The apartment tilted, then settled back into place in pieces: the chipped mug in the sink, the grocery list under my magnet from Fort Stewart, the envelope of cash on the table that was supposed to buy protein shakes and prenatal vitamins, and Brett\u2019s muddy boots on the rug Marcus bought me before he deployed. Monica stood by the table with my wallet open in her hands. She was wearing white jeans in February, which felt like exactly the kind of choice Monica would make before walking into someone else\u2019s home and calling them disgusting. Her nails were glossy pink, her mouth pinched into that little smile she used whenever she knew she had an audience. \u201cGold digger,\u201d she hissed. Then she spat on me.Doors & Windows<\/p>\n
It landed warm and wet on my cheek, just below the place her mother\u2019s handprint was already blooming. For a second I couldn\u2019t move. I heard the refrigerator humming. I heard Brett laugh under his breath. I heard one of the twins flutter low inside me, like a tiny fish startled in dark water. I wiped my face with the sleeve of Marcus\u2019s old Army hoodie. \u201cPlease,\u201d I said. My voice sounded thin, not like mine. \u201cJust leave the grocery money. I need it for the shakes.\u201d Brett pulled the bills from the envelope and fanned them out like he was counting chips at a casino. \u201cLooks like a lot of shakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one week,\u201d I said. \u201cThe doctor said\u2014\u201d \u201cThe doctor,\u201d Sandra cut in. \u201cThe doctor says whatever you pay him to say.\u201d I stared at her. That was the thing about Sandra: she didn\u2019t yell nonsense like a person out of control. She yelled like a woman who had rehearsed every line in her car on the way over. She had used the key again. The copied one she swore she didn\u2019t have. I had been on the couch with my feet up, trying to follow the bed-rest instructions taped to the fridge, when the lock clicked and the three of them walked in as if they owned the place. My goal had been simple: stay calm. Keep my blood pressure down. Do not give Sandra the scene she wanted. Do not make Marcus worry while he was half a world away.Conservative news analysis<\/p>\n
But then Monica started opening drawers. Then Brett took my wallet. Then Sandra found the money. \u201cYou\u2019re stealing from us while he\u2019s gone,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cFrom you?\u201d I whispered. \u201cMy son sends that money home.\u201d \u201cTo his home,\u201d I said before I could stop myself. Her eyes narrowed. That was the moment I knew I had made a mistake. Sandra took one step closer. The overhead light caught the silver in her hair and the cross at her throat. She wore that cross every day, big enough for everyone to notice, heavy enough to swing when she raised her arm. \u201cYou think this is your home because you got knocked up?\u201d she said. \u201cYou think carrying those babies makes you family?\u201dEmotional support guide<\/p>\n
The twins shifted again. I put both hands over them. \u201cI am his wife,\u201d I said. Monica laughed. \u201cBarely. A courthouse wedding before deployment? That\u2019s not romance. That\u2019s strategy.\u201d Brett folded the bills and tucked them into his jacket pocket. \u201cMarcus would want his real family taken care of.\u201d There it was again. Real family. They had been saying it for eight months. Sometimes to my face, sometimes just loud enough at family gatherings before Marcus deployed. His real family needed him. His real family knew him. His real family didn\u2019t need paperwork or a positive pregnancy test to matter. I looked at Sandra and tried one last time. \u201cMarcus knows about every dollar in this apartment,\u201d I said. \u201cHe knows what I spend. He knows what the doctors cost. He knows\u2014\u201d \u201cHe knows what you tell him,\u201d Sandra snapped.Single women’s community<\/p>\n
A dull ache pulsed behind my eyes. I had not told Marcus everything. I had told him about the babies kicking. I had told him Mrs. Chun next door made dumplings too spicy for me but I ate them anyway. I had told him I slept with his T-shirt under my pillow and that the jasmine candle he hated had finally burned down. I had not told him his mother came by when she knew I was alone. I had not told him Monica called me \u201cdeployment trash\u201d in the parking lot of the clinic. I had not told him Brett once leaned into my doorway and asked how much a widow got if a staff sergeant didn\u2019t come home. I had kept those things folded inside me, neat and quiet, because Marcus needed to survive Afghanistan. He did not need to picture me crying on the kitchen floor over missing grocery cash. Sandra must have seen something break across my face, because her smile came back. \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d she said softly. \u201cYou know what you are.\u201dEstate planning services<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed on the counter. All four of us looked at it. For one wild second I thought it might be Marcus. But the screen was facedown, and I was too dizzy to reach for it. Monica picked it up first. \u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d I said. She glanced at the screen. Something flickered in her expression. Not guilt. Not fear exactly. More like surprise. \u201cWho\u2019s Williams?\u201d she asked. My stomach tightened. I had seen that name before. Sergeant Williams. One of Marcus\u2019s friends from his unit. He had messaged me twice after Marcus asked him to check whether my care packages arrived. Nice man. Big laugh in the background of phone calls. Always called me ma\u2019am even though I told him not to. \u201cWhat does it say?\u201d Sandra demanded. Monica\u2019s thumb hovered. \u201cDon\u2019t read my messages,\u201d I said, louder this time. Monica smiled and slipped the phone into her back pocket. My mouth went dry. \u201cGive it back.\u201d \u201cOr what?\u201d Brett said. I took one step toward him. Sandra raised her hand again. That was when the front door slammed open so hard the chain lock snapped against the wall. Cold air rushed into the apartment, carrying the smell of rain and asphalt and something metallic from the stairwell. A shadow filled the doorway, tall and broad, boots planted on the threshold. For half a heartbeat, my mind refused to understand what my body already knew. Then I saw the uniform, the duffel bag dropping from one hand, and Marcus\u2019s face changing from joy to rage. And all I could think was: How much had he seen?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The apartment tilted, then settled back into place in pieces: the chipped mug in the sink, the grocery list under my magnet from Fort Stewart, the envelope… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46174,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46173\/revisions\/46174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}