Monologues for Women

The Boiler Room

The Boiler Room
by Reuben Gonzalez

OLIVIA- I had so many plans. Not just for me, Ma. For all of us. Don't you think I wanted something better for you, too? Don't you think I wanted to get you out of here? You don't know how many times I've driven past big fancy houses and swore that one day I was going to buy one for you. I even know the one I'd buy for you. It's on the corner of Stamford, with hedges and trees out front. And in the back, there's this area where they're building a swimming pool. One day I even went around the back of the house and watched as they cleared a space for the pool. And you know what I wanted to do, Ma? I wanted to say, "Hey, stop! Hey, my mother doesn't want no swimming pool back there. She wasn't some dirt and some seeds so she can grow things." It's all so unfair, Ma. Everything's so unfair. I listen to Anthony talk about snatching pocketbooks and I look at him all dirty and looking like he just comes out of a war, and then I think of all those other kids the same as Anthony without a care in the world. The most they'll ever have to worry about is whether it will be Harvard or Yale, and then later if they will go into their daddy's business or conquer some new turf on their own. It's all so unfair. Those kids didn't have to work for that, Ma. One day they were born and it was just there. They become doctors, lawyers, politicians. They run for President. They have their country clubs, their health clubs, their country houses, their winter houses. They have lunch. They wear fur coats. They have their faces made. I'll never be able to do any of those things.