The Neighbor II

Everyday

Ben knew Cassie was going to kill him. She won't leave him, but she'll kill him. This is the second time he's found himself in a jail cell because he can't control himself. Well, not the second, but the second time Cassie knows of.

What was worse about the thought of his wife yelling and screaming and throwing stuff at him was the fact that he was sharing a cell with Tom. He was beaten pretty badly, but so was Ben. Both had black eyes and broken noses. Ben had a broken hand and wrist from punching Tom so hard and Tom had a broken ankle from kicking Ben's--apparent--balls of steal.

Little did he know, it hurt Ben like hell, but it didn't show.

But the absolute worst out of all of this was when Ben was watching Michael sobbing in the arms of some stranger as he was being dragged away in handcuffs. Ben tried to fight them and run over to his boy, but if one tries to fight off the police, they tend to get a baton to the leg, which is how he got his severely bruised thigh.

Ben ignored the glares he was currently getting from his cellmate and kept thinking back to that moment. It was heart wrenching and made him feel like a horrible father. This outcome was not what he was expecting when he told Tom to stay away.

"Carlton," a police officer called. "You made bail, let's go." Ben carefully got up and limped his way out of the cell without giving Tom a second look. He slowly made his way down the hall, then out a big metal door to the lobby.

Cassie was sitting on a chair across the room with her arms crossed, her face oozing with anger, and the checkbook in her hands, impatiently tapping away on her leg. "Mrs. Carlton," the office called. Cassie looked over to Ben and stood up. She walked over to him and looked him over.

"You're fucking pathetic," she scoffed, before turning around and walking quickly towards the door. Ben limped as quickly as he could while saying, "I know I am and I'm sorry. Where's Michael?" Cassie turned sharply to her husband and said, "Oh, you mean our son whom I found balling his eyes out in the arms of some tourist visiting her aunt? The one who watched his father being taken away by the police? He's home, sleeping because of the exhausting day he's had."

She started walking again and Ben tried his best to keep up again. "Who's watching him?" He asked as they made their way towards the subway. "Mrs. Grant," Cassie grumbled. "And I had to throw out my hard working dinner because when the police came to the door and told me my husband had been arrested, I left and by the time I came back with our hysterical son, it was burned. So, we're having pizza."

"Baby, I'm sorry," Ben said as they finally stopped to wait for the next train to come along. "Listen, Tom just said some...inappropriate things about you and I lost it. I'm sorry." Pretending as if he never said anything, Cassie said, "I called Dr. McKinsey to schedule you an emergency session, but she said you already came in today."

Ben let out a strangled sigh and followed her on to the subway once it came. He clung on to the pole after leading Cassie to sit down. The car filled with people, as it was rush hour right now. A disgusting looking man with a giant back pack sat down next to Cassie, making her have to scoot almost halfway off her seat.

"Oi," Ben angrily called. "I'd appreciate it if you gave my pregnant wife some room to sit." The man rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Come here, Cass," Ben said, as he held out his hand. She simply folded her arms and shook her head. "Cassandra, come here!"

Cassie looked at him like he was crazy, but shook her head and stood up. Ben gently took her arm and pulled her against him. Ben loved having her like this, but he could feel how tense she was from his touch and it was making him uneasy.

Ten minutes of pure silence between the two later, they were getting off at their stop and walking home. Cassie had slowed down enough to where Ben didn't have to actually limp too quickly, but the lack of communication was becoming deafening.