Garbage Day

The alarm was still buzzing in the back ground as she rushed from the bathroom and pulled on her clothes.  “You’re going to be late,” he sneered over his coffee cup.  “Told you it was too much for you to handle.”  Taking a sip he dribbled down the front of the housecoat and peeled his lips back from the heat.

 

         Still doing up the buttons on her blouse she tried to smile: ‘you’re not helping.”

 

         “Like this is my fault.”  His voice was harsher than it had to be.  “You’re the most unorganized women I’ve ever slept with.”

 

         “Thanks for that trip down memory lane.”  Grabbing a thermos she filled it with coffee and checked her watch.

 

         “Yeah,” he stood up, “well I’ve had better housekeepers that’s a fact.”

 

         Putting the cap on the thermos she turned to leave the room.  “I’m sure.”

 

         “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you.”  He covered the ground between them and threw his arms in the air: “this house is a pig’s sty!  I won’t live in a mess like this!”

 

         Lowering her face she glared at him over her glasses.  “This is not the time.”  There was a darkness settling in her eyes like that of an animal who’s been pushed too far and is about to either chew it’s leg off to be free of the trap or wait for the hunter to get closer and battle to the bitter end.  She walked away.

 

         “Where do you think you’re going?”  He’d challenged her and deserved, no demanded, more than the view of her back.  “This house is a mess!”

 

         “You live here too,” she opened the door, “clean up your own mess for once.  You might discover, as all your women have, that you’re a f*****g pig.”  The glass door closed softly behind her.

 

         He stormed out after her.  Housecoat and slippers be damned; he wasn’t about to let her have the last word.  “You get back in here right now or don’t bother coming home at all you ungrateful wench.” 

 

         She tried to close the car door.  Never before had she wanted to hear the creak of those hinges.  His arm and leg would’ve sustained heavy damage but maybe that’s why she pulled so hard.  She wasn’t strong enough and the door flew open.  “I’m going to be late for work.”  Getting out of the car she led him back into the house.  Her eyes were black.  Every drop of colour had drained from them and she stood in the middle of the kitchen.  “You want a mess?”  Her black eyes soaked in the room, which stood spotless save a lonely cup of coffee on the counter she didn’t have time to drink, and settled on the garbage can.  “I’ll give you a mess,” the voice was soft, almost friendly, and totally betrayed her eyes. 

 

         “What’s this?  You going through that woman thing again?”  He couldn’t match the intensity of her eyes and tried to compensate by adding volume to his tone: “I should beat you for the b***h you are!  Hormones make you mental.”

 

         Squarely, she planted her foot at the base of the can sending its contents spilling across the kitchen floor.  “Now that is a mess.”

 

         He was in shock.  His jaw ajar he almost fell to the floor.  His precious floor.  His precious walls.  His precious house.  Everything he owned was precious.  They had all came with a price.  Not one that he ever paid but one he forced others to pay for him.  “Get back here!”

 

         “Garbage,” she smiled and walked out the door.  The blow she’d managed was far more effective than any to the body would’ve been.  He didn’t move.  There was a skip in her step as she hopped in the car.  The colour had begun to return to eyes; her blue eyes.  They seemed to match the morning blue of the sky as she drove north.  Away from work.  Away from home.  Away from him.  She laughed and turned the stereo up drowning out the sound of his voice as he screamed from the driveway.

 

         “You’re going the wrong way you stupid b***h!”

Reviews

[Danielle]

Wonderful short story! It truly captures the characters and their desires and needs. I would say that another revision, or two, or three, could help to close up all the grammar and punctuation problems. I would also say that you have a lot more interesting and thoroughly enjoyable works. Just beautiful. Can't wait to read more.

[Highfarms]

Thank you very much.