Driveway Confessions

Suspense Thriller

The morning light was creeping over the salt weathered shingle roofs and exposing the morning dew that settled on Marvin's windshield from the night before. The sun rays would begin their electrifying dance from the cracked concrete driveway surface and slowly creep up the side of the two story beach weather beaten duplex. Marvin would greet the sun rays peering through his living room window each morning at 7 am with a starry drunken gaze that he earned from the day before. After wiping his glassy eyes, he would shuffle his alcoholic beaten torso to the kitchen for a frosty glass of ale, so he could graduate his alcoholism to the next degradation tier. After he guzzled his first morning beer, he would peer into the refrigerator for left overs from last night's dinner then reheat until the concoction was barely warm. He would gaze at the slop for a few minutes then begin to shovel it into his beer guzzling mouth.

His morning ritual was complete, and he was ready to gaze into the mirror. Each morning after he provided his garbage infested body with adulterated nourishment, he would take a few minutes to contemplate, in front of the mirror, if a shower was going to interrupt his busy drinking schedule. His brown eyes would glance over his gray and silver streaked hair and deep seeded crowes feet that reflected several stories of lifelong failures that he attempted to drown on a daily basis; however, his wife, Jersey, was a vocal shrew that reminded him, in between empty beer bottles, that his life was empty, full of broken promises and an overall pathetic existence.

Marvin and Jersey had been married for 15 years, and the first three years were the happiest time. They were best friends that complemented each other's short falls, and they loved each other for their unique attributes that graced their personalities. After three years of pure bliss, Marvin was involved in a steel manufacturing accident that tore his left should tendons and ligaments. He could no longer meet the labor intensive steel manufacturing working requirements, so he received a modest settlement from the manufacturing plant, and permanent state disability for the rest of his miserable existence. Marvin remembered a time when Jersey was mesmerized by him for his initiative and integrity, but his shredded shoulder ended his future for success. Marvin's ambition dissipated after the accident, and it shifted into overdrive as his alcoholism was accepted as a hobby instead of a medicinal crutch. Marvin's only ability to achieve greatness was deduced to emptying more beer bottles than the day before.

His wife, Jersey, was employed with a modest medical billing agency that absorbed 40 hours of her life each week. If she could incur more time per week at her medical billing position, she would prefer to dedicate her time with complete strangers than witness Marvin's passive, aggressive destructive behavior. Like Marvin, she was in her mid 40's and wondering why life dealt her a hand that she did not deserve. She was an educated woman that targeted her life for great success. When she was going to college, she met Marvin and immediately fell in love with his glowing charm. His idealistic behavior was sealed with initiative and integrity, which was uncommon among the men that Jersey had met on campus. After a year of dating, she accepted Marvin's proposal, and they were married within a month. She completed her associates and decided to take a break from school, so she could concentrate on her marriage. A decision that she regretted after the third year of matrimony. She wanted to go back to school, but Marvin's work accident branded her destiny to be the bread winner, and Marvin's steep alcoholic decline drained her ability to strive for success.

When the alarm clock would screech 6 am, Jersey would pour her tired body out of bed into the shower then begin her morning ritual of coffee with no solid nourishment. She would glance at Marvin and say a prayer that he would meet his demise today. Jersey's prayer would start out with the Lord's Prayer then follow on to her request, "Lord, Marvin is a shell of man that has no ambition or desire to contribute to life, please allow a bus to hit and kill him upon impact." She thought her prayers would be answered, but everyday she would see his pathetic body sprawled across the bed with the sheets intertwined around his legs and mid torso, and he was still breathing. She knew that her prayer's were morbid, but she truly believed that her prayers for Marvin would end his misery. If he was not going to save himself, she was praying for an abrupt ending to bring him peace and restore her original vision of Marvin.

As she closed the front door and walked toward the car, she glanced at the morning sun rays that crept along the weather beaten duplex exterior. She knew Marvin would be waking up from his drunken stupor and reinvesting in his alcoholic behavior for the entire day. As she turned the ignition and allowed the car to run its morning ritual, she looked at the doorway, hoping, that Marvin would surprise her with a wave goodbye. She knew the door was not going to open, but she desperately wanted Marvin to revive his personality that she fell in love with. A man that once lifted her heart was only capable of pure disappointment and emotional cruelty. She thrust the transmission into reverse leaving the driveway in her rear view mirror.

As Jersey predicted each morning in her absence, Marvin would wake up with a lacquered alcohol stench on his breath that needed to be extricated from the hole in his face that he abused with his beer guzzling schedule. After he chocked down his first morning brew followed by a medium heated left over meal, he contemplated a shower by gazing at himself in the mirror. If a shower was in his morning agenda, he would rush through it because he did not want to keep Michael waiting. Michael was an astute, well educated gentleman that Marvin enjoyed engaging in conversation that would trigger deep thought about the vast array of tourist that traveled the sidewalks toward the beach. The faceless tourists would walk in a caravan of three or more lugging collapsible chairs, bags full of sun screen, beach toys and a picnic lunch that would soon be accompanied with gritty sand. Marvin would get a slight glimpse of a faceless tourist biting into a sandwich with beach sand encased around the edges, and their mouths crunching on the sand granules reminded him of fingernails scratching across a chalk board.

Marvin shuttered from the image and jumped into his clothes then he would report to the driveway for his morning commentary with Michael. As Marvin opened the front door with a six pack in hand, he glanced at the end of the driveway where the sidewalk met, to see if Michael had arrived. Marvin's schedule was on time, and it was a matter of minutes before Michael would appear. Marvin enjoyed a few warm up beers to gear up his insulting conversation lingo that he would silently sling at the faceless tourist as they walked past his driveway. After Marvin finished three warm up beers, Michael seemed to appear out of nowhere. Marvin was always surprised by Michael's grand entrance. Michael was always dressed in a casual suit and tie that setup his demeanor for respect and commanded Marvin's attention. Even though his suit and tie resembled the attire he wore the day before, Marvin was completely captured by his well educated voice and professional attitude. Michael was everything that Marvin wanted to be, but Marvin knew that his life's path was detoured by his work accident. Marvin's life ended where the driveway met the sidewalk, and its dreamscape lived through Michael's persona. A cruel truth that Marvin hated to admit, but every beer that he swilled down his gullet that corroded his kidneys, would soon become a distant memory until tomorrow morning.

Michael was not fond of drinking, but he never past judgment on Marvin. Marvin saw Michael's disconcerting drinking interest to fall in line with his proper personality. Marvin was not offended by Michael's choice to not partake in 9 inch curls; however, he did enjoy Michael's company without constant nagging judgment. A never ending scenario that plagued Marvin every weekend with Jersey. Marvin listened to Michael's insight about life's obstacles, and Michael understood the difficulty that Marvin had endured from his working accident. Michael rarely commented about Jersey because he could see Marvin's face become withdrawn. When Marvin would slowly become depressed by her announcement during a conversation, Michael would divert the conversation to slandering the faceless tourist that would be walking by the driveway. Michael and Marvin would comment about the tourist's ridiculous attire, and obese middle aged women that were making a failed attempt of recapturing their youth with a bikini that was tucked away between their layers of fat. Michael watched a woman scratch her a*s and he said, "She appears to be shaking hands with her a*s crack. When she scratches her a*s, her a*s appears to swallow her entire hand." Marvin would laugh uncontrollably, and his depressed face would melt with his incessant laughter.

By the end of the day, Marvin would see Jersey turning the corner and he would meet her disapproving look as she pulled into the driveway. 12 years had pass since happiness eroded  their marriage, and Jersey could no longer look at Marvin with loving eyes. She only possessed despair for him, and she loathed his existence. She would hear her morning prayers echoing in her mind, "Why didn't a bus take him out today? What does he have to live for anyway?" She would drag her tired body up the stairs, open the front door and throw her purse onto the coach. She would look out the window onto the driveway where Marvin was standing, and see him talking. She would think to herself, "Who is he talking to? Is his mind that tormented by alcohol that he is talking to himself?" She would stand at the window in amazement each day and wonder when she was going to awake from this nightmare. She would watch Marvin pace back and forth on the driveway while gesturing with his hands in full conversation. Eventually, he would make his presence known by stumbling around in the living room. Marvin would thank Michael for assisting him up the stairs and negotiating his way through the living room. Jersey would quietly creep into the living room to see who was there, but she only saw Marvin passed out on the floor.

Every day and every night was the same ritual for Marvin, and every day and every night was an emotional challenge for Jersey. She felt trapped and tormented by Marvin's inability to join the human race. Marvin became completely devoid of Jersey's ranting verbal attempts to jolt her husband into reality. Jersey was no longer interested in Marvin's ability to recover from his habitual binge drinking habits, instead, she made a daily effort to verbally abuse and expose Marvin's failures. She felt completely vindicated by Marvin's depressed look of defeat, but her thirst for Marvin's emotional nightly breakdown elevated with her angry. She needed to see him weep. She needed to see him cry uncontrollably until his body would shake, and the only person that would hold him is himself. She was insane with anger, but it was the only emotion that delivered satisfaction in an unsatisfying marriage to an alcoholic loser like Marvin.

Marvin would cower down on the linoleum kitchen floor and look up at Michael for saving grace. Michael looked down at him with comforting eyes, but he would not intervene while Jersey berated Marvin unmercifully. Marvin would reach out to Michael and say, "Please, save me!" Jersey would scream into Marvin's face and say, "Who the f**k are you talking to? You are an imbecile. You are only successful at failing. You are a complete shame to the male species. I am embarrassed to be married to a disgusting piece of s**t that cannot function like a real man." She would end her screaming rant by leaving her signature phrase with Marvin to marinate in, "I hope you die, so you can stop embarrassing me."

Jersey's verbal discourse continued, but Marvin's reaction no longer illuminated Jersey's emotional desire for satisfaction. She was ready to introduce Marvin to the afterlife. She had decided to plan an elaborate dinner and watch Marvin slowly go through the excruciating phases of being poisoned. She dreamt of him enjoying a medium well cooked New York strip steak with a steamed medley of vegetables and a baked potato dressed with butter, sour cream and chives. She would leer at him from across the table as he unknowingly ingested poison into his blood stream, which would deliver a slow, pain staking death. She would join him in bed and watch him drift off to sleep as he complained about his stomach pains, and she would excuse it as another reason for Marvin to quit his excessive binge drinking. In the middle of the night, she would watch him foam at the mouth and choke on his own vomit, while she praised herself and celebrated her new found freedom. Jersey shook her head from day dreaming and began to write down her grocery list for the last supper, and the beginning of her new life.

When Jersey pulled into the driveway, she smiled at Marvin and carried the groceries upstairs. Marvin looked at Michael with his back turned toward Jersey then Marvin chugged his beer to showcase that her excessive, abuse ranting did not discourage his champion binge drinking. Marvin could hear her footsteps become faint as she climbed the stairs, and he continued to listen to Michael's advice. Jersey peered out the window and watched Marvin look into the abyss as if he was listening to someone. She completely dismissed Marvin's antics and started to prepare their last supper together.

Marvin did not interrupt Michael. Marvin was completely attentive to every word that came out of Michael's well educated mouth. Marvin accepted Michael's advice and bid Michael good night. Marvin said, "I will see you in the morning." Michael turned around and saluted Marvin for taking matters into his own hands. Marvin could clearly see what had to done, and he was ready to commit to his decision. Marvin needed Michael's coaching to free himself from Jersey's relentless abusive behavior, and he was thankful for Michael's advice and specific instructions. Without Michael, Marvin would remain Jersey's verbal punching bag for the rest of his life.

As planned, Marvin and Jersey joined each other for dinner. A momentous occasion that had not taken place in the last 12 years. Jersey watched Marvin eat every morsel, and Marvin repeated Michael's plan to engrave the instructions in his memory. After the meal, Marvin felt tired and his stomach was slightly upset. He retired to the bedroom, and Jersey joined him. Another momentous occasion that had not taken place in over 12 years. Jersey and Marvin looked into each other's eyes and for a brief moment they had a glimpse of the person they originally fell in love with. The moment passed quickly, and their discourse for each other resumed its normal path. Jersey drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face while Marvin clutched his stomach.

In the middle of the night, Jersey looked down at herself while her arms and legs were flailing rapidly in the air. Marvin gathered enough strength to suffocate her with a pillow as foam crept from his mouth and dripped onto the pillow that exhausted her last breath. Marvin released the pillow from her face and laid next to her lifeless body. He put his arm around her waist and nuzzled his face against her pale blue neck, while seeping foam dripped from his mouth onto her neck and slowly traveled to the middle of her back. Jersey looked down at her body in disgust and turned her attention toward the window. She could hear Marvin rambling, but his speech was slurred from the poisoned induced foam seeping from his mouth.

Marvin rose from the bed and stumbled downstairs and waited for Michael. Jersey continued to peer from the bedroom window watching Marvin stumbled around in the driveway. Even though she was completely surprised that Marvin had the spine to exhaust her life first, she was waiting for her redemption. Marvin continued to stumble in the driveway, which led to him stumbling into the street where he met the front end of the 6 am commuter bus.