I sat in the warm clean room with the curtain drawn, two lamps lighting up the room- the one on my side table and the one on the side table of the empty chair opposite of me. On the sideboard behind me, two tall glasses, soda, water, whiskey, and fresh ice cubes in a thermos bucket.
I was waiting for my husband, Jeremy to come home from a long day at work.
Constantly looking up at the clock every now and then getting more excited as it got closer to time for him to come home. I look down rubbing my stomach, it has now been six months since I found out about the life Jeremy and I had created, I smile slightly to myself. I started to sew to make the time fly by faster. A few minutes went by, I look up at the clock and see the time, it was now ten till’ five, I listened for his arrival. Few moments later I heard the tires of the truck run against the gravel in the driveway, the car door close, the footsteps passing the window, and the keys turning in the lock. I set aside my sewing and stood up to move forward and kiss him as he entered the house.
“Hello darling.” I say slightly, kissing him.
“Hello darling.” He answered with a blank face.
I ignored his blank look taking his coat and hanging it on the coat rack by the door. I then walked over to make some drinks, the strongest one for him and the weakest one for me, of course. I handed Jeremy his drink, sat down, and went back to sewing. Jeremy sat there in the opposite chair with the same blank face, holding the tall glass with both hands gently rocking the glass causing the ice cubes to hit the sides of the glass making a clinking sound.
“Would you like me to make you dinner before the storm arrives?” Jeremy sits in silence for a moment, “No.” “Yes, you must be hungry from your long day at work let me go make you something.” I gently stand up and was about to walk into the kitchen when I was stopped. “Sit down! I’m not hungry.” His harsh words frightened me, I quickly sit down and we sat in silence. The rain from the storm began beating on the sides and windows of the house. Jeremy then stands up and walks to the window. “I need to confess something.” I felt my heart drop for I thought the worst. “W-What is it?” He looks down to the ground in silence, I patiently wait for him to speak. “I don’t love you anymore, I have been seeing someone else. After the storm passes I will be going to her. I will still make sure that you and the child are well taken care of.” All I could do was sit there in shock. I couldn’t believe my ears. “No, you don;t mean that. Jeremy sit down, let me make dinner and we will talk about this. There is some meat in the freezer in the cellar, I will go down and get it and cook that up for us.” I quickly stand up and rush to the cellar with tears in my eyes. Opening the freezer, I grab out the first thing I saw, a lamb leg.
I walk back upstairs and make my way to the living room, Jeremy still standing there watching the storm outside the window. The sound of thunder and rain fills the silence. I stand there with a blank face thinking about what he had said and before I knew it, I was standing next to his lifeless body on the ground. “Jeremy wake up! You’re not dead wake up!” I began to sob. “No this can’t be happening, he’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” I rush to the door, grabbing my coat, hat, and shoes. On the drive to the store I practice trying to act normal. “Hello Kyle, How are you? I would like some potatoes please.” No that’s too normal. “I want some potatoes, Kyle and some peas, as well” Yes, that sounds normal that will work. I practice it a few more times before I arrived to the store.
“Hello Joanne, how are you today?”
“I would like some potatoes, and some peas, as well.”
Kyle turned around and grabbed some potatoes and peas. “Jeremy and I decided to not go out to eat this afternoon because of the storm.”
“Right, well you be careful driving out there in that storm now.’
“I will thank you Kyle.”
I get home and call out for Jeremy, trying to act as though I did not know about his death. When I got no answer I went ahead and seasoned the lamb, added the potatoes and peas, and threw it in the oven. Making my way to the living room, I called out to Jeremy once more. “Jeremy darling I got dinner in the oven.” As I walk around the corner, I see Jeremy lying on the floor, lifeless. I stand in “shock” for a moment and ran by his side. “Jeremy are you okay? I’m going to call the police.” I grab the phone but the line was dead. I then headed over to the neighbor’s house to see if I could borrow their phone.
“Margaret! Margaret please answer the door!”
“Joanne? What’re you doin’ here in this storm? Why you should be at home with Jeremy makin’ dinner or somethin’.”
“I can’t something is wrong with Jeremy! I get home from getting potatoes and peas to put with a lamb for supper and he’s laying on the floor. I think he might be dead. I need to use your phone please, mine is dead.”
“Margaret close that damn door won’t ya! You’re lettin’ the floor get wet!”
“George, Joanne is here wantin’ the use the phone, she thinks Jeremy might be dead and her phone is dead.”
“Well let her in! What’re you waitin’ for?”
“Come ‘long in Joanne, you can wait here durin’ the storm and use tha phone.”
“Thank you so much Margaret I really appreciate it.”
Margaret hands me the phone and I dial 911. When they answered I immediately shouted, “Please come quickly! Jeremy’s dead!”
“Joane? Joanne McKinley?”
“Yes! Please hurry!”
“Jeremy McKinley is dead? Weare on our way.”
I tell Margaret and George that I was going to go home and wait for the police to get to my house. After a while I hear a knock on the door, it’s three policemen who Jeremy worked with, Jenkins, Hoffland, and Derek.
“Mrs. McKinley it’s the police!”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
I open the door and invite the men in. They look around for a while and examined the body and they all asked me questions.
“Where were you when this happened?” Jenkins had asked
“I had gone to the store to get some peas and potatoes to go with dinner.”
“And can you tell me which store you had gone to?”
“Yes, I went to the Ol’ Food Market in town.”
“Okay that is all for now.”
Watching them investigate and examine the clues I begin to get a little nervous, afraid that they will find out that I had caused this. But I still sit there with the same saddened expressions on my face, calm. A detective soon walks in and begins to examine the scene. Hoffland was on the phone with Kyle asking him question, like if I was acting any out of the ordinary. Then Jenkins, Hoffland, Derek, and the detective gathered together and softly spoke.
“I don’t think she did it.” Derek said
“Someone had to have took the murder weapon with him, he was hit with a hard object.”
The men then walk over to me. “Mrs. McKinley would you mind looking around your home to see if anything has gone missing?”
“There is nothing missing.”
“Okay Mrs. McKinley, we will head out now and look further into this investigation for you, I am so very sorry for your lost.”
“How about you stay and eat this lamb that I have cooking. I certainly won’t be able to eat it myself. I would really appreciate ya’ll having some, I’m sure you all have had a long hard day at work and are very hungry.”
“Oh, no Mrs. McKinley we couldn’t-”
“Sure you can, I would hate for it to go to waste.”
“Alright I guess we can stay and have a little bit. Thank you Mrs. McKinley we really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem at all.”
The three policemen and the detective head to the kitchen and start eating on the lamb leg. I hear them all munching and talking with their mouths full. And I sit there and slightly laugh to myself for now they will never know that I am the one who murdered my husband with the lamb leg.
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I hope ya'll enjoyed this first short story. I will post more stories depending on the feed back of this one.
