Page 37 of Enough
After several sips and no conversation, I break the silence. “Tell me what to do, Gwen. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. I’m incapable of making any decisions for myself right now.”
Gwen takes a long lingering sip. “As much as I’d like to tell you what to do, I can also clearly see that your life is not cut-and-dry. I would never pretend to know what it’s like to be responsible for not one, but two kids. Every decision you make is not only for you, but also for them. I just want you to know that whatever you decide, I will support you one hundred percent. Even if you decide to stay with him.”
“What?” My head cocks to the side and my eyes bulge. “Is that what you think I should do?”
“I don’t know what you should do.” She shrugs. “I can only tell you how I feel and what I see. It’s not my decision to make.”
“Then tell me what you see. I need you to be brutally honest with me.”
“I think you’ve had enough brutal honesty for one day. No one is forcing you to decide anything right now. I’m not going anywhere. We can talk about this tomorrow, or the next day, or even the day after that. I took the week off.”
“You took your vacation time?” I suddenly feel guilty as hell. Gwen wanted to go hiking to the mountains on her vacation.
“I took FMLA. I told them my sister needed medical care.”
“Don’t you need a doctor’s note for that?”
“Yep,” she states while sipping her wine. “Dr. Hermightis likes me. He knows Dr. Gernsbaugh, and they agreed I was good medicine.”
“Dr. Hermightis?”
“Ha! I know, right?” Gwen says with a laugh. “You should hear the shit people call him: Dermatitis Hermightis, Arthritis Hermightis, Gastritis, Bursitis, Rhinitis...
We both hear Roscoe’s woof, and our combined dread is apparent.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
“Just be strong. You got this,” Gwen encourages as she takes my wine and squeezes my hand. And if you don’t have it, then I do.” She stands and takes our glasses to the kitchen. I’m glad she thought to remove them. I don’t need to be judged tonight.
I instinctively begin to bite my nails. I feel a cramp in myabdomen and remember I shouldn’t be nervous. He should.
He opens the door and sighs. For a moment I feel badly for him. Maybe it’s instinct or habit, but I want him to hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay. I still love him. I can’t help it. Then I remember how he treated me, and my want is replaced with disgust and anger. I could have bled to death on the floor and he wouldn’t have cared. In fact, he’d have been off the hook.
He lifts his head as he strolls into the kitchen and gapes as Gwen returns to the family room. “Ah, fuck. You were serious about her?” he asks, pointing.
“As serious as a heart attack,” Gwen responds through gritted teeth.
Mike stands with his hands on hips and glares down at me. “Ev, we need to talk. Just tell her to go home.”
“Gwen isn’t going anywhere.”
Gwen crosses her arms and smiles. I can see she pisses Mike off, and I feel a sick amount of joy from it.
“Can we please talk for a minute? Alone?”
I sigh heavily. “I got this,” I mumble.
“Yeah, call off your personal pit bull and put her outside.”
“You’re really pushing it,” Gwen says with an edge to her words, fake stepping toward him. He raises his hands in defense. Gwen laughs loudly and hits her hands on her thighs. “Such a pussy,” she whispers before turning toward me. “Just call if you need me.”
I nod.
Mike places his keys on the counter and pulls at his tie as he stammers toward me. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything, babe?”
I huff loudly in response. “Are you kidding me? Do Ineed anything? Why yes, Mike. As a matter of fact, I do.”
He closes his eyes to prepare for the blow. “What?”
