A Dead Man

The Wife

Cecile Ranhook was a force to recognize 
That was the easiest way to describe her
That was before she married infamous Oliver Ranhook
Then she was no longer her
She would stand beside him 
A lifeless doll
There wasn’t an ounce of fight
Nor a spark

She wasn’t even sure that she loved him
But he was safer than the others she had meet
He never hit her
Never kicked her out in the snow
He never stole her money
However he had a horrible tongue
He had a beautiful way with words
And he knew which ones could kill you
Though he had never hit her
He had smashed her things 
But the Bible says not to divorce

Besides she had children with this man
And she didn’t have the connections 
He could ruin her life 
With a simple snap of the fingers
And part of her always believed that maybe 
He could change
But he never did
And in the end he died early

She was a little angry about that
After all this time
Hiding and keeping her mouth shut
And he just dies?
Must this world be so unfair
Maybe she wasn’t in love with him 
But she had always wanted to grow old with somebody
Even if it was in this mysterious home
Even if the one in the rocker next to hers on the porch
Was controlling 
And berating 
And just downright confusing

Alas
The world wouldn’t dare be so simple
He couldn’t even die naturally
No, the police say that it was homicide
A scene horribly gruesome
“Worst they’ve seen in ages.”
They didn’t tell her what they think happened
She’s just a poor little widow
Whose cuts are still fresh
She wasn’t completely innocent though
She had…done some things

They did ask who she thought would do this to him
Her voice coarse and emotionless
Gone and here
Her lips were cracked
Her eyes were dull
She looked faint
Yet demeanor was strong 
With a confidence
One that only a failed lawyer could have
And from her mouth, formed the words 
“The neighbor”
___

This was the first time Oliver 
Had truly looked at his wife
And she looked so tired
Defeated and deflated
He knew that what they had wasn’t love
And part of him tried so hard not to hate her for it
After all, what choice did she have
She never made a choice out of leisure
Only survival

He knew that he loved her
But he never showed it the right and healthy way
He loved her brown eyes 
He loved her tight curls
He loved her dark skin
Most of all, he loved her spirit
And it was a spirit that he took to the slaughter
Because he couldn’t accept the fact
That she didn’t love him as deeply as he wanted

He didn’t want to be a monster 
Not in her eyes
But he was
He had taken away her choices 
Her friends
Smashed her stuff
The only reason it hadn’t gotten physical
Was because he missed
He was a horrible person
And he could only see that in death
He can’t fix anything now

She stands there 
Talking to a police officer
He can hear them
Except here time runs a tad slower than usual
He sits there and listens
Even her voice is more dead than he remembers 
The police had asked who she thought did this horrid thing
And what he didn’t expect was that she would point them
To the neighbor
But then he remembered
The incident.