A Woman's Flight Chapter 9

After that something in Richard snapped. It was like a piece of his past had been dragged out by his father's visit. Soon after he began to take up drinking. Before, his wife had never seen him drink to excess. He might have a beer here and there, but he had never been the type of person just to drink to get drunk. It was actually one of the traits that first drew her to him. It began with a couple of beers here and there until it got to the point to where he was drinking a 6-pack a day plus buying large bottles of wine and vodka and finishing them off in a week. She wanted to say something. She would always blame herself later on for not saying anything in the beginning when she first saw him start to go downhill. One night in particular she came downstairs and saw that he had opened a flask of vodka and was in the process of finishing it off after they had settled in for the night. She could obviously see that he was already drunk to begin with. Not really knowing what else to say, she went to him and knelt beside him; picking up the flask he had dropped and asking him to come to bed. It was at that moment he snapped. With a wild and angry look in his face he said, " Woman I don't need your pity and I don't need you to pick up my flask. Just go back to bed and mind your own business. I never wanted to marry you anyway, and now you are always stalking around like a mouse with that damned kid. I should have known better but you were the one that wanted a family and now you have one. Aren't you so happy now? Aren't we a happy family? Are we the family you wanted? What about me? I never wanted this and I never wanted you or that kid. Just go away and leave me alone."