No Place Left

In this monologue from the play, “No Place Left”, Jenny, a young woman confronts her mother about her neglectful parenting after a lifetime of estrangement.

JENNY: You don’t get to rewrite history now. You don’t. I sat in that room, alone, while you locked yourself away with every excuse under the sun. Men, pills, your “hard life.” Whatever it was that week, it was always more important than me. And now you want to talk about “family”?

Where was family when I cried myself to sleep every night? Where was family when I taught myself how to walk into a classroom and smile like nothing was wrong? You weren’t there. Not for birthdays, not for the big moments, not for the little ones either.

But here you are now. What’s changed? Is it guilt? Is it loneliness? Or is it just that you need something from me? A daughter to show off. A reason to feel human again. Well, I’ve got news for you—I don’t need you. I’ve built my own life. I’ve carved it out with my bare hands, piece by piece, from the wreckage you left behind.

So, no. You don’t get to show up now and slap a band-aid over it. You don’t get to say, “Let’s start fresh,” like none of it happened. It’s too late for that. It’s too late for us.

I’ve got nothing left to give you. Nothing. And maybe that makes me cold, maybe it makes me cruel, but at least I’ve earned the right to feel it. At least I’m honest about who I am. Can you say the same?

(A beat.)

You’ve got no place left in my life. And you’ve only got yourself to thank for that.

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