The Truth Behind

II

I lay in bed, reading the newspaper. It's getting late and he still isn't home. I glance at the clock hung on the wall. It reads 10:06. His work ends at 8:30 on a normal day and it only takes him 15 minutes to get home. He should've been home by now.

I went through a whole newspaper before he finally got home. I hear the door unlock and footsteps across our hardwood flooring. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for a drunk excuse of a husband to stumble through the bedroom door.

He enters without a word. We don't exchange looks. He puts his briefcase down, brushes his teeth, and changes into sleep wear until he finally laid down in the empty spot next to me. There was a long pause before I finally spoke.

"Why are you home so late?" I ask quietly, choosing my words carefully after the events that happened this evening, during his work break. I noticed his behavior was a lot different than when he usually comes home. He was acting normal.

Without looking at me he replies, "My boss asked me to work overtime."

"How did that go?" I ask, keeping my eyes on my fiddling thumbs.

"It was fine." He answered.

There was another long pause.

"So, I've been thinking..." I started, "Maybe we should get a..." I was scared of what he would do or say after the next word that was going to come out of my mouth.

"A... A what? Spit it out, darling." He sounded annoyed.

"A divorce! A divorce, dammit!" I looked at him for the first time tonight, tears slowly fall down my cheek.

"A divorce?! Why the hell would ya want a divorce?" He starts to raise his voice a little.

He really is a sweet guy. The only problem is he gets profusely livid when he drinks. And he drinks a lot.

"All you do is drink. You drink, you screw slutty randoms, and then you come home to treat me like I'm nothing! The question you should be asking is why the hell did I marry ya in the first place?!" I mocked him while asking that question.

"What do you mean?!" He starts to raise his voice. "I work my ass off all day just so you can have everything you have! Without me, you'd be living with your parents; No job, no life!" He pulls away the covers and gets up from the bed. I guess it has turned into one of those kinds of arguments.

"I could have everything I have now with a man who treats me like a princess! Instead I'm stuck here with you and your smelly drunk breath." I must've looked real damn upset at this point because after I finished my sentence, he took a deep breath and sighed.

He crawled back under the covers and looked me right in the eye.

"I'll change."

"What?" Those last two words hit me with an unexpected shock. My eyes widened and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'll stop drinking and I'll stick to work and you. After a few days it's up to you if you want a divorce or not." He seemed genuine.

I sat there for a few moments, staring at the wall, considering his proposition.

"Okay. Change for me."