Category: after
-
Really real?
Sometimes things don’t feel like they could possibly be real. Did Heather really invite my husband over, promising him that their mutual friend, Kitty “loved him? Did he race over to drink wine with them?Did they transfer wine, mouth to mouth?Did Kitty confide that she really wanted to have sex with her ex-boyfriend one more…
-
The Ocean
1994ish I’ve always loved the ocean. One summer, I must have been 16, we had a family trip to the beach. Somehow I was allowed to drive about an hour to pick up my husband (then boyfriend) where his dad had dropped him off. I don’t remember what part of New Jersey that drive was.…
-
The Day Therapy Ended
I listened to you as you told me about your year-long affair with Heather. I believed you when you said you were sorry, that I was the only one for you, that you were back. I comforted you, and then I called the marriage counselor and made us an appointment. I listened again as you…
-
Damnit
I had to drive by the back of the mall today on my way to get my new driver’s license. The back of the mall is where I told Heather I knew about what she had been doing with my husband. It’s where I told her to tell her husband to lay off the threats…
-
Red-Flag Shoes
Wingtip “I would be livid if some other woman sent my husband a gift like that.” That’s what my friends said, when I mentioned to any of them that Heather had sent my husband a pair of wingtip shoes. I’d explain how I don’t think like that. I’d say “They were meant to be for…
-
The Fence
When I take the dog for a walk, I almost always pass the fenced off dry stream down the street. I hardly ever used to notice it. But now I know that is where she left you coffee and notes and gifts. That’s where you snuck off to, running through the forest to get her…
-
Too Big
In high school, I wrote about him for an English assignment. After years of being bullied, and called out for being fat, I was somehow able to believe him when he told me I was beautiful. Not only that, I was able to write about it and read it out loud in front of my…
Slices of Betrayal 