Highway Star

Act 4 scene 2


It is late in the night. The four walk on an unlit country road. They walk in a formation identical to their seating arrangement in the car. Their breath can be seen lightly before them in the slightly chill atmosphere. No one speaks as we join them, and we get the impression that it has been quiet like this for a long while. The travelers are weary, but trudge on at an even pace. Eddy breaks the silence.

Eddy:

Where's this hotel supposed to be, Phill?
Phill:

It can't be much further.
Eddy:

You said that an hour ago.
Phill:

Yeah...
Eddy:

We've been walking for five hours.
Phill:

No we haven't.
Eddy:

What time is it? (Phill looks at his watch.)
Phill:

It's one.
Eddy:

Then it's only been four hours.
Lori:

It's freezing out here.
Tim:

It's not really all that cold.
Lori:

Well I'm freezing. My car was warm. To bad Eddy destroyed that for us.
Eddy:

It's not like I meant to...
Lori:

One of the few possessions I had. Now the car is gone. It's probably being sold for spare parts even now. Thanks allot Eddy.
Eddy:

I'm really sorry about your car, Lori.
Lori:

Not as sorry as I am. That car was all I had. Now what is there for me? Other than my clothes, I mean.
Phill:

Think of it as a fresh start.
Lori:

You're a sweet heart, Phill. Really you are. But my car is gone. Completely ruined in fact. I'm never goin to get to California now because Eddy has ruined he rest of my life.
Eddy:

You're still on that?!
Tim:

Can't you just drop the subject like he dropped your fuel tank?
Lori:

Fine. I'll drop it. Just don't speak to me for a while, Eddy. (The four walk on in mutual silence for a while before it is interrupted again by Eddy.)
Eddy:

I can't walk any more. My feet are killing me.
Tim:

Quit your complaining, you tubby fuck. It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place. You can use the fucking exercise. If anyone should be complaining here, it's me. I put ten dollars into that pump, Eddy. Ten dollars. My money, all over the pavement.
Lori:

You're not the one who lost your car, Tim.
Tim:

Oh come on... That rusty piece of shit. What kind of a loss is that? A gas tank doesn't just fall, Lori. The bottom of that car had to be eaten away. You can't really call that a loss.
Lori:

You're an asshole, Tim.
Tim:

That's what I've heard.
Lori:

That piece of shit took us a few hundred miles closer to California.
Tim:

And then abandoned us to the boonies of whatever state we're in. We'll be lucky to survive this night.
Lori:

Well I'm not walking through the night. We need to find some place to sleep.
Eddy:

Here, here!
Phill:

The hotel... (Lori stops. Everyone stops with her, in the middle of the road.)
Lori:

The hotel is a lost cause, Phill. I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't a hotel.
Phill:

Then what do you propose we do?
Lori:

There's a bunch of farms out here. Barns are everywhere. All we need to do is sneak into one of them a lay down on a bed of hey.
Eddy:

This broad is smart, Phill. You pay attention to her. (Phill thinks about it a moment.)
Phill:

All right. Lets look for a suitable place. (The four walk on searching to the left and right. Phill stops, as does everyone else. He whispers to them.)
Phill:

All right, we gotta be quiet, now. Let's go. (The four of them walk off screen, we hear one Eddy begin to speak, and everyone shushes him.)