Before you change the world, change your bra
And your boxers too
AUTHOR'S NOTE
It's been a minute from me. So much has been happening and truthfully, I have not been writing for a while. Am I back? Only time will tell. In the meantime, tell a friend about us.
Photo Credit: Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash
You could cut the tension with a knife as both parties stared at each other unblinking.
“What did you just say to me?” He asked. His shoulder rising to full height. She is unimpressed.
“I said, I don't know how much longer I can do this”.
He blinks. She sighs and gestures around the plush living room.
“You focus on all the wrong things, Mark. Your family needs you more than we need your money”.
He takes a step back as though her words had the power to push him back.
“My money is your money. I make it so you never have to worry”.
She raises her hands in surrender.
“That may have been the case 10, 12 years ago but we have long passed that hurdle. Our needs have changed. My needs have changed”.
She paces back and forth running her hands through her hair.
“I can't do this anymore. You are too busy changing the world, you've forgotten to change your boxers. I can't keep waiting for you to act right”.
He takes a step forward arms pleading.
“I love you. I want what you …”
The unmistakable ring of his phone cuts through the heavy atmosphere. She snatches the phone off the table and picks it with a tense hello.
“No he can't come into the hospital. Dr Mark can't come to the phone right now. He is too busy changing his boxers. The world can wait a few more minutes, I have certainly been waiting long enough”. She switches off his phone with an angry huff.
“Tamuno, was that really necessary?”
“Yes. Yes, it was. This is the first time in months, months that I am seeing my husband, I have to take drastic measures. I can't keep waiting for you to remember to put me first”. He smiles indulgently and drops his voice an octave lower. Filtered sunlight highlights the grey in his hair and she is momentarily distracted as he smiles, the same smile she fell for all those years ago.
“You know I have no one else my Tamuno. You are number one. My only one”. She shakes her head vehemently as though reminding herself.
“That may have been true years ago but that hasn't been true for a long time, Mark. Do you know what I think? I think you feel guilty about retiring so you have filled your life with all these causes to make up for it. You run around playing hero all the time and I never get to see you. I thought we were to grow old together? We chose not to have children because you said to me that we were enough for one another. Somewhere along the line, I stopped being enough for you …”
His voice shook.
“Don't. Don't even say that. You are everything. More than everything”. She sits and looks away in despair. She doesn't bother to wipe her tears as she doesn't know they are there.
“Why then did you leave me? Why am I alone?” She whispers. He sits beside her, wrapping his arms around her.
“Remember when you took that UN job in Paraguay?” Her heart beats a mile a minute. She remembers and everything comes rushing back in a flash.
The fights.
How she took the Paraguay job out of spite.
How he kept begging her to spend more time at home.
Their last fight over the phone when he asked her to change her bra before changing the world.
The plane crash she took for granted as she mounted the stage to deliver a solution to the committee on Human Rights.
Discovering her husband was on that flight to see her.
As always, when she gets to this point, she slips back into unconsciousness maybe for the last time.