Wednesday, May 9, 2018

As You Wish

“He's got a tux on, look at him now with a tux on,
He's gonna get one with a tux on, free admission with a tux on,
Get it anyway with a tux on,
He's got a tux on the easy way with a tux on, tux on.”*

Marv hit rewind and listened to the words again. The easy way, he thought as he glanced down at the coiled rope on the seat next to him.

He wondered if his family would bury him in a tux or in the ridiculous suit he wore to job interviews and weddings.

Marv drove down the main street as he called his seven ex-wives, his soon-to-be ex-wife and his girlfriend. He asked them all to meet him at his apartment at 7 PM. That would give him a couple of hours to make the final preparations.

*          *          *

The nine women were surprised as, one by one, they appeared in the lobby to Marv’s apartment building. Their chatter made them sound like a gaggle of geese. They asked each other if they knew what was going on but no one knew more than he’d told them on the phone.

Dana, Marv’s current wife, punched in the security code and the group of women entered the elevator. As they traveled to the fourteenth floor they became silent. They looked at each other, wondering what Marv was up to this time.

Dana unlocked the door and gasped when she pushed it open. The room was filled with flowers, one bouquet of favorite flowers for each wife and girlfriend. Candles were lit everywhere. A banquet of their favorite foods was laid out on a table and nine bottles of wine, the favorite of each woman.

The women were stunned. The evidence that Marv had been listening to them stood before them. They wandered around the room silently just looking at the things Marv had left for them.

“Where’s Marv?” Jerri, Marv’s third wife, finally asked after they began eating.

“Probably watching on video camera or something perverse like that,” Sheila, his fifth wife, answered. They all laughed.

Just then Betty, his girlfriend, noticed a package at the end of the banquet table. It was simply addressed: To the Women I’ve Loved. She picked it up and quickly unwrapped it as the others huddled around her. Inside the velveteen box was a note. She read it out loud.

“Thank you for being part of my life. I am sorry I was a horrible husband and lover. To make amends, I’ve granted your wish.

Love, Marv

PS -- You’ll find your present in the bedroom.”

The women ran down the hall to the bedroom and rushed to open the door. They stopped and gasped in horror as they saw Marv hanging from the ceiling. Marv had granted each of their wish: He had dropped dead.

* “Tux On” by Derek William Dick
Published by EMI Music Publishing
Copyright 1987
United Kingdom