“Don’t text
while you’re driving!” I admonished reflexively as he grabbed his keys off the
front table.
He gave me a
look. “Are you kidding me?”
My words floated
in the air, next to his. I hadn’t meant
to say it.
“Pam, is
that your idea of a bad joke?”
I went into
the kitchen to get the Tupperware container with the brownies. “Here, Steve, take these with you. The doctor says he can eat whatever he wants,
right?”
“So you’re
not going?”
I hadn’t
been particularly fond of Brian before the accident; now I had to fake it. “Can I go tomorrow?”
What I
wanted to say: Do you have to go see
your brother every day for four hours? How
about once a week? Can your mom go
instead?
“Go. Stay.
I don’t care. But I’m going. I’m going every day.” He said the words as if he’d ripped the pages
of a script out of my head. “Pam, this
is the new normal.”
I knew it
was guilt that made Steve say these things.
He had been the one Brian was texting when he hit the center divider and
flipped the car. But how could Steve
have known Brian was driving at the time?
He could have been at work, or in class.
It was not Steve’s fault.
“Have the
doctors said anything new?”
He ran his
fingers through his thinning hair. “Jesus,
Pam, you know what I know. Give me the
brownies.” He picked them up and popped
the lid open. He ate one. Breakfast of champions.
“When will
you be back this time?” I knew I was
sounding like the stereotypical nagging wife.
But these past four months were wearing me down. Brian’s life was changed forever, but now so
were ours.
“It could
have been me, Pammy.” He wiped a glistening
tear off his cheek. “It could have been
you.”
Not me, I
thought. I don’t text and drive.
MOV
*********************
trifecta writing challenge: 333 words, the prompt is "normal"
I liked the story.
ReplyDeleteOuch. Harsh, but she's got a point; it can't happen if you aren't texting.
ReplyDeletegood flow that matches the tone of the story. Enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteSad. I have trouble texting while not driving. Good story though!
ReplyDeleteExcellent story, and I enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteI can totally sympathize with that struggle; I think I would have been hard pressed not to say that last thought out loud!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very real example of marital conflict; no big fight, just the usual day to day tension. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteYou showed both sides of the coin, the words we say and shouldn't and those we don't say and maybe should.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining us again this week. Be sure to come back Friday for the new challenge.
I liked the way you have juxtaposed what is in the mind with what you said. Well written story.
ReplyDelete