What They Left Behind

Gennie tried to keep her grades up, but it was hard because she was always worried about her brother. He was getting worse. Gennie tried to visit him every day in order to cheer him up, but usually he was beyond consoling. It didn’t help that Val’s new boyfriend was a co-owner of a large car dealership and was frequently seen on TV. One day, Gennie noticed that Ben’s TV was gone. When she asked Ben what had happened to it, he admitted that he saw one of the commercials and was so angry, he threw it off his balcony. When Gennie looked over the balcony, she saw the wreaked remains of the television set below.

  She was putting so much energy into trying to cheer up her brother that she neglected her studies and new husband. She didn’t even have time to help with setting up their apartment in Rory’s parents’ basement. He and his parents worked on it entirely by themselves. At first, Rory didn’t seem bothered by it, but six months after Val cheated on Ben, he finally mentioned it.

  It was a Friday night and after watching Johnny Carson, they went into their new kitchen to have tea and cookies, which was their weekend ritual.

  “There’s something I have to talk to you about,” Rory said, pouring the water for the tea into two mugs.

  Gennie took two small plates out of the cabinet. “What’s it about?”

  Rory put the kettle back on the stove. He cleared his throat. “Um, it’s about your brother.”

  “Oh no.”

  “You’re spending too much time with him.”

  “I know, Rory, but it’s only temporary. He’s in such a funk right now. I’m sure once everything gets straightened out, he’ll get better.”

  “It’s been six months. Either he gets divorced and moves on, or reconciles with her. I’m not trying to be mean, because I understand the situation, but I’d like to spend some time with you too, you know. I saw you more before we were married than I do now.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Besides, you can’t be everything to your brother. He’s got to learn to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. Shit happens, as they say. He has to get over it.”

  “It’s just tough for him lately. He might lose his job and the restaurant he put so much work into and he might lose all his stuff if he gets divorced. Val bought him all that and she’ll probably want it back. Ben wants to reconcile but she’s not really up for it and he doesn’t trust her anymore anyway. I don’t think you’ve been in that position before.”

  “No, I haven’t, but I’m not going to lose my wife because of it. He’s taking you down with him and I’m not going to stand for it anymore.”

  “Rory…”

  “I didn’t want to do this, but you’re not listening. I don’t want you going over there more than once a week from now on.”

  “What? I’m not going to do that!”

  “You are if you want to stay married.”

  “I can’t believe what you’re saying!”

  “Well, I don’t feel I have a choice in the matter.”

  “You have a choice,” Gennie said, her hands shaking. “You can either be a nice guy or an asshole. Guess which one you’re choosing right now?”

  “Gen…”

  “I’m sleeping on the couch. You can have your tea and cookies by yourself.”

  She stomped off to the bedroom to gather her pillows and blankets. She plunked them on the sofa and lay down, throwing the blankets over her head. She could hear Rory munching on cookies in the kitchen like there was nothing wrong, which made her even angrier.

  After he was done, she heard him turn off the kitchen light and go into the living room.

  “I’ll give you some time to think about it,” he said. “I think you know I’m right, you just don’t want to admit it. I can’t stand being without you anymore. I should be number one in your life, you know. Well, I guess we can talk about it more in the morning. Goodnight, Gennie.”

  He turned off the light and left the living room. Gennie was fuming. How could he force her to do this? She couldn’t leave her brother in a lurch.

  She felt horrible about the whole situation. She hoped nothing bad would happen to Ben because she stopped visiting every day.

  Chapter 43: October 6