Read Online Slights by Kaaron Warren - Free Book Online Page A

that she needn't be the best. It was a comfort.
      For Heather's sake, Alex was patient with Ruth's antics, though he found the gossip, the laughter, more irritating that he could express, and he pitied her husband Mike, though by all accounts they enjoyed a full and adventurous sex life.
      On one occasion Ruth paid Alex a visit at work.
      "I want to report a crime," she told the desk sergeant, "but I'm too nervous to deal with anyone but my brother-in-law." She didn't look nervous. Her lipstick was red and perfect, her eyes unblinking. Her hair was in place. She wore a skirt suit in a masculine cut, and she leaned one elbow on the desk as if preparing to give orders.
      "Your sister-in-law's here to report a crime," the desk sergeant said into the phone.
      "He knows about it," Ruth whispered, leaning in.
      "She says you know about it." There was a pause, then the desk sergeant hung up.
      "He'll be with you in a minute. Just take a seat."
      Ruth did so, crossing her legs to display them to him. She smiled; he smiled back, glad of the excuse. Alex had said to him, "Tell her she should have fucked the taxi driver on the way over."
      Ruth did not drive; would not drive. She considered it menial, and preferred other people to do it for her.
      "So, what crime are we talking about, here?" Alex said. He didn't offer her a cup of tea.
      "Well, it hasn't actually happened yet, but I'm terrified. It's Mike." she paused, wanting Alex to nod, throw himself at the mercy of her passion.
      "Mike?" he said.
      "I think he's trying to kill me."
      Alex took a sip of tea, rose from his chair, walked around the desk and leant so close he could see the pulse in her throat.
      Around him, all was silent. An attractive woman in the squad room drew attention.
    "Right," Alex said. "And your proof is?"
      "It's just a feeling. He's jealous. I don't think he loves me anymore."
      "I'm sure his feelings for you haven't changed," Alex said. "I'm sure he loves you as much now as he did the day you were married." He wondered how far he could go, how deluded she was. Mike had never loved her.
      "Perhaps if you could talk to him," Ruth said. She leaned forward. She had a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, as if wiping away tears. There were no tears there.
      "Or better yet, come over when he's not there and make me feel better."
      Alex could hear his colleagues sucking air.
      "Heather and I could do that," he said. "Certainly. Now can one of my fellow workers provide you with a lift home?"
      Her eyes flickered over the eager parade.
      "No, thank you," she said. "I can manage. As for you, you'll be sorry when I'm found dead."
      "I don't think so. I doubt that," he said.
      He never told Heather how Ruth liked to corner him. She had bared her breasts once, making them an offering she imagined he would fall upon.
      "Cover yourself, Ruth," he said. He didn't like the way Ruth tried to undermine Heather's confidence, or the way she wanted their kids to like her best. She had a family of her own. Alex thought her time would be better spent home with her own children and he told her so. She was insulted; told Heather he had banished her from the home. Heather told Alex she would not have her own sister banished from her own home, and he drew her to him and squeezed her till she laughed.
      "I didn't banish her. But we have our own family now. You are the children's mother. It's you they love."
      Ruth didn't visit for a while. She said she had to work in her garden.

    There were people in my kitchen. They no longer talked about Mum and Dad; they were gossiping, arguing, flirting.
      We have this great ceiling in the kitchen; sometimes Peter and I used to lie on the floor and gaze up at the pipe work, trace it with our eyes, find letters and stories in the curves and bends. We dreamt about swinging on them. Peter waited until I did it once, when Dad was at work and Mum was talking to the