If We Had 5 More Minutes

The Murderer Is In This Room Pt. Five

Fangs

Five Little Soldier Boys going through a door; One stubbed his toe and then there were four.

        Everyone was splitting up for the game and Fangs was just about to suggest they stick together, when Toni decided to run off right as they were about to begin. So instead he was left in the living room sitting like a duck for her to come back, but couldn’t help but notice when she dragged Cheryl into one of Thistlhouse's many empty rooms. He slouched into the couch not wanting to be upset but with each passing minute he grew more irritated. Fangs knew he and Toni were currently going through a rough spot, but it seemed like ever since Cheryl has come back after the comet, she’s been the cause of that tension. Toni then walked out of the room with a smile and he was just about to flag her down when she started walking in the other direction, completely forgetting about him, he then saw Cheryl leave and decided that he needed to clear some things up with her. So he followed her into the next empty room and closed the door behind him only to turn around and be met with a grinning Cheryl.

“Well, well, well Fangs Fogarty to whom do I owe this distasteful pleasure.” Cheryl asked, and Fangs stood with his hands in his serpent Jacket. He hadn’t planned this far out in his head, so instead he decided to wing it, and get straight to the point.

“Stay the hell away from Toni.”

“Pardon me.” Cheryl responded letting out an exasperated chuckle. “Sorry but no one tells Cheryl Blossom what to do, least of all someone who can barely pull their own weight in a relationship.” Cheryl hissed back, and Fangs scoffed in response, he had forgotten about Cheryl’s HBIC complex that she should have left in high school.

“Look Toni has a lot on her mind right now, and she doesn’t need you adding to it.”

“Hmm. And what exactly is it that is occupying her mind.” Cheryl countered, and Fangs was about to retaliate but he couldn’t find the words, and was left a bit speechless.
“Oh that’s right you're completely clueless, dumber than a bag of hammers. Maybe I'm not the one you need to be having this conversation with. Maybe you should go talk to your wife.” Cheryl takes a couple steps forward, coming face to face with Fangs.

“While she still is your wife, that is.” Cheryl smiled at him while she whispered in a voice only she and him would hear, winking at him as she roughly pushed past. Fangs was left in his own humiliating silence, wondering if there’s any way that could have gone any worse. He left the room and stood waiting for Toni, and when she turned around the corner, he watched the smile on her face falter and she walked closer to him.

“Why were you smiling when you left the room?” Fangs asked, trying to remain calm not wanting to create a scene.

“What?” Toni scoffed in disbelief. “What happened to ‘not being controlling’ Fangs?” Toni continued, raising her voice a bit more than she intended.  Fangs was a bit alarmed by this and looked around the empty hallway before pulling Toni in an empty room.

“Are you cheating on me?” Fangs asked in a dry tone, Fangs asked this time feeling defeated, hoping that if she was, she would just rip the bandage off. Toni simply stared back at Fangs, wide-eyed and in astonishment. Fangs felt the strings at his heart being pulled, and he was growing angrier by the minute.

“Look I’m just going to get straight to the point.” Fangs let out a sigh, and pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket, and handed it to her. He watched as she took a couple minutes to read it, and he noticed her expression shifted. Fangs watched as Toni slowly looked back up at him, waiting for a response. “I called Tabitha to ask about the night you had out with her, and she tried to cover for you, but I could tell she was lying.” Fangs continued. He’d noticed everything, he saw through Toni’s lies, but tried to ignore them, not wanting to risk the life they were just starting to build.

“I also heard Cheryl outside the window the other night, clearly you think im ‘dumber than a bag of hammers’-”

“Fangs I haven’t been cheating on you, me and Cheryl we-” Toni started. Fangs was listening with content, hoping that she could come up with something that would ease Fangs’s mind, even if it wasn't the truth.

“We’ve had some moments-”

“Some?” Fangs scoffed. “Toni we’re married.” Fangs yelled, and Toni jumped back a bit. He immediately regretted raising his voice. He looked at Toni and saw that she was looking at him the way his mother used to look at his father, and he felt disgusted with himself.

“What are we doing Toni?”  Fangs asked, his voice strained this time. “Why’d you marry me? Why did we rush into this?” He was now sitting down, elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands, rubbing his face while waiting for her response.

“Because of Anthony.” Toni let out softly with a shaky voice, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Their problems started with the custody battle, that’s when Toni asked him to marry her. Then the custody battle was dropped, and their relationship has been rocky ever since. He got up and started walking towards her, but stopped when she started walking backwards. He felt ashamed of himself for not realizing how bad their relationship had gotten, he didn’t want them to end up like his parents, he didn’t want Anthony to grow up the way he did. Feeling defeated, he simply held his hand out.

“I just want the keys Toni.” He said his voice trembled and his eyes watery. He watched her as she pulled her keys out of her serpent jacket pocket and handed them over. He left without saying another word and closed the door behind him. He had rushed down the stairs ready to leave when he bumped into kevin.

“Hey Fangs, you alright?” Kevin asked, concerned. Fangs stared back at him for a moment, in the past year they haven’t simply just grown apart, they’ve burned that bridge completely. He gripped the keys in his hand and pushed past Kevin without answering him. He looked at Reggie who was sitting down in the living room by himself, and Reggie waved at him in response. He walked over to the fireplace and threw his crumpled up piece of paper from the game in. He watched as the fire crackled and popped until the flame swallowed the paper up whole, and it was turned to ash, then he simply left.