aggie!" "Aggie, come here!" "Aggie!" "You whore!" "You fucking bitch!" "Fuck!" "You fucking whore!" "Open the fucking door!" "They're all coming out." " Look at the ceiling..." " They're everywhere!" "I am the drone." "You are the queen." " Under the skin..." " Breeding ground..." " Egg sac..." " Larvae pool..." " Baby bug water..." " Feeding pupa..." "Oh, feeding baby bug." "Skin and ground, breeding egg sacs..." " I love you." " I love you."