WOMAN Nobody I know would be here, right? I mean, this seems like the sort of place nobody I know would ever go, but then again I’m here, so …

DOLORES Listen, we need to establish some rules right off the bat. I’m here to be mean to you. I’m good at that. And mean feels very honest to me, and I’m a very honest person, so it’s great how my personality and my life goals line up. But I don’t do clichés, because clichés are not honest, so I don’t want to hear about how terrible you are or what a naughty girl you’ve been because blah blah blah WHATever NEXT. Are we clear?

Beat.

WOMAN I’ve never done anything like this before.

DOLORES Other house rules: If I get bored, I stop. If I get tired, I stop. If you don’t suffer in a manner that I find enjoyable, I stop. I don’t need to know your name, your occupation, or how you feel. Please for the love of God, don’t talk about your feelings, this isn’t a date. Which reminds me: you pay up front. Any questions?

WOMAN This is all very new to me.

DOLORES Cliff Notes version goes: pay up and shut up.

She holds out her hand.

The WOMAN puts a roll of bills into it.

DOLORES counts them, then pockets them.

WOMAN It was a moment. A split-second. And then disaster. I look back on it again and again and I’m still not sure if it was my fault. But either way, I failed.

DOLORES Look … you’re not all that special. You know? Most of us aren’t. So whatever you did is probably not all that special. Next to Hitler, you’re … mediocre.

WOMAN I try to tell myself that some failure is inevitable. But I don’t think it is. I think if you’re good at what you do—if you’re prepared and educated and precise—then you won’t fail. But then I start asking myself—where did I go wrong? And I don’t know. I’m prepared, I’m educated, I’m precise. I’m not boasting, these are just facts. And I can’t really sleep anymore. And I can’t eat. And the question shifts, you know. It becomes: How can i ever atone? And I don’t know that either. But maybe you do.

DOLORES Only the bourgeois upper middle class can afford to worry about that shit. Do you want me to beat you or not?

WOMAN I don’t know. Is that what we do here?

DOLORES You’re paying, you tell me what you want. Slapping is OK. Hair-pulling. Some people like to be kicked. Spanked. Thrashed.