Page 141 of Misrule
“Would you shut up?” Meggie said on a sniff.
Snickering, he jammed his cigarette into the corner of his mouth, got to his feet, and straightened his clothes. Meggie thought it best to keep her own off. Just in case…
She grabbed the bag containing the sandwiches, handed Christopher his once he finished his cigarette, and sat down again, and then got her own, before opening her Coke and sipping.
She broke off a piece of her sandwich and held it up to Christopher’s mouth. He grabbed the food with his lips, then offered her a bit of his sandwich. They continued this back-and-forth until both sandwiches were gone. Opening a beer, Christopher took a deep swallow.
The conversation before their lovemaking came back to her and she realized she hadn’t answered him. “If you’d never gotten your vasectomy, I think I would’ve given the size of my belly just a passing thought. But, after the procedure, I had to satisfy myself, so I think I built up a bunch of excuses in my head.”
“Megan, the last thing I ever wantcha to fuckin’ do is think my ass take you for granted. You ain’t a baby-makin’ machine. You just the girl I love that got a fertile fuckin’ cunt. I just gotta look at that motherfucker and fuckin’ think about comin’ and you fuckin’ knocked up.”
They laughed together at his words, before he sobered up again.
“I’m so fuckin’ lucky that you honor me and treasure me e-fuckin-nuff to keep my babies, Megan.” His tone was quiet, almost sad. “That you…” Shrugging, he glanced away, then met her gaze again. “My ass just glad you ain’t sayin’ you abortin’ my kid cuz you tired of bein’ pregnant or we got too fuckin’ many. If that’s what the fuck you wanna do, Ima support you. As long as you happy—”
Crawling into his lap, Meggie kissed him tenderly, then placed a finger over his lips. “Stop,” she whispered. “All I’ve been hearing lately isas long as I’m happy. I’m happy because of you. My life has meaning because ofyou. You and our kids are my world, Christopher. And I go to sleep every night and wake up every morning knowing that I have your unconditional love and undying support for any and everything I do. What’s gotten into you?”
“Ain’t nothin’ I ain’t said before.”
She took his face between her hands. “Hey! Stop this.” She kissed him. “I know you think my kidnapping—”
He stiffened and turned his head away. “Don’t fuckin’ bring that up, Megan.”
“It affected both of us in more ways than I can count,” she admitted. “But it wasn’t your fault. You always do everything in your power to keep me safe.”
“Except kill fuckin’ Kendall,” he growled, lifting her up and setting her beside him. Sidling her a scowl, he finished his beer than opened another bottle. “I hate that fuckin’ bitch. She deserve to be fuckin’ dead.”
Her husband hated to feel powerless. The fact that he’d been unable to prevent her from being taken—and that Kendall had been the catalyst—gnawed at him. He wanted justice. Even the fight Meggie and Kendall had had wasn’t enough in Christopher’s eyes. He didn’t say it, but Meggie knew him. Knew he struggled with the helplessness of their nightmares and the fear that something else might befall her.
“Think of Johnnie and their children. If you kill Kendall—”
“I would do them a fuckin’ favor. I want John Boy to meet another bitch.”
“He’s not going to as long as he’s married to Kendall.”
“Another fuckin’ reason that bitch gotta die.”
“Christopher!”
“What?” he grouched.
“Tell me you aren’t planning to kill her. She’s on the No-Kill list. You promised me she’d be safe.”
A muscle throbbing in his jaw, he looked away. Alarmed, Meggie grabbed his face and turned him back to face her.
“Don’t kill her.” Another thought popped into her head, goaded by what he mentioned about Johnnie needing to meet someone else. “And don’t interfere in their marriage. How would you feel if someone tried to break us up by introducing me to another man?”
“First of fuckin’ all, a motherfucker try to intro-fuckin-duce you to another motherfucker or me to another fuckin’ bitch and he or she dead.”
“You’ve been…you know…talking about killing a lot recently.”
“Maybe, cuz I ain’t fucked up a motherfucker in months.E-fuckin-speciallythe bitch that need fuckin’ up.”
“Kendall is more to be pitied than to be scorned.” A good reminder for herself, too.
“Nope. That bitch deserve nothin’ but fuckin’ scorn.”
This was an argument she wouldn’t win, especially given the recent turn Meggie’s relationship with Kendall had taken. “Christopher, my breaking point with Kendall, doesn’t mean you have free reign to harm her.”
