During their courtship she was at first uneasy when she learned he kept a handgun in the house. It was a small .38 special that he kept in the small table at the start of the hallway, but he assured her that it had never been used. "It's just for protection," he said, gently. "It's New York, after all." She grew accustomed to it being there and soon forgot about it.
She was a little uneasy about his prior marriage, too, and asked him a time or two about it. Again, he tried to reassure her in his easy way, but she could still sense a bit of sadness about him that she attributed to that experience. Though he was happier than he'd ever been in his life, Elizabeth could tell he was still tormented by the memory. "She used to be part of my heart," he said, "now she's just a line on my face."
Only one time did she ask what had happened, but he wasn't in a hurry to volunteer information. He only replied that they'd grown apart and decided to go their separate ways. After that, Elizabeth preferred not to pay attention to the man behind that curtain.
Elizabeth, on her part, didn't volunteer much information about her past, either. She kept in touch with her parents, but all of the old friends were just gossamer ghosts from the past. She'd actually gone in and talked to her boss before leaving the islands, but she'd never given going back a second thought.
Her parents came to the wedding, of course. It was held at St. Michael's Church on West 99th Street. Neither John nor Elizabeth was a member of that congregation, but she'd loved the building so much since she moved to the city that they bribed the pastor there with promises of volunteer work and donations, to let them take their nuptials in his sanctuary.
Directly after throwing the bouquet and brushing rice out of their hair, John and Elizabeth jetted off to Key West, planning their lives together while snorkeling, deep sea fishing and swimming in the pristine waters. They were as deliriously in love as a couple could get.
Upon returning, they moved into her apartment, both spending pensive days staring out the window at the Empire State Building. Elizabeth often wondered how she had been so lucky to meet and marry such a wonderful man.
"Sweetheart, will you come help me?" she called to him, sinking her hands deeper into the steaming dishwater and picking up one of their dinner plates. It had been three months since their wedding and she was still happier than a woman had a right to be. He was everything she could have wanted; attentive, romantic, handsome and gentle.
John laid down the book he was reading and walked to her side. While they washed and dried, it had become his way to intentionally bump her with his hip from time to time, making an oinking sound that always made her laugh. It was a chore he cherished, being able to stand next to the one who'd saved him from his dark abyss.
They talked and laughed about their time in Florida, how they'd met and how she'd fallen for him the very first time she saw him in the Park. He accused her gregariously of spying on him. She grabbed his hands and plunged them deep into the soapy water with hers, the two of them splashing each other and giggling.
Drying each others hands when the job was finished, they stood gazing into each others eyes. The profundity of the love scared them both a little bit, but each loved it more than either could explain. There were just no words suffient and the word "love" seemed inadequate. They stood beside the sink, her back against the cool wetness of the stainless steel, embracing like it was the first time in their lives.
A rough knock on the door snapped them both out of their self-imposed reality.
"I'll get it," John said, giving her a peck on the cheek, walking through the library and into the living room while Elizabeth took herself to cleaning up the rest of the kitchen.
John reached for the lock and twisted it.
He turned the knob and opened the door.
In the open expanse stood Tony.
A confused smile came on Tony's face as John took a tremendous gasp and rushed into the hallway. Pulling the door quietly and quickly behind him, he whispered forcefully, "What are you doing here, Tony? I paid you this month! I don't owe you anything right now!"
Tony smiled broadly, showing the green decay that covered his teeth. "Relaxth, Johnny-caketh," he said. "I'm not here to thee you."
John tilted his head like a curious puppy. "What do you mean, you're not here to see me?" he asked.
Elizabeth hung the dishtowel on the rack next to the sink and made her way into the living room. Noticing the front door slightly ajar, she walked over and reached for the knob.
Her blood ran chill.
She stood, trembling, with her ear next to the door, barely breathing.
"Ha!" she heard him laugh. "You mean, she didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" asked John, becoming angrier as the seconds inched by.
Elizabeth reached for the knob.
And pulled.
John looked quickly over his shoulder at Elizabeth, and drew in a quick, desperate gasp of air.
Tony looked at Elizabeth, too.
And smiled menacingly.
"You!" exclaimed Elizabeth, looking straight into Tony's horrible face.
Tony opened his mouth wide and laughed, his whole body convulsing.
"Well, well, well, Johnny-caketh," he said between guffaws. "You and Lithy thitting in a tree! Ba ha ha ha!!"
The laughter poured out of him like water through a sieve as John straightened himself out, turned and looked at his new bride. "How do you know Tony?" he asked.
Elizabeth paid no attention to the query and looked intently at Tony instead. "What are you doing here, Jax?" she asked, disgustedly. "Why can't you guys leave me alone?"
Tony shook his head. "It'th not you guyth anymore, Lithy," he said. It'th jutht me now. He got pinched a couple of weekth after you dithapeared. He'th thitting in the thtate pen in Honolulu for ten to fifteen."
"I'm glad to hear it," Elizabeth said disgustedly. "He deserves more than that."
John looked at her inquisitively. "Who are you talking about, Elizabeth?" he asked. "And why are you calling him Jax? His name's not Jax. It's Tony."
"Not when I knew him it wasn't," she said, staring at Tony with fire in her eyes. "What do you want? I'm done working with you."
Tony stood next to John, his eyes wide open with surprise, chortling. "Wait a minute," he cried. "You mean you two haven't talked about your patht with each other? Ba ha ha ha ha!" He continued for what seemed like hours, guffawing with tears flowing down his cheeks. "Thith ith jutht tho preciouth!!"
John felt the ire rise in him like high tide at Coney Island. Then he saw the spark in Elizabeth's eyes, too. A tiny smile curled her lips and evil glowed from her eyes. John knew exactly what she was planning the second he saw it.
Looking back at the cackling Tony, John smiled broadly and said, "We were about to sit down to dinner, Tony," he lied, an infernal sneer forming itself like a crown on his lips. "Would you like something as well?"
"Yes! Please!" exclaimed Elizabeth wickedly. "Please come in and have something."
Tony wiped the tears from his eyes and took his first step, almost routinely, into the ample studio apartment. "Nithe plathe you got here," he said. "I'm thurprithed you can afford it!"
"Oh, we can't," John said, as he shut the door behind them.
"No, we really can't," added Elizabeth, as she walked briskly toward the small table at the start of the hallway.
The End
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"Secrets are like plants. They can stay buried deep in the earth for a long time, but eventually they'll send up shoots and give themselves away. They have to. It's their nature. Just a tiny green stem at first. Which slowly, insidiously grows taller, stronger, unfolding itself, until there it is. A big fat secret, right in front of your face; a fully bloomed flower perfumed with the scent of deception." — Judy Reene Singer
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1 comment:
Sweet Dude! You can spin a tale better than any spider could. I'll be looking forward to "Reaping What You Sow".
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