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Marriage Talk 7

“First off,

—and I’m just mentioning it because I

want to get it off my chest—

you know how I feel about you

not looking for a part-time job!”

Sighing,

“I thought this was supposed to be about our sex life?”

The young husband said, adding.

“Besides, you know business is getting better

and more money will be coming soon.”

“Yeah,”

Hating to agree,

so quickly changing the subject,

“And no, this conversation is not ‘just’ about our sex life!

This conversation is about ‘everything’ that’s bothering me…”

Thinking, Oh, God.

“Okay,” he said,

“so tell me ‘everything’ that’s bothering you.”

Hesitating a number of long seconds,

“I think you’re a coward!”

the young wife said.

“Huh?”

Coming from way out in left field,

the words initially shocking more

than hurting. “I’m a ‘coward’?”

the young husband questioned.

“Yeah,” she said vehemently,

“a ‘coward’!

I really think if we were out somewhere

and if I were attacked you’d run away

rather than stay and fight to protect me!”

“How can you say that?”

The young man asked incredulously,

“How can you even…”

Considering himself a ‘gentle person’,

the young man would go out of his way

to avoid a verbal or physical confrontation.

But even if he were a coward,

to his knowledge he’d never given

her any indication that he would leave her

in any sort of a dangerous situation,

so why should she think it?

“How can you say that?”

The young man asked incredulously,

“How can you even think that?”

“For one thing,”

 the wife answered,

“ ‘Ruby’.” ***

“ ‘Ruby’?”

The young man questioned,

“You really think I should have gone to ‘Little Rock’ with Ruby?”

“He’s your friend,”

she said,

“and he asked you to go.”

“I’ve a family to support!”

“You think I should have just taken off?”

He asked seriously,

“Yeah, in that case I did!”

“And if I’d have gotten hurt or arrested?”

Hitting on his wife’s ‘sore subject’

“Were you ready to go to work

to bring some money in?”

Evading the question,

“I think you should have gone!

But okay,

I’ve other reasons to think you’re a coward.”

“Tell me, please!”

Marriage Talk 8

  “You want me to tell you?” she asked.

—he didn’t, really—

“Okay! How’s about that night

when we were ‘parked’ at Montrose beach

and that damned cop took you away

and you left me alone?”

“What could I do?

He was a cop and he ‘caught us’

and he had a club and a gun.

What was I supposed to do?”

“Something!

You should have done something!

 And then,

when he left you with his partner

and you knew he was coming back to me…”

“I was locked in a squad car!

There was no way for me to get out!”

Having discussed the incident,

knowing what he said was true

but not giving up,

“Okay,”

she said dubiously,

“if you say so!

But I still think you’d run away

rather than stay to protect me

if there was ever a problem.”

“Why?

I still don’t understand!

Why would you think that?”

“Why do I think you’d run away?

You’d run away for two reasons: One,

because you are a coward!

And two,

you’d do it because you don’t really care about me!”

The words coming from the mouth of his wife

were so unreal

that to be sure this was not a bad dream,

turning to his other side,

he turned the light on.

Sitting up,

blinking his eyes in the unaccustomed light.

“My God,” he said, “it’s not true !

I can’t believe you’d really think that about me!

You don’t have any reason to say that to me!”

“Oh, but I do!

If you loved me…

If you weren’t such a coward

you’d stand up to them and defend me to your parents!”

Fighting to keep his voice and temper down,

“Oh, shit!

That’s what this is about, huh?

My mother!”

To be continued

©April 24, 2012 / Mark M. Lichterman