They look appalled and slightly impressed, but they know they have no room for argument. It was my money to spend. Little do they know I barely made a dent in it. Roy and I had a pretty good fucking deal.
God, it’s good having a cop for a dad.
You get away with so much.
Theodore Ellis
CHAPTER IX
I walk into class the next day with the weight of my deteriorating relationship on my shoulders.Beth decided not to come home until almost three in the morning. Usually, that wouldn’t be an issue because it would give me a few hours of peaceful sleep. But last night, my wife didn’t walk through the door. A storm did.
“Theodore!”
Her screeching voice rings throughout the home, shaking the walls while her heeled feet stomp indents into the hardwood floors.
Why is she so upset?I can’t figure it out in my sleeping haze. But, typically, when she comes home at this hour, she’s all smiles, snuggling beside me while smelling of another man.
“Are you okay?” I ask, sitting up in bed, wiping the sleep away from my heavy lids.
Dropping her purse with a thud, she sprints over to my side and smacks me over the head. “Why the fuck is there such a mess in the living room?! I almost killed myself over your fucking shoes!”
I didn’t end up falling asleep until just past one. My exhaustion was so heavy I could barely see through the sloppily written homework in front of my eyes. Since Beth wasn’t home at that point, I figured she might just stay wherever she was. I felt safe enough to leave my work, including my shoes, downstairs. Had I of known she would be here in the dead of night, I would have made the living room spotless.
“Sorry about that. I was so-”
“I don’t give a flying shit what you were, Theodore. Go fucking clean it before I toss all that shit in the fire.”
I race out of bed, still unable to see clearly because I know she isn’t lying.She’s done it before.
I should have anticipated what happened next, but fuck me for hoping.
My fingers are just barely lifting from the doorframe when she slams the wood shut. Ice freezes my veins as the door slices into my skin. I don’t feel the pain until seconds later, once the fog of sleep has cleared and her little chuckles break through the pulsing in my ears.
It’s my yelp of agony that has her opening the door. But at least she was kind enough to apologize, in between laughing, before shutting it in my face again.
Cradling my purple, pulsating fingers to my chest, I slowly descend the stairs, sighing through the splintering in my chest.
Why do I put up with this? Why do I stay?
Because, at one point, you loved her. Maybe you could love her again…
Those thoughts plague my mind even in the daytime.Even with the black emptiness of her heart, I could love Beth again.But then I seeher, strutting into my classroom, and suddenly, the world doesn’t look so dark anymore.
“Hey, Mr. Ellis,” her soft voice whispers, slithering around the wounds in my heart. The shimmers in her jade-green eyes hold nothing but sweet warmth. That is, until she looks down and spots my swollen, blood-speckled fingers.
“Oh my God… what happened to your hand?”
Unsuccessfully, I ball my hand into a first and drop it into my lap. “Had an accident with a door.”
“Pretty bad accident,” she responds, watching me with visible doubt and concern. Scarlett is a smart girl. I don’t believe she fell for my accident story for a second, but she’s too polite to call me out.
With her eyes still on me, she flips her bag to her front and begins searching around the inside. I pay no mind to the noise of students coming from her back or the looks Ariana and her friends pay our way. I only see Scarlett and the flood of compassion in her stare.
“Where’s the portfolio I asked for?” I question, smirking slightly as she grows frustrated with her backpack.
Glaring into her bag, she responds, “I forgot it at home.”
“That’s a shame. I was really hoping to see some of your work.”
