| SNA | Date: Monday, 2011/06/27, 6:44 PM | Message # 1 |
 Curtain Jerker
Group: EWA Roster
Messages: 63
Status: Offline
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Greg stepped into his ex-wife's house and carefully slipped each cowboy boot off, because the last time he trapsed them bastards through the kitchen she'd hollered at him for over an hour while she cleaned it all up. He sat there and listened to all of it too, because he knew he'd fucked up. This time he didn't make the same mistake. And there Kate was again, stirring a pot of something that smelled real good on the stove. He snuck up and placed a kiss on her cheek and she sank back against him for a moment with a smile before moving back to the stove.
"Hi darlin'." Greg whispered.
"Hi Greg. Have a seat. I'm almost done here." She spoke with a soft drawl. Greg obliged and had a seat at the kitchen table, politely removing his hat and placing it on the table next to him. Maybe not polite enough. Kate watched him, and then turned and took his hat off the table, hanging it on the rack next to the back door that led to the sun room.
"Yeah, I'm an animal. And that smells real good." Greg leaned back in the seat a bit and just looked at her. Lord, she was just as pretty as she'd been twenty years ago.
No.
Prettier. The lines on her face were becoming more defined but Greg found in recent years that he liked that in a woman. All the young tarts that hung around with Nick and at the bars could kiss his ass. She was the real deal. After Kate finished up on the stove she scooped them each some stew into a bowl and put them both on the table, finally taking a seat. Greg spooned some into his mouth and closed his eyes as he chewed.
"Mmm. Really. Terrific."
"Liar," She smirked at him when she said that. "you're just tryin' to get up my skirt."
"Is that'd all it take? Really?"
"Depends on my mood."
Greg chuckled but didn't push it. "How's Sandra?"
"You haven't talked to her?"
"Not in a while, no."
"Well....she's just fine, Greg. About to start her last semester in the Fall. Is everything okay with you two?"
"If it wasn't I'm sure she'd tell ya."
"We don't talk about you much."
Greg went quiet for a moment, and took a sip of ice tea before speaking again.
"Kinda like I don't exist, huh?"
"Don't get all sensitive." She smiled sweetly and continued eating very daintily, never speaking with her mouth full. "Shes' a busy girl. I haven't talked to her much lately either."
"But you've talked to her. I ain't heard a word in a couple months now."
"Did you actually try calling her?"
"Once."
"Well, I think you should both put a little more effort into it."
"Hey I been tryin' for a long time. She's the one that gave up on me. A long time ago."
"You were never around, Greg. What did you expect?"
"A little fucking respect." Greg sucked his lips in but couldn't take back what he said. Kate stared at him and set her spoon down with a loud clank.
"Let's just drop it."
"No. I been hearin' that whole....'you was never around' shit for years. I've been around for the past eight now, at least. And when I wasn't I was workin' to support our family. Do you know..."
Greg trailed off. He saw in Kate's eyes the tired, worn out look from having this conversation a hundred times over the years and just settled back in his seat. She was right, and he knew it, and he felt ashamed. Kate took pity on him for once.
"I'm sorry."
"Naw, I'm sorry." Greg gnawed at the corner of his mouth, and after a moment the two continued eating in relative silence until they were done.
Later, the ramblin' man sat on her porch swing with a cigarette clamped between stained fingers thinking long in the dimming sunlight of the afternoon. Kate came out and sat next to him with two bottles of Bud Light.
"Here you go. Your new favorite, right?"
"Uh huh. Thank you." Greg smiled and lifted his arm away from her so that the smoke wouldn't fly in her face. He twisted the cap of his bottle off and stared out over the expansve of her solitary front yard.
"Remember when we used to fight because you were here too much?"
Greg laughed. "Yeah. We didn't have a dime and I was stuck home without a job until I started wrestlin'. The good ol' days." They clinked beers. Kate slinked over a bit closer. Greg flicked his cigarette and wrapped his arm around her. She let herself sag against him again, lifting her feet up on the swing.
"I miss you, most days." she said quietly. "I miss what we used to have."
"Things change."
"So you get to be the strong one. That's fair."
"It's just....the reality of the situation, I suppose." Greg snorted. "I'd love to pick up where we left off. Hell I look more forward to Sunday's than any other day now."
"Small steps, right?" She looked up at him with her gray eyes. Greg brushed a bit of her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead lightly. Before he could answer his cell went off. He slipped it out of his crusty blazer and glanced at the screen before hitting ignore. Kate sat up off of him as soon as she'd gotten comfortable.
"That was him?" she looked at him while tying her hair up behind her head.
"Yeah."
"Still can't believe you went back. To the business, I mean." She hesitated. "Maybe I meant him too."
"He is my friend and all."
"Loyal to a fault. Sometimes I wonder why."
Kate barely glanced at him as she stood up, smiling faintly on her way back into the house. Greg watched her go while lighting another cigarette, squinting out at the rolling green mounds of lawn that seemed to go on forever, just like some other things that he could think of right now.
The most dangerous man that you haven't even met yet.
SNA is GOD.
Message edited by SNA - Monday, 2011/06/27, 8:14 PM |
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