Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Institution of Marriage

Rick came home late from work again smelling of perfume, wine and sex.

“You were with that trollop again,” Shaiya said tearfully.

“Don’t start with me woman,” he replied and shoved past her to say good night to their children.

When Rick returned, she was drinking whiskey straight up. “You can’t drink that while you’re nursing,” he said and knocked the glass out of her hand. It shattered on the floor, spilling the amber liquid all over the carpet.

“What do you care?”

“Shut up and clean up that glass before one of the kids comes downstairs. Then get me a beer,” Rick said as he turned on the TV.

“You made the mess, you clean it up,” Shaiya said, heading upstairs to their bedroom. He stormed up the stairs behind her.

“You will not sass me, woman,” Rick hissed, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back down the stairs. “Clean the mess up.”

“Screw you,” Shaiya replied then spat in his face.

His breathing was ragged and his face was red with anger. He slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. Shaiya cried out and put her hands up in self-defense before he could hit her again.

“You forget your place woman,” he said then grabbed her hair again and dragged her to the couch. Rick sat down, pulling her over his lap, then peppered her ass with heavy-handed swats as she sobbed and tried to escape. He was too strong and held her in place.

When Rick finished he shoved her onto the floor and ripped away her clothes. His fury had turned to angry lust and he sexually assaulted her. When he was sated, he pulled out of her and looked at her with contempt.

“I’m going to bed. Clean that glass up or so help me woman, I will clean it up with your face,” he said then staggered up the stairs.

After he was gone, Shaiya slowly dragged herself to her feet and cleaned up the glass and whiskey then she picked up the torn clothes. Her body was weak from the assault and her face was starting to swell. She threw away the clothes then pulled an ice pack from the freezer. Shaiya placed it gingerly on her face as she returned to the living room.

She wondered how her life had gone so completely wrong. This is not what she had signed up for when she’d said “I do” 13 years ago. She laughed aloud as she thought about how so many referred to marriage as an institution. It truly was a prison with only one escape.

Shaiya’s eyes sparkled; she knew what needed to be done. It was time to extinguish the pain from her life. She put the ice pack back in the freezer then headed upstairs with the fire extinguisher.

Rick was sprawled across the bed, snoring loudly. Shaiya gently placed the hose into his mouth then pulled the pin and squeezed the lever as hard as she could. His eyes flew open as his mouth quickly filled with foam. His lungs became clogged with powder and his breathing became restricted until it finally stopped.

Shaiya stared at his prone body then whispered, “Until death do we part.”

© January 26, 2011

1 comment: