BABBLE
The woman, Angela, walked into her home and dropped her purse on the dining room table. Her husband, Jack, was sitting on the couch in the living room, reading the newspaper.
“Hey babe, how are you?” she asked.
“Hey,” he said.
“How was your day?” she asked. Jack didn’t answer so she continued. “Mine was awful,” she said as she sat down on the couch, took off her shoes and began to rub her feet. “The car gas gauge must have gotten stuck again because it said a quarter of a tank, but it ran out on me and stalled in the middle of the street. I had to walk three blocks in a dress and heels to get enough gas to get home. I’m exhausted.”
“Hey, do you know what happened to the hammer I left here on the table yesterday? I need to hang those pictures you keep bugging me about,” said Jack.
“I spoke to the counselor today,” answered Angela as she grabbed a stack of mail from the coffee table and began to flip through it. “She said that she could probably schedule us sometime next week. What day works best for you?”
“I know I promised to hang them two months ago,” said Jack, “but I keep getting sidetracked. I’ll do them today, after dinner.
“I was thinking that maybe we could go after work one day next week,” said Angela. “I’m really optimistic that she might be able to teach us some coping strategies to help us deal with our communication issues.”
“Any idea what you want to do for dinner?” asked Jack, turning his attention back to his paper. “I was thinking about maybe grilling up a couple of steaks.”
“You know, Jan and Mike went to this same person and they said it did wonders for their relationship,” said Angela. “Some of their problems are very similar to ours. He had also had a couple of affairs, and they were on the verge of divorce before they started having sessions with this person. Mike was drinking like a fish and had gambled the majority of their savings away. It was really sad. I’ll be the first to say that I never thought it would last. I told her many times that she should just leave him. But I guess it’s good that she didn’t listen to me, because now they have a fantastic relationship and their third baby on the way.”
Jack turned the next page of his paper and kept reading without looking up.
“Jack, are you listening to me?”
“Huh?,” he said, finally looking over at her.
“I’m trying to talk to you about our relationship and you seem to be ignoring me. Can you put your paper down for just a moment so we can discuss this?”
“I’m sorry dear, but it’s been a rough day and I’m really not in the mood to discuss this right now. How about after dinner?” He put his paper on the coffee table and started walking towards the kitchen.
“How do you want your steak?” he asked.
“I’m not very hungry,” she replied in resignation. “My stomach is upset. I think I might be coming down with something.”
Jack began pulling plates, utensils and other items out of the cabinets and drawers in preparation for their meal.
“Oh shit,” he said, pulling a bottle down from the upper cabinet. “We’re almost out of steak sauce. I asked you to put it on the grocery list two weeks ago. You know I can’t eat steak without steak sauce. Are you all right with just ketchup on yours?”
Angela looked up wearily.
“Yes, that’s fine,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” said Jack. “If you really want it, you can take the steak sauce and I’ll take the ketchup. By the way, how was your day?” he asked from behind the refrigerator door.
Angela sighed heavily and walked into the kitchen to join her husband.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked.
“Do you mind cutting these up for me?” he asked as he passed her a large knife and two cartons of mushrooms.
Angela walked behind him to the cutting board on the kitchen island. As she approached it, she noticed a strange earring on the counter.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he said with his back to her, “your sister Tiffany is stopping by a little later to look for an earring or something she thinks she may have left here.”
“Tiffany? When was Tiffany here?”
“A couple of days ago. I told you that she came by.”
“I don’t remember you saying anything about that. And she didn’t say anything when I spoke to her yesterday. What did she want?” asked Angela.
“I think she wanted to get some sisterly advice on some ‘man’ troubles she was having. She seemed quite upset. Crying and the whole nine. She waited for you for a couple of hours and then finally said she had to leave.”
“A couple of hours? My sister has problems sitting still for a couple minutes, let alone a couple of hours. I told you to never let my sister in this house when I’m not here to watch her. What was she doing?”
“We were just talking. She wanted a male perspective on some of her relationship issues,” said Jack.
“Yes, I’m sure she did want a ‘male perspective’,” said Angela coldly. Jack looked over his shoulder at her.
“I know that you and your sister have had your problems, but she’s really a sweet kid.”
“My sister is a lot of things,” said Angela as she went back to cutting the mushrooms, “but ‘sweet’ is not one of them. Neither is ‘kid’.”
“I’ve never known two sisters to be so different or to react so differently to each other. I really think you should give your sister a chance. She’s not the same girl you grew up with,” said Jack.
“I would certainly hope she’s not the same girl,” said Angela, “considering all the things she’s done to me through the years. The problem is that I know she is exactly the same girl. What did you two talk about?”
“You know, your sister loves you. You’re related by blood. I don’t see why you’re still hanging on to all this anger with her. If anyone could use some counseling, it’s you two.”
“Do you think counseling is going to change the fact that she fucked every boyfriend I ever had? Do you think that counseling is going to change the fact that she ruined my first marriage? Do you think counseling is going to change the fact that my father and I haven’t spoken in over 10 years because of her?”
“You are so melodramatic,” said Jack as he slowly shook his head and turned back to seasoning the steak.
“Melodramatic!?” screamed Angela. “How the hell are you going to stand there and tell me – ”
“Dear, can you please grab the garlic powder out of the cabinet?” asked Jack, cutting her off.
Angela threw the cabinet door open, banging it against the wall, grabbed a large container of garlic powder and slammed it down on the counter beside her husband. She was flushed and had started breathing hard. She starred at her husband. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the earring again.
“And how the hell did her earring end up in here anyway?” she asked, the anger in her voice clearly apparent.
“I told her that you two should really just sit down and have a heart-to-heart and get all this hostility out into the light, once and for all. She said she’d love to, if only you would meet her halfway.”
“Oh she did, did she? Did she tell you why she can never have those conversations with me? Why do I always have to hear about her offers of goodwill from someone else?”
“You know, part of your sister’s problem is that she doesn’t have much stability in her life. She takes the idea of ‘party animal’ to a whole other level,” he said, chuckling slightly. “What she needs is a good man in her life. I told her I’d hook her up with Walter.”
“Walter? Walter from the office? Walter is way too good for my slutty sister.”
“What are you talking about? I think they’d make a great couple. He’s a good looking guy. She’s a good looking girl. They’re perfect for each other.”
“What do looks have to do with anything? Relationships aren’t based on looks, they’re based on personalities and compatibility” said
Angela.
“Come on babe, I might be married but I’m not blind. Your sister is fine as hell and it’s got to be rough for her always being approached by men everywhere she goes, especially when all she really wants is one good man,” said Jack as he bent down and noisily began shoving pans around the lower cabinet, looking for a container for the meat.
“One good man? Jack, look at me. Did you fuck my sister?”
Jack stood up and turned to look at his wife, who was staring at him with a crazed look in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning his palms up questioningly. Clearly, he hadn’t heard her last comment.
“Why did you do it Jack?”
“Why not? She admitted that she’s lonely and she asked me to. And she’s a beautiful woman and you know how much trouble I have saying ‘no’ to a beautiful woman,” he said, as he smiled charmingly and stepped forward to put his arms around her.
“Don’t,” she said quietly, stepping back and pushing him away.
“What is your problem?” he asked, his voice rising slightly in irritation. “It’s been 8 months since we last slept together. We hardly ever talk, and when we do it always centered around the latest thing you’re pissed off about. I’ll tell you, it’s no wonder it felt so nice to spend the evening in the company of a beautiful woman that was interested in talking about something other than how inadequate I am as a husband!”
Angela leaned heavily against the counter and put her hand to her face.
“I can’t even believe this is happening again,” she said sadly, as tears welled up in her eyes. “What did you really think was going to come of this?”
Jack smiled wistfully.
“To be honest, I think we all know it’s just a sex thing. Your sister may settle down some day, but it probably won’t be anytime soon. And what’s wrong with a little casual sex between consenting adults?”
Angela screamed in rage, grabbed the knife from the counter and turned to Jack.
“How could you fuck my sister in my own house?” she screamed.
“Fuck your sister? What are you talking about? I never – ” he began, but Angela was no longer listening. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The arc of the big silver blade turned in the air like a perfect wave breaking against the shore. Jack would have sworn that he had all night to move out of its path, but one moment it was floating in the air above him and the next it was plunging into his chest. He instantly crumbled to his knees. At that moment all he could think about was the fact that he had forgotten to tell his wife that Tiffany and Walter were coming by for dinner tonight and how proud he was of the fact that he had hooked them up.
As Jack fell sideways to the floor, he heard a strange buzzing sound in his ear. It sounded foreign yet oddly familiar. Slowly, he realized that it was the sound of his wife’s voice. As his eyes closed, he thought he heard her say the words ‘I’m sorry’. But he wasn’t quite sure.