'Till Death Do Us Part
by Sarah Cook, April 16, 2008
"Why do I have to see her again? Can't she stay home or at least in the other room?" Harold was trying to get comfortable in his oversized reclining chair. His wife, a much younger blonde, was looking at him with disdain. He was bald, nearly ninety years old and still wearing the pajamas he slept in two nights ago.
"You invited her dear," was all she said. It was all she needed to say. He would fill in the rest on his own. "You idiot."
"You should get dressed though. They will be here later this evening and you will be too sore and exhausted by then to go up the stairs. Although with your heart I don't know if you could make it up now either."
"First of all, I extended a courtesy and I didn't expect her to actually accept the invitation seeing as she hates me just as much as I hate her. And in response to your second comment, I'll get to it when I get to it," he replied distantly. "The game is on." And then he tuned her out as was his pre-game custom.
She went into the kitchen to start unthawing dinner. She despised these people, especially her, and hated cooking for them. It was too bad Harold wouldn't let her order out when they had company. She began bumbling around the kitchen only half-accomplishing her dinner tasks when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi Helen, it's Paula. Is Dad busy?"
Taking the opportunity to interrupt Harold's game Helen went immediately into the other room to hand him the phone. "Yes, here he is."
Harold was confused for a moment. He had no idea what Helen was handing to him, why she was interrupting his weekend ritual, or what the score of the game was. After a moment he realized he was holding the phone and then answered, "Hullo?"
"Hi Dad, its Paula. I just wanted to make sure that it was still okay if we came to visit."
"Oh, yeah sure." He was trying to watch the game and still make sense hoping he hadn't just offered to do anyone a big favor.
"Is it still okay if Mom comes with."
He heard the questioning tone and without thinking, or listening, said, "Yes of course." A moment too late he realized what he had done. He'd had the chance to uninvite his ex-wife and completely missed it because he was ignoring his daughter and trying to watch the incredible interception on T.V. And he missed that too.
"Well great. We'll get into town about 8 or 9 o'clock. Love ya."
"Yeah, bye." He was too stunned to care about his rude good-bye and hung up. How could he have made the same mistake twice? It had been years since they had been in the same room together and that had been a disaster.
~~~
It was about fifteen years ago at a wedding. Not just any wedding but their granddaughter's wedding. They had to go, had to be in the same room together for several hours. It was raining outside and even though the reception hall fit two hundred people, it still wasn't big enough for Harold and Melinda. Melinda was already there when Harold arrived and the tension in the air instantly rose to a painful intensity. Everyone noticed how they always faced away from each other and asked how every other member of the family was doing, including each other's siblings.
They managed to retain a workable distance and avoid sensitive topics until it was time for toasting. After the usual toasts by the maid of honor and the best man Melinda decided that she couldn't handle it anymore. Everyone was so impressed that Harold had shown up, since he didn't really make it a point to go to family gatherings, mostly to avoid Melinda. She had been there from the beginning, though. She helped plan, arrange and even pay for the wedding. She had helped raise their granddaughter and he was getting more praise for simply being here.
So, with the full intention of getting to the hearts of her family, and on the nerves of Harold, she rose and began a surprise toast:
"I want to thank everyone for being here today to celebrate the happiest day in our little Lauren's life. I am so pleased that I was able to see her grow up into a wonderful young lady and meet her lucky husband. I am so pleased that she asked me to help her and her mother, Paula, to plan the wedding. It seems like yesterday I was walking her to school and putting her hair in little braids. So I would also like to thank Lauren for letting me be a part of her life. Thank you sweetie."
Lauren was not the only one stunned. Paula, was flush with embarrassment and Harold was red with fury. He did not see why Melinda would do something like this at such a happy event. He was even more outraged that he hadn't thought to do it first. Well, he couldn't let her win, that wasn't his style. So he would just have to come up with something better.
"Lauren, sweetie," he began, much to the dismay of Lauren and Paula, "I want you to know that I have cared about you so much, ever since you were born, and that I have been providing financial support to your mother throughout the years to make sure that she would be able to raise you well and give you a wonderful day such as this. I also want you to know that it is not my fault that I was never, personally, there before. I couldn't count on some people," he gestured toward Melinda, "from causing a scene and taking the attention away from you. Please accept my apology though since I know that the true guilty party would never be able to admit that you had even been wronged."
Now everyone in the room was silent and completely dumbfounded. No one knew what to do or say and no one could have believed that the argument would continue. Melinda, blinded by rage, stomped over to Harold's table and pointed at Helen. She stood there for a moment, finding that now even she was at a loss for words.
Then she started in at him, "How dare you bring her here and then try to make me the bad guy! I stayed with our family and did my part to teach them proper morals and behaviors. If you had been around there is no telling how long this marriage would even last. You could have been a part of their lives but you were too wrapped up in yourself and your new trophy wife, to care about anyone else."
Harold stood up and got right in Melinda's face, "Did you ever wonder why I did it? Huh? Did you ever stop to think that maybe you made me so miserable that I couldn't stand to be around you? And how could I have spent any time with the grandkids with you poisoning their minds about me? Well maybe we should tell your story. Maybe everyone should know many times I had to leave the house to keep from being shouted at or having things thrown at me. Do you think everyone would like to hear how our kids used to hide upstairs when we had fights so they wouldn't get caught in the cross-fire?"
Feeling that he had made his point well enough Harold grabbed Helen's arm and walked toward exit. Melinda turned and stormed off to the kitchen not to be seen the rest of the night.
~~~
Melinda hated long car trips. Especially when they ended in a place she had sworn never to return to. Why had she agreed to this? She deduced that she had been invited as a way to spite her. He assumed that she would turn him down so then he could go on and on about how rude she was not to accept his hospitality. Well, she would show him, and complain about everything to get at his nerves, just for good measure.
She looked out the window for a while. The conversation had been thin since they left as Paula was trying to make sure they took the right exits and her young boys required quite a bit of refereeing. The area still seemed familiar. The same trees, the same building and the same streets. Some of the businesses had changed but everything was about as she remembered it. She was dismayed, though, to see that the same hotel was still on the corner of 1st and Main.
~~~
It was unseasonably cold that November and Melinda wore an extra scarf that she had just bought that afternoon for just this occasion. She hurried into the lobby of the Grand Luxury Hotel and took a seat by the fireplace with her back to the door.
The fireplace had a metal strip that went along the top and was shiny enough to show reflections of the people coming in. Melinda watched, via that strip, as everyone came in and out of the front door. She was wearing her new scarf over her hair and a new pair of sunglasses. She knew it was cliché but it always seemed to work in the movies.
She waited for a half an hour and then she saw a young woman come in and ask the man at the front desk something. The concierge shook his head; she nodded and then walked to the far end of the large counter and stood there, looking around.
It was shortly after this that Melinda saw Harold open the door. She wasn't sure if the chill she got was from the cold gust of air he had let in or the sudden realization that the rumors were true. He strolled over to the counter and got a key from the concierge. Then he held out his arm for the woman who had walked in a few moments ago and strolled around the corner and out of sight.
Melinda got up quietly and left the hotel without looking at anyone. She walked across the street to her car and just sat inside for a few moments staring out at the traffic between her and the hotel where her adulterous husband was having his "business conference." A single tear fell down from behind the sunglasses then she drove home to get dinner ready before the kids got home from school.
~~~
As a last minute touch Harold decided to put out a few extra pictures of Helen and himself. He opened the drawers of the end tables and looked through the cupboards in the china closet. While searching the latter he found several photos of his kids when they were young. Some were at the pool, some at relatives' houses and some just at home.
Then he found one that must have been taken nearly seventy years ago. He was standing with his arm around Melinda, who was holding their first child, and gazing at the infant's tiny face. He remembered the feeling of awe that had taken hold of him when he looked at the child they had made. He felt proud and yet humbled. He felt amazed at just how helpless everyone starts out. But most of all he remembered feeling happy.
~~~
Melinda struggled out of the car with Paula's help and began walking to the front door. It felt so strange to be going up the steps of the house she had lived in for so long. It all looked pretty much the same. Some of the bushes had been replaced and the paint was chipping a little, but overall it was just as she remembered.
She walked up the steps with Paula and her boys, one of whom rang the doorbell. When the door opened Melinda found herself face to face with the woman she had blamed all these years for ruining her life. They stood awkwardly for a moment and then Helen said,
"Well come in everyone, dinner is almost ready."
They all went inside and took off their coats and their shoes and went into the living room to sit down. Melinda sat on the end of the couch farthest away from Harold's armchair and remained silent with her hands folded on her lap.
When he came into the room she instantly noticed how much different he looked. He wasn't as strong or a healthy looking as he had been when last she saw him. Though he had gotten dressed he still wore clothes that were designed for comfort rather than style and the effort it took him showed on his face.
Melinda looked away. She couldn't hold back her contempt for Helen. Why wasn't she taking care of him? Why wasn't she helping him get into his chair? She started making a list in her head of things that would need to be done to make him comfortable. Someone had moved his favorite pillow out of his chair, he needed to have his footstool brought over to him, the newspaper was just out of arm's reach and there was no coffee in sight.
She realized what she was doing and snapped out of it with a start. She tried to remind herself of the horrible things he had done to her and the children. But when she looked at him and the huge amount of effort it took him just to get into the armchair she almost had to hold back tears.
~~~
He saw the way she was looking at him and he thought it was a look of pity. He knew that his body didn't work as well anymore. She had always been the kind to nurture and care for others. It drove him crazy when they were younger but now he really wished that Helen had some of that in her. He could use some nurturing.
Melinda was deciding if she should say something or remain silent. She had no idea what would be a good topic of conversation. She was afraid that whatever she said would be misconstrued and used against her. She decided not to speak unless spoken to.
Paula was having trouble with the boys. They wouldn't stop asking for candy and trying to jump on the couch. She stood up and grabbed each boy by an ear.
"Excuse me would you? We have to have a discussion."
Now they were alone. Paula and the boys were in the other room working out a life-and-death deal and Helen was in the kitchen trying to salvage dinner. The two sat silently, not even looking in the same direction, for what felt like a long time.
Harold thought of that photograph he had found and he realized how much he really missed, and missed out on his previous life. He wasn't really there for his kids or his grandkids, or Melinda.
Melinda was looking around the room and noticing that everything was just as she left it. The same decorations were on the wall and the same furniture and carpet and everything were still in use. She wished she could have been here to take care of all of the things, and of Harold.
He made the first move. He looked at her and as he did she looked back. They locked eyes and said everything they were thinking with one look. Both of them had tears running down their cheeks as they realized the mistakes they had made. For just a moment nothing and no one else existed.
Then Harold had a strange sensation. He thought that maybe his heart really was breaking but he suddenly lost control of himself and slid out of his chair and onto the floor. Melinda rushed to him as she called for help.
She knelt down beside him and lifted his head a bit so she could find out what was going on.
"Are you alright? Can you hear me? Where does it hurt?"
At first he could only cough a little. The pain was keeping back his words. But then he managed to get a few out, "No, I'm not alright. Thank you. Thank you for coming here and reminding me about life, before it was too late."
"Too late? No, you can't. I just got you back, I saw it in your eyes."
His breathing slowed and he just gazed up at her. She could barely see because of the tears welling up but she didn't let go. By this time the others had come into the room. Helen had called 911 and Paula was trying to calm her boys so she could try to help.
As Harold took his last breath he managed to smile and as the world went dark he knew he had wanted it to be this way all along. Melinda was stuck in a trance of disbelief as she continued to hold his head up and a great weight was lifted from her. She knew he would be waiting for her.
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