I pulled into the driveway and recognized Jake’s BMW parked in front of the garage. I’d finished a job a day early and decided to surprise my wife, Alice. I put my hand on the hood of his car. It was warm.
He hadn’t been here long. I walked into the house and saw them sitting close on the couch. Alice was wearing a short black dress that flashed a lot of skin. The air was thick with cigarette smoke, a smell that had been missing from our home for nearly two years since we quit together.
“Tom, you’re home,” Alice said, standing up. Jake smirked at me. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. ”
“We finished early,” I said.
“What’s going on here? ”
“Jake was just taking me out to dinner,” Alice said. I turned to Jake. “I’m home now.
I think you should leave. ”
“And if I don’t? ”
“Then I’ll kick you out of my house. You might be my boss at work, but not here.
”
He chuckled and looked at Alice. She said softly, “I think you should leave now, Jake. ”
Jake hesitated, then grabbed his things. Before he left, he threatened me.
He said his uncle was on the board, and he could have my job and John’s. He reminded me I was supposed to be in Jonesboro on Sunday. Then he turned to Alice and said, “I’ll talk with you later. ”
I confronted Alice once the door closed.
“Are you sleeping with him? ”
She didn’t answer. She just looked down at the floor. “You are, aren’t you?
How long has this been going on? ”
“A while, Tom. Damn it, you’re never home,” she said. “Because that jerk keeps sending me out of town!
Surely you knew what he was doing. How could you be so blind? How many times have you been with him in our bed? ”
“I don’t know.
I haven’t counted. ”
I took a breath. “Have you fallen in love with him? ”
“A bit, I’m afraid.
But I still love you. I just wish you were home. ”
“This means we’re getting a divorce,” I said. “There’s no way I can put up with this.
”
“Please, Tom, don’t. I don’t want a divorce,” she pleaded. “So what, you want to have him when I’m gone and me when I get home? Is that the plan?
”
She started crying. I told her I’d be getting a motel room and that I’d come by the next day to pick up my things. I warned her not to bring him back into the house before the divorce was final. “I understand,” she whispered, tears falling.
I stormed upstairs. I found ashtrays filled with butts on both nightstands. The room reeked of smoke. I packed a suitcase, walked back downstairs, took off my wedding ring, and tossed it on the table in front of her.
“I won’t be needing that anymore. ”
Then I walked out. That was a few days ago. I’d been having nightmares ever since, vivid ones where I killed them both with shotguns, machine guns, grenades.
I was a Marine for four years, and I’d never fired a weapon in anger. But every night, I woke up in a cold sweat, imagining the worst. The morning after the confrontation, I went to see John Carlson, my boss’s boss, and told him everything. John gave me the day off and told me not to worry about Jake.
I went by the house that afternoon while Alice was at work and gathered more of my belongings, including my guns and computer. And I found something I’d forgotten. A small container of CS training tablets. Tear gas.
I’d used them in the gas chamber during my time in the Marines. I opened a couple of capsules and sprinkled the powder into the ashtrays in the bedroom. I also sprinkled some on the bottom sheets of the bed and the pillows, then carefully made the bed again. If they decided to enjoy a cigarette after their little session, they’d be in for a surprise.
I rented a storage unit, stashed my stuff, and met with a divorce lawyer named Lisa Hawkins. She explained the process and told me to go over Jake’s head with HR at Empire Tech. I paid her retainer, cancelled our joint credit card, withdrew half of our bank account, and opened one in my name only. That evening, my phone rang.
It was Alice. “You son of a bitch, what did you do to the house? ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. ”
“Yes you do!
We can’t even use the bedroom! ”
Jake got on the line. “God damn it, Tom, the whole place is a gas chamber! What did you do?
”
“What are you doing in my bed with my wife, you jerk? ”
He threatened me. I told him I’d pass his little threat on to John and my attorney, and I hung up. I smiled to myself.
Something told me they wouldn’t be using that bed that night. I slept in late the next day. I was having breakfast at an IHOP when Alice slid into the booth across from me. “How did you sleep?
” I asked. “I think you know. ”
“What do you want, Alice? ”
“I want to talk about us.
”
“There is no us anymore. ”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just lonely. ”
“And you think I wasn’t?
I had a lawyer draw up divorce papers. You should be served next week. ”
“But I don’t want a divorce. ”
“And I don’t want a cheating woman for a wife.
I’m letting you keep the house. And your credit card doesn’t work anymore. ”
She asked again what I’d done to the house. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about.
Then she told me what happened. She and Jake were smoking in the bedroom, and right after they put out their cigarettes, they both started burning, coughing, and their eyes and noses wouldn’t stop running. “Well, I guess you won’t be smoking in the bedroom anymore,” I said. She asked if we could at least part as friends.
“Friends? You did the worst possible thing you could do to someone you claim to love. You betrayed my trust and broke my heart with my boss, in my house, in my bed. And you have the nerve to ask if we can be friends?
It’s taking everything I have right now to keep from killing you with my bare hands. ”
Her face turned white. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Don’t you have any feelings for me at all?
”
“I used to love you with all my heart. And as much as I loved you, that’s how much I hate you right now. And you’d better tell Jake, if he messes with me, I’ll rip his toy off and feed it to the dogs. ”
She grabbed her purse and left.
I watched her drive away and finished my breakfast. The divorce papers were served to her at work on Wednesday. She called me, humiliated, and I didn’t hold back. I also got a threatening email from Jake, which I forwarded to John.
John wrote back saying not to worry—Jake would be gone by the end of the week. I left for Jonesboro that Sunday for a customer job, which is why, on Thursday morning, I was nearly 300 miles from home when I turned on the radio and heard the news. “An explosion tore off the second story of an old farmhouse on Old Mill Road late Wednesday night. Firefighters responded, but were unable to control the blaze.
Two persons were pulled from the house. One was pronounced dead at the scene. ”
Old Mill Road. That was my road.
That was my house. I swung by. What I found was smoking rubble. The only thing standing was the brick fireplace.
Alice’s car and Jake’s BMW were parked by the shop. A firefighter stopped me. I showed him my license. “This is my house.
I’ve been in Jonesboro. What happened? ”
“Explosion late last night. A woman was pulled out with pretty bad burns.
She was taken to the burn center at the hospital. The other person didn’t make it. ”
I nodded. I knew then it was Jake, and I felt nothing.
I went to the hospital and learned Alice had second and third degree burns covering more than half her body. They had her sedated. I gave them my insurance information and went back to my motel room. I cried that night.
I couldn’t tell you why. Maybe for the years we had, before any of this. But the hatred I’d been carrying was mostly gone. John called me the next day.
Jake had died in the explosion. The board had already decided to fire him, but now it was moot. John offered me Jake’s job. I took it.
It came with more money and almost no travel. A few days later, the hospital called. Alice was awake and could talk. I walked into her room.
She was wrapped in bandages, barely recognizable. “What happened? ” I asked. She spoke slowly, her voice cracked.
“We went out Wednesday night. When we got back, I asked Jake to turn on the fireplace. ”
“I told you to keep the gas shut off until the insert was replaced. ”
“Jake saw the pilot was out.
He turned the gas on and lit a match. Then there was a loud boom, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. ”
“That’s why I shut the gas off. I told you it was too dangerous.
”
“I guess I forgot. ”
“Jake is dead now,” I said. She started crying. “And the house is demolished.
Just like our marriage. ”
“I really messed everything up, didn’t I? ”
“Yes, you did. ”
She asked what would happen to her.
I told her she’d likely need skin grafts and that it would be expensive. I added that I’d keep her on my insurance until she got through it, but the divorce would go through. “Do you still hate me? ” she asked.
“Not as much as before. But I still don’t like you very much. ”
“Thank you for the insurance, Tom. And I hope you learned your lesson.
”
“What’s that? ”
“If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. ”
I walked out. The insurance company came through for me.
After the mortgage was paid, there wasn’t much left. I wasn’t going to rebuild. Alice and I agreed to sell the property and split the proceeds. The divorce went through in sixty days.
I found an apartment, moved my stuff, and started seeing a counselor—John’s wife, Dr. Rose Carlson. She helped me work through my anger. Alice stayed in the hospital for a long while.
She went through multiple surgeries, and the skin grafts took well. She wasn’t the beauty she was when we married, but she still looked pretty good despite her scars. I kept my word and kept her on my insurance until she could function on her own. As a final gesture, I helped her get set up in a new apartment.
When the furniture was moved in, I handed her the keys. “I hope you like it. I made sure to pick one that doesn’t have a fireplace. ”
She laughed, her eyes filling with tears.
“Thank you, Tom. You’re a good man, and you deserve a good woman. I’m sorry I messed everything up for us. ”
I nodded, gave her one last hug, and told her to take care of herself.
Then I walked out. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. A lot of women had given me their numbers in the past few months. I found the one I was looking for and called.
“Hello? ”
“Yeah, this is Tom. You busy tonight? ”
“I was until you called,” Nancy said.
I met her a couple weeks ago at a club. She had deep blue eyes and legs that wouldn’t stop. “You want some more of my lasagna? ” she asked.
“You know it. ”
“Well, come on over. I’ll warm it up for you. ”
“I’m on my way.
”
I ended the call and smiled. Sometimes, playing with a little fire is just what the doctor ordered.
