In the Basement

Jen is impossible. I tried to make everything perfect for her visit this evening, but nothing is ever good enough for her. I washed the dishes, I vacuumed the rugs, I even swept, but as soon as she walked in the door she commented on the smell. Yes, okay, my house smells like onions, got it, but she didn’t stop there. The rugs all have stains, the walls are smudged and when she saw the fish tank, she threatened to clean it herself.

I thought dinner would put her in a decent mood. Guess again. Apparently macaroni and cheese is good enough for most of the people in this country, but it’s not good enough for Jen. When I brought out my nice ceramic bowl full of hot, delicious macaroni and melted cheese she gave me this horrible look, the kind of expression you’d give someone if they pulled their bottom lip up over their head, not someone who just made you dinner. She just looked at me all confused and said, “Where’s the salad?”

Well by the time dinner was over I was just about sick and tired of her complaints, so I just came right out and told her what I thought. I said that if I’m not good enough for her, then maybe she should quit coming over. Anyway, she’s the one that wanted to start dating me, not the other way around.

I told her that I had bought her some flowers. She didn’t say anything, and when I brought them out she was crying. She told me I was right and she didn’t want to come over any more, and she didn’t like the way I get when I’m angry, and I’ve been getting angry a lot lately and I’m really starting to scare her. Well, that was just about the last straw. After all I did for her today she has the nerve to break up with me. So I kicked her right the hell out of my house. She left so fast she forgot her purse, which I threw at her car as she backed out of the driveway.

Needless to say I was pretty upset, so I went down to the basement and got David out of his cell. He’s been down there for a while, and to be honest, I kind of forgot about him. Being with Jen made me pretty happy, and I was hoping that David would just disappear. But he didn’t disappear. When I opened his cell he cringed at me the way people cringe when they’re bending a stick that’s about to break.

I told him I was going to let him go and he shivered some and quietly thanked me. His shivering made me sick. So I went upstairs and got the metal bar that I was going to use on Jen and I took out all my anger and frustration on the back of his head.