I.
His kidneys failed and he nearly died. Very nearly. There were two weeks in full blown intensive care, and even after that it took months. It was the worst time of their lives. But he made it. He fought so hard and they did so much and now she is in constant fear that something truly stupid like a tree or a bathtub is going to kill him.
II.
She used to hate him for being so damn lovable, now she loves him for being so damn hateful. She could have wound up with him or she could have wound up hung up. It's when she thinks how bad things got that she feels truly blessed. His evilness set her free. She has him and god to thank for that.
III.
He worked sixty seven years in a factory making building trusses and later drywall, retired a foreman but never got off the line. He was a beer drunk on Fridays and a rye drunk on Saturdays. He loved a bacon and egg sandwich and sometimes ate one twice a day. He died forty pounds over weight and survived prostate cancer before a massive stroke took him at eighty-one. His whole life long he smoked like a chimney.
His son can barely sit through a movie, what with the way they glamorize smoking. He's become an activist of sorts, writing letters to the paper and even getting in the face of strangers, telling them how cigarettes killed his father.
IV.
They'd been dating for about four months when one night she overheard him on the phone with his mother. He didn't know she could hear him. He was talking with his mother and he referred to her, the girlfriend, as "Adorable Girl." Adorable Girl! So sweet and he was telling his mother all about her. No one could see her and he didn't know she was listening but still she blushed. She felt all fluttery and it was that very night that she gave into him with complete abandon and let herself fall in love.
They'd been dating not quite five months when she, hopeful fiancée, goes home with with him to meet his mother. The mother's long divorced and he is her only son. When our couple pulls into the driveway Mother comes running, straight to the drivers' side. She coos and fusses about her son, his girlfriend supposes this is natural and smiles despite the fact that she'd expected a hug or something like that; acknowledgement at least, really! But she smiles. She's campaigning in a way, and drunk with love and therefore altruistic. When Mother casts her a glance, it's from ten feet ahead looking back over her shoulder. She says, "Grab the bags will you Gail?"
Gail grabs the bags, climbs the steps, juggles the bags a bit then opens the door. Mother and son are together in the foyer. Gail stands at the door, a bag in each hand plus a purse and a satchel and it's only now that her desired mother-in-law stops to take a look at her. The mom straight-up inspects her, like head-to-toe. Gail just blushes and smiles. Mother pulls her hand to her chin and turns to her son. "You're right, Hon," she says, "She really does look durable."
Adorable Girl. A durable girl.
Goddamn bitch! Fucking bastard! But really it's too late for Gail. She's in love and thus only capable of being hurt, not of leaving.
V.
She got rid of the baby because he didn't love her. After that, it was never going to work. She got pregnant because he didn't love her. And they're still married.
VI.
They are best friends and they are inseparable. Whenever they think of going someplace, they are thinking of the same place. And it's not just that they laugh at each other's jokes but they laugh at each other's jokes before they even say them-one can just point, and the other knows exactly why and they even find their own chemistry funny, the fact of pointing and half-finished sentences. It cracks them up. They like to drink together. They double date, but surely it's a bit tough for anyone they bring along. Friends start to call them by a single name, a combination of their two names mashed together. They toast to their new name. One points, and they both laugh hysterically.
When you're together all the time like that it's hard to gauge the passing of it; like what's a long time and what's a short one. So it could have been a day spent differently or it could have been two weeks away, but something fell apart. It's not the kind of thing you name or even talk about. But they had one name and such great times and now can't come up with six words to say to each other. One of them wonders if they were ever friends at all. Only one of them.
© 2008 by Sally Mars.