𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 /choni/

9.

1957

Beautiful sunny Monday in Riverdale, a great day for our usual tea with my friends. I wasn't sure if I could call them that actually. They visited only to talk about their own problems and for advices, but it made me feel needed.

Tammy, Velma and Bitsy came here almost every day separately if their husbands let them of course. I was alone every weekend and also Wednesdays. This was a first day after a week when we met all together and I was glad to see them.

"I'm so happy to have you all here. I missed you." I said when I entered the room with a tea tray.

"Indeed. It's wonderful." Velma agreed.

"So, everything is the same? Or something changed?" All of them had awful marriage, we all knew. I did everything I could with my power, but it was still the same. Still bad.

"No. Nothing changed, really. But sadly I have to go after the tea. My husband needs me home." Velma was a housewife, as well as Bitsy. Only Tammy had a job as a waitress at Pop's diner, it was their family business since forever.

"I have to leave too. The young man that is looking after Pop's shouldn't be alone there." Unfortunately her husband died of a heart attack, now she was the only owner of the diner and a single mother.

"That's alright, ladies. What about you, Bitsy? Can you stay?"

"Yes, Poppy. I have to talk to you privately, actually." Not surprising. I just nodded and took a sip of my tea.

***
"So, what's wrong, Bitsy?" After Velma and Tammy left we stayed in silence for a while. I didn't want to push her to talk.

"Jack and I are having... problems. Again." Nothing new, it was always him. She deserved someone so much better, sadly she never found the courage to leave him.

"What is it now?"

"Still the same reason, he is kinda pissed all the time and he thinks that... another child could make it better." You gotta be kidding me. He said that two times before already, right after their marriage.

"Bitsy, I don't think that will work... You know he said that already. Have you thought about divorce, maybe?"

"I know, I don't want more children. But I can't just divorce him, you know how hard it is for women in general and especially divorced ones." She was right. A divorce woman was a trash in this society, there was only one solution for her now.

"I have something that could help. First a birth control, I have some ginger root from my garden. Just few flakes every morning, it will prevent you from getting pregnant."

"Okay. Thank you so much, Poppy. I'm really grateful." She was really sweet, I loved to see her like this. When she was here with me, she wasn't sad or stressed... just happy.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tight, I could hold her like this forever. When she pulled away I looked into her pretty eyes and I saw something I've never seen before in them. That's when I realized she was getting closer and I froze. She grabbed my cheeks and attacked my lips. It was aggressive but still full of passion and I couldn't fight back. So I kissed her back with my hands on her waist.

I got snapped into reality when she jumped away, with her mouth open in shock and with fear in her eyes.

"I-I'm so, so sorry, Poppy! I should go..."

"Bitsy, it's oka-"

"I'm really sorry. I-I can't.." And with that she left.