TONI HORNES SULLIVAN
Wicked
“What’s the darkest place in the world?”
“The mind.”
“It’s been three months.”
“Since?”
“You’ve left the house. Getting sunshine–”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“I’m trying to make sure you get better.”
“Not everything is sunshine in Cancun.”
“Mom died last year and you’re still sitting here moping about. She didn’t want that for you.”
“She didn’t want to die of a heart attack either.”
“You’re so stuck in your haunted hell hole.”
“Please forgive me if I haven’t traveled to Mexico, Jamaica and Bali in the last 16 weeks.”
“After her death I decided to see the world that she didn’t. That’s honorable. ”
“It’s like nothing ever happened.”
“Typical bitterness. We hashed out our differences.”
“You called once a year. Complaining about jobs, toxic boyfriends, stints in jail for possession. Just jumped from one fantasy to the next. Now you’re jet-setting across the globe?
“So what?! You think you had everything figured out in your twenties?!”
“She was too sick to for me to fuck up my life.”
“Her health didn’t decline until eighteen months ago.”
“How mentally absent are you? She had pre-existing conditions FOR YEARS.”
“She never talked to me about her problems. I’m not a therapist.”
“You wouldn’t meet the basic qualifications for that anyway.”
“I’m so sorry your sister has a PhD in Public Health and not Counseling.”
“Here we go, rattling off achievements like they mean something.”
“Because they do. You could never stand to see me happy.”
“I gave up my life to take care of her and you.”
“Nothing you gave up mattered.”
“Including my marriage.”
“George left you because you’re a bitter hag who didn’t know when to shut up.”
“How is he?”
“What?”
“How is he? The affair can’t be over that fast.”
“If you must know, we’re married now. Everywhere you fail, I succeed.”
“Except in getting your own life. If you could peel off my skin you would, the snake that you are.”
“Why don’t I just do it now then?”
“You don’t have the skills.”
“But I have the means. Since I married George, I can do what makes me happy.”
“Homicide included?”
“I’m sure mom would be glad to see you.”
“And George too I hear.”
“He’s still alive.”
“In loving memory, I’m sure. He told me why you got with him before he died. Turns out he was responsible for putting your papers though.”
“I earned my degree.”
“You prostituted yourself to get it and he looked the other way. Now, he’s dead.”
“You really have a dark mind.”
“Better that than a black heart.”
“You think this is the first time that I got my hands dirty? No.”
“He told me that too.”
“Everything I’ve wanted, I’ve gotten. I’ve never cared about what I had to do to get it. But I made sure I got it.”
“And now look at you.”
“A wealthy doctor.”
“So this is how it ends.”
“Not sorry about it, dear.”
“Freeze! You’re under arrest!”
“Me Neither.”