And his sky's an empty bottle and when he's drunk the ocean dry
Well he sails off three sheets to some reckless wind
And his friends say, "Ain't it awful"
And he says, "No, I think it's fine"
And this is the world as best as I can remember it
It happened while Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock were watching Boys and Girls together. "The characters work, but the story is just stupid," he said. "Ryan was happy with Megan. Jennifer was doing fine on her own. A guy like him wouldn't cheat on a girl who already liked him, never mind throw it away on someone he already struck out with. All it really is, is the screenwriters making the story into something that isn't real. Like, if two people have fun together when they're kids, and still have fun in college, then they must be `destined' for each other. That's not real life! In real life, people find out that some of the things they wanted aren't things they can have or even still want. Real people can see that some good things are only good at what they are. They learn to be happy with what they have, or they are never happy at all! So why couldn't they tell a story like that? Let Ryan learn to be happy as friends with Jennifer and a boyfriend with Megan! Because that wouldn't just be more real; I think it would be a lot more positive than some screenwriter's idea of predestination."
"Whoa," Little Rock said, rubbing his shoulder, "it's a cheesy movie, not a manifesto." Columbus kissed her, and then put an arm around each of his wives. It was only then that he realized Wichita was crying.
He took them both that night. He started with Little Rock, and finished with Krista. When it was over, the younger sister went right to sleep, but Wichita remained awake, shifting restlessly. "Do you love me?" she said. He mumbled the affirmative. "Do I make you happy?" He never answered.
Then there came his 29th birthday (in his sixth year as a married man). As the day approached, his wives jockeyed to spend the night with him, making various proposals to entice him. Little Rock seemed to be making the stronger bid. Then Wichita tried to sweeten the deal: "I'll make you dinner!"
Columbus gave a noncommital but definitely positive response. Little Rock looked disdainfully at Wichita as he walked out. "What?" Wichita said defensively.
"You... just offered him food... for sex." Wichita "humphed" indignantly, but blushed furiously.
Two weeks later Wichita announced she was expecting her third. Soon after, she had the worst of her few open fights with her sister. The next morning, Columbus went out to check out a newly cleared field. At nightfall, he had yet to come back.
The day after that, Wichita never got out of bed. Little Rock brought her meals and took care of the kids. At the end of the day, she told her sister, "He will come back." The next day, Wichita was up, but didn't say a word to her sister, but in the evening they hugged each other and cried. The day after that, they played with the boys, catching and releasing insects at a pond, and spent all night talking.
On the fourth day, Columbus was back in the house, returned unannounced while they slept. Tallahassee was with him. Nothing was ever spoken between husbands and wives about what had transpired in those three days.