|
Scene #5
From Heartsrings, a short story.
As
I pulled into the garage, I decided to confront the young woman and
see if I could get to the bottom this. I also called Jeff on
his cell phone and asked him to come home. I opened the
front door and motioned for the girl to come inside the house. I
watched as she gathered the baby into her arms and approached the
front porch. She was such a frail little thing with a sad look in
her eyes. "Come in. I called Jeff and told him he had a
visitor," I told her and offered her a glass of iced tea. I
returned with the tea just as Jeff was pulling into the driveway.
We both turned to look as we heard him enter through the kitchen
door. Jeff's face went from a rosy blush to ashen gray right
before our eyes. "Hello Jeff." The young girl spoke.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asked shakily.
"Actually, that's what I would like to know." I said as I looked
from one to the other. There was sinking feeling in the pit of my
stomach as I realized that maybe I really didn't want to know after
all. The girl turned toward me, glancing at Jeff as she
spoke. "My name is Annie, Mrs. Harper, and this is Isabella. I
thought it was time for her to meet her daddy." "Are
you implying that my husband is your baby's father?" I asked,
feeling sicker and sicker with each passing moment. "You
little bitch! I told you to stay out of my life." Jeff suddenly
growled, his eyes never leaving hers. Just then the
baby started to cry. I guess she could sense the hostility too.
"Let's just slow down for a minute," I said to them both. Annie but
the baby down on the couch and propped a bottle in her mouth.
"Jeff, what the hell is going on here? Is this story
true?" I demanded as I pulled his arm to get his attention. His
eyes answered my question. He didn't have to say a word.
"He never meant for you to find out, Mrs. Harper. He tried to buy
my off." Annie said as she adjusted the bottle in the baby's
mouth. I tried to comprehend this sudden blow to my life. Jeff
was trembling with anger and I could tell he was ready to explode
at any moment. "I deserve an explanation and I want
to know everything, Jeff," I said as calmly as humanly possible.
"It's a long story, Alex. We'll talk about it later." He said
as if dismissing me from the situation. "Oh I bet it is, so
you better get started," I barked back in his face. After
several long uncomfortable minutes, Jeff broke down and told me the
whole story, with Annie interjecting juicy details every so often.
It became more heart-wrenching with every word out of his mouth. I
don't think I can retell the events, but I'm sure you can put two
and two together and come up with baby Isabella. My stomach
twisted like and pretzel and my head ached by the time he finished
his little scenario. I couldn't move. All I could do was stare
into space. When I snapped out of my funk, they were both
watching me closely. I looked from Annie to Jeff and back again.
What could I possibly say in response to the fact that my husband
of seventeen years, whom I trusted implicitly, had not only been
unfaithful, but had fathered another woman's child? This was the
ultimate put down to me. I couldn't get the picture of them
together out of my head. Suddenly a wave of nausea overwhelmed
me and I ran to the bathroom and vomited, which pissed me off even
more. "That son of a bitch," I said to my haggard reflection
in the bathroom mirror. I looked and felt like shit and it was all
their fault, I thought washing my face and hands and brushing my
teeth. Starting back for the living room with not a clue as
to what to say or do when I got there, I noticed Jeff holding the
baby and looking all fatherly. "What the hell is going on
here?" I yelled as they both turned to see me. "Get out of my
house, all of you!" I heard myself scream as I lunged forward at
Annie. Jeff shoved the baby at Annie and grabbed my arms.
"You're going to have to face this, Alex. It'll be easier for
everyone if we try to keep Annie happy. That way she won't make a
big deal out of this mess." He squeezed my arms tightly. "She
could to the Dean and get me fired, and we'd lose everything."
I pulled out of his grasp and swung around. I slapped his left
cheek. "How dare you treat this like a game. We can't ignore
this situation, Jeff. It's not just going to go away." I snapped.
"You can't just screw your students and then just go on with your
life." I turned to walk away. "What the hell, Alex? Where
are you going now? You never walked away from a problem before."
"We've never had this problem before, Jeff." I said as I
continued out through the kitchen into the garage.
| 
