BURN (Wattys2015?)

goodbyes

She leans against the counter, her arms crossed tight against her chest. Her bare feet rub against the cracked linoleum, and she bites her lip anxiously. She's in nothing but a thin, ratty rust-colored robe. A cigarette dangles nervously from her fingers.
He throws strewn clothes into a worn green duffle bag, and starts tossing food in there, too. He'll need it.
He rummages through the fridge, the pantry, scavenging for anything, for something. His stomach growls menacingly.
She watches him in a thick silence, the tension growing.
"Where will you go?" She asks tentatively. He pauses to give her a brief look.
"Home."
"Where's that?" She asks, but holds up her hand to silence him. "Wait, I don't want to know."
He finishes packing and stops to look at her. She meets his eyes, eager. She pleads with him with nothing but a single glance, but he looks away, walking out, the rickety screen door slamming behind him.
He stops in the middle of her dusty dirt road, and looks up to the swelling clouds. Then it starts to rain, a cold Wyoming rain that chills and cleanses you to your soul.
She rushes to the door, swinging it open so quickly it threatens to burst from its hinges.
"Wait!" She yells, her voice cracking. She runs to him, and he turns around to face her.
"Why don't you...why don't you stay? Please? Marley loves you, and you're the best I ever had and...I don't know. I think... You're just so different. Unlike anyone I've ever met."
A silence that seems to go on for ages stands between them. Finally, he speaks.
"I'm sorry." He can't think of anything else to say. He turns and continues walking, unsure of where to go. He just has to get away.
"Wait!" She calls again, this time grabbing his sleeve and tugging him back. "You could stay. Marley needs someone in her life like you. A good father."
"Focus on being a good mother and stop looking for a good father."
"Who is she? Who owns your filthy heart?" She growls, her face growing angry. Her tiny frame shudders with emotion. He ignores her. Many people own his heart, because he certainly does not.
"Please...I love you." She begs. She never begs. She's not that type of woman.
He stares at her, his face stony. He shows no emotion, but inside he pities this broken woman, standing before him in tears. She barely knows him, after all. Doesn't even know his last name.
She's nearly to her knees, and her robe falls over, exposing her naked body.
But he doesn't look.
"You shouldn't have fallen in love with your whore." He speaks softly, and not unkindly. He smiles a sad smile and continues walking.
She remains there, alone in the middle of the dusty dirt road.
He hears a car door slam, but doesn't turn around. He hears a little voice calling his name.
He doesn't stop when a little body jumps on his back, crying and screaming and begging him not to go. He doesn't stop when she curses him and asks him why he's going, when he doesn't have to leave until later.
But when she lets go, crying that she'll miss him, he finally turns and bends down to hug her tight. The rain has stopped, but they're both soaked to the bone. For a moment he wonders what it'd be like, if he stayed. For the kid, not the woman.
"Take care of your mom, okay?"
And then he's gone, down that dusty dirt road. They can't make him out, except for the lonely glow of a cigarette at sunset.
He's gone.

My motel is major skanky, but at least they have free WiFi! So I'll be writing more. Hopefully not just prose.