PAYDAY by Alvena Stanfield (best biographies to read txt) 📕

PAYDAY
By Alvena Stanfield
1327 words

Marcella nervously wrung her hands then dialed the phone.
“Eighth Street,” the bartender answered.
“Is Gary Brickler there?”
Ignoring her question, the bartender yelled, “Gary! Hey Gary! Your ball and chain’s
calling.
After a long wait, Gary barked into the phone, “Yeah. What do you want?”
In the background she could hear someone call, “Bid or fold, Gary.”
“Oh Gary, dinner’s ready. Please come home before you blow your paycheck at the bar.”
“I earned it, didn’t I? What makes you think you can tell me what to do?”
“Not me. Your children need…..” She heard the click.
She smiled at the three small faces who were watching TV.
“Go wash your hands. Dinner’s ready. Daddy’ll be home later.”
Danny, the oldest, frowned and continued frowning. She put her arm around his
shoulders.
“Everything’ll be okay.”
“Promise?”
She nodded and scooped tomato soup into their bowls. “Anyone want a sandwich?”
Heads bobbed all ‘round. She sat with them at the table and slathered slightly stale bread
with peanut butter and strawberry jam.
The children were carrying their bowls to her at the sink when they heard the chug sound
of an old muffler followed by the slam of a car door. The children’s eyes widened. “Daddy’s
home!” The two younger ones scurried toward the front door. Danny shrank back, closer to his
mother.
She tensed her shoulders, stopped washing dishes and put Gary’s bowl of soup into the
microwave. A few stomps on the porch and then a boot kicked the door open. The two little
ones held up their arms and shouted, “Daddy! Daddy!” expecting to be picked up. Instead,
Gary ignored them.
“Marcella! Where the hell are you?
She closed her eyes, sighed and shook her head. Danny hurried out the back door and
stood peeping into the kitchen. Gary strode across the kitchen, grabbed her by both arms and
gave her a body-shake.
“Don’t you EVER embarrass me in front of my friends! I had to listen to ‘better run
home, Gary! Your boss is looking for you!’”
“The rent’s due and the groceries….”
He shoved her backward. Her spine hit the countertop. She put her hand on her back and
limped toward the microwave. She shook her head and glared.
“Your dinner’s ready.”
As she pulled the soup out of the microwave, he grabbed it out of her hand and slung it
against the refrigerator.
“Didn’t you hear what I said, Stupid!”
She stared at him. “Who are you? You’re not the man I married. That man wouldn’t
have thrown me against a cabinet.”
“Oh yeah? The woman I married didn’t look and act like a hag! Just look at you!”
She took a step backward. “We have children! You’re supposed to spend your time and
paycheck on them, not on those losers at the bar!”
“THEIR wives leave them alone.”
She leaned closer to him, jaw set, eyes flashing. “THEIR wives divorced them long
ago! Probably because they didn’t take care of their families.”
“The hell you say! You leave my buddies alone!”
She recoiled from his stale cigarette smoke and alcoholic-smelling breath. She put her
hands on her hips and said, “Fine! You can leave ME alone!”
He scowled and leaned toward her. “Ten years ago you promised to love and cherish.”
“You don’t deserve to be loved or cherished. Your children do without and you mistreat
me—all so you can waste your paycheck drinking and gambling. You don’t care. You’re no
good when you drink.”
“No good am I? Talk to me like that? I’ll teach you a lesson.” Staggering a bit, he
slowly unbuckled his belt as she made a quick exit from the kitchen, toward the living room.
Danny burst through the back door screaming, “Don’t hurt my mother! Don’t hurt her!”
Gary turned, grabbed him by the arm and tossed him onto the kitchen floor. He began
beating Danny’s skinny body with his belt. Marcella ran back into the kitchen, hovered over
Danny, taking the hits intended for the child.
“You’re an animal! Even a rat takes care of its young. You’re worse than an animal!”
she screamed, shielding Danny, pushing him toward the living room.
“An animal am I? I’ll show you what kind of animal I am!” He grabbed her by the arm
and dragged her upstairs. She clung to the steps’ handrail, resisting. He slapped her and jerked
her arm free.
“Gary! Think of the kids! They’re watching!”
He twisted her arm behind her back and shoved her into the bedroom, threw her on the
bed, ripped her clothes and dropped on her.
She glared at him, “Go ahead. Means nothing to me,” she said.
As he began thrusting, she began to count aloud. “One…, two…, three…, four...,
five....”
He stopped and brought his fist down onto her face, bloodying her nose. He rolled away
from her as she wiped the blood onto the pillow.
“Love and cherish. Pretty far away, isn’t it?” she asked him.
He put his forearm across his eyes, “You useless bitch. You’re not worth screwing.” She
lay there immobile until his deep breathing, indicated he’d passed out.
She eased out of bed, snuck around the room, changed her clothes in the dark, and slowly
opened the bedroom door. Danny sat across from the door, knees pulled up with his face resting
on them, sobbing. Marcella knelt down and wrapped her arms around his small frame.
He looked up at her, and said, “You promised everything’d be okay. You broke your
promise.” He held up his arm. A bone jutted out between his wrist and elbow.
Marcella leaned away from the child, stood up and stared upward. She squared her
shoulders. When she helped her son to his feet, the look on her face caused him to cower away
from her.
Through gritted teeth, she said, “I promise you—I promise you-- he will never hurt any
of us again.”
She helped him downstairs and said to the other children, “Go get some toys and some
clothes. We’re going to take Danny to the hospital and we might be there for a while.”
She strapped the children into their car seats and said, “I have one more thing I have to do
before we leave.”
She returned to the car, shook her hair loose and said, “Everything’s fixed. I mean—
we’ll—we’ll be fine. I promise.”
The Emergency Room was crowded. They waited for the X-rays and waited longer for
the orthopedic surgeon.
“This child’s break is too bad to set and send him home. We’ll sedate him tomorrow
morning to set it. He might have to stay a day or two.” Marcella nodded, gathered her other
two children and was at the exit when a woman hurried toward her.
“Wait up, Mrs. Brinkler. I’m the social worker for the hospital. What happened to your son?”
“My husband was drinking and lost his temper. Danny… Danny...”
“Mrs Brinkler, I’ll need your statement and I have to report him to the authorities.”
“That’s not necessary. I’ve made arrangements. I promised my children they’ll be safe
in the future.”
The social worker turned toward the desk to use the phone. Marcella took the
opportunity to usher her children out of the hospital, into her car and headed home.
Fire trucks’ and cruisers’ lights were flashing as fire engines drove slowly away from her
street. A policeman, putting up yellow caution tape approached the car. “Sorry, Ma’am, I can’t
let you through.”
“But that’s my house. I’ve been at the hospital. My little boy’s still there.”
The policeman scanned the car’s interior, saw the sleeping children in their carseats and
said, “The firemen told me to ask if you were cooking bacon.”
Marcella first glanced at the children, then, wide-eyed, put her hand over her mouth.
“Oh, I left in such a rush….my little boy….”
“Mrs. Brickler, ummm, your husband, ummm. I have some very bad news to tell you.”

Publication Date: 02-20-2010

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