Till Death Do Us Part

Her life was a shambles. How could she have made so many mistakes in her life? Why did she agree to marry him when she was dating someone else? He held the ring out to her with his winsome eyes and she couldn’t say no.  She knew she should have. She didn’t love him. When she thought back on this moment year later, she realized that she didn’t want to hurt him. He loved her so much. And sure, he was attractive and muscular and liked the excitement of new adventures.

Yes, he loved her. He loved her enough to throw her against the wall when she went outside to the garden to pick beans for dinner that night because her father was coming through town. He thought she hadn’t fixed him breakfast yet but his oatmeal was sitting in the pot, hot and ready for him. Her knee was so badly cut that she skipped work that day. He was so terribly sorry that he insisted she stay home but she knew the real reason was that he didn’t want anyone to notice her injury and he wanted her to calm down before her father arrived.

He loved her so much that he forgot to pick her up at work sometimes so that she had to walk home in her high heels in the rain. He loved her so much that when he backed up into a light pole, he blamed the entire thing on her, saying she distracted him.

He especially loved her when the green tinge of jealousy overwhelmed him when someone of the opposite sex spoke to her. She remembered well when he pulled the shotgun on one of his friends and threatened to kill him. Throwing a television set at her because her sister was coming to visit was another way he showed how much he cared. Telling her she was being a baby when she had kidney stones, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her across the room, was the way he showed his affection. Oh yes, he certainly loved her.

She finally got the opportunity to show him how much she loved him by knocking her plugged in hair dryer into the bathtub where he was soaking luxuriously in steaming hot water. It was a terrible accident, she told the police. He must have knocked it off the counter unwittingly.

And most of all, she soon began to notice how much she loved him being absent from her life.