Mr. and Mrs. Harris




Xander


The streets were slick. Xander thought he might slip and fall and hit his head on a curb. Maybe a car would hit him while he walked down the street in his tux. Then it would be tragic and not just cowardly. He felt like there was lead in his shoes. There was a light sprinkling of rain. He just needed an umbrella and he could do a number - dance himself to death.




Family Album


Those kids in the pictures were long gone.

Xander flipped through the pages. The oldest pictures were first. The ones where he couldn't recognize his parents. Mom was a girl in a pretty dress. Dad was a kid posing with a basketball under his arm and a big smile, head tilted to one side. He wasn't anyone's dad or husband yet. Just a kid. Just Tony Harris. He didn't look mad or drunk. Mom looked fresh and lively. No trace of that look he always saw on her face that made him a little queasy - a mix of things missing and other things that couldn't be changed. Just two kids smiling and fading in old pictures.

The wedding pictures were in a separate album. Xander was glad he didn't have to look at them.

But there they were a little later. A picture of the happy couple. It was after they got married but before Xander was born. Dad looked a little drunk there. It was the sloppy smile and the way he had his arm around Mom like he was leaning on her. And the beer bottle in his hand. That slightly mean and bitter look creeping into his face, the answering look from his Mother.

Before and after. You flip a page and you're looking at different people.




The Happiest Day Of Your Life.


He was hung over at the ceremony and drunk on their wedding night. Mrs. Harris figured out along the way that it's no fun to be the sober one. After that their fights were just a blur.

"What did you expect?" Mr. Harris asked not looking at her, looking at the TV.

She expected him to get married. You don't just walk out. You had to go through with things and make do.

But looking at her husband's profile with the TV light projected on his face, she wasn't sure if Xander screwed up or escaped. You could never tell.




Can't Live With Them


Putting on the fancy clothes again. How he hated that.

"Next time I wear this it better be for my funeral," Mr. Harris mumbled.

That girl scared him, her sharp mean demanding eyes. She wouldn't let go easy. She'd squeeze the life right out of him.

Maybe have a little talk with him. What would he say? He already told him not to get married.

"You're a fool, boy. You have it kind of good. Decent job. Decent place. You'll ruin your life. It's not too late for you."

But Xander didn't listen. Serves him right.

Mr. Harris sat down to wait for his wife. He could hear her opening drawers. He thought about what it had been like when he had moved out for two months. He didn't know what was worse being married or being alone, he hated them both, being drunk was a nice compromise.




Here Comes The Bride


Xander could hear the voices of people - and demons - waiting for their entrance. If he hadn't been a coward, things would never have gotten this far. They wouldn't be all dressed up for nothing. She wouldn't be in a dress just for this day. Xander wanted to stand there and look at her, but the last part of that vision wouldn't leave him alone until he did it. Xander looked at her and he said to himself, "You don't want to hurt her".




The end