The Language I Spoke Yesterday

Kidnapped

Shing~

Crash

Chiiun

Bowls, plates, silverware.

I threw everything on the floor.

Glass shattered. Spoons and forks bounced off the walls.

Everything flew off the counter, flung over my shoulder with reckless abandon.

"Enough!"

I froze, tears spilling down my cheeks. My teeth were clenched so hard it made my jaw ache. He was home. I lowered the cup back to the dirty counter. My shoulders were shaking. The way the apartment was designed, we couldn't see each other. I was hidden behind the wall separating the kitchen from the living room.

The front door closed.

Between us was a floor of shattered glass. Shards of our lives I had carefully constructed, now a sharp, painful awakening.

"What hell, Andromeda?"

"I can't do this anymore." I heard myself say. My voice was flat and grey, not betraying the stinging array of unnamable emotions I felt.

He sighed. "I'm sorry I forgot to do the dishes." He walked up to the edge of the glittering mess, now able to see me around the corner. "I didn't think it was a big deal."

A small squeak escaped me, a sound made by a quick puff of air through my nose.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, more emphatically. "I was running late, and I just thought I'd do them when I got home."

The first squeak was followed by a few others, until it turned into disturbing, high pitched giggles. I had to hold onto the sink to stay upright. "You think this is about the dishes? The dishes I asked you to do last week?"

I could almost hear his frown. "I did them last week."

"I did them last week!" My voice strained, still to high pitched and unnatural. "I did them yesterday and the day before and the week before!"

He gave another sigh. "I do the cooking."

"Sometimes." I relented. "But you never clean up no matter whether you cooked for me or for Tyler or just yourself. You just leave it and wait."

"When it gets bad, I clean it." He laughed. As if this was funny.

"No, you don't." I snapped, clenching my fingers around the cheap plastic sink. "You wait until I can't take it, and then I do it. And then it's always, 'I was getting there', or 'I forgot'." I shook my head. "And who vacuums? And does all the laundry? Who pays the bills?"

He shook his head. "We share the bills. I gave you 500 beri yesterday."

"Five hundred beri!" I was practically shrieking. "Isn't half of what I paid for water and electricity this month!"

"It's fine. I can give you more money."

I heaved a shuddering sigh. "You don't even understand why I'm angry."

"No." He agreed, sounding ever so patient. "I thought this was all taken care of. I said I'd do the dishes, and I gave you money. If you're not happy with that, I'll get you more."

"I... You..." I couldn't articulate. 1,200 beri for water and electricity. 9,000 beri for rent. 4,000 beri for food. He needed the best food. Nothing processed or preserved. And he couldn't be cold, so the heater ran all winter.

And what did he pay?

500 beri.

I clean, shop, pay, and spread my legs for him.