Amnesty | Book 4

e l e v e n

BRUCE
One Month Later
"Can I have a cookie?"

Britney asked me as she walked up behind me, watching me pull cookies from out of the pack. I looked back at her and smiled.

The fact that she was talking was a good thing. I was trying to teach her some bigger words here and there and it all seemed to be paying off.

I had work in about an hour and I always got nervous around this time. Leaving Tereny at home alone with the kids always made me nervous. I often called her mother over, but me and Ms. Ana thought it was time to allow for Tereny to have the kids to herself now. She seemed well enough to watch them on her on.

I kinda had faith that things would go alright. She was taking her meds carefully and keep busy with things. Things seemed to be going alright.

I wish I could say that about our marriage. Honestly, Tereny is sleeping upstairs while I'm always either downstairs or in the guest bedroom. I figured giving her some space was what was needed. But it seems like I've given her too much space.

We barely talk. And when we do, it's never a deep discussion. I can honestly say that I'm afraid that we're just falling apart and there's nothing we can do to get it back to the way it used to be.

I just feel like I was living in this house alone. And I guess I was the one to blame. After all, it's all me who didn't know how to react to her when she first came home. Maybe if I would've had a different approach, things would be different.

I handed Britney a cookie and looked to up to find Tereny coming into the kitchen with a laundry basket in her hands. She didn't bother to look at me. Instead, she walked pass me and Britney as if we weren't standing there.

Britten was wobbling in behind her moments later. I just sucked in air and stuffed a chocolate chip cookie in my mouth, putting the cookies back.

I looked back down at Britney who was crunching on her cookie and standing there in hopes of getting another cookie. I walked away from her and just walked to the stairs to head up there to finish getting dressed for work.

Making it up stairs, there was laundry all over the floor. I decided to just leave them there and started looking for a clean shirt in the drawer to put on. The thing is, laundry hasn't been done in a while and I was running out of shit to wear. And I could've done laundry on my own but didn't. That was my fault. And I assume Tereny's running out of things which is why she's now doing laundry.

I found a white shirt to put on and looked in the mirror to make sure it wasn't completely wrinkled. I didn't feel like ironing.

When I finished examining the shirt in the mirror, I walked to the closet and grabbed some shoes to put on and walked over to the bed to sit down. Just as I was putting on my shoes, Tereny came back into the room with the empty laundry basket. She picked up more clothes from the floor and completely filled up the basket.

I watched her as she struggled to pick up the basket due to all the clothes. When it seemed like the basket was winning, I stood to my feet and walked over to her. I picked up the laundry basket and walked out of the room with it, taking it downstairs and into the laundry room for her.

She followed behind me every step of the way. I set the clothes onto the floor and turned around to see her standing there. She always gave me this blank look that was just hard to read and it angered me that I could never tell how she was feeling.

"Thanks." She spoke just before looking down. That was her way of saying that she didn't have nothing else to say.

"You welcome." I tell her.

She was blocking the door so I couldn't just walk out. She just stood there, looking down. I didn't know if she was gonna continue standing there or if she was gonna move. Part of me just wanted her to move.