I did it again, didn't I?
"Yup! I'm afraid you did it again, Henry."
Made a fool of myself?
"A-huh! A damn fool."
Bertha called to him from the hall. "I don't hear any water running, Stupid." she said. "Hurry the hell up and get out of there. I want to get to sleep sometime tonight, you know! Geez! That's what I get for allowing you in first!"
Henry ran water in the tub and then turned back to the mirror.
I hate her!
"So, what else is new?" It was grinning.
Henry shivered. Please stop. I don't like your smile.
How old had he been the first time -- seven? -- eight? No, it was even before that. "It's the devil looking back at you, sissy!" his mother had said. Nice thing to tell a child. "That's what you get for standing too long in front of the mirror!" A religious woman, his mother.
My father got out of it. He was smart. Left for work one day and
never came back. Almost thirty years and no word. I half
expected him to show at her funeral. But he didn't. He
was smart.
"Not smart, Henry. Too meek to stand up to her. She ended up
with everything."
Except him.
"Him she had no use for. Listen, Henry, it's the ruthless
who inherit the earth. Take it from me. The meek only
get trampled. So guess which one you are, Henry?"
Henry trembled just like he did when Bertha humiliated him.
What a fool I was! I could have been free after my mother died.
"You traded one trampler for another."
Henry had to agree to that. Oh yes, Bertha liked to humiliate him. Very witty, that Bertha! People enjoyed being around her. They seemed to wait, mouths hanging open, ready to laugh at her next words. "Allow me the honor of presenting to you my mild little Henry, my knight in shining armor!" He knew her routine by heart. Then they would all laugh, and he would stand there, grinning like an idiot, heart pounding, knowing what was coming next: "Say something funny for the nice people, Henry." Laughter. His neck and face hot. Red. He could feel the color.
"When are you finally going to stand up to her, Henry?"
It smirked and Henry's knees went wobbly. He heard her again from the other side of the door. "That tub's going to overflow, Stupid. How long's it take to wash your two-cents'-worth anyway?" Henry shut off the faucets.
She's getting mad!
"She's getting mad...she's getting mad! You really ARE stupid,
you know that, Henry? Why don't you just yank open that
door and march right out there and strangle the life out of her?"
Henry started to perspire. I asked you to please be quiet about that.
Stop drumming it at me.
He turned to the tub, and with his hand, slapped the water back and forth against the sides. There was no time left for a bath. She was pounding on the door now. He released the drain and turned again to the mirror. Its smirk was gone, its look almost sympathetic. Henry felt like crying.
"Listen, Henry, did it really take you three days to get up
enough nerve?"
For what?
"You know full well what! Let's see now, how does she put it?
...Consummate the marriage."
Why do you have to bring that up all the time?
"Why does she? She said it again tonight in front of everybody,
didn't she, Henry? And they killed themselves laughing over it,
right? Oh, that Bertha! She's a real scream. Admit it, Henry.
That's why you went ahead and made an ass of yourself again,
didn't you? Went around talking too much, fawning, trying
too hard. What did you think you were doing? Running for
office? Give up, Henry! They're her friends, not yours. You
don't really have any friends."
I know.
"Strangle her Henry. Go ahead. Go out there and choke the
life out of her!"
Stop it! I said stop it! Besides, she's strong.
"Fat, Henry, not strong. Fat and soft. It wouldn't be so
hard to do. Tell me again, Henry, what do you feel for
that....that....woman?"
I HATE her! Henry clenched his fists.
She rattled the bathroom doorknob. "All right, Henry. Time's up! Get out right now and let me in. What are you doing all this time? Polishing the body beautiful? Unlock the door! Why do you always lock it anyway? Afraid someone will come in and spy on you?" She made an expectorant noise in her throat. "Who in her right mind would want to?"
Henry unclenched his hands and looked at them, turning them over and over. He stretched his fingers, and, sighing, wrapped his robe around himself and unlocked the door.