Killing Me Softly (#Wattys2016)

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-EIGHT

When Phillip arrived home that evening to let Paula out of the bathroom, a fresh wave of tears had unleashed themselves down her already swollen face.

Phillip crossed his arms, disgust smeared across his face. Paula continued to lay crumpled across the bathroom floor like a discarded winter coat in the dead of summer.

"I would have thought you'd have this out of your system by now."

"I'm so sorry I keep disappointing you. I just, I love you so much and want to please you."

"Then why do you insist upon making things so difficult Paula? After everything I've done for you?"

Paula nodded her head as if a puppet master was pulling a string. "You've been so good to me, I know-"

"I've given you my life, given you a good life, certainly better than you would have had otherwise. And what do you do? Treat me like I mean nothing."

Paula's eyes became big watery saucers. "No, no, you're everything. My world, my reason for living."

"I gave up so much to be with you," Phillip continued, as though he hadn't heard Paula. "I had a wonderful life in Chicago. A loving wife who took care of me, a beautiful home." Phillip looked at Paula and narrowed his eyes. "And then you came along-"

Paula jammed her hands over her ears, knowing what was coming. "No please, stop it," she whimpered as her head snapped left to right.

Phillip dropped to his knees and buttoned his hands over Paula's wrists before he wrenched them down by her sides. "And then you came along and threw yourself at me, begging me to take you back, telling me how much better you were for me than she was."

"Please-!"

"And even after I told you I was devoted to my wife, you kept coming at me, pleading and whining-"

"Phillip, no!" Paula squirmed beneath Phillip's grasp, the torrent of water still spurting from her eyes.

Phillip's voice plowed through Paula's protests like a bulldozer. "And then you made her believe we were having an affair, made her want to leave me, and when that wasn't enough, you started stalking her, calling her, following her-"

"Oh, God!"

"And then you killed her! You followed her that night and you smashed that rock into her beautiful face and killed her!"

Paula let out an anguished yelp and tried again in vain to twist away from Phillip's rough grasp on her wrist and the ugly truth that had pushed past his lips.

"But I had to! I had to kill her!"

"And then because I felt sorry for you, I covered for you, kept you from going to jail, put you in the hospital instead. And all I asked in return was that you take care of me, be good to me." Repulsed, Phillip flung Paula's hands down until they hung by her sides like limp strands of spaghetti.

Paula collapsed across the edge of the tub, her tears slippery against the fiberglass. Phillip had verbalized the worst nightmare of them all. She often saw herself running after Tracy that snowy night, her feet crunching into the fresh flakes. She had finally caught up to Tracy and swung her around to face her. The two women had argued and in a rage, Paula had pushed her down onto the ground and slammed that rock into Tracy's face until she finally stopped screaming and writhing. Horrified by what she had done, Paula had called Phillip and begged him to help her. He had agreed, saying it was obvious Paula wasn't well and he would take care of everything.

And he had.

But every day Paula was reminded of what she had done. Phillip had saved her life and she was determined not to let him down.

Phillip was leaning against the doorjamb. "I think you should stay in here the rest of the night. Maybe that will teach you a lesson." For the second time that day, Phillip slammed the door shut behind him and locked it with a strident click.