The numbness had somehow crept into her mouth. It started in her toes, ran through her legs, circled around her stomach and was now painfully close to taking care of all of her. She had only been driving for twenty minutes. She didn't think that'd be enough time for the numbness to kill her entirely.
She pulled up outside of the bank and ran in, barely noticing the movement of her feet. She waited in line to make her $350 withdrawal from her account. No, their account. She silently wondered if he'd mind now that he had a right to.
She drove again, and slowly the numbness crept to the bridge of her nose. She ended up at the supermarket. Wait… did she even need to do that anymore?
But she did. She collected every item off of the shopping list he made the week before and waited in the checkout line. The cashier had giant hair and a big wad of gum in her mouth, but Sam barely noticed. She felt very close to dying.
"Mam? Mam? Mam, I asked you if you gots a key card!" the woman snapped, so Sam finally looked up. She still barely registered what she was doing. The numbness was quickly creeping into her brain.
"What?"
"A key card! Do you gots a key card?" the woman asked impatiently between gum chews. Sam handed her the card without further question. The woman looked her up and down.
"Got a bad day, miss? What, somebody in your family sick or somethin'?" Sam shook her head. "Got your license revoked? Got a ticket in the parking lot?"
"No." Sam responded, only faintly. The woman continued to run her items across the scanner. She looked at the key card before handing it back to Sam.
"Fredward Bensen. Dat your husband or somethin'?" Sam nodded.
"He's got somethin' wrong with him?" she shook her head. The woman rolled her eyes.
"Listen, miss, it sounds to me like you got nothing wrong wit cha but chu look like you got somethin' wrong wit cha! What's wrong wit cha, hmm?"
Sam finally glared at the woman with some intensity. The woman was taken aback.
"Mind your friggin business, skunkbag!" Sam snapped. The woman put her hands up in surrender.
"Woohee, just trying to help ya, miss!"
"Yeah, well I don't need any help! I'm fine!"
"All right, all right." Sam handed the woman her credit card and didn't even bother to pack her items into bags. She slammed can after can into the cart. She started to shed tears. She didn't feel so numb anymore.
The woman looked at her with sadness. Not pity, but genuine sadness. She touched Sam's hand, and Sam looked up.
"I'm Madge. I'm getting a demotion after today." Sam choked on tears that continued to splutter over.
"I'm Sam, and I'm getting a divorce."