NOW LEAVING SUBURBIA
(A
woman with red hair is seen pacing around a motel room in California. She is
wearing a black leather jacket over a black dress. A small travel bag is on the
single bed with its contents scattered around it. She sits down on a chair at
the desk and lights a cigarette).
IM
SCARED, CAN’T YOU TELL?
(pause)
I DID
IT, I FINALLY DID IT.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
15
YEARS MARRIED AND I DID IT.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
WE
WERE ONLY MARRIED LEGALLY, THOUGH. ANY AFFECTION WE HAD FOR EACHOTHER DIED A
LONG TIME AGO.
(pause)
IN ALL HONESTY, I DON’T THINK HE EVER REALLY
LOVED ME.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
WE
MET IN OUR LAST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL WHEN WE WERE BOTH SEVENTEEN, WE MARRIED THE
YEAR AFTER.
(pause)
BUT HAVING A RING ON HIS FINGER DIDN’T COUNT
FOR ANYTHING.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
THE
MINUTE THE WEDDING WAS OVER THE MAN I KNEW WAS GONE.
(pause)
A
SLAVE TO HIS WORK. WE WEREN’T MARRIED, WE WERE TWO PEOPLE THAT JUST HAPPENED TO
PASS EACHOTHER BY IN THE HOUSE EVERY DAY.
(pause)
I
COULD SMELL IT ON HIM EVERY DAY. THE SMELL OF VODKA AND CHEAP PERFUME. HER
CHEAP PERFUME. ONE OF THE MANY. HE DENIED IT OFTEN, BUT I KNEW THE TRUTH. HE
MADE IT SO PAINFULLY OBVIOUS. HE WANTED ME TO KNOW. HE LEFT THE UNDENIABLE
EVIDENCE OUT FOR ME TO SEE. ON THE INTERNET, ON HIS PHONE, IN HIS CAR. DOZENS
OF DIFFERENT WOMEN.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
IT
WAS OFFENSIVE.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
FOR HIM TO THINK I WOULDN’T KNOW. DID HE
REALLY THINK I COULDN’T TELL?
WHAT
KIND OF FUCKING MORON DOES HE TAKE ME FOR?
(pauses)
DID
HE TAKE ME FOR... BETTER GET USED TO SAYING THAT NOW. PAST TENSE. ALL IN THE
PAST. GONE.
(paces
round the room – 10 seconds)
HM.
(checks
watch)
SEVEN
THIRTY. I SUPPOSE SOMEONE WILL HAVE FOUND HIM BY NOW. SOMEONE MUST HAVE TRIED
TO GO IN. THE MAID? THE GARDENER? ONE OF HIS WOMEN? SOMEBODY MUST HAVE FOUND
THE BODY.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
IT
HAPPENED SO FAST.
(pause)
IT
WAS SO EASY.
(pause)
THE
ANGER, THE RESENTMENT I HELD TOWARDS HIM JUST ROSE TO A HEAD. THE GUN, IT WAS
RIGHT THERE, IN THE SAFE IN THE KITCHEN.
(pause)
THE
IRONY. THE PLACE WHERE HE HAD RESIGNED ME TO WALLOW ALONE WAS WHERE HE MET HIS
OWN DOWNFALL, WITH HIS OWN GUN.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
THEN
BANG BANG, SHOT HIM DEAD. THE WAY THE BLOOD SPLATTERED. IT SPLATTERED ACROSS
THE WHITE MARBLE FLOOR. THE FLOOR I CLEANED DAILY. THE FLOOR I CLEANED DAILY
WHILE HE WAS OUT WITH ANOTHER WOMAN. THE FLOOR I CLEANED DAILY WHILE I DRANK.
(taps
cigarette into ash tray on the table)
THE
FLOOR I CLEANED DAILY WHILE HE PRETENDED I DIDN’T EXSIST.
(walks
over to mirror and begins applying lipstick – 20 seconds)
BUT I
WASN’T GOING TO BE A VICTIM ANYMORE. I
COULDN’T DO THAT TO MYSELF. NEARLY HALF MY LIFE I SPENT ON HIM. I COULDN’T JUST
DIVORCE HIM. THAT WOULD LEGITIMISE WHAT HE DID. WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS. THE
WAY HE LIED. AND I COULDN’T ALLOW THAT. I WANTED MY TIME BACK. BUT I COULDN’T
TAKE IT BACK. THOSE YEARS WERE ALREADY SPENT. WASTED. LOST. SO I DID THE NEXT
BEST THING. I TOOK HIS. STOPPED THEM. PUT A STOPPER IN THE SANDS OF TIME THAT
WERE HIS LIFE. IT’S A SMALL VICTORY KNOWING HE WONT BE LIVING THEM, CAUSING
MORE HURT. MORE MISERY.
(takes
a hairbrush from the clutter on the bed and begins brushing hair 10 seconds)
NO, I
COULDN’T ALLOW IT. I COULDN’T JUST BREAK AWAY AND LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT.
(pause)
COULDN’T
ALLOW HIM TO CARRY ON WONDERING THE EARTH. COULDN’T ALLOW HIM TO HURT SOMEONE
ELSE THE SAME WAY HE HURT ME. I HAD TO STOP HIM.
(lights
a new cigarette using a lighter from on the bed)
I
DIDN’T SMOKE BEFORE. BUT BEING MARRIED TO HIM, I NEEDED SOMETHING TO GET ME
AWAY. SOMETHING TO TAKE MY MIND OFF HIM. I WAS AN OCCAISIONAL SOCIAL SMOKER BUT
THAT WAS IT. HE WAS THE SMOKER OF US BOTH. THIS IS HIS –
(throws
the lighter from across the room onto the table)
I
CONSIDERED TORCHING THE HOUSE BUT I COULDN’T BRING MYSELF TO DO IT.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
IT
WASNT THE HOUSES FAULT. THE HOUSE DIDN’T DO THIS TO ME. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL
HOUSE. IT WAS ME WHO WANTED TO BUY IT. HE WAS INDIFFERENT. HE REALLY DIDN’T
GIVE A DAMN.
(pause)
BUT
DESPITE ALL THE SADNESS I FELT IN THAT PLACE, I COULDNT BRING MYSELF TO BURN IT
DOWN. THAT HOUSE WAS MY COMPANY WHEN HE WENT AWAY FOR NIGHTS AT A TIME LEAVING
ME NO IDEA WHERE HE WAS OR WHEN HE’D BE HOME OR WHO HE WAS WITH OR WHY.
(picks
up a bottle of hairspray from the pile on the bed and begins styling hair – 20
seconds)
THE
HOUSE WAS CONSTANT.
(pause)
THE
HOUSE WAS CONSISTENT. CONSISTENT IN A WORLD WHERE I WAS LOST. LOST IN AN
UNHAPPY UNCERTAIN MARRIAGE WHERE I WAS UNSURE OF WHAT THE NEXT DAY WOULD BRING
TO ME OR IF I WOULD SEE MY HUSBAND.
(pause)
THE
HOUSE WAS SECURE TO ME.
(pause)
I WAS
A RECLUSE.
(pauses to take a drag from the
cigarette)
I DID
HAVE A JOB ONCE, BUT HE DIDN’T LIKE IT. SAID MY PLACE WAS AT HOME.
(pause)
I WAS
A CHEF. I LOVED IT.
(pause)
I WAS
HAPPY IN MY WORK. THIS WAS AT THE VERY BEGGINING OF OUR MARRIAGE, BEFORE THE
CRACKS REALLY STARTED TO SHOW. BEFORE IT BECAME APPARENT WHAT I’D SIGNED UP TO.
BEFORE I REALISED THAT I HAD A LIFE SENTENCE TO A WOMANIZING MONSTER.
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