This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:05] Iyvon Edebiri: Hello everyone, welcome to The Parsnip Ship.

[0:09] Iyvon Edebiri: I am Iyvon Edebiri, and tonight is the fourth episode of our fifth season, and we are excited to be featuring only female playwrights this season and bringing their dynamic stories to you and your ears.

[0:24] Iyvon Edebiri: And we are recording tonight's reading at the Mark O'Donnell Theater in the Actors Fund Art Center in downtown Brooklyn. Thank you again for hosting us and supporting The Parsnip Ship.

[0:40] Iyvon Edebiri: Tonight we are hearing the mystical, amazing play, Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz, directed by Rebecca Aparicio, and we have the very talented Xiomara Syngz as our musician tonight.

[1:00] Iyvon Edebiri: All right, and I have our playwright with us up here, who's also, oh, fun fact, gonna be an actor in it too. Okay, double duty, I see you. Big and bad.

[1:10] Iyvon Edebiri: Um, we like to start our night by asking our playwright, what is what would the world be missing if it didn't have this play?

[1:10] Erlina Ortiz: What would the world be missing if we didn't have this play? Without this play, we wouldn't be breaking the silence of domestic violence in Latinx communities. We wouldn't have a room full of Latinos talking about Don Francisco and pronouncing each other's names correctly without explanation. And we wouldn't have a story illustrating that it is possible, even in the most traumatic situations, to find forgiveness and healing.

[1:45] Iyvon Edebiri: Beautiful. So um let that stick with y'all tonight. Um, as we move to our first song by our awesome musician, Xiomara Syngz. Take it away.

[2:24] ♪ Musical number: "Song Title" — performed by Xiomara Syngz ♪

[5:49] Alina Ortiz: Who is Alina Ortiz and I'll be playing the role of Hennessys.

[6:11] Daniel Colón: My name is Daniel Colón, and I'll be playing the role of Felix.

[6:15] Gabriela Sanchez: My name is Gabriela Sanchez, and I'll be playing the role of Paloma.

[6:20] Diomargy Uribe: My name is Diomargy Uribe, and I'll be reading stage directions.

[6:28] Diomargy Uribe: Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz.

[6:32] Diomargy Uribe: Scene one.

[6:33] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis, Dominican, 33 years old is on a stage with an array of objects around her. A purse, a thrift store bag, some folded boxes, and a traditional Dominican faceless doll.

[6:45] Diomargy Uribe: She grabs up the bags and boxes. She picks up the faceless doll and looks at it for a moment before placing it quickly into her bag.

[6:57] Diomargy Uribe: A documentary film begins.

[7:10] Diomargy Uribe: Paloma, early 50s, sits hunched in her living room. She is much older and more frail than she should be for her age. She has a remote in her hand. She changes channels, and we hear Sabado Gigante. El Chacal and Don Francisco.

[7:27] Diomargy Uribe: Paloma is visibly pleased with her discovery. Hennessis enters without Paloma seeing her. She watches her mother for a moment with love. Finally, at just the right moment, in unison with El Chacal, she yells.

[7:45] Hennessis: Mija.

[7:46] Paloma: Hi, mommy. You came to visit me?

[7:50] Hennessis: Of course. How do you feel?

[7:52] Paloma: Oh, cansada.

[7:54] Hennessis: How's the show?

[7:55] Paloma: Perfect.

[7:59] Hennessis: I'm going to make him my husband.

[8:01] Paloma: Too bad he's dead.

[8:03] Hennessis: No.

[8:04] Paloma: Yeah, sorry, mommy. This is a rerun.

[8:07] Hennessis: Don Francisco se murio.

[8:09] Paloma: He's been dead for years.

[8:10] Hennessis: Why are you lying to me, Muchacha?

[8:14] Paloma: Bueno, I thought he would have outlived me. Look what I found at Goodwill, mommy. It was only 50 cents. I thought you might want to add it to your collection.

[8:22] Hennessis: A small white glass dove. Like your name.

[8:26] Paloma: My name, Paloma means.

[8:30] Diomargy Uribe: Suddenly, Paloma seems lost.

[8:33] Paloma: Mija?

[8:34] Hennessis: Yes?

[8:36] Paloma: Oh. Wait a second, mommy. It's Felix calling.

[8:39] Hennessis: Hey, Mano. I'm cleaning up right now, packing the remaining things. She's doing good today, actually. She knew it was me when I walked in anyway.

[8:48] Felix: Hennessis, conquin is that she's meando, eh?

[8:50] Hennessis: Felix, mommy. I'm talking to Felix.

[8:53] Paloma: See, mommy. Felix.

[8:55] Felix: The Hama Blackonel. She wants to talk to you.

[8:59] Hennessis: I know, I know. Just say hi.

[9:01] Hennessis: Here.

[9:03] Felix: Chacho.

[9:06] Felix: Eh? Speak up, no te oigo.

[9:10] Hennessis: Yo quiero ittuos.

[9:12] Felix: No toy tan ne hapo dio.

[9:15] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis packs the glass dove, then reaches into her bag and pulls out the Dominican faceless doll.

[9:25] Felix: Eh? No te oigo concho.

[9:29] Hennessis: Okay, I'm okay, mommy. Say bye. He has to go.

[9:31] Paloma: Ah si uh, bye.

[9:34] Paloma: Bye.

[9:35] Paloma: Bye bye.

[9:36] Felix: I know.

[9:39] Hennessis: Wait, when?

[9:40] Hennessis: This morning?

[9:41] Hennessis: Felix says he called you this morning, mommy.

[9:43] Paloma: No.

[9:44] Paloma: Mentira.

[9:45] Paloma: Mentira, she says.

[9:48] Hennessis: I know, but it's funny. Well, anyway. I'm almost done. Only thing left to pack is the TV and the cable box, really.

[9:56] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis can't stop looking at the faceless doll. My buddy Joseph is bringing his truck later.

[10:02] Felix: No, just a friend.

[10:04] Hennessis: Alright. Sounds good. I know. Tell Carol and my niece I said hi. I know she can't say hi back.

[10:12] Hennessis: Okay. Gotta go. Bye.

[10:17] Hennessis: Look at this doll, mommy.

[10:19] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis puts the doll in her mother's lap. Paloma holds it gingerly and smiles. Then she seems to forget about it and drops it haphazardly.

[10:31] Hennessis: I can stay until five, mommy. Then I gotta go home and make dinner and lesson plans.

[10:36] Paloma: No, Mija. They only gave us 15 minutes, but that that's not enough time. There's so many things I want to say to you.

[10:44] Paloma: Why haven't you come visit me, huh? It's been so long. Secret, pero yo soy tu mammy.

[10:51] Hennessis: Mommy, I have until five. We got three hours. I'll watch the reruns with you.

[10:57] Diomargy Uribe: Paloma reaches for Hennessis's ponytail aggressively.

[11:00] Paloma: Mommy, you grew your hair back.

[11:06] Diomargy Uribe: Scene two. In the film we see time rewinding, college, studying, dorm rooms, the oppressive environment of an Ivy League education.

[11:15] Diomargy Uribe: A younger Hennessis sits in her college dorm. She casually smokes a joint while typing furiously. We hear a pounding on the other side of her wall. A woman moaning. Her neighbors having loud sex. She ignores them and types out loud.

[11:29] Hennessis: My project is motivated by my own understandings of the ways in which certain race bodies are hyper sexualized and dissected into parts both in the media and in everyday settings.

[11:58] Hennessis: The consequences of this, I imagine, are extremely detrimental.

[12:12] Hennessis: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, two.

[12:29] Hennessis: Great you done now I can focus Louis Hello Hey cuz um what's up?

[12:44] Hennessis: Yeah, I'm good, you know, studying?

[12:48] Hennessis: Yeah, like usual. No, no, no, you're cool. Is everything good?

[12:53] Hennessis: What? What? Don't fuck around, yo.

[12:58] Diomargy Uribe: At this moment, we see Paloma, middle-aged. She sits in a single chair in glaring spotlight. She's being interviewed for the film.

[13:03] Paloma: For real, Luis, why are you saying this shit? Which channel?

[13:07] Paloma: I I fuck.

[13:10] Diomargy Uribe: She hangs up and turns on the nearby TV.

[13:18] Paloma: Yes. I believe they will let me go. It might take some time, but at the time of my trial, there was no expert witness to say why I had done what I did. There was no forensic psychologist to explain. I had no one in my corner. There was no one to say it was either him or me. They will let me go. They will do what is right. I've done my time. Paloma means dove.

[13:48] Hennessis: (drops the remote and the lights go out on Paloma.)

[13:53] Narrator: Scene three. In the film, we once again see the college campus, feet walking, backpacks, and coffee shops, sounds of students, bicycles, cars. Hennessy sits at a campus coffee shop. She has long finished her caffeinated beverage. It was probably too big for her. She's jumpy and irritated. Felix enters. He is a young Dominican man, about 19 or 20 years old. He catches sight of Hennessy and hesitantly shuffles his way over.

[14:20] Felix: Seriously, Hennessy? Seriously? I've waited for 45 minutes. We said 10:30. Still, I got here at 10:45 because I knew. And you get here half past eleven?

[14:31] Hennessy: I have class in 20 minutes.

[14:32] Felix: Yeah, Henny. Cohilockum, take it easy. Chill out.

[14:36] Hennessy: Yeah, chill out. There's no getting through that thick skull of yours, is there?

[14:39] Felix: Haven't found a way yet. Yo, Henny, spit it out. What the fuck?

[14:44] Hennessy: Don't talk to me like that, Felix, please. I don't need anything else pushing me over the edge right now. I have something really important to tell you, and I just need—

[14:50] Felix: Mom, isn't it?

[14:58] Hennessy: What?

[14:59] Felix: Our mom's.

[15:00] Hennessy: Well, what do you know?

[15:02] Felix: What do you mean?

[15:02] Hennessy: You know?

[15:04] Felix: Yeah, Hennessy, I fucking know. You could spare me the dramatic lead up. I knew I was gonna get a call from you any day now, flipping shit.

[15:09] Hennessy: How do you know? How long have you known? How do you know before me? Why didn't I? What do you know?

[15:15] Felix: She got out. Has been staying with the O'Ruis and shit.

[15:19] Hennessy: How did you find out in that ridiculous interview?

[15:22] Felix: I don't know. It's been a whole thing. You know, she's been appealing since they put her in there. Luis called me last week, asked me if I wanted to come over, have dinner with them and shit. It happened real fast, you know. She came over, they showed the documentary thing. I guess I called you last week.

[15:38] Hennessy: I didn't even last week to have dinner?

[15:42] Felix: Uh, I figured you knew.

[15:44] Hennessy: Right. I didn't think it was ridiculous.

[15:46] Felix: The people were real nice.

[15:47] Hennessy: What peoples?

[15:48] Felix: The ones that made the movie.

[15:50] Hennessy: You talked to them?

[15:52] Felix: They came by a while ago. Just showed up asking questions, but they said they were trying to gather info on, like to help her get out, so I didn't mind talking to them.

[16:02] Hennessy: Well, no one came to talk to me. No one asked me to come to dinner. Just told me Paloma was on TV if I wanted to check it out.

[16:12] Felix: You know you ain't close to them like that.

[16:14] Hennessy: I chill with Luis all the time.

[16:16] Felix: You mean you and Luis like to get fucking high together and waste your lives away.

[16:20] Hennessy: Yo, shut your face, yo. Like you don't smoke.

[16:21] Felix: Yeah, right. No wonder you can't hold down a freaking job. They mentioned piss tests and you go running, like, Felix.

[16:29] Hennessy: This conversation is becoming quickly tiresome for me, so I'm gonna, as they say, get the fuck out.

[16:35] Felix: Okay. I'll relax, okay? Just please sit down. I have like 10 minutes. I just need someone to process this with me. Will you do that?

[16:46] Hennessy: Hmm.

[16:47] Felix: My little brother. My sweet, smart, annoying little brother.

[16:54] Hennessy: Uh, you can't come at my face like that, yo. I know your shit. Like I ain't been there for you through all of your shit.

[17:03] Felix: We're on campus. Look, Henny, I don't know why you're so surprised, yo. We all knew she'd be back one day.

[17:09] Hennessy: It's not that. It's just I didn't even know, Felix.

[17:14] Felix: No one told me. She's been out right up Broad Street, just like living and being a free person for almost two weeks now. They had a dinner and showed that goddamn documentary, and no one told me. She didn't tell me.

[17:26] Hennessy: What were you expecting, honey? She was gonna call you up and be like, Mihita, I missed you so much. Let's go shopping. Ooh, that's not reality.

[17:38] Felix: I know. Did you watch the whole documentary?

[17:42] Hennessy: Of course not. So dramatized, ridiculous. They make her out to be some kind of hero.

[17:47] Felix: That's not the—you should just watch it. When was the last time you even talked to her?

[17:52] Hennessy: I don't know.

[17:53] Felix: Bullshit. I was like 16.

[17:56] Hennessy: If you don't know down to the minute, then you ain't my sister.

[17:59] Hennessy: It doesn't matter.

[18:02] Narrator: Scene four. In the film, we see the prison industrial complex. The faceless doll behind bars. The dove in a cage. Time passing and passing. A teenage Hennessy sits in front of an incarcerated Paloma.

[18:19] Hennessy: You're super late. They don't want to come see your mommy.

[18:24] Paloma: No. Uh-uh-uh. No. Don't you dare start fucking crying. I'm tired of this bullshit. Every time you come here, all you do is fucking cry. I ain't got the patience. What are you crying for? Stop it, Hennessy. And take off the hat.

[18:42] Paloma: Diosmio, what did you do to your hair? You cut all of your hair off? You look like a goddamn lesbiana. What's the matter with you, eh? What are you not with hippie? That beautiful hair. I never thought I'd have such an ugly daughter.

[19:06] Hennessy: Don't give me that look, Muchacha. Like I'm a bad person. I won't need 15 minutes, guard. I think I've just had about enough of this muñeca. Coming in here with that bald ass head, giving me those crocodile tears. I heard from Tia Rosa, you've been running around with that tigere from down the block, huh?

[19:30] Paloma: Psst. Don't come back here until you grow your hair back to the way God made it.

[19:38] Narrator: Hennessis leaves. Why would I want to deal with that shit, eh? In the film we see Paloma being interviewed. Hennessis watches the film.

[19:53] Paloma: Are we starting again? Ah, uh, yes. Uh, okay, uh, my children. Uh, my boy was ten when I went away. My daughter was thirteen. They were with my mom for uh a little while, but she was old, sick, poor. They couldn't often make the trip. My daughter came a few times. I had to wait longer and longer until one day she just stopped coming. She was, I think, being manipulated by outside forces, other family members who were so happy with me, or I uh wanted to see her. I missed her so much. But now it's it's been years. I think about her all the time.

[20:49] Narrator: The film cuts out. Why would I want to deal with that shit, eh? Scene five. We hear Felix banging on Hennessy's dorm room door. She's pretty drunk holding a solo cup and wearing an old vata or nightgown. The faceless doll sits nearby her.

[21:09] Felix: Hennessy. Henny. Open the goddamn door, chick. Hennessy. Henny! Fucking open the door!

[21:22] Hennessy: You be quiet. You're gonna wake everybody up.

[21:25] Felix: You're fucking drunk. How did you get in here?

[21:28] Hennessy: You had me on your guest list, stupid.

[21:30] Felix: I do.

[21:30] Hennessy: Yeah.

[21:32] Felix: I was surprised too. Sit down. How much have you had to drink?

[21:36] Hennessy: Oh fuck. Anyways, at least you're still awake. Uh uh now, slick. Now that I bother to come all the way over here, you better keep your ass awake until the worst is over. And put the drink down.

[21:48] Felix: (grabs a drink out of her hand and replaces it with a water bottle.) I just want to sleep forever.

[21:54] Hennessy: Yeah, loca. That's what you texted me. Then you ignored all my calls and wouldn't text me back. You know how fucking crazy I was going?

[22:01] Felix: Why? Why can't I just drink every once in a while like everyone else does?

[22:04] Felix: Because you don't know how to fucking drink, honey. You go overboard. Shit. You got a problem. Look at you.

[22:12] Hennessy: Stop trying to make me feel bad.

[22:14] Felix: Nah, seriously. Look at you. The fuck are you wearing?

[22:20] Hennessy: Nothing. It's just a vata.

[22:22] Felix: Um, that's mommy's old vata.

[22:24] Hennessy: Uh, no, it's not.

[22:25] Felix: It definitely is, okay. (notices the faceless doll nearby.) And that relic? I found it in my things. I just my Dita Loca, Mira, forget it. Just sit down and drink the water. You okay? What happened?

[22:43] Hennessy: (shakes her head and won't stop shaking it.) Stop it. Stop it. You're gonna make yourself sick, and I'm not cleaning up after your ass again. Stop it!

[22:50] Felix: (slaps her lightly. This seems to sober her up slightly.) I'm just tired, Felix. I'm tired of studying. I'm tired of thinking, of deadlines, of worrying, of planning. I'm so fucking tired. I'm failing my thesis. I can't focus. My advisor told me I might have to take another semester. Like, do you have any idea of what I'm dealing with here? I don't have the money for an extra semester. I can't.

[23:15] Felix: Hello, calmate. (notices an ashtray with a half-smoked joint in it. He picks it up and lights it.)

[23:21] Hennessy: Hey, that's mine. I thought you didn't smoke.

[23:23] Felix: Right. DK. Here. Take a hit. It'll help sober you up.

[23:29] Hennessy: (takes the joint and smokes.) I just want sleep. Won't you just let me go to sleep?

[23:42] Felix: No.

[23:44] Hennessy: Okay. I don't want to sleep. What I wanna do is just be in that moment right before you fall asleep. When you're still kind of aware of a real world that exists around you, but the peace of sleep is what that world is made out of.

[24:01] Felix: And you Jay with the fucking poetry. I ain't following you.

[24:09] Hennessy: It would be perfect.

[24:11] Felix: No. It wouldn't be perfect, stupid. Because you'd be dead. Come on. Drink the water. Sounding like a loca.

[24:18] Hennessy: (offers him the joint as she drinks the water.) No, I I don't want it. I've gotta drive home. I called Tia Rosa's house, and they put me on speakerphone, her and Theo Ruiz. Together, like some sick orchestra told me it's better if I didn't call there again. That Paloma was figuring things out, and she didn't need any negative distractions.

[24:41] Felix: Negative distractions. Damn. Henny, you know Tia Rosa's ghetto ass talks a lot of bullshit. Why do you even listen to them? Why you even call them? Just show up and be like, hi, mommy. What's up? Like it ain't that big a deal.

[24:58] Hennessy: (gives him the look.) The you know very well how big a deal it is, don't play look.

[25:02] Felix: Oh, I know. What's she like?

[25:08] Hennessy: I don't know, man. I didn't even really know her before. I was too little. Um, I was twelve, so you were already nine.

[25:15] Felix: No, my birthday had passed 11 days earlier, Spider-Man themed. So ten. That's plenty of time to remember to see a difference.

[25:23] Hennessy: I don't know, Henny. I guess she's more chilled. She's, you know, herself, she's she's quiet mostly. I I don't really have too many clear memories on her, so but she seemed different, I guess.

[25:41] Felix: You are painting a vivid picture. You just gonna have to see for yourself, loca.

[25:47] Narrator: Scene six. In the film, we feel time rewinding. Middle school, El Barrio, North Philly. We hear a loud knocking.

[25:56] Hennessy: Mommy! Mommy!

[26:02] Paloma: (gets up and rushes to the door, letting in an out-of-breath and distraught preteen Hennessy.) Dramatica. Siempre so dramatic.

[26:14] Hennessy: Guess. I'm not telling you.

[26:18] Paloma: Talk to me like that again. What are you gonna do, mommy? You can't hurt me. I'm not a little kid anymore.

[26:21] Paloma: (grabs her daughter by the arm.)

[26:24] Hennessis: Salgapafuera, no respect.

[26:26] Hennessis: Hennessis fights back.

[26:27] Paloma: Paloma takes off her chancleta.

[26:29] Paloma: Just cause you shot up and got outside, you don't think I'm stronger than you, Muchacha?

[26:33] Paloma: Paloma smacks Hennessis on the arm.

[26:35] Hennessis: Without thinking Hennessis smacks back hard.

[26:38] Paloma: Paloma lets her go, shocked.

[26:40] Hennessis: Hennessis takes a step back, equally a shock then.

[26:43] Hennessis: Okay.

[26:44] Hennessis: I ran home.

[26:45] Paloma: Why?

[26:46] Hennessis: Suzette.

[26:48] Hennessis: It's a girl at my school.

[26:49] Hennessis: She's mad, dumb, and she.

[26:52] Hennessis: Diga me.

[26:54] Hennessis: Digame.

[26:56] Hennessis: She told me that my papi was met on her mommy.

[26:59] Paloma: Huh?

[27:00] Hennessis: She said I needed to keep my pig father away from her ma.

[27:04] Hennessis: And I smacked her in the face and then I ran home.

[27:08] Paloma: Hennessey.

[27:09] Hennessis: But, mommy, she has all those wannabe gangsters who do her business, and I needed to get in the house quick, because they gonna jump me.

[27:14] Paloma: I know it.

[27:15] Hennessis: But I don't know where I left my keys.

[27:16] Paloma: What's her mother's name?

[27:18] Hennessis: I don't know.

[27:19] Hennessis: Hennesse.

[27:30] Hennessis: But I know she's lying, mommy.

[27:33] Paloma: Papi.

[27:35] Hennessis: Papi loves you.

[27:38] Paloma: See.

[27:39] Hennessis: She's a mentirosa.

[27:41] Paloma: Better you gave her una gayeta.

[27:43] Hennessis: For her lies, mommy.

[27:44] Paloma: How hard you hit her?

[27:45] Hennessis: Hard, mommy.

[27:46] Hennessis: I know how to hit.

[27:47] Hennessis: Her face was all red like an apple, and my hand hurt a little bit too.

[27:51] Paloma: Good.

[27:52] Hennessis: But I'm in trouble now.

[27:54] Paloma: Good.

[27:59] Narrator: Scene seven.

[28:01] Narrator: A 33 year old Hennessis watches Paloma in the film.

[28:04] Narrator: It is a part she has not seen before now.

[28:07] Narrator: An interviewer has just asked Paloma a question.

[28:11] Paloma: He was how do they say uh my knight in shining armor?

[28:18] Paloma: He saved me from a life of poverty in a country that had nothing to offer me.

[28:22] Paloma: I imagined a beautiful life together, uh, a beautiful house in Los Estados Unidos, the United States.

[28:31] Paloma: A daughter, uh, a son.

[28:33] Felix: We will live the American dream.

[28:38] Paloma: When we came here, he called me dove.

[28:42] Paloma: There's a blackout in my neighborhood.

[28:45] Paloma: Been three in like the last two weeks, and I ain't got no weapons on me.

[28:50] Paloma: I know Brombo in the hood, and I ain't got a thing, but well.

[28:53] Paloma: I feel like whenever a dude got a piece on him, he's asking for trouble.

[28:57] Hennessis: Paloma and Felix both addressed the interviewers in their own space and time.

[29:01] Hennessis: Hennessis watches them both in the film.

[29:04] Hennessis: You're gonna tell me if I say something I'm not supposed to say, right?

[29:08] Hennessis: I'm trying to help not hurt, okay?

[29:12] Hennessis: Sting gonna be on TV.

[29:14] Paloma: Oh.

[29:15] Hennessis: I'm gonna look all sweaty and nervous.

[29:19] Hennessis: Let's finish before the sun goes down.

[29:20] Hennessis: There's a blackout, and people get too bold in the dark.

[29:23] Hennessis: Not me though.

[29:23] Hennessis: I can admit that too.

[29:24] Hennessis: Go ahead, make fun of me.

[29:25] Hennessis: Ain't nothing natural about the dark.

[29:28] Hennessis: Too quiet.

[29:30] Hennessis: How come when it gets dark, it get mad quiet too?

[29:35] Hennessis: I don't know.

[29:36] Hennessis: Sometimes I get these crazy thoughts going in my head.

[29:39] Hennessis: Like, how come some things like vampires and werewolves is even a thought?

[29:44] Hennessis: I ain't talking about no sparkly romantic kind either.

[29:48] Hennessis: My name Paloma means dove.

[29:52] Hennessis: My dove, he said.

[29:54] Hennessis: I was his.

[29:55] Hennessis: I I was very naive, but I was happy.

[29:59] Hennessis: I could say there were no warning signs.

[30:01] Hennessis: But uh one day uh he was holding my hand, and a man walked by who had these very nice pants on.

[30:09] Hennessis: And I don't remember why I like those pants, but I did, and I made a joke to my husband.

[30:16] Hennessis: We should ask him where he bought those pants.

[30:18] Hennessis: I want you to have them.

[30:20] Hennessis: They're very nice.

[30:22] Hennessis: I smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

[30:28] Hennessis: I'm talking about the kind that'll like smile at you one minute and then fucking suck your blood or eat your face, you know?

[30:37] Hennessis: From all over the world, people gets ideas about this shit.

[30:40] Hennessis: People who ain't even seen or talked to each other from thousands of years ago.

[30:43] Hennessis: And if this shit be all over the world like that, it must have come from somewhere, right?

[30:51] Hennessis: He said, Don't start trying to change me now, woman.

[30:54] Hennessis: I am who I am.

[30:56] Hennessis: And I said, okay, but I was just kidding.

[31:01] Hennessis: He held my hand much tighter then, and he looked at me very seriously, and I was aware suddenly that he was holding my hand so tightly around my wrist, I I remember feeling like it was a handcuff.

[31:19] Hennessis: When I was a little boy, I'd hear my pops taking his day out on my mom's.

[31:24] Hennessis: Wasn't nothing different.

[31:25] Hennessis: First time I noticed that, uh, it was like when I was like five or six, and uh I ain't saying that my pops was ever like a fluffy bunny rabbit or whatever, because he was always a hard dude.

[31:37] Hennessis: I mean, I I don't remember him tossing me a ball or bouncing me on his lap.

[31:43] Hennessis: But sometimes he called me his little chamako and he tossed me a dulce or Marta, and I knew that he loved me.

[31:53] Hennessis: But I know why she did it.

[31:56] Hennessis: From the moment I was old enough to understand what had happened, I thought, yeah, shit, that makes sense, because uh shit got pretty bad after a while.

[32:04] Hennessis: Bapisoda was always flowing.

[32:06] Hennessis: That's what we call this never-ending supply of coronas, Bappi Soda.

[32:10] Hennessis: Ain't nobody allowed to touch Bappi Soda.

[32:14] Hennessis: Wouldn't want to, anyways.

[32:15] Hennessis: I tried that shit when I was seven and I threw right up.

[32:18] Hennessis: My mother's husband, he was not my father.

[32:23] Hennessis: Her husband was a street boxer, and his favorite practice was come me mama.

[32:28] Hennessis: She was how do they say uh a shell of a person by the time she died?

[32:34] Hennessis: People say that all the time, but you don't really know what it means until you see it.

[32:39] Hennessis: Her her face was permanently fixed in and in shock and horror.

[32:45] Hennessis: Even her rare smile looked painful.

[32:48] Hennessis: But she uh she never said anything.

[32:52] Hennessis: The silence was abuse.

[32:55] Hennessis: When I was a niña, I said if a man ever hit me like that, I would walk straight out that door.

[33:04] Hennessis: That isn't exactly what happened.

[33:07] Hennessis: Bapisoda became mommy soda too.

[33:10] Hennessis: Poppy wouldn't hit mommy when she was quiet.

[33:12] Hennessis: Not too too hard, anyways.

[33:14] Hennessis: Not like when I got a little older.

[33:16] Hennessis: Mommy got into Bappy Soda and she wasn't quiet no more.

[33:22] Hennessis: And together, it was like a hurricane.

[33:26] Hennessis: Henny and I would wake up in the morning, and uh we'd find the couch upside down and the windows broken and the corona bottles everywhere.

[33:35] Hennessis: Mommy asleep in the corner with the busted lip, busted ass everything.

[33:41] Hennessis: Seeing her like that, it didn't feel real.

[33:47] Hennessis: My uh uh mother would hold her hands clapped so tightly to her chest by her heart as if she were trying to hold it up, but it was too heavy for her.

[34:02] Hennessis: Or perhaps it was fine glass that could break to pieces at any moment.

[34:07] Hennessis: I'm told that even at her burial they kept her that way.

[34:11] Hennessis: I vowed that I would not let such a thing happen to me.

[34:14] Hennessis: I will not die trying to hold together the pieces of a too heavy heart.

[34:19] Hennessis: Bobby would come out of his room and he'd tell us to clean.

[34:24] Hennessis: Mita, he'd say, pointing at mommy passed out though.

[34:29] Hennessis: Usually she'd be waking up by then.

[34:32] Hennessis: Mita, that's your mommy.

[34:36] Hennessis: You like seeing her like that?

[34:39] Hennessis: No, Henny and I would say staring at the ground.

[34:43] Hennessis: Then you tell her to mind her own business.

[34:48] Hennessis: Mommy would she would look at us through us and shit.

[34:56] Hennessis: She looked like a zombie.

[34:59] Hennessis: And I thought, yeah.

[35:02] Hennessis: Shit.

[35:04] Hennessis: If this could be real, vampires and werewolves can't be too far off.

[35:12] Hennessis: If I thought of abuse, I I would think of hitting and slapping, but it doesn't always start like that.

[35:20] Hennessis: That's what they don't tell you.

[35:22] Hennessis: It starts with names and little jokes that aren't so funny.

[35:26] Hennessis: You start to think, man, I'm Tonta, you know, stupid.

[35:29] Hennessis: I'm always getting things wrong.

[35:30] Hennessis: He's always angry.

[35:32] Hennessis: How can I be better?

[35:35] Hennessis: And then one day, uh, a little push, a little pinch, and before you know it, he's choking you up against the door in the hallway while your children laugh and play on the other side.

[35:45] Hennessis: But I I was so hard-headed.

[35:48] Hennessis: I I thought I could fix it.

[35:52] Hennessis: I I thought I could fix it.

[35:57] Hennessis: In here, uh, I've met a lot of really remarkable women.

[36:01] Hennessis: They're all like me.

[36:03] Hennessis: They were all trapped, they were all alone, they were all silent, and now they're all killers.

[36:14] Narrator: Scene eight.

[36:15] Narrator: In the film, we see North Philly, a botanica, the spirits, candles, prayer.

[36:22] Narrator: Hennessis and Felix wait inside of the Botanica Arte Spiritual in North Philadelphia.

[36:27] Narrator: A spiritual supply store and the last place Hennessis wants to be seen.

[36:32] Narrator: We see candles, saints, cigars, bottles of holy water.

[36:37] Narrator: Among the many objects is the faceless doll.

[36:40] Narrator: There is soft spiritual music playing.

[36:43] Narrator: The space is small, cramped, and hot.

[36:48] Hennessis: If I see a chicken, I'm getting out of here.

[36:51] Hennessis: I know what these people do, Felix.

[36:53] Felix: You think you know?

[36:54] Hennessis: How did you convince me to come here?

[36:56] Felix: Just see how it is.

[36:58] Felix: Carol invited me a while ago, and I I don't know.

[37:01] Felix: It's it's interesting.

[37:02] Felix: It helps.

[37:04] Hennessis: Where did that guy go?

[37:05] Felix: He told us to wait here.

[37:07] Hennessis: Just relax.

[37:08] Hennessis: Don't feel your negative energy and tell us to go and shit.

[37:10] Felix: Hennessis.

[37:12] Hennessis: I'm hungry.

[37:13] Hennessis: Shh.

[37:13] Narrator: He is stopped by the entrance of the priestess.

[37:16] Narrator: She wears a white gown that covers her fully.

[37:27] Priestess: I can speak it.

[37:28] Priestess: Yo Siablo.

[37:31] Priestess: We will talk in English.

[37:34] Priestess: How can I help you?

[37:35] Hennessis: Una consulta, senora.

[37:37] Hennessis: For me.

[37:41] Priestess: Let me get my supplies.

[37:43] Narrator: She motions for Hennessis and Felix to sit and pull out a small piece of paper and a small mesh pouch.

[37:50] Priestess: She hands the piece of paper over to Felix.

[37:52] Priestess: What did you come here for today?

[37:54] Priestess: What did you seek?

[37:58] Felix: Uh but peace.

[38:03] Felix: Protection from bad spirits.

[38:08] Priestess: Write down what all that you seek on this paper.

[38:12] Priestess: Do not let us see it.

[38:14] Narrator: Felix begins writing, turning his back to Hennessis, so she won't see.

[38:18] Hennessis: Hennessis awkwardly shoots a smile at the priestess who does not return it.

[38:22] Narrator: Felix finishes writing.

[38:24] Priestess: Now, rip the paper into seven pieces.

[38:28] Priestess: When you're all done, place the pieces in here.

[38:31] Narrator: She holds the pouch open for him.

[38:32] Narrator: Felix does precisely as he's told.

[38:35] Hennessis: Hennessis watches skeptically.

[38:37] Priestess: Do you need holy water?

[38:41] Hennessis: Holy water.

[38:43] Priestess: Oh.

[38:44] Priestess: Um, okay.

[38:45] Priestess: Do you have some of that here?

[38:46] Priestess: See this bottle.

[38:47] Priestess: Okay, I'll use that.

[38:48] Priestess: It is eight dolans.

[38:51] Felix: Right.

[38:52] Narrator: He pulls out his wallet and hands the priestess ten dollars.

[38:55] Felix: Keep the change.

[38:57] Priestess: Oh, come on.

[39:00] Narrator: The priestess spritzes the holy water onto the pouch.

[39:04] Narrator: She grabs a bottle of Bacardi and takes a swig.

[39:06] Hennessis: Hennessis shoots a worried look at Felix.

[39:09] Narrator: The priestess takes another swig but does not swallow.

[39:12] Narrator: She spits onto the pouch everything that was in her mouth.

[39:15] Narrator: The priestess pounds on the pouch a bit and shakes it around, drying it off.

[39:19] Narrator: She lights a cigar and smokes and smokes it for a little while as Hennessis and Felix watch her.

[39:26] Narrator: She turns the cigar backward in her mouth and blows the smoke all over the pouch.

[39:30] Narrator: She continues to blow and the smoke fills up much of the room.

[39:34] Narrator: After a moment, she hands the pouch to Felix.

[39:37] Priestess: She continues to nonchalantly puff on the cigar.

[39:48] Felix: Puts the pouch in his wallet enthusiastically.

[39:52] Priestess: Brings out a few candles and begins to light them.

[39:55] Priestess: The first one is a dark blue.

[39:59] Priestess: Keeps the enemies away.

[40:02] Priestess: She lights it.

[40:03] Priestess: She takes her time.

[40:04] Priestess: The next one is red.

[40:06] Priestess: Santa Balbara.

[40:08] Priestess: Courage and protection.

[40:11] Priestess: The next one is light pink.

[40:13] Priestess: Divino Ninho.

[40:15] Priestess: For the infant has to bring blessings and good luck into your home.

[40:20] Hennessis: Stares at the candles entranced.

[40:23] Priestess: Reaches for Hennessis's hand.

[40:26] Priestess: Look into the light.

[40:28] Hennessis: Obeys.

[40:30] Priestess: Does a prayer.

[40:32] Priestess: La llama de la discoldia.

[40:39] Priestess: Los padres no piden bendicion a los hijos.

[40:44] Priestess: My father, here is Hennessy.

[40:47] Priestess: Please open her path for peace, tranquility, and change.

[40:52] Priestess: Wait.

[40:53] Priestess: Shhh.

[40:53] Priestess: How shhhhh.

[40:57] Priestess: Layama de la discoldia.

[41:00] Priestess: No respetal.

[41:02] Priestess: Los padres no piden bendicion a los hijos.

[41:07] Priestess: Los padres no piden bendición a los hijos.

[41:12] Priestess: Mother is the name for the God on the lips and hearts of little children.

[41:18] Priestess: The world around us is frozen.

[41:21] Priestess: The priestess has become Paloma.

[41:26] Paloma: Mia.

[41:27] Paloma: Mommy.

[41:29] Priestess: Picks up the faceless doll that has been there the whole time and holds it like a baby.

[41:35] Priestess: We follow her into the past.

[41:37] Paloma: Mira Hennessis.

[41:39] Paloma: Mira, Mira.

[41:40] Paloma: Aqui we will have your crib.

[41:43] Paloma: When Papi gets the money together, that'll be the first thing we buy.

[41:57] Paloma: Rosada.

[41:59] Paloma: I always like pink.

[42:00] Paloma: Maybe you like it too.

[42:01] Paloma: She kisses the baby on her face.

[42:04] Paloma: It's okay if you don't like it.

[42:06] Paloma: I'll let you change it when you get older if you want.

[42:09] Hennessy: Mommy?

[42:10] Hennessy: Stands up frantically and reaches for the doll.

[42:13] Hennessy: The moment she touches it, the dream is broken.

[42:15] Hennessy: Henny, what the hell?

[42:16] Priestess: Pulls the doll back from Hennessy's quickly.

[42:19] Priestess: 125 dollars! Very rare, handmade.

[42:22] Priestess: You just can't grab it.

[42:24] Priestess: You break it, you buy it.

[42:25] Hennessy: Steps back from the scene completely disoriented.

[42:28] Hennessy: Henny, out.

[42:30] Hennessy: Senora.

[42:30] Hennessy: Out!

[42:31] Hennessy: What does that mean?

[42:32] Hennessy: What do you mean?

[42:33] Hennessy: Fuera!

[42:34] Hennessy: What do I do?

[42:35] Felix: Grabs her hand to pull her away.

[42:38] Hennessy: Snaps back to reality and runs out with Felix.

[42:44] Narrator: Scene nine. In the film, we see Paloma being interviewed.

[42:48] Paloma: Henny and I my daughter, Hennessis.

[42:56] Paloma: Hennessy's uh we're so alike.

[42:59] Paloma: So strong, hard-headed.

[43:02] Paloma: It made for a difficult relationship.

[43:05] Paloma: If it had just been me and Henny, we would have had a hard time.

[43:08] Paloma: We would have been one of those mother-daughter relationships where we disagree and fight, but we never really angry with one another because we admire each other so much.

[43:18] Paloma: We would have known that in the end, our love would be enough.

[43:23] Paloma: But with everything else with him, it wasn't so simple.

[43:29] Paloma: I think.

[43:32] Paloma: And maybe she was right.

[43:34] Paloma: I think she thought I was weak when her father would hurt me.

[43:40] Paloma: The look she would give me, uh, it was mommy.

[43:46] Paloma: Why, mommy?

[43:48] Paloma: Why are you letting him do that to you?

[43:50] Paloma: You're so weak, mommy.

[43:55] Paloma: You're so weak.

[44:05] Narrator: Aloma sits inside reading a book.

[44:07] Narrator: A college-aged Hennessy stands on the other side of the door, trying to work up the courage to go inside and see her estranged mother.

[44:14] Narrator: She peers inside her bag, takes a breath, and knocks on the door.

[44:18] Paloma: Closes her book and answers the door.

[44:23] Paloma: Ah. There she is.

[44:26] Paloma: Hi, mommy.

[44:28] Paloma: I knew I'd see you soon.

[44:32] Paloma: How are you?

[44:34] Paloma: I'm good, Mija. I'm good.

[44:36] Paloma: Uh come in.

[44:38] Paloma: Sit.

[44:39] Paloma: I'm um. I'm sorry it took me so long, you know, to come see you.

[44:44] Paloma: I didn't know you had been released.

[44:47] Paloma: I know, Mijita. I grew my hair out.

[44:49] Paloma: I see.

[44:52] Paloma: Not because you told me to, you know, I just wanted it to be long again.

[44:55] Paloma: It's just what I wanted.

[44:57] Paloma: That's good.

[44:59] Paloma: Hennessy's finally sits down.

[45:02] Paloma: How's the ruiz?

[45:05] Paloma: He's okay. Uh he pulled a nerve in his back or something.

[45:08] Paloma: Tu sabe.

[45:09] Paloma: They give him until Thursday at work, but who knows?

[45:12] Paloma: He might lose his job.

[45:15] Paloma: Then we'll see.

[45:20] Paloma: Mm-hmm.

[45:23] Paloma: And what about you?

[45:25] Paloma: Are you um, you know, working or looking or yes.

[45:30] Paloma: I will. I have to.

[45:33] Paloma: Conditions of my release.

[45:34] Paloma: But what about UPS?

[45:37] Paloma: You worked there for a little while.

[45:38] Paloma: Upe say ain't gonna want me back, Mija.

[45:41] Paloma: Ain't no respectable job gonna want to hire me.

[45:44] Paloma: Doors are closed.

[45:45] Paloma: Don't you see it?

[45:47] Paloma: What?

[45:47] Paloma: The stamp, baby!

[45:49] Paloma: I got a stamp on my head that says Kermin.

[45:54] Hennessy: Ma, have you been drinking?

[45:57] Paloma: You know.

[45:58] Paloma: Because I don't know how this whole getting out of jail shit works, but if you're you know they're gonna put you right back.

[46:06] Paloma: That's what you came here to do? Accuse me?

[46:09] Hennessy: No, mom. I came here to see you.

[46:12] Hennessy: My mother.

[46:13] Hennessy: I haven't seen you in. I didn't even know you were out.

[46:16] Hennessy: I didn't know. You didn't tell me.

[46:17] Hennessy: No one told me.

[46:18] Hennessy: And now it's been weeks.

[46:19] Hennessy: And you don't even give me a kiss on the cheek, a hug, a handshake, anything.

[46:22] Paloma: Henny. Do I even matter to you?

[46:24] Paloma: Mija, of course. Yes, Mija.

[46:26] Paloma: I'm your daughter.

[46:33] Paloma: Uh the arosa. Got some more sonando from Casa de Sandwich.

[46:39] Paloma: You want some? Remember Casa de Sandwich?

[46:43] Hennessy: Uh okay, yes.

[46:47] Paloma: Goes to the other room.

[46:49] Hennessis: Closes her eyes and tries to meditate herself into calmness.

[46:53] Hennessis: It does not really work.

[46:55] Hennessis: She opens her backpack and we see the faceless doll.

[46:58] Hennessis: She strokes the doll's hair or face for a moment.

[47:01] Hennessis: Then just as she is about to pull it out of her bag, Paloma walks back in with two cups of morir sonando.

[47:07] Hennessis: Quickly shoves the doll back.

[47:11] Paloma: So tell me about your life.

[47:14] Hennessis: Oh, um Henesis takes a sip of the morir sonando, but she makes a face.

[47:19] Hennessis: Her mother has put alcohol in it.

[47:21] Hennessis: She puts it down.

[47:23] Hennessis: I'm finishing up my last year of undergrad at Penn.

[47:26] Hennessis: It's my fifth year.

[47:27] Hennessis: Had to take another year to get all the right classes in, but anyway, I'm submatriculating into my master's, so hopefully, sorry.

[47:34] Paloma: That means that I know what it means.

[47:36] Hennessis: Oh yeah?

[47:37] Paloma: I got my bachelor's degree a couple of years ago.

[47:39] Hennessis: In jail?

[47:41] Paloma: Prison.

[47:42] Hennessis: Yes, that's right.

[47:44] Paloma: Oh, wow. I didn't.

[47:46] Paloma: I thought you get like a GED, but well, that's good.

[47:49] Paloma: That'll help you find a job at least.

[47:51] Hennessis: Yeah. Maybe it will.

[47:59] Paloma: Yeah. What did you get your degree in?

[48:02] Hennessis: History.

[48:03] Paloma: History?

[48:04] Hennessis: Yes.

[48:05] Paloma: Where we come from, why we're here, where we're going.

[48:08] Hennessis: History.

[48:09] Paloma: Es una cosa maravillosa.

[48:11] Paloma: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

[48:15] Hennessis: Who sent that?

[48:16] Paloma: I say it.

[48:19] Hennessis: But it's a quote.

[48:20] Paloma: I heard that somewhere.

[48:21] Hennessis: Bueno, I'm sure someone said it before.

[48:25] Paloma: I remember when I was like trying to figure out what I wanted to major in, I was thinking history, so that's kind of funny.

[48:31] Paloma: But like, you can't find a job with that unless you want to be a professor or something.

[48:35] Hennessis: No, I guess probably not the best choice for finding a job.

[48:39] Paloma: What did you major in?

[48:41] Hennessis: Oh, uh, double major.

[48:43] Paloma: Women's studies and psychology.

[48:45] Paloma: Dios.

[48:46] Paloma: You may as well have chosen history.

[48:48] Hennessis: Hey.

[48:51] Paloma: Drink your morison though.

[48:53] Hennessis: It has alcohol in it.

[48:55] Paloma: You don't drink?

[48:57] Hennessis: I haven't. I don't.

[48:59] Hennessis: I don't really.

[49:00] Paloma: Feliz told me they almost kicked you out of that fancy school.

[49:04] Hennessis: What?

[49:05] Hennessis: When did you talk to when did he say it wasn't anything that serious?

[49:09] Paloma: I don't know why he I thought Dios.

[49:11] Paloma: Even far away, she's still following in my path.

[49:14] Paloma: Can't keep a drink out of her hand.

[49:16] Hennessis: It wasn't like that.

[49:17] Hennessis: Everyone drinks in college.

[49:18] Hennessis: It's like the American tradition.

[49:19] Paloma: Oh, see? See!

[49:21] Paloma: They find everyone else passed out on the floor in the library bathroom.

[49:25] Hennessis: Really?

[49:26] Paloma: Really? Are you serious right now?

[49:28] Paloma: You're going to lecture me?

[49:29] Hennessis: I'm gonna kill Felix.

[49:31] Paloma: Don't blame Felix for coming to his mommy when his sister had an alcohol problem.

[49:35] Hennessis: This is your deal, huh? You're bringing me some strong ass drinks so you can talk to me about my alcohol problem?

[49:41] Paloma: What kind of reverse psychology bull is that?

[49:43] Hennessis: I see you're drinking up, hmm? Gonna start breaking things after your next round, maybe go find a gun hidden somewhere.

[49:51] Paloma: Did you come here to lecture me?

[49:53] Hennessis: Oh, you're clever.

[49:55] Hennessis: Now you're all calm and clever and sober.

[49:58] Hennessis: Great. I can have my drink.

[50:01] Paloma: I've dealt with my demons.

[50:02] Hennessis: I see the same cannot be said for you.

[50:05] Paloma: No.

[50:06] Paloma: No. You wouldn't see that.

[50:09] Paloma: Not when I'm looking my demon in the eye.

[50:16] Paloma: I have to go.

[50:24] Hennessis: Do you know what Moris Sonnyando means?

[50:26] Paloma: The drink?

[50:28] Hennessis: See, but what does it mean?

[50:31] Paloma: It means it's a dream, it's so good. It's so tasty, you'll die dreaming of it.

[50:36] Paloma: It's everyone's wish to die in their sleep, Mih.

[50:38] Paloma: It's the most peaceful way to go.

[50:44] Paloma: I made sure he was asleep.

[50:48] Paloma: I still loved him enough to make sure he was asleep.

[50:53] Hennessis: That's so messed up.

[50:56] Paloma: See? You always told me to tell the truth.

[51:00] Hennessis: See. But you lied in the film.

[51:03] Paloma: Lied what?

[51:04] Hennessis: Oh, come on. You act like you were so innocent, like you weren't hitting back.

[51:08] Paloma: I can't say that in the movie.

[51:10] Paloma: That they don't want to hear that side of the story.

[51:12] Paloma: Not if I wanted to get out, of course.

[51:15] Paloma: You you don't remember.

[51:18] Paloma: I started hitting back when you got older.

[51:21] Paloma: When you started to understand.

[51:23] Paloma: When you were chiquita, I would just wait for him to be done.

[51:28] Hennessis: What?

[51:29] Paloma: I wanted you to see me strong, Mihan.

[51:33] Hennessis: I know.

[51:34] Hennessis: I know that you blame me, and blame you?

[51:37] Paloma: I know that you do.

[51:38] Paloma: You don't have to deny it.

[51:41] Hennessis: I don't want to hear.

[51:42] Paloma: Then go!

[51:42] Paloma: Yabasta!

[51:44] Paloma: You came here why?

[51:45] Hennessis: To see you.

[51:46] Paloma: Bueno, now you saw.

[51:48] Paloma: I was already leaving.

[51:49] Paloma: You don't have to tell me to go.

[51:50] Hennessis: Quickly pulls out the faceless doll from her back and tosses it half hazardly at her mother, who catches it gingerly like she's seen a ghost.

[52:00] Hennessis: Here. I don't want that thing anymore.

[52:05] Hennessis: I just wanted to tell you that I'm and I wish.

[52:09] Hennessis: She can't finish the thought.

[52:10] Hennessis: Exits.

[52:14] Paloma: Me too.

[52:18] Narrator: Scene 10. In the film, we feel death. We see funerals, black, church, family, and flowers.

[52:26] Narrator: A preteen Felix sits on a bench outside of a funeral home.

[52:29] Narrator: He wears all black.

[52:31] Hennessy's: Comes on and sits next to him.

[52:33] Hennessy's: She's wearing a hat that covers her whole head.

[52:35] Hennessy's: She's eating a candy bar and offers him a piece.

[52:40] Felix: Where did you get this?

[52:42] Hennessy's: My bag.

[52:43] Felix: He takes a piece and they both chew in silence.

[52:48] Diomargy Uribe: Remember when we would go to the grocery store, and mommy would buy one candy bar for everyone to share.

[52:54] Gabriela Sanchez: I remember thinking, really?

[52:56] Diomargy Uribe: Why can't we just buy two or three?

[52:58] Gabriela Sanchez: It's really that expensive.

[53:01] Diomargy Uribe: It is.

[53:03] Gabriela Sanchez: I could have definitely saved this dollar fifty.

[53:05] Diomargy Uribe: She pulls out a mini bottle of Bacardi.

[53:08] Gabriela Sanchez: I could have probably saved this four dollars, too.

[53:10] Diomargy Uribe: She takes a swig.

[53:11] Felix: Felix watches her.

[53:13] Diomargy Uribe: She sees something off stage and points with her pinky.

[53:16] Diomargy Uribe: See those kids over there, Felix?

[53:18] Felix: Who?

[53:18] Diomargy Uribe: The white boys?

[53:19] Felix: Yeah.

[53:20] Diomargy Uribe: White guys wearing tracksuits.

[53:21] Felix: Blonde hair.

[53:22] Diomargy Uribe: Big white teeth.

[53:24] Felix: Do you think they've ever suffered a day in their lives?

[53:27] Diomargy Uribe: What you mean?

[53:28] Felix: You know what I mean, Felix.

[53:30] Diomargy Uribe: You're getting old enough to start thinking about these things, little brother.

[53:32] Felix: Yeah, probably they have.

[53:35] Diomargy Uribe: Why?

[53:35] Felix: Just because they look perfect, doesn't mean that they are.

[53:38] Diomargy Uribe: Yeah.

[53:39] Felix: But not like us.

[53:40] Diomargy Uribe: No.

[53:41] Felix: Probably not.

[53:45] Diomargy Uribe: Awella didn't even like black.

[53:47] Felix: I know, right?

[53:48] Diomargy Uribe: I wish we could have worn a bright red.

[53:49] Felix: I have a bright red dress.

[53:51] Diomargy Uribe: Buela bought it for me.

[53:52] Felix: I should have worn that.

[53:56] Diomargy Uribe: She almost had one when she saw you wearing that hat.

[53:58] Felix: He tries to pull off her ill-fitting hat.

[54:01] Diomargy Uribe: Too.

[54:01] Felix: It's starting to grow out.

[54:02] Diomargy Uribe: It looks stupid.

[54:03] Felix: It looks stupid when you cut it all off.

[54:05] Diomargy Uribe: Your face is stupid.

[54:07] Felix: Eh.

[54:11] Diomargy Uribe: Yeah, she doesn't like you a lot.

[54:13] Felix: Luis likes you though.

[54:15] Diomargy Uribe: Luis can barely speak English.

[54:17] Felix: Probably why he likes you.

[54:19] Diomargy Uribe: I'm not going to go live with them.

[54:21] Felix: What?

[54:22] Diomargy Uribe: Everyone in there hates me.

[54:23] Felix: They don't hate you.

[54:24] Diomargy Uribe: You hate me.

[54:25] Felix: No.

[54:25] Diomargy Uribe: No, I don't.

[54:26] Felix: It's okay.

[54:27] Diomargy Uribe: I don't hate you, honey.

[54:29] Felix: No one hates you.

[54:30] Diomargy Uribe: They uh They just don't understand.

[54:35] Felix: They just don't understand.

[54:38] Diomargy Uribe: I was your age, you know, when mom when Pop died.

[54:42] Felix: I know.

[54:43] Diomargy Uribe: You are a lot smarter than I was when I was your age, you know.

[54:46] Felix: I know.

[54:50] Diomargy Uribe: I just told them the truth, Felix.

[54:53] Felix: I told them what I saw.

[54:54] Diomargy Uribe: I just told them.

[54:56] Felix: You saw mommy with the gun?

[54:58] Diomargy Uribe: I did.

[54:59] Felix: I knew you weren't lying, but if I hadn't said anything, if I had just been smart enough, brave enough to lie, she'd probably be here.

[55:07] Diomargy Uribe: Maybe.

[55:08] Felix: Or maybe we'd all be dead.

[55:13] Diomargy Uribe: So you're not coming to Tia Rosa and the cousins?

[55:17] Felix: No.

[55:18] Diomargy Uribe: I told Buela if something happened to her, I was gonna go live on my own.

[55:22] Felix: Emancipate myself.

[55:23] Diomargy Uribe: What's that mean?

[55:24] Felix: I'll be a legal adult.

[55:25] Diomargy Uribe: I won't have to live with nobody.

[55:26] Felix: I can take care of myself.

[55:27] Diomargy Uribe: I'm pretty smart, you know, when I focus.

[55:30] Felix: She takes another swig of the Bacardi and pulls the bottle back in her purse.

[55:34] Diomargy Uribe: Can I live with you too?

[55:35] Felix: I wish, Felix.

[55:37] Diomargy Uribe: But that means I'd have to adopt you.

[55:41] Felix: Yeah, no way.

[55:43] Diomargy Uribe: It's better if you stay with Thea.

[55:46] Felix: Okay.

[55:47] Diomargy Uribe: He holds his hands together, one over the other and cups it to his heart.

[55:51] Felix: He shows Hennessis.

[55:53] Diomargy Uribe: What?

[55:55] Felix: Abuela.

[55:56] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis begins to understand.

[55:58] Diomargy Uribe: She imitates the gesture.

[56:01] Diomargy Uribe: That's how they buried her.

[56:05] Diomargy Uribe: Scene 11.

[56:07] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma is on stage reading something she wrote in her journal.

[56:12] Gabriela Sanchez: I wrote this a few years ago.

[56:16] Gabriela Sanchez: She sits by the one open window with the slightest bars and feels the wind on her face.

[56:24] Gabriela Sanchez: My niña, she thinks.

[56:26] Gabriela Sanchez: I wonder if the same wind has caressed your skin.

[56:30] Gabriela Sanchez: I wonder if the same wind has caressed your cheek, a kiss.

[56:36] Gabriela Sanchez: It feels that way to me now.

[56:38] Gabriela Sanchez: A kiss from you.

[56:40] Gabriela Sanchez: She hears her mother is sick.

[56:43] Gabriela Sanchez: Her mother has been caring for the two she left behind, and now her daughter cares for them both.

[56:50] Gabriela Sanchez: My mother will die, she thinks.

[56:51] Gabriela Sanchez: Will die, and I won't get the chance to see her again.

[56:56] Gabriela Sanchez: I was not prepared for that.

[56:58] Gabriela Sanchez: But each blow hurts less than the last.

[57:01] Gabriela Sanchez: She's learned that over the years.

[57:03] Gabriela Sanchez: The first hit tears your skin and makes you bleed.

[57:07] Gabriela Sanchez: It feels like the world has turned to spinning stars, but after that, you don't feel much more.

[57:15] Gabriela Sanchez: A memory begins.

[57:16] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis and Felix are there.

[57:18] Diomargy Uribe: Twelve and nine years old.

[57:20] Diomargy Uribe: The faceless doll sits nearby.

[57:23] Diomargy Uribe: The siblings play a video game with the volume very low.

[57:27] Diomargy Uribe: Ah, Henny, you sh you shot me, Henny.

[57:30] Felix: I'm on your team.

[57:31] Diomargy Uribe: You keep getting in my way, stupid.

[57:33] Felix: Shoot the bad guys, Henny.

[57:35] Diomargy Uribe: Look, vampires, werewolves, not me.

[57:39] Felix: They both hush suddenly, realizing they're talking much too loudly.

[57:42] Diomargy Uribe: Shh.

[57:43] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis makes a snake with her hand and tickles him.

[57:49] Felix: Stop it!

[57:50] Diomargy Uribe: Shhh!

[57:50] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma enters the memory.

[57:52] Gabriela Sanchez: She's drunk and angry.

[57:54] Gabriela Sanchez: Get holy account, eh?

[57:57] Diomargy Uribe: Mommy, we're going to bed right now.

[57:59] Gabriela Sanchez: We thought you were sleeping.

[58:09] Diomargy Uribe: Mommy.

[58:12] Gabriela Sanchez: Do I mean?

[58:14] Diomargy Uribe: Limpia.

[58:14] Gabriela Sanchez: Who gang go see limpia?

[58:16] Diomargy Uribe: We'll clean right now, mommy.

[58:17] Gabriela Sanchez: We didn't know you wanted us clean.

[58:19] Diomargy Uribe: Just go back to bed.

[58:25] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma exits.

[58:27] Diomargy Uribe: Felix, go hide.

[58:29] Gabriela Sanchez: No, honey.

[58:30] Diomargy Uribe: Felix, go into the bathroom, turn off the lights, and lock the door.

[58:33] Gabriela Sanchez: No, no, no, no, honey.

[58:34] Diomargy Uribe: Not again, Henny.

[58:35] Gabriela Sanchez: No, it's too dark in there.

[58:36] Diomargy Uribe: Felix, please.

[58:37] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma watches her children in the memory.

[58:43] Gabriela Sanchez: She prays.

[58:45] Gabriela Sanchez: I pray that you are strong, Mihita.

[58:49] Gabriela Sanchez: This life has not been easy on us.

[58:53] Gabriela Sanchez: She prays.

[58:55] Gabriela Sanchez: I pray that you will remember me, my son.

[58:59] Gabriela Sanchez: She prays.

[59:02] Gabriela Sanchez: I pray that you will forgive me, my children.

[59:06] Diomargy Uribe: A college-aged Hennessy sits in a therapy session.

[59:10] Diomargy Uribe: What brings me here today?

[59:13] Diomargy Uribe: Well, it's mandatory.

[59:15] Diomargy Uribe: It's stupid.

[59:15] Diomargy Uribe: I got too drunk, now I gotta see you.

[59:19] Diomargy Uribe: The basics.

[59:20] Diomargy Uribe: My childhood.

[59:23] Diomargy Uribe: Oh boy.

[59:25] Diomargy Uribe: Typical childhood, I'd say.

[59:27] Diomargy Uribe: Typical.

[59:28] Diomargy Uribe: My dad beat my mom and my mom killed him eventually.

[59:31] Diomargy Uribe: An American story.

[59:33] Diomargy Uribe: Hmm?

[59:35] Diomargy Uribe: Okay.

[59:36] Diomargy Uribe: I can laugh because it's in the past and it has nothing to do with my life anymore.

[59:40] Diomargy Uribe: He's dead.

[59:41] Diomargy Uribe: She's in prison.

[59:42] Diomargy Uribe: Hmm.

[59:44] Diomargy Uribe: See, this is the problem with therapy.

[59:47] Diomargy Uribe: You can't go back and change things, so why dwell on them?

[59:50] Diomargy Uribe: Why torture yourself?

[59:52] Diomargy Uribe: I'm not torturing myself over anything, actually.

[59:55] Diomargy Uribe: Can you just sign the paper and say I saw you?

[59:57] Diomargy Uribe: Or do I need to cry about something first?

[1:00:00] Diomargy Uribe: I don't cry easily, even when I was a little girl, I never cried.

[1:00:04] Diomargy Uribe: One time my mother took my brother and I and my dad's car in the middle of the night.

[1:00:07] Diomargy Uribe: I was like 12.

[1:00:09] Diomargy Uribe: It was just a little bit before my dad died.

[1:00:11] Diomargy Uribe: She didn't tell us where we were going, she just woke us up.

[1:00:13] Diomargy Uribe: Me and my little brother stuffed us in the car, half asleep, and drove.

[1:00:16] Diomargy Uribe: No questions, she said.

[1:00:18] Diomargy Uribe: No questions.

[1:00:19] Diomargy Uribe: Eventually we got to a dark street on a dead-end road.

[1:00:22] Diomargy Uribe: There was a big building with a very small sign.

[1:00:25] Diomargy Uribe: Women's Support Center.

[1:00:27] Diomargy Uribe: It looked familiar.

[1:00:28] Diomargy Uribe: We stayed parked outside that building all night.

[1:00:31] Diomargy Uribe: My mom just looking in like it was a million miles away.

[1:00:34] Diomargy Uribe: What are we doing, mommy?

[1:00:36] Felix: Felix asked from the back seat when he woke up.

[1:00:39] Diomargy Uribe: The sun was coming in through the windows by then.

[1:00:41] Felix: Are we going to school today?

[1:00:43] Diomargy Uribe: We're hiding from Bobby, I said.

[1:00:45] Diomargy Uribe: And mommy gave me this sharp look.

[1:00:47] Diomargy Uribe: Don't tell him that.

[1:00:48] Diomargy Uribe: Isn't that what we're doing, mommy?

[1:00:50] Diomargy Uribe: Shouldn't we go inside?

[1:00:52] Diomargy Uribe: She didn't answer me.

[1:00:53] Diomargy Uribe: She just looked desperately towards the building like there was this force field or something keeping her from entering it.

[1:00:59] Diomargy Uribe: Then she cried.

[1:01:01] Diomargy Uribe: First it was kind of quietly, then just pitifully.

[1:01:05] Diomargy Uribe: Felix and I watched her horrified.

[1:01:07] Felix: Then he started to cry too, not sure what else to do.

[1:01:11] Diomargy Uribe: But I didn't cry.

[1:01:12] Diomargy Uribe: I didn't feel sad or mad or anything.

[1:01:15] Diomargy Uribe: It seemed routine in a way.

[1:01:18] Diomargy Uribe: Like we had been here before.

[1:01:20] Diomargy Uribe: Stop crying, I yelled at them both after a little while.

[1:01:23] Diomargy Uribe: Stop it.

[1:01:24] Diomargy Uribe: And they listened.

[1:01:25] Diomargy Uribe: My mom snapped out of it.

[1:01:27] Diomargy Uribe: We backed out of the street and drove home in a flash.

[1:01:30] Diomargy Uribe: We walked into the house quiet as mine.

[1:01:32] Diomargy Uribe: Shh, she said, go to bed.

[1:01:33] Diomargy Uribe: Don't say anything.

[1:01:35] Diomargy Uribe: But he was awake.

[1:01:38] Diomargy Uribe: I passed by my parents' room on the way to mine and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed combing his hair like nothing.

[1:01:44] Diomargy Uribe: Hi, baby, he said.

[1:01:45] Diomargy Uribe: Where were you?

[1:01:47] Diomargy Uribe: I don't know.

[1:01:48] Diomargy Uribe: I said, nowhere.

[1:01:50] Diomargy Uribe: Now she's got you lying to me, mommy.

[1:01:53] Diomargy Uribe: I looked back at my mother.

[1:01:55] Diomargy Uribe: She looked like she was already living in the moment after he had done what he was going to do to her.

[1:02:00] Diomargy Uribe: I wanted to say something to him.

[1:02:02] Diomargy Uribe: Tell him not to hurt her.

[1:02:04] Diomargy Uribe: I looked at him and my mouth opened, but nothing came out.

[1:02:09] Diomargy Uribe: Go to bed, Hennessy's, mommy said.

[1:02:10] Diomargy Uribe: Just go to bed.

[1:02:12] Diomargy Uribe: And I did.

[1:02:14] Diomargy Uribe: And I covered my ears so I wouldn't hear like I always did.

[1:02:20] Diomargy Uribe: There.

[1:02:22] Diomargy Uribe: Now you have my pain.

[1:02:24] Diomargy Uribe: I don't think it'll help.

[1:02:28] Diomargy Uribe: Scene 12.

[1:02:29] Gabriela Sanchez: In the film, we feel youth, innocence, happiness.

[1:02:33] Gabriela Sanchez: A 12-year-old Hennessy sits on a picnic blanket with Paloma on a beautiful spring day.

[1:02:39] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma's braiding Hennessy's hair.

[1:02:42] Gabriela Sanchez: They are sipping two cups of Morich Soñando and looking intently in one direction.

[1:02:47] Gabriela Sanchez: Do you see him?

[1:02:48] Felix: Not yet.

[1:02:49] Gabriela Sanchez: Ay, Dios mío.

[1:02:51] Felix: Ah!

[1:02:51] Gabriela Sanchez: There he is with those boys by the swings.

[1:02:53] Diomargy Uribe: Felix!

[1:02:54] Gabriela Sanchez: Don't go so far away, Mihal.

[1:02:57] Felix: Mommy, don't embarrass him.

[1:02:59] Gabriela Sanchez: The king.

[1:02:59] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis grabs a nearby book and begins to read.

[1:03:02] Gabriela Sanchez: Read out loud, Mijita.

[1:03:04] Diomargy Uribe: Okay.

[1:03:06] Diomargy Uribe: It is evil.

[1:03:11] Diomargy Uribe: What is going to happen?

[1:03:13] Diomargy Uribe: We will continue to fight.

[1:03:17] Diomargy Uribe: And we're not alone, you know, children, came Miss Watsit, the comforter.

[1:03:21] Diomargy Uribe: Some of the best fighters have come from your own planet.

[1:03:24] Felix: Who have our fighters been?

[1:03:26] Diomargy Uribe: Calvin asked.

[1:03:27] Diomargy Uribe: Oh, you must know them, dear, Miss Wessit said.

[1:03:31] Diomargy Uribe: Mrs.

[1:03:31] Diomargy Uribe: Who's spectacles shone out at them triumphantly?

[1:03:35] Diomargy Uribe: And the light shineth in the darkness.

[1:03:38] Diomargy Uribe: And the darkness comprehended it not.

[1:03:43] Diomargy Uribe: A wrinkle in time.

[1:03:45] Felix: I like the way it sounds.

[1:03:47] Diomargy Uribe: Felix comes running on with a typical energy of a nine-year-old child.

[1:03:51] Diomargy Uribe: He tosses himself onto the blanket.

[1:03:54] Felix: I'm hungry.

[1:03:55] Diomargy Uribe: We just ate Mihito.

[1:03:57] Felix: I'm a growing boy.

[1:03:58] Diomargy Uribe: Did you finish your Morisonando?

[1:04:00] Felix: Yeah.

[1:04:01] Diomargy Uribe: Hennesses mocks him with hers.

[1:04:02] Felix: He tries to grab it.

[1:04:03] Diomargy Uribe: And I'll finish yours too.

[1:04:05] Felix: Yeah, Felix.

[1:04:06] Diomargy Uribe: Felix grabs a kid book nearby, lays his head in Paloma's lap, and begins to read in his own little world.

[1:04:14] Diomargy Uribe: This is a nice day.

[1:04:16] Gabriela Sanchez: See.

[1:04:17] Diomargy Uribe: Hennesis lays her head on her mother's shoulder.

[1:04:19] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma winces and pulls away.

[1:04:21] Diomargy Uribe: Ah.

[1:04:22] Gabriela Sanchez: What's the matter, mommy?

[1:04:23] Diomargy Uribe: You hurt your arm?

[1:04:25] Gabriela Sanchez: Uh no, heni.

[1:04:26] Diomargy Uribe: Paloma tries to hide it, but too late.

[1:04:28] Diomargy Uribe: Hennesis has seen the many bruises up and down her mother's arm.

[1:04:32] Felix: You're all bruised up again.

[1:04:36] Diomargy Uribe: My problem, not yours.

[1:04:38] Felix: I thought he had stopped.

[1:04:40] Diomargy Uribe: My bruises, not yours.

[1:04:42] Felix: Mind your business.

[1:04:44] Diomargy Uribe: I have my bruises too.

[1:04:47] Felix: De qué hablas?

[1:04:48] Diomargy Uribe: Hennessis shows her neck and shoulders, where she also has a few small bruises.

[1:04:53] Felix: He he's hurting you too?

[1:04:55] Diomargy Uribe: No, mommy.

[1:04:59] Felix: Tell the truth.

[1:05:00] Diomargy Uribe: That wasn't Papi.

[1:05:02] Felix: Then who?

[1:05:03] Diomargy Uribe: You.

[1:05:06] Felix: Eh?

[1:05:07] Diomargy Uribe: Mommy?

[1:05:08] Felix: Mentirosa, I never laid a finger on you.

[1:05:11] Diomargy Uribe: Forget it.

[1:05:12] Felix: That's what you tell people?

[1:05:13] Diomargy Uribe: That I hurt you?

[1:05:14] Felix: No, mommy, of course not.

[1:05:15] Diomargy Uribe: I don't tell no.

[1:05:17] Felix: I would never hurt you.

[1:05:18] Diomargy Uribe: I I would never hurt you.

[1:05:19] Felix: Why would I do that to you, eh?

[1:05:21] Diomargy Uribe: Tu eres una mentirosa.

[1:05:22] Felix: I'm sorry.

[1:05:23] Diomargy Uribe: Please don't fight.

[1:05:24] Felix: Mommy, please.

[1:05:25] Diomargy Uribe: Everyone is looking.

[1:05:26] Gabriela Sanchez: Paloma gets up, grabs the blanket they are both sitting on and pulls it out from underneath them.

[1:05:30] Diomargy Uribe: Let them look!

[1:05:31] Gabriela Sanchez: She storms off.

[1:05:33] Diomargy Uribe: Hennesis and Felix pick up their belongings and shuffle after her, embarrassed.

[1:05:39] Diomargy Uribe: Scene 14.

[1:05:41] Gabriela Sanchez: In the film we see Paloma being interviewed.

[1:05:46] Gabriela Sanchez: Yes.

[1:05:48] Gabriela Sanchez: I do not deny what happened.

[1:05:51] Gabriela Sanchez: I know why I'm here.

[1:05:52] Gabriela Sanchez: But it was either him or me.

[1:05:54] Gabriela Sanchez: It was either him or all of us.

[1:05:56] Gabriela Sanchez: His his violence.

[1:05:57] Paloma: It was living in the walls of our house. We could not escape it. I could not escape it. I saw. I saw that I had hurt my baby. I was doing to her what he was doing to me. I felt so much anger inside of me all of the time. Siempre como un fuego adentro. It was a burning fire of anger and hate. It was so strong because it was mixed with so much love. But I was hurting them. I had to get a hope to save us.

[1:06:42] Felix: A 33-year-old Hennessy sits on a bench munching on a healthy snack. She has her headphones in and mumbles the song to herself, occasionally getting caught up in it.

[1:07:08] Felix: It's me, Henny Diablo.

[1:07:10] Hennessy: Oh, I'm sorry.

[1:07:10] Felix: What?

[1:07:11] Hennessy: No, I'm not. Why are you sneaking up on me?

[1:07:11] Felix: Hennessy!

[1:07:14] Hennessy: She goes to hug him. He backs away thinking he'll be smacked again.

[1:07:17] Hennessy: I'm trying to hug you, stupid.

[1:07:20] Felix: Just making sure.

[1:07:21] Hennessy: They hug. It's a good one.

[1:07:24] Hennessy: I can't believe you're on time. You look good, little brother.

[1:07:27] Felix: I know, right? Long time.

[1:07:31] Hennessy: Long time. What are you eating?

[1:07:34] Felix: Uh hummus and carrots. I also got some steam at a mame if you want some.

[1:07:34] Hennessy: What?

[1:07:38] Felix: Hummus, carrots, edamame.

[1:07:40] Hennessy: I don't even know what language you speak in.

[1:07:42] Felix: Whatever. It's good for you. You gotta take care of yourself. We ain't kids anymore.

[1:07:47] Hennessy: Ain't that the truth?

[1:07:48] Felix: Ain't ain't a word.

[1:07:49] Hennessy: You said it first.

[1:07:50] Felix: Because every time I hang out with you, I start sounding like Henny from the block.

[1:07:50] Hennessy: Shh.

[1:07:50] Felix: What?

[1:07:56] Hennessy: You ain't never know Henny from the block.

[1:07:58] Felix: Whatever. You didn't know me. When I was a teenager, I was mad cool.

[1:07:58] Hennessy: Sure.

[1:08:02] Felix: Sure. I'm not about to argue with you about my G status. Just because I got my life together and you.

[1:08:08] Hennessy: Uh-uh.

[1:08:08] Felix: Yeah.

[1:08:09] Hennessy: I I what?

[1:08:10] Felix: I took a little longer, that's it.

[1:08:12] Hennessy: Mm-hmm.

[1:08:14] Felix: I think I'm doing alright for myself.

[1:08:17] Hennessy: Right. You're doing pretty good, Felix.

[1:08:20] Felix: How's Carol?

[1:08:22] Hennessy: That's why I wanted to meet up with you.

[1:08:24] Felix: What happened?

[1:08:24] Hennessy: Well.

[1:08:24] Felix: What?

[1:08:26] Hennessy: She's pregnant.

[1:08:26] Felix: What?

[1:08:28] Hennessy: I know.

[1:08:29] Felix: Oh my gosh.

[1:08:30] Hennessy: I know, I know. We just found out a few days ago.

[1:08:30] Felix: Congratulations!

[1:08:33] Hennessy: Oh my god, having a baby!

[1:08:35] Felix: Yeah! So so um, so we're gonna get married. I mean, I was already thinking of marrying her, but uh now we're gonna have a baby, and we want to do it right, you know, so we're gonna get married.

[1:08:45] Hennessy: Stop speaking. Too much information. It's crazy.

[1:08:50] Felix: Wow, man. About time. You two have been together since you were like 14.

[1:08:54] Hennessy: Mommy was so excited. I'm gonna be an Auela.

[1:08:58] Felix: Oh, you told her already?

[1:09:01] Hennessy: Of course. I mean, just yesterday when I was visiting.

[1:09:01] Felix: Hmm.

[1:09:13] Hennessy: So, uh you're gonna come to my wedding?

[1:09:16] Felix: Duh. Mommy will be there. That's fine.

[1:09:21] Paloma: She seems so much older. She sits heavily watching television.

[1:09:25] Hennessy: You can't avoid her forever.

[1:09:27] Felix: Mm-hmm. I gotta tell you.

[1:09:32] Hennessy: I don't want to get into it, Felix.

[1:09:33] Felix: I gotta tell you.

[1:09:33] Hennessy: What?

[1:09:34] Felix: She's not doing so hot.

[1:09:36] Hennessy: How do you mean?

[1:09:40] Felix: She's uh she's getting older. And all the alcohol abuse for all those years uh messed with the functions or whatever, the uh physical um abuse. Uh you know, caught up with her. She's losing her memory, you know, sometimes for a really long time. Like Alzheimer's, she's too young for that.

[1:10:00] Hennessy: Yeah, well, you know, she had a mild stroke last year. That'll kind of speed up the aging process.

[1:10:00] Felix: No.

[1:10:05] Hennessy: Yeah. And they didn't think it was too bad. Uh, she recovered quickly. But no. Last week I was visiting.

[1:10:14] Felix: He enters the scene with Paloma and sits with her watching a novella. Hennessy watches them. Something dramatic is happening in the novella.

[1:10:23] Hennessy: I knew it. They all the artists. Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's see what happens. Come on.

[1:10:29] Felix: I know. Put the chip up.

[1:10:33] Hennessy: No, uh, don't say on the time remote. Oh, shhh, they wait for the big reveal.

[1:10:41] Hennessy: Oh! Oh!

[1:10:49] Felix: I'm a talan.

[1:10:51] Hennessy: Of course.

[1:10:52] Felix: Paloma leaves the room. Paloma is lost for a moment without him. Felix re-enters the remote control for the TV in his hand.

[1:11:00] Felix: Uh mommy? Um, I I just found the remote.

[1:11:06] Paloma: Oh, Kevin. Where was it?

[1:11:08] Felix: In the freezer, mommy.

[1:11:10] Paloma: Oh. What what?

[1:11:12] Felix: In the freezer.

[1:11:17] Paloma: What's wrong with you today? Accusing me.

[1:11:21] Felix: Give me the remote.

[1:11:22] Hennessy: Felix hands Paloma the remote. He exits the scene with Paloma and is back with Hennessy.

[1:11:27] Hennessy: She's not there all the time. No one ever tells me anything.

[1:11:32] Felix: Who's gonna tell you?

[1:11:33] Hennessy: You and I am. Anyway, you ain't about that life, right?

[1:11:37] Felix: Felix, please.

[1:11:39] Hennessy: What, honey?

[1:11:39] Felix: What, huh? Please, what?

[1:11:41] Hennessy: Please. We aren't good for each other. Me and her.

[1:11:45] Felix: Well, no one's good enough for you, Hennessy.

[1:11:46] Hennessy: What is that supposed to mean?

[1:11:49] Felix: You know, I feel like every time I hang out with you, I get a lecture, Felix. Every time. That's not why I wanted to meet up with you. But somehow it always ends up this way.

[1:11:59] Felix: Why didn't you come to Chino's birthday? Why didn't you come to Rosa's barbecue? No one's heard from you. You're always busy. And mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. Always mommy. When you're gonna talk to mommy, when you gonna see mommy. It's like I've done my best to forget it all.

[1:12:14] Hennessy: And every time we hang out, because I love you, because you're my brother, because you're the only goddamn person in this world who hasn't completely fucked me over. I want to see you. But then here we go. We always in the back here. You are not required to be my moral conscience, Felix.

[1:12:31] Felix: You're doing good for yourself. Great. I'm really freaking happy for you. I really, really am. I'm doing good too. I'm doing really, really good. I'm on tenure track. I'm I'm on the alumni board. I have my friends, my colleagues. I just started taking jujitsu classes. I'm doing really great. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have gotten to this point in my life if I hadn't cut the shit from my life, Felix. Do you get that? I can't willingly take the poison. When a snake bites your hand, you chop off your hand to keep the poison from spreading, right? So, so I've chopped.

[1:13:06] Felix: She asks about you every day, Henny, and I don't know what to tell her. I wanted to tell her that you died, so she let you go.

[1:13:12] Hennessy: Where's my Mihalinda, Felix?

[1:13:14] Felix: Don't let the Hennessy. Keep us okay, Hennessy. Have you spoken to her?

[1:13:17] Hennessy: Felix? You know what that's like? I'm the one out there every day taking care of her. You don't ask if I needed any help, do you? Giving her medicine and plugging every appliance to make sure she doesn't burn the place down, because she'll start cooking something and won't remember until the fire department shows up. She's not the same woman anymore, Henny. She's just. She's just an old lady now. A heap of bad memories and a broken body.

[1:13:48] Hennessy: I don't. I'm getting a pounding headache.

[1:13:53] Felix: See? That's your conscience, not me.

[1:14:00] Felix: Here. He reaches into his bag. She's always telling me to give you this.

[1:14:08] Felix: He hands her the faceless doll. She's disoriented by it. Felix leaves.

[1:14:14] Hennessy: The space changes, and Hennessy is watching her mother's interview again. Or really for the first time.

[1:14:21] Hennessy: I couldn't leave. Where would I go? Every day. Every day. Every day. If you leave, I'll kill you. If you leave, they'll give me the children because you can't keep a job. And if you keep a job, I'll kill you. Who wanna hire you anyway? I tried to run away once, but I was too afraid that he would find us, find me. One time I even called the police. Oh, and he was so calm with them, so rational. We're just having an argument, officer. My wife is so passionate. They saw my bruises and put him away for two days. Two days. When he came back. He came back with that gun. And I knew. I I knew I was running out of time.

[1:15:09] Hennessy: She looks right at the camera. They would let me go. They would do what is right. I've done my time. The court knows that. That's why they've given me this appeal. It was either him or all of us.

[1:15:23] Hennessy: Hennessy's is 13. She sits in the middle of the living room playing with the faceless doll. She's brushing the doll's hair and looking into its faceless face.

[1:15:33] Hennessy: You are kind of creepy looking, you know that.

[1:15:36] Doll: Shut your face.

[1:15:39] Hennessy: Why don't you have a face? Why didn't I ever notice that when I was little, huh?

[1:15:43] Doll: You're too old to play with dolls anyway.

[1:15:46] Hennessy: Shh. Don't tell anyone, okay? She holds the doll like a baby and rocks it. Suddenly, Paloma comes bursting in disheveled. She wears the old vata. She holds a gun in her hand. Hennessy immediately hides the doll.

[1:16:01] Paloma: No. No. What are you doing home?

[1:16:06] Hennessy: Early dismissal. Hennessy sees the gun in Paloma's hand.

[1:16:10] Paloma: What shhh. Paloma runs over to Hennessy's. She puts the gun down. She holds Hennessy's face in her hands with so much love.

[1:16:18] Paloma: Mommy, what's where's your Bobby?

[1:16:23] Hennessy: He's sleeping in his room. He said don't wake him up.

[1:16:26] Paloma: Bing. Bing. Why?

[1:16:30] Paloma: What is Paloma holds Hennessy's tight and close. Shh. Close your eyes and cover your ears, okay? You didn't see anything, okay?

[1:16:43] Hennessy: No, no, no, no, no, no, mommy, mommy, mommy, no, no, no, no, no, no, mommy.

[1:16:43] Hennessy: No, no, no, no, no. Hennessy buries her head between her knees, keeping her eyes shut and ears covered. She squeezes the faceless doll against her. Paloma walks into the next room off stage. A long moment goes by in silence. We hear two shots.

[1:17:08] Narrator: Scene sixteen. In the film, we feel the beauty of family. Dreams, future, hope. The love that gets us through. We see a bare stage except for one cardboard box. Almost like a dream. A twenty-year-old Paloma enters. A thirty-three-year-old Hennessy's hands Paloma the faceless doll.

[1:17:29] Paloma: She holds it like a baby. She speaks to the doll as she shows her their new home. Mira Hereis. Mira, mira. Aqui we will have your crib. When Bobby gets the money together, that'll be the first thing we buy.

[1:17:48] Paloma: It will be pink and all of the blankets and all of the pillows and all of the toys. Rosada. I always like pink. Maybe you like it too. It's okay if you don't like it. She kisses the baby on her face. I'll let you change it when you get older if you want.

[1:18:11] Paloma: And uh a television, a big one, like 20 inches. We'll get cable too eventually. And over here will be my bookshelf. Well, I don't have any yet, but I will. She pretends she's selecting a book from many.

[1:18:35] Paloma: I learned to read when I was three years old, Mihita. And so will you. I'll start teaching you immediately. You'll be just as smart as your mommy. How little you know. But don't worry. Mommy and Papi will buy you lots of books. See, see, see. No, it's not a lot, my daughter. But just the three of us here will fit in just fine. Bappi this so good and finding it and so cheap.

[1:19:10] Paloma: It's our little place now.

[1:19:12] Hennessis: Sh shh no no no.

[1:19:14] Paloma: No Yora, mommy.

[1:19:16] Hennessis: No, Yora.

[1:19:17] Paloma: Don't cry.

[1:19:18] Hennessis: Don't cry.

[1:19:19] Paloma: Shh.

[1:19:20] Paloma: Mommy's here.

[1:19:22] Paloma: (holds her baby daughter close) She runs her hand over the invisible books, the shelf, the couch, the TV, the crib.

[1:19:31] Paloma: Maybe she spins the invisible mobile.

[1:19:34] Paloma: Her perfect moment filled with possibilities.

[1:19:37] Paloma: She lays the baby down to sleep in the arms of a grown-up Hennessis, who watches how her mother loved her.

[1:19:43] Paloma: A car approaches and a door slams.

[1:19:46] Paloma: (shares a shy, apprehensive smile with her baby daughter and heads quickly towards the door, leaving the doll behind in Hennessy's arms)

[1:19:55] Hennessis: (kisses the doll on the face and packs it into the box)

[1:20:00] Narrator: End of play.

[1:20:39] ♪ Musical number: "Warrior" — performed by Xiomara Syngz ♪

[1:22:50] Iyvon Edebiri: Thank you.

[1:22:52] Cast: Thank you.

[1:22:56] Cast: Thank you.

[1:22:59] Iyvon Edebiri: Before we get started, just want to give another round of applause for that amazing cast.

[1:23:03] Iyvon Edebiri: The amazing work they did tonight.

[1:23:07] Iyvon Edebiri: How do you feel?

[1:23:09] Erlina Ortiz: I feel great.

[1:23:10] Erlina Ortiz: It feels like it goes by so fast.

[1:23:12] Iyvon Edebiri: It does.

[1:23:14] Iyvon Edebiri: How do you feel like you were in it?

[1:23:15] Erlina Ortiz: You wrote it and you were in it.

[1:23:17] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:23:18] Erlina Ortiz: So that's pretty much my main feeling right now is it went by so fast.

[1:23:29] Iyvon Edebiri: Have you ever not done it?

[1:23:30] Iyvon Edebiri: Have you ever just sat back and seen it?

[1:23:34] Erlina Ortiz: The last production that was done of it, I was barely involved at all.

[1:23:37] Erlina Ortiz: I was only there for the first rehearsal and then like for opening night.

[1:23:41] Erlina Ortiz: So that was an extremely strange situation for me because I'm usually involved in some way in my shows.

[1:23:50] Iyvon Edebiri: Like they took it and they're doing it.

[1:23:51] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:23:52] Iyvon Edebiri: Nice.

[1:23:52] Erlina Ortiz: It's like someone carrying your baby around.

[1:23:56] Erlina Ortiz: And like following you around, but you don't gotta touch it.

[1:23:59] Iyvon Edebiri: Yeah.

[1:24:00] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:24:00] Iyvon Edebiri: I don't know.

[1:24:01] Erlina Ortiz: I think that's a good thing.

[1:24:02] Iyvon Edebiri: It's like babysitter.

[1:24:03] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, exactly.

[1:24:04] Erlina Ortiz: It's a babysitter, so it's like, oh, so fun, so fun.

[1:24:06] Iyvon Edebiri: Okay, here you go.

[1:24:07] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:24:07] Iyvon Edebiri: Okay, bye.

[1:24:08] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, now I'm done.

[1:24:09] Iyvon Edebiri: Go to your parents.

[1:24:09] Erlina Ortiz: Now I go and go snap.

[1:24:11] Iyvon Edebiri: Yeah.

[1:24:13] Iyvon Edebiri: So Morir Soyando.

[1:24:16] Iyvon Edebiri: What how where did this play come from?

[1:24:19] Iyvon Edebiri: How did it come to you?

[1:24:21] Iyvon Edebiri: What inspired it?

[1:24:22] Iyvon Edebiri: Because there's so much in it, but it's so very focused in what's behind it and its intention.

[1:24:30] Erlina Ortiz: So I guess there's a couple of different pieces that came to bring this play together.

[1:24:40] Erlina Ortiz: That was all about women who were incarcerated for killing their abusive husbands.

[1:24:45] Erlina Ortiz: And so that film really just like I remember really impacting me.

[1:24:50] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, and making me start to question a lot of my own presumptions that I had about people who were involved in violent relationships.

[1:24:57] Erlina Ortiz: Or I had a friend in high school who was in a very bad relationship, and I remember being one of those people who was like, why doesn't she just leave him?

[1:25:04] Erlina Ortiz: You know, like I just couldn't understand, and I was very judgmental about the women who stayed in these relationships because I was so separate from that feeling I couldn't quite understand.

[1:25:14] Erlina Ortiz: So for me, writing this play, it was kind of like a way to explore these feelings within myself and try to understand.

[1:25:21] Erlina Ortiz: And then as I learned more about the issue and about how subversive it is and how many women are, you know, trapped in these types of relationships and don't talk about it, and it's just like this constant silence.

[1:25:31] Erlina Ortiz: And in Latinx communities with machismo and like men are the ones in charge.

[1:25:36] Erlina Ortiz: It can be much, there's a fire underneath to make it happen even more.

[1:25:39] Erlina Ortiz: So um, so yeah, all those pieces kind of came together, and then of course I'm Dominican.

[1:25:44] Erlina Ortiz: And um, so I just was like, all right, these characters are Dominican.

[1:25:48] Erlina Ortiz: And um, and then because of that, there's just certain things that will add to it.

[1:25:54] Erlina Ortiz: So the faceless doll, I was like, oh, the faceless doll is a great, you know, like knowing that is a Dominican thing and like how that works as a metaphor for this play.

[1:26:02] Iyvon Edebiri: Well, um, that is a question um that I would love explored is what is the faceless doll?

[1:26:11] Iyvon Edebiri: What does that mean um for people who don't know?

[1:26:15] Erlina Ortiz: Oh, um, yeah, so there the faceless doll, I uh gosh, I guess I should look it up again.

[1:26:20] Erlina Ortiz: Um I did a lot of research five years ago when I first wrote this.

[1:26:23] Erlina Ortiz: Um but the f there's the then Dominican tradition, you'll see if you go to a Dominican household, it's very rare that you wouldn't see a doll with a beautiful dress and a little hat and maybe a basket or something, but she never has a face.

[1:26:37] Erlina Ortiz: Um and there's a sort of a metaphor behind that of like this woman could be any woman, or um the Dominican woman is representative across so many different types of women and so many different colors and stuff like that.

[1:26:50] Erlina Ortiz: Um so that's kind of where that came from.

[1:26:52] Erlina Ortiz: And then in the play, I very much feel like the doll is always there, present, witnessing.

[1:26:57] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:26:57] Erlina Ortiz: Um, so it's almost like the doll is the witness of what's happening in this family.

[1:27:02] Erlina Ortiz: Um and then also because Hennessy's had that doll with her when her mother killed her father, it's like it was always this thing that she reminds her of that moment in her life.

[1:27:10] Erlina Ortiz: Right.

[1:27:10] Erlina Ortiz: And every time she sees the doll, she remembers that's the time that that was that moment.

[1:27:14] Erlina Ortiz: Right.

[1:27:14] Erlina Ortiz: That led to her world changing even more.

[1:27:18] Iyvon Edebiri: One thing that you mentioned in the beginning when I asked what would the world be missing if it didn't have this play, was this conversation about uh domestic violence and domestic abuse in Latinx communities uh that are generational and cyclical.

[1:27:38] Iyvon Edebiri: And so um as you were writing this play, um, because I know you wrote it a while ago and you've done research but over time of writing this play and exploring this subject what are the things that you have learned about um Latinx culture and um and cyclical domestic violence and the ways in which people can combat it or the ways that it seeps into relationships and I guess um I guess specifically through the Latinx lens and maybe ways you've seen it's different from other cultures as well.

[1:28:18] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah I mean I know that's so long winded it's a in in Latin you know in Latinx communities there's definitely uh a sense of like they're what do they call um uh the the lat lat Latin poppy or whatever the Latin prince okay um so like men and in in a family the men or the older brother or the boys are treated in a very specific way like they get their meals first or like they don't have to help clean up certain things so there's already an sort of ingrained like the men are treated differently and it's elevated status and the men are are you know the head of the house.

[1:28:49] Erlina Ortiz: So now if you're in a lot of you know Dominican Republic very Catholic country in the Bible men are the head of the house.

[1:28:56] Erlina Ortiz: So there's already sort of like this rule that's like comes from what what people think of as like the almighty of like the men is the final decision in this thing.

[1:29:03] Erlina Ortiz: So then if that is bred with generational trauma um and also a sense of like well that's the way it is you know like I when I visit my family in the Dominican Republic sometimes it'll be like oh we know that that woman gets beat by her husband.

[1:29:16] Erlina Ortiz: They've been together for 25 years.

[1:29:18] Erlina Ortiz: And that's just she's just always gonna be with him.

[1:29:21] Erlina Ortiz: And no one's ever gonna tell him that he shouldn't be doing that because that's that that's just expected.

[1:29:27] Erlina Ortiz: Um so in this play, I very much wanted to like show that the cycle could be broken because these characters, like Felix very specifically, is very aware of like you know, I don't want I I feel like Felix doesn't want to become his father, yeah.

[1:29:40] Erlina Ortiz: Um, and Hennessy's is trying to break the cycle by totally forgetting her past life in a way, which isn't the right way to go about it.

[1:29:46] Erlina Ortiz: Right.

[1:29:47] Erlina Ortiz: Um, but yeah, I think that it can be highlighted more in these communities because of the botismo aspect and because it's taboo to talk about it, like you know, people are like, Oh, if you know, you don't want to talk about it.

[1:29:58] Erlina Ortiz: So breaking the silence is the first step.

[1:30:00] Erlina Ortiz: If the person next to you says, I'm in an abusive relationship, you're gonna have a much more you're gonna open up and oh my god, or you're maybe gonna be like, I'm not alone, oh I thought this was just me, you know, and now we're much more educated about these topics, so we know that it's prevalent and that it's widespread, but a lot of in a lot of communities it's still very much a taboo, and people don't talk about it.

[1:30:21] Iyvon Edebiri: Um, one thing that I found uh really interesting is that Paloma Um tells Hennessys that she fights back because she wants to be seen as strong.

[1:30:33] Iyvon Edebiri: Um and I found that as so powerful because you know it's kind of like she she's definitely stuck uh you know, a rock in a hard place, like there's there's no like quote unquote right choice, so she makes the best choice she can when she has to make that choice.

[1:30:52] Iyvon Edebiri: Um, and so how did this manifestation of this mother-daughter relationship come about as you were writing the story while discussing generational um violence and trauma?

[1:31:07] Erlina Ortiz: Um, so a lot of Paloma's personality comes from my own mother in the good ways.

[1:31:13] Erlina Ortiz: Thankfully, my mother and my own growing up situation was not in that sense.

[1:31:18] Erlina Ortiz: Um, but I did have a father who disappeared and then came back after 10 years, right around when I was starting to write this play.

[1:31:24] Erlina Ortiz: So there was sort of a mix of this sense of like, what is it like when someone who was so dear to you is gone, and then you sort of remove them from your consciousness because you don't want to deal with that, and then suddenly they're back.

[1:31:34] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, and you have to now you're an adult.

[1:31:38] Erlina Ortiz: All these years have passed, and you're like, how am I gonna handle this?

[1:31:40] Erlina Ortiz: You know, like am I gonna hold the resentment that I had when I was 14, or am I gonna try to move forward and forgive?

[1:31:46] Erlina Ortiz: Um, so that was brewing inside of me.

[1:31:48] Erlina Ortiz: Um, and Paloma is a mix of a lot of different women in my life, and also in a way, she's what I think would have happened to my mother had my father been abusive to her in that way.

[1:32:02] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah.

[1:32:03] Erlina Ortiz: Or how she would have reacted to the situation how she would have maybe responded to the situation.

[1:32:07] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, because these are very tough decisions that one has to make, and so many lives are at stake, and you want to save everyone.

[1:32:15] Iyvon Edebiri: It's so hard.

[1:32:16] Iyvon Edebiri: Um, so what is like I guess the next thing for this play?

[1:32:22] Erlina Ortiz: What is the next where where do you where do you see this play going? Or where do you, I guess, where do you see your your characters like five years from where we leave them?

[1:32:31] Gabriela Sanchez: Oh, okay. I thought it was like, where is your play going from here? And I'm like, who I don't know. Do you know somebody?

[1:32:35] Erlina Ortiz: I was kind of going there, but I might, yeah. I'm like, I'm actually more into characters. I'm always like, hmm, what is this character doing five years later? I really hope that Hennessy has been able to open herself up a little bit more to actually receive love in her life.

[1:32:51] Gabriela Sanchez: Um you think she's in therapy, like staying up?

[1:32:53] Erlina Ortiz: She should definitely be in therapy, um, and she should be like a regular for that for a while, because she has a lot to work through. And she probably only went to that one session to get her paper signed. Um yeah, I guess I just I hope I see these characters. I mean, Paloma by this, the play when the play starts, it's at the end of the cycle of this. So it's kind of you know, it's all out of order. Um, and when the play starts, Hennessy is taking care of Paloma, you know. So she's she has finally come to her mother, and I hope that that continues. I hope that their love continues to grow, and I hope that they continue to build a relationship separately from what their past was.

[1:33:30] Gabriela Sanchez: Yeah.

[1:33:31] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah. It's beautiful. I hope they're happy.

[1:33:33] Gabriela Sanchez: Yeah.

[1:33:34] Erlina Ortiz: They're happy. Let me just say it. They are happy.

[1:33:42] Gabriela Sanchez: Um, and then uh uh not last question, but one I'm really interested in because uh Rebecca, your your dope director, um uh gave out little cups of morir soyando to people as they came in. Um and so what explain what that that is and why you chose that specifically for this play.

[1:34:07] Erlina Ortiz: So many metaphors. The dove, there's the face listal, the morisando. Um so Morisonando, it's a drink, it's so good that you'll die dreaming of it. Um, oh great, great when I go to sleep soon. That's all, yeah, right. That's what my that's what my mom used to always say. Um, so that's kind of how, or maybe I'm sure it's probably saying in other places as well. Um, and of course, because these characters were Dominican, I was like, oh, they're at some point Mauricio Yando is happening. Like, I don't know why. And then when I thought about it, uh honestly, a lot of the stuff was like, I I feel like I have memorized a specific moment. I was like, Mauricio Nano needs to die sleeping, and she killed him in her sleep.

Like going to sleep. And I like my brain was like, wow, you're a genius. And like so. So there's moments like that too, where like connections are being made, and I don't even realize it. Even today, reading through, I'm like, oh my god, that thing connects to that everything. I am so smart. I planned all of this. Yes. Um but yeah, so and you know, it's it's it was fun to play on the um the Son Yando making the N with the Enya into the Y, and sort of like I feel like that's a tribute to this bilingualness of the play. Um and Hennessy's herself, who has lost a lot of her Spanish.

[1:35:27] Gabriela Sanchez: Um okay, so we're gonna start to wrap up. So I have a last few questions.

[1:35:32] Erlina Ortiz: Okay.

[1:35:33] Gabriela Sanchez: So um a hundred years from now, so a hundred years ago, um, or 19, 19, 19, 20, um, white women were given the right to vote in this country. So looking a hundred years from now, because that was seen as like uh women's emancipation, yada yada yada, 100 years from now, where do you see the future of women? Where do you see women in the future?

[1:35:58] Erlina Ortiz: My god. I mean, I hope I see women on a hundred years from now in equal positions of power um across all sectors of life. Um, and having as many freedoms and choices in their lives as they should, and as men do, and as we all should. That's all.

[1:36:24] Gabriela Sanchez: Um you guys can snap for that. Like we all want equality, it's okay. We can snap, clap, snap. Snaps for equality.

[1:36:34] Erlina Ortiz: Um if uh Trump were in this room 60 seconds, what would you say to him?

[1:36:42] Gabriela Sanchez: Who hurt you and forgive them and then go and retire and disappear.

[1:36:52] Erlina Ortiz: That's what I would say. Easy peasy. That's the nicest version of what I would say. I love it. Straight to go away. That's what I want to say. At Trump. Go away. I should start to ask people to, instead of 60 seconds, I should ask them like in 160 characters.

[1:37:10] Gabriela Sanchez: Yeah, 60 seconds is too much. He will not be taking 60 seconds from my life.

[1:37:13] Erlina Ortiz: Yeah, I don't think his attention span can last. But we're so I might change that. Um question live. It's just fun to do. Interesting to see what people would do. You know, you know, Facebook can't be the only place that can live on a podcast, too. Imagination.

[1:37:35] Gabriela Sanchez: So the last question I had that there's a special reason. It's it's it's uh our playwright's 30th birthday today.

[1:37:48] Erlina Ortiz: So um for those not here, that's uh German chocolate cake.

[1:37:54] Gabriela Sanchez: Oh yes, from Juniors, yes, Brooklyn. This is why you have to come here live. Because you could get cake.

[1:38:05] Erlina Ortiz: I'm gonna cry.

[1:38:07] Gabriela Sanchez: Oh, if you cry. Please sob into the mic so we can hear it.

[1:38:12] Erlina Ortiz: But um, before we end our interview for Reelsies, we just want to say thank you for being here on your birthday from Philadelphia. Came here, did the show. It's been such a joy to work with her. And um, this is the least of what you deserve on your special day.

[1:38:27] Gabriela Sanchez: I couldn't have a bird of birthday.

[1:38:29] Erlina Ortiz: No, of course. So on um today, Monday, December 16th, 2019, on your 30th birthday. Let's wish you a happy birthday for our Christmas show. Happy birthday to you birthday.

[1:38:46] Cast: Yes, Harmony. Yes, happy birthday, dear Alina. Happy birthday to you.

[1:39:02] Gabriela Sanchez: Happy.

[1:39:08] Erlina Ortiz: Yes. You're gonna cut that up and eat it later. But um uh thank you all for that. Uh, I just have some thank yous to all of our artistic collaborators who made this episode possible. So I want to again thank our cast tonight. Um, Alina Ortiz, um Daniel Colomb, Gabi Sanchez, and Diamarji Uribe.

[1:39:37] Gabriela Sanchez: This episode was directed by Rebecca Aparicio. She also did some sound design because she's amazing. Um, our musician tonight is Zia Mara Sings. Mori Son Yando was written by Alina Ortiz. Thank you to Luc Dicola, our sound engineer and editor tonight. Making a sound good. Uh and a thank you to our TPS team and Business Lunch Productions. BLP is a leading creative agency based in New York City, working with creatives all over the world.

[1:40:18] Erlina Ortiz: And thanks, as always, to the Mark O'Donnell Theater for having us in their space. The Mark O'Donnell Theater at the Actors Fund Arts Center is a state-of-the-art black box performance venue and rehearsal space located at the lobby level of the Skimmerhorn in downtown Brooklyn. It's a program of the Actors Fund whose mission is to foster stability and resiliency and provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan. For more information on how the Actors Fund helps people in every area of the performing arts nationwide, visit ActorsFund.org.

[1:40:53] Gabriela Sanchez: And before we hear our last song for our musician tonight to close the night, we want to say thank you all for listening to the Parsnipship. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram at the Parsnipship NY. Tag people, let them know you were here. If you would like to help support the Parsnipship to keep our platform free and accessible, please please help us grow and reach new audiences by sharing your experiences and donating to us on our website.

[1:41:29] Erlina Ortiz: And our season five episode um uh episode two, Buried Roots by Michelle Tyreene Johnson is now available. And Abraham's Daughters by Emma Goldman Sherman will be available early 2020. Join us for our next live recording on Monday, January twenty-seventh for The Last Ring by Ashley Rogers, who's in the house tonight. This episode was produced by the Parsnip Ship and Business Lunch Productions. The Parsnip Ship is a fiscally sponsored project of Brooklyn Arts Council. New plays, new music. This is how we hear theater. Take it away.

[1:42:06] ♪ Musical number ♪

[1:42:10] Zia Mara Sings: When you told me there's no such thing as goodbye, the gleam in your eyes told me that was a lie, but my intuition stifled by wishing to be in your life.

[1:42:26] Zia Mara Sings: You don't owe me I did this to my sort of pain I have to go. From the moment I told myself it was all in my head. Living each day by the words that you said. I was neglecting to stop and reflect on what they really meant. You don't owe me I mean this heart might say so fixated on all that you had done that I misunderstood where I went through the pain Oh no I let God all in time I'll be fine I'm a mess, but that's all right I can cry in my pride and I'm no make it right I'll let through the pain gro and thank you so much.

[1:45:29] Zia Mara Sings: Thank you, the Parsnipship, for having me.