“I’ll always bring home the bacon,” he had said as he carried in bags filled with hamburger meat, milk, eggs, and the sugary cereal the kids love. This was only 4 years ago, but it seemed like forever to her. 2009 had been their worst year yet. They had spent most of it eating bologna sandwiches, switching to tuna when they got sick of bologna and then back again.
Even this would seem like a gourmet meal to them now. He refused to let her take a job, said it was a matter of pride. An odd sentiment from a man that smoked pot and played video games all day while collecting a meager unemployment check. “ Where was the pride in that?” she thought.
She was sure the children were losing weight., and their skin had taken on a grayish color.
They gave away free food at the mission on Fridays. You had to get there at 7:30 in the morning and it took most of the day to get through the lines. Too many times she had come home to find the baby still in the same diaper she had on that morning., crying and grabbing at the stinging rash in her crotch. Why couldn’t he even change her diaper?
Her mother had sent them fifty dollars for groceries so, she sent him to the store with a list. An hour and a half later he had returned with a loaf of day old bread and the latest video game.
This was what tore it for her.
She would not stand by and watch her children starve any longer.
That night after the children had fallen asleep with their tummies barely satisfied she went to the garage and got the axe. She had done this in her head many times before. She would swing the axe over her head and bring it down as hard as she could, burying it to the hilt, into his beloved game console. That would fix his ass alright.
He hadn’t showered in days and she could smell him from four feet away. He lay there sleeping on the couch, his bed these days, and wallowed in his own filth like the pig he had become. He gave off a snorting sound and rolled onto his side, and when he did the baggie fell from his pocket. Disbelief ran through her, “How could he buy dope when their children ate day old bread and ketchup for dinner?”
She stood there silent, the axe held down by her side, looking at his sleeping face. His mouth, slightly opened to allow the snore an escape, reminded her of the pleasure he used to give her. Despite his odor he was still handsome. She decided that she wouldn’t destroy his game console after all.
***
The next morning the smell of meat permeated the entire house. Sweet and savory, the smell alone was enough to wake the kids. Their tiny bodies were so starved for nutrition that they practically ran to the kitchen.
“Mommy, what’s that smell, are we having meat today?”
“We sure are baby”, she said “bacon.”
©2009 Kate Michaels
Kate lives and eats bacon in northern Florida with her family, but will tell anyone who asks that she is a proud Texan . She is an aspiring horror and sci-fi writer with various works at different stages of production.
December 18th, 2009 at 12:18 am
No actual spouses were harmed, I’m told…….right, Kate?
December 18th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Whoa, the new breakfast meat. Uh, make mine pancakes, please. Twisted good.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:03 am
I assure you that my husband is alive and well……….for now.lol
December 19th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Twisted. A bit too close to reality, but that’s what gives it its sting. Nicely done.
October 20th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Very nice Kate!
I don’t see this as ‘horror’ … more like down-to-earth humour.
Most enjoyable.
My husband is well aware that I have never considered divorce, but frequently murder!