he had just lathered his face
placed the straight razor to
his throat
suddenly his world turned
violently in the mirror he cut his jaw deeplyand seeing he
might need stitches he snatched
a washcloth off the towel bar behind him and crushed it to the woundcompressed the bleeding
a washcloth off the towel bar behind him and crushed it to the woundcompressed the bleeding
immediately he went up the hall
from the master bedroom into the livingroom WHAT DID YOU DO
she sat demurely on the couch on
the seat furthest from himher elbow on its arm he startled her she blinked rapidly the incessant television yipped
channels flipped under her fingerWHAT DID YOU DO
I didn’t do anything. holding a
Diet Pepsi in her other hand she took a sip
FUCK it galled him it was fivethirty in the
morning and she was already at her Pepsis
What did you do
she ignored the washcloth he held
to his jawthe blood on his wrist at his throat his shoulder and chest bright dribbles
on the towel wrapped around his waist I
didn’t do anything.
Youre lyingyoure lying to me What did you do
I didn’t do anything.
Youre sounding like a refrain
from one of your gawddamn commercials
You did something
I felt it
I don’t know what you felt. I
didn’t do anything.
Why are you lying Youre not good at it
Fuck you! she tossed the Pepsi can
on the coffee table stood wrapped her robe tightly around her as if he was a
Peeping Tom and rushed past him slamming the bedroom door behind her
Fuck
he walked around the arm of the couch and dropped the bloodied washcloth on the
spilt Pepsi to staunch it from dribbling off the table onto the carpet
he stripped the towel from his
waistcontinued applying pressure to the wound walking into the powder room he flipped on the light
looked in the mirror the lather had gone
flat a drab white smear where it clung
he took the towel away Fuck hed have to makeup
a butterfly bandage sterilized gauzemedical tape people went for stitches because it was too
severe for them to handle or they didnt want scars he could care less
it still needed to be compressed
he flipped the light off leaving
the bathroom and walked across behind the couch to the kitchen glared once at the accusing
television to the refrigerator freezer pulled
out a metal tray of icecubes yanked its lever dumped the ice into split porcelain
sink
he wrapped a few cubes in the
towel wetted it and held it to his jaw
he opened the refrigerator pulled
out a quart carafe of orange juice he squeezed last night and sitting at the wood
kitchen table he drank from it
she made no noise in the bedroom
she was going to make a lot of
noise once he tended his wound and entered it to dress for work
Fuck
hed have to shower again Better
do that before I dress this fucking wound Grab the clothes Ill wear Couldnt
go into one of the other bedroomscould she
he placed what was left in the
carafe back in the refrigerator hearing
Zappas Whaddaya mean cooties! No cooties on me! laughed miserably to himself
he didnt knockhe turned the doorknob
it yielded Thank
God she didnt lock it Shit would have hit the fan But she needs my paycheck too
Taking my clothes Showering again
she laid on the made bed like a
corpseeyes open and ignored him
just before he left the house he stuck
his head back into the bedroom You did something I know you did
she didnt say a thing
he left work early
to the nosey ones Cut myself
shaving it was a goodsized bandage on
his jawtape to his cheek and throat usually he applied butterflies to others
She
did something he knew it
it was part of their makeup it was enormously attractive when they first
met they spoke one anothers words Hey
that was my line Stick to the script would you they knew each others thoughts
sometimes
they conversed without saying a word
unfortunately her troubles quieted
that voice killed it she resented that
he knew her so well what passed through her mindwhat she refused to say out
loud
she did something
something violent
otherwise she wouldnt have spun
him as she did
nobody would get that
Im home
she didnt answer
she didnt clean up the Pepsi
she was still laying on the bed
the comforter was pulled a bitprobably
when she turned onto her side
Im home
she didnt answer
the first sound she made later was
involuntary an awful sound that accompanies
a seizure
he kept his hand on her hip so
she didnt flop off the bed while he called the ambulance Doors unlocked Come in Bedroom at the end of
the hall
Please
Hurry
Please
0555, Friday,
18 1. 19
1136, Friday,
25 1. 19
