"Get your ass back here!" Richard screamed at his wife.
Richard stumbled across the room in his drunken state, throwing objects as he went. He was furious at Mary and his level of intoxication only intensified his violent manner. His hand swept across the table, causing all of the freshly placed china and silverware to fly across the dining room.
"Stupid! Stupid girl!" He slurred as Mary ducked behind the counter.
Mary was frightened; Richard had never been this angry or drunk in the house before.
"Rick! Stop throwing things please!" she gasped for breath in between her sobs, "The children are upstairs!"
Richard was finding it harder to balance in his condition and nearly collapsed onto the marble counter.
"I told you, dumb bitch, to find a way to get that money so I could pay for our car insurance," he spat at Mary, his mouth foaming and breath acrid. He dropped his head on the counter, keeping his eyes level with his wife's who was still cowering behind the counter top.
Mary saw that there was no point in arguing that the Roll's Royce he had bought with the money they did not have, was not in fact "theirs" but simply his.
"You know I've been working the night shift now and you know that I've been trying to save every nickel I earn to keep that god damn car of yours!" Mary's voice increased in volume as she noticed how hard it was getting for Richard to stay conscious.
She brought her face on to the counter inches from Richards and coldly whispered, "I have been doing absolutely everything for this family and all you do is go out and drink; drink away our money, drink away your responsibilities, drink away your life."
Mary wiped her mascara smeared face and, once she was sure that Richard would not be able to fight back, slapped him across the face. She walked away from the counter, feeling pleased with herself that she had stood up to him for a change.
Turning back around, she said, "And in case I haven't mentioned it before, we are getting a divorce."
Richard never heard her as he was very far away from that state of mental awareness, although other listening ears did. Sydney, Jake, and Taylor were upstairs, ears pressed against the floor. They heard everything though none of it was a surprise. Nonetheless, they were heartbroken.
Before Mary came upstairs, the children scampered off to their rooms and feigned sleep. Sydney had to pretend to sleep all night as she never truly drifted off. The sounds of her mother's sobs kept the twelve year old up much past her bed time.
