Chapter 2

The next morning he left for work without a single word to me, just walked out the door.

It was past eleven at night, and I was drifting in and out of sleep when my phone suddenly went off like crazy.

It was Alvin.

"Babe, wire me five grand, quick. I've got to settle the bill here."

His words came out a little slurred. Clearly he'd had too much to drink.

I yawned under the covers.

"No money."

A burst of noisy laughter came through the phone.

Then a man's voice cut in.

"Alvin, buddy, your wife won't cover you? You want to borrow a little from me instead?"

Alvin panicked.

"Knock it off! My coworkers are all right here watching. We agreed I'd pick up the tab tonight."

"Just wire the money over, don't make me lose face!"

I rolled over, my voice calm.

"I really don't have any money. My whole paycheck went to my mom, out of pure filial devotion."

"If you can't afford the bill, why not ask your mom for a little more?"

"You give her thirty grand a month anyway. What's five thousand to that?"

With that I hung up on him and switched the phone off for good measure.

Half an hour later.

Alvin came storming into the bedroom reeking of alcohol, ripped the covers off me, and glared, his eyes bloodshot.

"Narelle! Did you do this on purpose today, just to embarrass me?"

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? I had to swallow my pride and borrow money off a coworker just to close out the bill!"

I sat up and looked at him coldly.

I could not for the life of me understand how the gentle, thoughtful man from when we were dating had turned into the person in front of me.

"When you handed your whole paycheck to your mom, did it ever cross your mind you'd end up humiliated?"

"You wanted to play the big spender and pick up the tab. What's that got to do with me?"

"If you don't have the money, don't act like a big shot!"

Alvin choked on that, then shot back.

"Look around, what other man's wife is like you? Day after day you won't even cook, and now you shame your own husband in public."

"I'm telling you, Narelle, tomorrow you go get that money back from your mom!"

"Otherwise there's no way we can keep living like this!"

Watching that shameless face of his, I just found the whole thing laughable.

I used to swallow everything and bend over backward to protect his pride.

Now I could see he wasn't worth any of it.

"There's no money for you."

"If you can't live like this, then let's not."

I said it calmly, pulled the covers back over me, and lay down again.

Alvin stamped around the room, furious, and finally slammed the door and went off to the guest room.

I thought he'd at least do a little soul-searching.

I never expected that the very next day, the moment I got off work, my mother-in-law showed up.

"Narelle, what kind of wife are you?"

"Alvin called me last night. He said you won't leave him a single cent."

"Are you trying to starve my son to death?"

She was carrying a big plastic bag, and she dropped it hard on the dining table.

I walked over and looked inside.

The bag was full of yellowed vegetable leaves, along with a few apples that were half rotten.

I frowned.

"Mom, what are you bringing this stuff over for?"

She rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch.

"For what? To bring you groceries!"

"Didn't you say you had no money for food? I went all the way to the market and picked these out just for you."

"Running a household means watching every penny. These may not look pretty, but they're cheap, and once they're in your stomach it's all the same."

I laughed out of sheer anger.

"Alvin gives you thirty grand a month, and this is what you feed him?"

"If you're really so good at pinching pennies, why don't you take these home and eat them yourself?"

Just then the front door opened and Alvin came in.

The moment he saw his mother he hurried over to her.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

She grabbed Alvin's hand.

"Son, it breaks my heart."

"You married a wife this clueless, and she won't even give you a decent meal."

"I brought you some groceries. Go on, tell her to cook them."

Alvin glanced at the rotten leaves on the table, and his face went a little awkward.

But he still turned to me and pressed.

"Narelle, Mom was kind enough to bring groceries all this way. Go make dinner already."

I looked at this mother and son and it struck me as absolutely absurd.

"If you want them cooked, cook them yourselves. I'm not eating garbage."

The second she heard that she was furious. She jabbed a finger at my face and let loose.

"Who are you calling garbage, you jinx!"

"My son must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to end up marrying you!"

"Hand over the money right now, or I'm not leaving today!"