Story of our Lives

“Doreen wait!” Christopher yelled as he rushed down the stairs in pursuit of his wife. He swiftly caught up to her and grabbed her hand firmly. She tried to break off the hold but Chris clapped onto her wrist much tighter. “Doreen let’s talk about this before we do something we’ll regret”.

Doreen viciously lashed at a response, “Talk about what Christopher, we have nothing else to talk about here”. A few years ago speaking to her husband with such a tone would have been taboo, but now she didn’t care about the act nor worry about the consequence. “Save your cheap words in court, you’ll need a good amount”.

Chris was flabbergasted by his wife’s tone; this was something he had not seen in the fourteen years they had known each other. The fire burning in her was a rare flame which was burning his hand. He knew he had to extinguish it one way or another. “Sweet love, give us a chance to fix this, allow us to rebuild what we broke down for the sake of the foundation we had it on”.

He moved a little closer and decided to take her down memory lane. “Remember the first time we talked. It was the football night in our sophomore year. I had been following you for weeks waiting for a moment with the most beautiful girl I had laid my eyes on. When the time came for us to meet I thought it was all a dream. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe my crush and I would click from the first word.”

Doreen smirked a little as she took a baby step closer to her husband. “Our first conversation doesn’t top the first date. I was nervous about it because after our conversation I wasn’t sure whether the date would also match the hype. We went to that steakhouse of yours what was it called again?” Chris interjected “BBQ by the beach that was my favorite spot in the whole city” Doreen continued “Yes BBQ by the beach. I didn’t think I would like it much but that night everything impressed me. We went to your place and I slept over, something I had never done with anyone. Something about you made me feel safe that day, you made me feel like if I was around you I could be protected forever.”

“You are still safe and protected around me; I’ve kept you from worrying about anyone and anything. Why do you not feel safe around me then” Chris responded, getting more anxious and sweaty. Doreen looked at him wiping a tear frown her cheek. “You changed all of that Chris, you ruined all my security and trust in you and you know that”

Bemused by the answer, Christopher feinted a reply but was interjected by Doreen’s sorrowful voice. “The first time I lost trust in you was at my cousin’s birthday party, the one which you refused to accompany me to and I had to end up going with my best friend Ashley. I had one drink too many and ended up calling you to pick me up. When you arrived I was so happy to see you but that joy quickly turned into tears when you started beating and berating me at the parking lot.”

“Well how did you expect me to react Doreen, you were sloppy drunk and a pain in the kidney that night and I lost it, I’m sure you would too”. Doreen’s eyes dilated on hearing Christopher’s response, “You’re sure I would beat you for being drunk? How many times have you come home late at night drunk and I ended up being the one who got beaten Chris”. Chris became silent, prompting Doreen to go on, “I knew I should have left that night, blocked your number and restricted you from seeing me again. Ashley warned me to leave you after that, but when you came to apologize with an engagement ring in hand my logic failed me. A trick you pulled which I fell for like cheese on a mousetrap.”

Christopher wiped some sweat off his forehead, “Didn’t that mistake lead to the most beautiful wedding anyone could ask for. You were an angelic bride the afternoon we got married and our honeymoon in Hawaii topped it all off. I promise if there were really mermaids on that island they would all be jealous of you.”

Doreen couldn’t help but smile at the charming words her husband used to compliment her. “If there are two things you never fail at Chris, they’ll be making me smile and making me cry. The first time you made me cry was when I caught you red handed with that secretary of yours. It wasn’t seeing you with someone that hurt, however the fact that you humiliated your own wife in front of some lowlife home wrecker is what bothered me. You went as far as smacking me in front of her while protecting her as if she was your own woman. Still something about your apology the next week kept me from divorcing you there and then.”

“I only acted the way that I did because she would have filed a police report for you pulling her hair in the manner which you did. The scandal which would follow would cost us jobs, money and reputation.” Chris held her shoulders hoping this lie he made would soothe the pain her inflicted yet again. “Save your reputation at the expense of my dignity as a woman you say” Doreen shook his arms off her shoulders

With a face flush with irritation Chris started yelling “why does it matter what people thought of you, all they should have known was that you were my wife and nothing else”. A crack of shock formed on his wife before she spoke, “that’s all I was to you wasn’t it, property which you felt entitled to do what you wanted with. When beating me felt good you did so, when berating me felt good you proceeded to do it because you simply didn’t care.” Before the man responded with another lie she blocked him, “we have had enough talk here, all that went wrong in our marriage has been spoken about and now I’ll be speaking to my lawyer next, you should be wise to do the same.”

“Doreen get back here!” shouted Christopher. He was no longer in a calm state; his eyes were blood red with fury and all he wanted was violence. Doreen felt a wave of fear flow through her. She knew that once his wrath carried over there would be no coming back. However today wasn’t the day for submission, she was leaving him one way or another. “Goodbye Chris, I’m not coming back today”.

Christopher lost it; he rushed towards her and pulled her hair.”Listen woman, I told you not to go anywhere”. Doreen kicked him in the groin and rushed to escape however her husband whipped out a pistol and stopped her. “Christopher I don’t care if one of us dies today but I’m not coming back there”

“Get back inside Doreen” Chris moved closer to her. Doreen frantically tried to hold back a scream, “No Christopher I’ll not come back for your abuse again, even if someone has to die!” Chris grew more and more frustrated “Someone will die if you don’t step back into this house”. Doreen looked at him, looked outside, shuffled her purse and gave him a final answer, “Then so be it, we did promise that till death do us part”. A gunshot followed a moment later.

Chris looked at Doreen in shock at what had happened, staring at the results of his uncontrollable rage. The blood trickled onto the flow as he fell to one knee with tears in his eyes. He was sober and scared as the consequences of his madness finally came to life. Doreen didn’t blink at the sight of her dying husband; she didn’t feel hurt for shooting him in the spleen. Christopher had emotionally murdered her for a long time, he was getting a death much quicker and much less painful than the chronic abuse he inflicted on it. She dropped the gun she had concealed in her purse and walked out. “Goodbye Christopher, I’m happy I won’t see you again “she said as she shut the door. After taking a short pause she broke off in laughter, this was the first conversation she had with Christopher in which he didn’t respond to her.