Tess.

He'd been watching the two cockroaches for a while as they explored the crumbs on the bare boards of the floor. They were good company. They didn't want to share the bottle, didn't need to be entertained and, above all, didn't ask him how he was.

The roaches had their own lives to lead and didn't mind if he watched them going about their roachly business. They didn't ask about the wedding ring on the floor or why he kept losing his jobs. They didn't know what had happened in another part of New York.

Someone banged on the door three times. "I paid the rent!" he said, "Leave me alone!"

They banged again. He groaned and got up from the floor. "This place had better be on fire!" he said. He pulled open the door.

Richard immediately pushed his way in. "Do you know how many bars I had to trawl to find out where you were?" he said.

"If I wanted you to know, I would have told you." said David.

"Tess is worried about you. She called us to find out if you'd come home." said Richard.

"Did she tell you why I left?" said David.

"She said it was her fault. She said you probably hate her. Why? What happened?"

David sat on the bed. "Doesn't matter. These are my friends, Bob and Ernie."

"David, there's no-one here." said Richard.

"The cockroaches." said David.

"You left your wife to set up home with two bugs?"

"It's over between us." said David, "She doesn't want me and I don't want her."

"What happened? Surely you can sort it out. Did she see you flirting with another girl and get jealous? Did you get drunk?"

"She slept with someone else. I caught them together."

"Tess did? What did you do? I'm assuming he's in hospital."

"There was no fight. I just walked out. Just tell Tess I'm fine and I never want to see or hear from her again."

"Who was the other guy? Where did she meet him?" said Richard.

"There was no other guy." said David, "Now go away, I need to get ready for work."

"You can't go to work in this condition." said Richard.

"You'd be amazed what condition I can go to work in." said David. He thought about home. "How did the family take it?"

"That you disappeared? How do you think?"

"I did think of going home, but how can I?"

"You have to. I can't leave you here, like this." said Richard, "Now just tell me what happened and why you're accusing her of adultery when there was no other guy."

David took a swig from the bottle. "Richie, I hate you for this."

"For what? I only asked ... "

"Yeah, you asked. I hate you. The other guy ... wasn't."

"Wasn't what? You mean you accused her and she was innocent?"

"I mean she was with a woman."

"No, Tess would never ... "

"Tess did. You think I'd make this up?"

Richard sat beside him on the bed. "I thought you two were good together. I thought you were so strong together. How could she do that to you after all that you'd been through?"

"We weren't that great from the start. We were together because of the baby and when ... well, I never knew what to say. I guess someone else did."

"She was the one who did wrong and she gets to keep the apartment?"

"We're both to blame. I messed up as a husband, she messed up as a wife."

"She slept with someone else." said Richard.

"You wanna say that a bit louder? I think parts of the city didn't catch that."

"Come home, David. What's left for you here?"

David shook his head. "I can't tell them, Richie. If you tell them, I'll never forgive you."

Richard stared at him. "Are you ashamed?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Because she cheated on you?"

"You say it like it happened and it's over, but it never will be. She didn't just cheat on me, she didn't even hide it well. I walked in there and I saw them and the woman with her laughed and she looked at me like she thought I'd kill her and I didn't even feel angry or jealous or anything like that. I didn't feel anything."

"David, it was a shock."

"It was humiliation and in one moment everything that there ever was between us was gone. Everything that I knew about myself was gone. Every time anyone asks how I am, I feel like they know. Every time someone smiles at me, I think they're laughing about it. There's no way to go back from that. You think I can look Dad in the eye now?"

"Do you think there's anything that could ever make him think less of you?"

"And what about Mom? You want me to explain all this to her?"

"Better now than later. We need to do something about this. We need to get you out of this mess. We need to get you out of this room."

"I know you. Now you know, you'll bring this up all the time."

"No I won't. I swear I won't."

"You won't be tempted to use it in every fight?" said David, "Because I would, if it were you."

"Yeah, but I'm a nicer person than you." said Richard.

"Come on, it's gold! I married a woman who likes women. Or I made her prefer them. You think you can resist using that against me every day for the rest of our lives?"

Richard put his arm around David's shoulder. "You idiot!"

"Yeah, see?"

"You really think I want to hurt you like that? David, all I want to do is go to that evil ... "

"She's not evil." said David, raising a hand in front of his chest, "We both made mistakes."

"She committed adultery."

"I committed neglect."

"We need to look into the legal details, find out if you can get this thing annulled or get a divorce or something."

"Don't let Dad catch you using the D word." said David.

"You won't come home?" said Richard.

"I can't. I can't." said David.

"Where are you working right now?"

"A bar called Mabel's."

"Can you get me a job there too?"

"They take anyone, but what for?"

"If you won't come home, someone needs to be here and between us, we can afford a better place to stay."

"So you can watch me fall into the gutter?" said David.

"I know it feels right now as if there's no way past this, but anything you can live through, you can live down. I'm not saying it'll be this week or this year, but this will stop feeling this bad. She winged you, little brother, but she didn't end you. You're one tough little nut to crack and she's just a stupid girl who doesn't deserve you."

"What happens to Ernie and Bob?" said David.

"They seem very happy here." said Richard.

"It seemed like a good idea for us all to just rot here together."

"Well, it doesn't sound like a good idea to me."

"How do I even begin to explain this to Mom and Dad?" said David.

"You don't." said Richard, "Because that's what big brothers were invented for."

"I can't ask you to do that." said David.

"Did I ask you to ask me? Now, how long until you need to be at work?"

"Six hours."

"I thought you said you had to get ready."

"First I have to get drunk enough to face getting ready to go out, then I have to get sober enough to work."

"When did you last eat something?" said Richard.

"You sound like Mom." said David, "What day is it?"

"So not recently, then. I'll go buy us something."

"You seriously won't remind me I lost my wife to a woman?"

"You seriously think I want to twist that particular knife?"

David looked into his brother's eyes. "Tell me the truth, Richie, do you think I'll ever find someone else?"

"You? Do birds fly? Do bees be?"

The End.