Sometimes I imagine she’s still here.
In the dramatic scene from Glass of Blue, Nella indirectly accuses Philly of being up to something bad because he’s been carrying a weapon.
NELLA: When’d ya get this?
Nella pulls out a knife.
PHILLY: I had that.
NELLA: No, you ain’t ever had this.
PHILLY: What d’you know what I have and don’t have in my life?
NELLA: Yeah, I do.
PHILLY: That’s been buried in my closet for ages.
NELLA: Why’d ya take it out now?
PHILLY: ‘Cause I did, that’s why.
NELLA: BUT, WHY, PHIL?
PHILLY: I wanted to see if I still had it, alright?
NELLA: I know what you’ve been up to, and you better stop. I’ve known you all my life. Since we were kids. I know your capabilities. I know when something’s on your mind. You obsess. You’ve always had this tendency to act right beneath the edge, right before something terrible could happen. You’ve always been able to hold yourself back, but this, this feels different.
Helena shattered your heart. And I’m sorry you had to——this hasn’t been easy for me either—we were a family…
I loved Helena too. But it’s gone, Philly. She’s gone. She’s moved on; she’s happy ’cause we ain’t in her life anymore. I’ve accepted it; you gotta accept it. You can’t keep holding on. It ain’t right.
(gesturing at knife) You pull that thing out on a whim; with how your behavior’s been lately, the two don’t match up.
I’m telling you as your friend, I don’t know what you’re scheming or thinking about…Let her go before it’s too late.
PHILLY: Is that how you look at me, Nel? You think I’m looking to go out there and hurt her?! You think I’m mad?
NELLY: I think you’re looking to hurt yourself.
PHILLY: Enough damage is done.
NELLY: (beat.) I heard you talkin’ to yourself.
PHILLY: Everybody does that.
NELLY: But you were talkin’ to Helena like she was sitting in the room with ya. You were sayin’ goodbye to her.
PHILLY: It was an exercise, like.
NELLY: An exercise in what?
PHILLY: Making believe she’s still——I’d just try to—
NELLY: Say it.
PHILLY: Sometimes I imagine she’s still here is all, so, like, I talk to her like it used to be and try and say things that maybe I should have said…
NELLA: But you can’t think that’s good for your mind, Philly.
PHILLY: I don’t know.
NELLA: You gotta forget, move on! You can’t keep her around like a ghost!
PHILLY: But she is alive! And that’s the hardest thing about it! She’s still alive, and I mean, did she have to move around the f’cking corner? Of all places, THREE YARDS DOWN?!
Doesn’t she want to get away? I let her leave. I didn’t stop her. She wanted out, she walked out. There.
I see her at the pizzeria, I don’t go in. When I go to the bank, she’s in the line. I walk into the f’cking grocery store, and she’s walkin’ out of it. I don’t need this shit! I go to the park even, and who’s there? Helena is there, talking to some guy, giggling, flirting, two months after we break up?!
(pause.)
NELLA: Bali.
PHILLY: Who?
NELLA: Wanna go to Bali with me?
PHILLY: What the f’ck is Bali?
NELLA: It’s an island, you stupid a’shole. Comes with sunshine, beaches, activities, mountains, delicious food, and cheap, cheap, cheap living.
PHILLY: I don’t know nothin’ ’bout Bali.
NELLA: We can live like a king and queen. You can forget all about Helena…we both can… We start fresh…go to the waterfalls.
PHILLY: They have waterfalls in Bali?
NELLA: It’s amazing.
PHILLY: What about Crocs? Ain’t there crocodiles down there? I don’t wanna be swimming and get pulled under and chewed up to death.
NELLA: No. The waters are clear.
PHILLY: I don’t know nothin’ about some foreign—
NELLA: You’re irrational, Philly. We need your mind back. We can go to Bali, where it’s safe, calm, serene, and healthy for the overworked. What are we doing here? Working ourselves to death! Working ourselves into a coma. I am sick of this sh’t. I’m exhausted. The constant grind, this tiny apartment, the budgeting of food… I haven’t had a day where I haven’t stressed over bills in over three years! Aren’t you tired of it all? When was the last time you bought yourself a new pair of shoes? Bali. We can go there, forget about Helena. You’ll watch her face fade into the night sky… watch it be replaced with thousands of bright little stars. That’s how you’ll remember her.
PHLLY: (sighs) I want to forget her. I want to live.
NELLA: We all do, Phil.
PHILLY: How much savings do we have?
NELLA: We got more than enough. I can work the business out of there. It’ll be enough for us to get by. You can help out, like the usual. Screw this apartment we’ve been struggling to survive in. Let’s get out, out while we can, before it all gets the better of us.
- To read the full one-act ePlay, find purchase link below:
In the one-act eplay Glass of Blue, Nella calls out Philly for his strange behavior after he’s caught spying on his ex-girlfriend Helena. 1 Woman, 1 Man. Drama.
