Ch.5
"Does it taste ok?"
"Yea fine…why?"
"Well you have just been playing with it for awhile…you're not really eating it."
Fox and Teresa sat in her kitchen, eating the dinner Fox had prepared all day. He sat there, watching her as she twirled the pasta in her fork, but never eating it.
"I guess I'm just not very hungry," she said gloomily.
Fox was worried.
"Teresa, can I talk to you about something?"
"What?" she asked, her eyes never leaving her plate.
"I'm worried bout you."
"Why?" she asked, her voice filled with no emotion. She was like a zombie.
"I'm just afraid that you aren't dealing with what happened with little Ethan very well."
She looked up at him.
"Well how am I supposed to deal with it Fox? My son was taken from me. My whole life was stolen from me the other day in that courtroom."
Fox could sense her growing angry.
"I know it seems bad right now…" he tried to say.
"BAD?" she question. "Things aren't bad Fox…my life is hell."
"It will get better-"
She scoffed.
"They will never get better." She said, her voice like ice.
He looked down at his hand.
"I found a razor in the bathroom," he whispered, his voice as quiet as a child.
She didn't say anything.
"Are you hurting yourself Teresa?"
She saw his eyes begin to shine with fresh tears.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Hs grabbed her hand from across the table.
"I can help you if you let me…"
"I don't need help," she said growing agitated. She jerked her hand away. "I'm fine."
"You're fine?" Fox asked in disbelieve. "Let me see your arm."
She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
"Let me see your arms Resa…let me see for myself that you're ok."
"Fox, you're being crazy-"
"Teresa, why won't you just show me? Please? If you're not hurting yourself then why can't you just show me?"
"I don't need this right now Fox," she yelled, jumping up from the table. "I don't need you turning on me."
"I'm not turning on you," he cried. "Baby, I just want to help you."
"You want to help me?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Aright Fox, you wanna help? I'll tell you what you can do…you can get out of my house"
"I'm not going anywhere Teresa," he said firmly.
She walked over to the door and opened it.
"Leave Fox."
"No."
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE FOX!"
He walked over to the door.
"Please just show me," he said his voice filled with agony.
She closed her eyes, wiping away the stray tears that had fallen.
"Just leave," she whispered.
Fox looked at her before slowly turning away and leaving.
She slammed the door in his face and quickly locked it.
Fox felt his heart stop when he heard the door slam behind him.
~ Oh Teresa, ~ he thought.
"What are you going to do to yourself?"
Back in the house, Teresa was hysterical. She tried to control the sobs that were stuck in her throat.
" I knew I would hurt him," she said as she frantically ran around the house.
She couldn't shake the image of Fox from her brain…the sound of voice, the tears in his eyes.
All because of her.
She searched the house for something to take the pain away.
She found a knife on the table from dinner.
She took it back to her bedroom, and slowly set down.
She put the knife on the bed in front of her.
"I don't want to hurt anymore."
She grasped the knife, running her fingers over it.
"I can't keep doing this," she said as she slit her skin, sobbing.
"But I can't stop."