when is tomorrow chpt. 3 - marilyn
February
I could have sworn all was happy in Haner Land now. It had been almost a full month since the first Haner dinner, and I was looking forward to tomorrow's dinner. Everything was going great, though. I was so happy since there wasn't any trace of Brian's attitude from the previous Sunday.
"Hello, Pumpkin!" I greeted him at the front door with a gigantic smile. I held my toothpick arms out to him for a hug, and he fell right into them. "How is everything at Warner?" I took his coat and hung it up underneath the stairs in the closet. Some would say that I was what one would call a ‘mothering girlfriend’. I just knew my way to a man's heart, even though I already had it, erm, most of his.
"It was great, really." Brian didn't even give me a second glance, but I was used to this. It had happened ever since we broke up for the second time.
"They just had some paperwork we needed to sign, and then we all went out to lunch. Larry was there, you know, the usual, really. All that jazz." He gave a slight smile and then turned back to me. “What’s new, Ocean Blue?” Brian draped an arm around my neck and kissed the side of my head.
When he called me Ocean Blue, it was as if he was a different person; the man I honestly fell in love with. He called me Ocean Blue because the blueness of my eyes reminded him of the Pacific Ocean we stared at every night before we went to bed. He told me he had lost himself in my eyes so many times, that there was a spark that ignited every time we made eye contact, that he loved me. Where had all that gone? Not only did he get lost in my eyes, his feelings were washed away by my waves of fury.
“Ocean Blue,” I repeated, letting the name marinate in my mouth, so I could get used to it again. He hadn’t called me that in so long. I almost forgot that nick-name of mine existed. What possessed him to call me that? Brian was definitely not himself today.
“Oh, nothing’s new. I just cleaned up around the house and, you know, went to go pay some bills. Oh, the T-Mobile bill is like a thousand dollars or something. I told you we should the unlimited internet instead of paying by the second, stupid.” I laughed slightly, hoping he’d pick up on the silly joke, but he just stared. “Or not, I mean, we can keep paying two grand a month, Brian, it’s not burnin’ a hole in my pocket.”
Smooth move, Marilyn, fuck.
“You know what? I think we should just drop all of this, okay.” Brian nodded and stomped up the stairs. “Call me down when dinner’s ready. I’ll be upstairs trying to put in some orders for more shirts.”
A couple of hours later, I went upstairs to check on him and bring him something to eat. Setting down a plate of chicken pot pie next to the computer, I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. “You still alive, baby?” I looked at him and then the computer. He was surfing the web for more clothes that he didn’t need on an Affliction website.
“Mhm,” he mumbled and practically brushed me away. “Thanks,” he had yet to acknowledge the steaming pot pie, but he did let it be known that… “I told you never to bring food in the computer room, Marilyn.” He got close to my face, and I could smell the Jack on his breath.
“Well, I wasn’t going to call you down if you weren’t going to eat it. I know how picky you are, babe. So, I thought to myself, ‘Why not treat Brian? He’s been working hard, right?’ ” I stretched my hand across the keyboard and scooped up the plate. “I can just take it back downstairs, alright? It’s not that big of a deal…” I wasn’t being fucking hostile or anything; I was just being the caring person I was, and he wanted to practically spit in my face for it.
Cursing myself under my breath, I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry if he did decide he was going to be a jerk for the next few days. Taking deep breaths, I left the plate of food on the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen, hearing my phone vibrate on the counter. At this same time, Brian was walking down the stairs, noticing the food on the table. “You can’t even fucking clean up after yourself.” Walking into the kitchen, he threw away the food - plate and all - into the big trash outside on the patio.
“Wha-“ I stopped, hearing John’s voice on the other end.
“Marilyn… Marilyn, you have to call someone, Marilyn. You have to come over to your sister’s house.” The line was immediately dead. There was no trace of any playfulness in John’s voice. It was as if he was being serious for once. Was it even possible?
“Brian,” I called to him in the kitchen as I grabbed my keys from the rack. “I have to go. John’s over at my sister’s house, and I think something’s wrong.” I honestly thought, at the tone of voice John had, something was wrong with my five year old niece, Gracelyn.
“Yeah, right,” Brian said and drunkenly stumbled into the living room, holding an empty bottle of whiskey in his hand. He stood in front of me and attempted to grab my keys from me. “You’re probably going to fuck him, right?! My own fucking brother….just go ahead, Marilyn. Throw everything we have away, okay?”
“SHUT UP! I can’t believe you would say something like that!” I slapped Brian across the face, watching his head snap to the other side. He deserved everything I dished out to him that night. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to say all of that. John even told him we hadn’t even done much of anything; all we did was talk.
I ran to the door, wishing I didn’t slap him in the first place. I really tried to get away, but he was too quick. Grabbing my hair, he pulled me to him.
“Stop it, please!” I turned around, hair still in his head, and pounded at his chest. “Let go of me, Brian! I have to go, I really have to go.” I raised my leg up to knee him in the stomach since he wouldn’t let me go. Hearing the bottle shatter on the floor, I frantically searched for my keys. He had my keys, and I couldn’t take his truck since his truck was in front of my car. Oh, shit. Fuck, man. What the hell is going on? Someone wake me up from this fucking nightmare…
But when I realized that he was pulling me down with him onto the broken glass, I panicked. I felt helpless as he hovered over my body, but all I could feel were shards of glass in my lower back. “Stop,” I gasped for breath, but he just picked me up and pinned me to the nearest wall. My small hands grasped his wrists and squeezed hard on them. “Just let me go!” Thankfully, the phone started to ring, distracting Brian for just a few seconds.
“Stay here….better yet,” he pulled me with him over to the phone. Oh, he wasn’t going to get to the phone if I had a say in it. I sank my teeth into his wrist. “I told you to let go of me,” I kicked him in the shins and watched him fall to his knees.
He took me down with him, smothering me, leaving me helpless. Oh, no… No, no, no, no “NO!!” I started to kick at him, but my feet were somewhat stuck underneath his legs. “Get off,” I swung my arms around him, repeatedly knocking him in the face until he bled from his lip. “Get the hell off,” I broke free, wiping my mouth with my arm, realizing, somehow, I was bleeding. Grabbing my purse and my keys, I left Brian on the floor, apparently passed out from the fighting and the bottle of whiskey he downed all by himself. What a big boy he was. What a stupid fucking boy he was.
Ten minutes later, I rounded the corner at my sister’s house. I could see John’s car, but that was the only thing I could actually see, the rest was drowned out by the flashes of the ambulances, police cars, and fire trunks.
“Oh, fuck, John,” I got out, not even bothering to turn off my car. “John, where are you?!” I looked around, spinning in circles, making my headache even worse. I had totally forgotten about the pain that screamed from my back. “Johnny…” I said before I just stood there in total silence.
“Mar,” he came up from behind me, noticing my blood soaked shirt. “Oh, my God,” he mumbled and let me bury my face into his shoulder. “Um, little Grace is fine, but…”
“But?” I looked at him and let my lip habitually quiver.
“…Ven’s been murdered.”
My world completely fell apart.
I could have sworn all was happy in Haner Land now. It had been almost a full month since the first Haner dinner, and I was looking forward to tomorrow's dinner. Everything was going great, though. I was so happy since there wasn't any trace of Brian's attitude from the previous Sunday.
"Hello, Pumpkin!" I greeted him at the front door with a gigantic smile. I held my toothpick arms out to him for a hug, and he fell right into them. "How is everything at Warner?" I took his coat and hung it up underneath the stairs in the closet. Some would say that I was what one would call a ‘mothering girlfriend’. I just knew my way to a man's heart, even though I already had it, erm, most of his.
"It was great, really." Brian didn't even give me a second glance, but I was used to this. It had happened ever since we broke up for the second time.
"They just had some paperwork we needed to sign, and then we all went out to lunch. Larry was there, you know, the usual, really. All that jazz." He gave a slight smile and then turned back to me. “What’s new, Ocean Blue?” Brian draped an arm around my neck and kissed the side of my head.
When he called me Ocean Blue, it was as if he was a different person; the man I honestly fell in love with. He called me Ocean Blue because the blueness of my eyes reminded him of the Pacific Ocean we stared at every night before we went to bed. He told me he had lost himself in my eyes so many times, that there was a spark that ignited every time we made eye contact, that he loved me. Where had all that gone? Not only did he get lost in my eyes, his feelings were washed away by my waves of fury.
“Ocean Blue,” I repeated, letting the name marinate in my mouth, so I could get used to it again. He hadn’t called me that in so long. I almost forgot that nick-name of mine existed. What possessed him to call me that? Brian was definitely not himself today.
“Oh, nothing’s new. I just cleaned up around the house and, you know, went to go pay some bills. Oh, the T-Mobile bill is like a thousand dollars or something. I told you we should the unlimited internet instead of paying by the second, stupid.” I laughed slightly, hoping he’d pick up on the silly joke, but he just stared. “Or not, I mean, we can keep paying two grand a month, Brian, it’s not burnin’ a hole in my pocket.”
Smooth move, Marilyn, fuck.
“You know what? I think we should just drop all of this, okay.” Brian nodded and stomped up the stairs. “Call me down when dinner’s ready. I’ll be upstairs trying to put in some orders for more shirts.”
A couple of hours later, I went upstairs to check on him and bring him something to eat. Setting down a plate of chicken pot pie next to the computer, I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. “You still alive, baby?” I looked at him and then the computer. He was surfing the web for more clothes that he didn’t need on an Affliction website.
“Mhm,” he mumbled and practically brushed me away. “Thanks,” he had yet to acknowledge the steaming pot pie, but he did let it be known that… “I told you never to bring food in the computer room, Marilyn.” He got close to my face, and I could smell the Jack on his breath.
“Well, I wasn’t going to call you down if you weren’t going to eat it. I know how picky you are, babe. So, I thought to myself, ‘Why not treat Brian? He’s been working hard, right?’ ” I stretched my hand across the keyboard and scooped up the plate. “I can just take it back downstairs, alright? It’s not that big of a deal…” I wasn’t being fucking hostile or anything; I was just being the caring person I was, and he wanted to practically spit in my face for it.
Cursing myself under my breath, I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry if he did decide he was going to be a jerk for the next few days. Taking deep breaths, I left the plate of food on the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen, hearing my phone vibrate on the counter. At this same time, Brian was walking down the stairs, noticing the food on the table. “You can’t even fucking clean up after yourself.” Walking into the kitchen, he threw away the food - plate and all - into the big trash outside on the patio.
“Wha-“ I stopped, hearing John’s voice on the other end.
“Marilyn… Marilyn, you have to call someone, Marilyn. You have to come over to your sister’s house.” The line was immediately dead. There was no trace of any playfulness in John’s voice. It was as if he was being serious for once. Was it even possible?
“Brian,” I called to him in the kitchen as I grabbed my keys from the rack. “I have to go. John’s over at my sister’s house, and I think something’s wrong.” I honestly thought, at the tone of voice John had, something was wrong with my five year old niece, Gracelyn.
“Yeah, right,” Brian said and drunkenly stumbled into the living room, holding an empty bottle of whiskey in his hand. He stood in front of me and attempted to grab my keys from me. “You’re probably going to fuck him, right?! My own fucking brother….just go ahead, Marilyn. Throw everything we have away, okay?”
“SHUT UP! I can’t believe you would say something like that!” I slapped Brian across the face, watching his head snap to the other side. He deserved everything I dished out to him that night. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to say all of that. John even told him we hadn’t even done much of anything; all we did was talk.
I ran to the door, wishing I didn’t slap him in the first place. I really tried to get away, but he was too quick. Grabbing my hair, he pulled me to him.
“Stop it, please!” I turned around, hair still in his head, and pounded at his chest. “Let go of me, Brian! I have to go, I really have to go.” I raised my leg up to knee him in the stomach since he wouldn’t let me go. Hearing the bottle shatter on the floor, I frantically searched for my keys. He had my keys, and I couldn’t take his truck since his truck was in front of my car. Oh, shit. Fuck, man. What the hell is going on? Someone wake me up from this fucking nightmare…
But when I realized that he was pulling me down with him onto the broken glass, I panicked. I felt helpless as he hovered over my body, but all I could feel were shards of glass in my lower back. “Stop,” I gasped for breath, but he just picked me up and pinned me to the nearest wall. My small hands grasped his wrists and squeezed hard on them. “Just let me go!” Thankfully, the phone started to ring, distracting Brian for just a few seconds.
“Stay here….better yet,” he pulled me with him over to the phone. Oh, he wasn’t going to get to the phone if I had a say in it. I sank my teeth into his wrist. “I told you to let go of me,” I kicked him in the shins and watched him fall to his knees.
He took me down with him, smothering me, leaving me helpless. Oh, no… No, no, no, no “NO!!” I started to kick at him, but my feet were somewhat stuck underneath his legs. “Get off,” I swung my arms around him, repeatedly knocking him in the face until he bled from his lip. “Get the hell off,” I broke free, wiping my mouth with my arm, realizing, somehow, I was bleeding. Grabbing my purse and my keys, I left Brian on the floor, apparently passed out from the fighting and the bottle of whiskey he downed all by himself. What a big boy he was. What a stupid fucking boy he was.
Ten minutes later, I rounded the corner at my sister’s house. I could see John’s car, but that was the only thing I could actually see, the rest was drowned out by the flashes of the ambulances, police cars, and fire trunks.
“Oh, fuck, John,” I got out, not even bothering to turn off my car. “John, where are you?!” I looked around, spinning in circles, making my headache even worse. I had totally forgotten about the pain that screamed from my back. “Johnny…” I said before I just stood there in total silence.
“Mar,” he came up from behind me, noticing my blood soaked shirt. “Oh, my God,” he mumbled and let me bury my face into his shoulder. “Um, little Grace is fine, but…”
“But?” I looked at him and let my lip habitually quiver.
“…Ven’s been murdered.”
My world completely fell apart.