Veronica
Lake was not like any of the people that I encountered at a recent hospital visit, but her name is similar to the name of a pulchritudinous character in my noir novel. Veronica was a different kind of beauty than the Monica of my novel, but she was still a beauty; although, the character named Pip from my book probably resembles Veronica Lake a little bit. Here is a picture of Veronica from This Gun for Hire , co-staring Alan Ladd. Enjoy the picture and then read about the hospital visit, given from the point of view of an unimportant character in an old crime movie. We walked into the joint through a torrential downpour. My forehead felt like it was Niagra Falls. My two associates, a man and a woman, went to confirm the appointment with one of the henchmen who keep out the riffraff, meaning those who can't pay to play. This particular henchman was a dame. She called me over from her seat behind a desk covered in a pale wood veneer. It was the desk that was covered, not the ...