A Fresh Start

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In Chapter 6 of RIDGEWAY, Cate is upset when she discovers she can no longer park an RV in her friend's Roberta's driveway after losing her home, but gets excited when Roberta comes up with a radical solution to her housing problem ...


EXT. VENICE BUNGALOW - DAY
Sunlight dapples a tiny house
on a leafy avenue full of
similar beige blocks of stucco.
KIDS play across the street.

An oldish red Toyota convertible
is parked in the narrow driveway.
Bumper sticker reads EAT, PRAY, FUCK.

Welcome to Venice, California.
Not the hot chicks roller-blading
on the boardwalk in short-shorts
version as seen on TV.
David Duchovny never stayed here.

INT. VENICE BUNGALOW - KITCHEN - DAY
Cozy and cluttered with
a big, crude wood table.

Sink and counter tops
filled with dishes.

Oversized primitive art
on the walls.

A tiny stereo plays
French pop music.

Cate sips a glass of wine,
watching ROBERTA (50) cook.

She’s a sturdy Italian with
a shock of dark hair and an
attractive, lived-in face.

Salt of the earth,
with a dash of pepper.

ROBERTA
So it was also no good?

CATE
Well, it was an RV, much bigger
than the trailer in Malibu,
but it was pretty disgusting.
And when he showed me
how to hook up the water,
electric and propane,
I realized how complicated it is.
I can’t hook all that up
in your driveway.

ROBERTA
About that --`
(off Cate’s look)
Roberto’s coming home
from Italy after his surgery,
and things aren’t
going to be the same.

CATE
He’s gonna be convalescing --

ROBERTA
I’m sorry.

Cate takes a big hit of wine.
Fighting back tears.

ROBERTA
Why don’t you go stay
with your online girlfriend
until the money from
the script comes in?
Then you can both move
back here together.

CATE
You mean -- move to Arkansas?

ROBERTA
You said she invited you --

CATE
Yeah. I thought it was crazy --
(thinks, then -- )
But that was before
she came to visit.
(thinks)
I WAS gonna move her out here --
(considers it)
You know what?
That’s fucking brilliant.

ROBERTA
It makes sense.

CATE
I just pack up the car
and drive there with Bobby.

ROBERTA
A fresh start.

Cate beams. It lights up
her face like we haven’t seen.

CATE
A fresh start --