“Him,” he spits. “You paradin’ around with that—thatmonster. You drivin’ away from our house. From me. I git it, a’right?” The more he talks, the more his shield of false urbanity slips. “I done fucked up. Jamie was a mistake. I git that I may’a hurt you, steppin’ out like I done. But I’m sorry. It didn’t mean nothin’ and I done learnt my lesson. You can come home now. It’s all right.”
Another silence from Myka, probably processing the shit this fuckin’ muppet just spewed.
Finally, she laughs.Laughs. It’s not kind, it’s sharp, it’s sarcastic. It’s downright mean and as ugly as I think she’s even capable of being.
Until she speaks.
“It’s all right.” Flat, hard, a warning. Like a rattlesnake’s tail flicking.
“Yeah.”Yeee-uh. “It’s all right, now. You can get rid’a that big dumb lunk and come home where you belong. With me.”
“Big dumb lunk?” Her voice goes high, furious. “Darren—”
I interrupt. “Nothing he can say about me means shit, Myka. Don’t go off half-cocked on my account. Put his ass in place and come back before your Rocky Road melts.”
I watch her shoulders slump, head bowed—collecting herself. And then she straightens once more, nodding, understanding what I’m saying and agreeing. I’ve never been able to read anyone like I can read her, instinctively. And I can read people.
“Darren, go home. You’re drunk. Better yet, I’ll call you a cab, and someone will return your car to you tomorrow. We’re never having this conversation, but certainly not while you’re plastered.”
“You’re comin’ home, Mike. One way or another.” He sounds less drunk, more pissed, more threatening.
Shit. Turn for the worse.
“Darren, go away.”
“It’s all done now. You’re comin’ back to me.”
“Youdestroyedme, Darren!” she shrieks. “You—you—how fuckingblindcan you be? Miscarriage after miscarriage—three of them!Anda stillbirth! I was inhellforfour years, and you walked out on me. You ignored me. You told me you weren’t attracted to me because I’d gained weight. You stopped wanting me. I tried, Darren. I tried sofuckinghard it almostkilledme!”
Oh, fuck no…
She’s not done.
“I mean that literally. Are you even aware? After the stillbirth, after you told me you didn’t want to have sex because I’d gotten fat, do you remember what happened?”
I hear a noise—the screen door whispering open. I crane, and see her family trooping out, drawn by her agonized shouting.
Ana looks ready to go down there and rip his head off.
I grab her wrist as she passes by the swing. “It’s her fight. Let her fight it.”
“You weren’t there,” she whispers back, a hiss. “You don’t know what he did to her.”
“I know when you get sucker punched, and you hit the dirt, nobody can put you on your feet and put you back in the fight except you.” I point at Myka. “She’s up. She’s swingin’. He touches her, it crosses a line, I’ll handle it.”
Ana sags, but steps back into her husband—a portly guy about forty-five, who holds her with his arms around her middle in a way that speaks of deep love.
“Myka, I—”
“Shut thefuckup and listen,” she snaps, still on the bottom step, leaning into his space, jabbing a finger at him. “I tried to kill myself.” This last is delivered with low, icy venom.
There are several hisses, a gasp of shock, and an angry growl from one of her brothers. I take it this is news to all of them.
“I took a bottle of Tylenol and drank a whole bottle of wine. Or I tried to. I couldn’t. I threw up everything and passed out on the floor of the bathroom. And you know what? You never knew. Because you were with Jamie. While I was in so much pain because I couldn’t have a baby, theone thingin this entire world I wanted, I couldn’t have. I begged God, I pleaded. I spent hours on my knees begging. We tried forfouryears, and every time Ifailed, you not only didn’t comfort me, you went out of your way to hurt me worse. Until I couldn’t take it anymore and tried to end my life. And even that I failed at.”
“Myka…” he whispers this, finally sounding lucid, and shaken. “I didn’t know.”
“No one knew!” she screams. “Not even Ana! That’s the point! You should have known! But you were so far up your ass, and so far upJamie’sskank ass that you never had a clue. And you kept on hurting me. When I couldn’t get out of bed because I was so depressed even opening my eyes was too hard, you called me lazy. When I realized you didn’t give a shit about me and knew I had to pullmyselfout of it, you didn’t help. When I worked myself sick at the gym so I wouldn’t befatanymore—foryou, soyou’dwant me again, you didn’t care. You told me Jamie gave it to you better. Jamie liked sex. Jamielikedfucking you. Jamielikedsucking your pathetic puny little dick. You said that—TO MY FACE!”
