Read Online The Night Before by David Fulmer - Free Book Online Page B

camaraderie of the bars didn’t seem so appealing anymore. He yearned to lie down and sleep for a long time. This brought thoughts of the bed that Mariel and he shared, the house, and the kids, and for a moment he felt like he wanted to cry. Instead, he stiffened his jaw and allowed himself a shaky sigh.
    The reverend’s hummed melody ended on a mellow note. After driving in silence for a block, he said, “Did something happen to you tonight, Mister Joe? I mean along with getting stuck up in here.”
    â€œYeah,” Joe said. “Something happened.”
    â€œYou have a loss?”
    â€œNobody died, if that’s what you mean.” Joe said. “Something went wrong. At home.”
    â€œOn this night?” Callum shook his head gravely. “I’m sorry to hear that.
    Joe was tempted to blurt his story to this kind man, to paint the narrative with graphic details, from the thrill of his astonishing success to his grand plan to share it with his wife and kids, arriving at that same wife bent in a lewd posture over their dining room table.
    He only got as far as, “I was…”
    â€œSir?”
    â€œNothing,” Joe said. “Something happened, that’s all. It’s over now.”
    The reverend gazed at him for a final frank moment before returning to the business of pulling the creaking van to the curb in the middle of a quiet and empty block lined with vacant stores and a few ramshackle shotgun houses, all of them dark.
    â€œThis is it right here,” he said, tilting his head. “You’re welcome to step inside, get warm, have a cup of coffee.” He wrenched his door open and slid from the seat.
    Mariel survived another half-hour of the party by sticking with Karen. They huddled in the kitchen, chatting about this and that, helping with the food and drinks, wandering into the living room just enough to be polite, and avoiding any mention of the night’s drama. It was Mariel’s good fortune that most of the other neighbors were too sloshed to pay her much mind. Betsy buzzed by to blabber for as long as she could fix her thoughts before careening back to her guests.
    As soon as the clock ticked on eleven, Mariel figured she had done enough and stood at the top of the basement stairs to call down to the kids. She herded them through the crowd and out the front door with a gasp of relief that would have been audible except for all the loud tidings that followed in their wake.
    Karen walked with them to the next corner. Pulling up the hood of her coat, she said, “People see me like this, they think I’m a fucking Eskimo.”
    Mariel shook her head in a forlorn way. She thought Karen looked beautiful and serene, and longed to trade places with her. When they reached the corner, Karen wrapped her in a final hug and whispered, “Call me if you need to,” before trudging off down the middle of Leafmore Drive.
    Mariel turned around to find Hannah eyeing her in a faintly accusing way, as if she suspected that something was wrong. It would have been no surprise if she did; the girl had always possessed antennae that could pick up the slightest tremor of trouble with either of her parents.
    â€œWhere’s Dad?” she said and when Mariel failed to produce a snappy reply, turned on a peeved heel and continued on her way.
    Mariel felt her heart sink, even as another sob rose in her throat. They were good children, beautiful children, and did not deserve what was about to be visited upon them. It wasn’t fair and it was all her fault. She stood still and bit down hard to keep from coming undone in front of them.
    Christian had stopped and was watching her. “Mom? You okay?”
    She didn’t move. He and his sister exchanged a glance, then made their way back along the sidewalk. Hannah peered at her with Joe’s gray eyes, as if he was playing a long-distance prank on her, one that wasn’t funny.
    Hannah saw her