Arthur sits out on the porch of his home, smoking a cigarette, waiting for the wife and children to come back.
How can you hide such a thing from your family? He ponders, taking a long drag of his cigarette. What purpose can holding her like this do for you and your children?
Arthur's conscious seems to be battling his primal instincts, going back and forth like a tennis ball being swatted. Or Trump and Clinton during their presidential debates. He felt like he was wrestling with an alligator, putting down the guilty thoughts of what he had done, even though there weren't many.
She will wake up eventually and she will try to make a scene?
Not while she's gagged…
The chains and handcuffs!
I can tell them it's the furnace.
How are you going to explain the lock?
I'll tell her it's construction and the kids can't go down there.
This is all so insane; Gwen will figure it out eventually! And when she does she'll call the cops, release the girl, divorce you and put your ass in jail. Why did you do it anyways?
I wanted to… I wanted her.
That's awful and you know that's not the reason.
I want to give us another chance. She wants one so badly.
She won't when she finds out…
We'll cross that bridge when we get to it!
Damn you!
The sound of a car pulls into their gravel driveway. Arthur flicks his cigarette into the grass and stands up with a grin on his face.
Out of the car come the two little munchkins. Ben and Megan, both bright-eyed and lively children. Megan is almost eight, his little princess, a ballerina and an animal lover at heart. Little Ben is four with a love of dinosaurs and space.
"DADDY!" they yell, hopping out of the car and running into their dad's outstretched arms.
He lifts them both up into his arms, laughing out loud and enjoying their kisses.
"Did you miss us, Daddy?" Megan asks.
"We missed you," Ben says.
"What did you do when we were gone?"
"Why do you smell funny?"
"Grandpa took us fishing!"
"Ben caught a big fish!"
"Grandma made a cake with Ben!"
"I got to play with the animals at the petting zoo!"
"We got to pick apples on a farm!"
"Mommy said we could visit real soon!"
Arthur hardly listens to his children, so overwhelmed by their presences that he doesn't seem to care what they say. He swings them in his well-built arms before putting them on the grass.
"I did miss you and guess what? The tickle claw missed you too!"
He then begins tickling his two children as they shriek with laughter. The two roll around, trying to avoid his tickling hands, squirming and squealing in delight. Arthur's mind went back to focusing on his family life. When he's done getting the giggles out of his children, he looks up to see his wife smiling and getting the bags out of the trunk of their small car.
"How are you?" Arthurs asks, going over and kissing the side of her head. He reaches over to help with the suitcases.
"I'm fine but tired."
"Kids wear out your folks too?" Arthur asks, shutting the trunk.
"They were probably rejoicing when we left," Gwen says. The two parents follow their giggling children inside, their arms filled with overnight bags. "My parents say hi by the way."
"Don still got a bad hip?"
"He says he might need surgery soon."
"That's too bad," Arthur says. The kids have run upstairs to their shared room, giggling and running around.
"They missed you," Gwen says. "We wished you had come."
Arthur frowns. "You know your parents don't like me, not after I lost my job."
"I know," Gwen says. "But it wasn't the same without you." She sighs, knowing that all weekend she had to vouch for her unemployed husband. Her mother would not stop talking about her getting a divorce or leaving him, but not for the reason you might think. It would be a tactic to "light a fire under his ass" as her father put it and get him back on track. She would only return with the kids when he became gainfully employed again.
Gwen knew that this could not happen… Arthur would not get a job if she left. He'd always had a temper and was very sensitive. If she left with the kids, he might go on a murderous rampage or something. Gwen drags the bags upstairs with Arthur's help, going into their tiny bedroom. She tosses it on the bed and sighs heavily when she sees the place is a mess. Arthur needed a woman in his life. He was incompetent and possibly completely incapable of caring for himself without one; he'd live in filth until his clothes began to move on their own and mold began to grow in the sink. Gwen, of course, had given up a long time ago about trying to get him to change. He never would.
Gwen unpacks their bags and while Arthur unpacks the children's', she watches through the crack in their door, him wrestling with the two of them. She smiles gently.
This was not the way she had imagined her life would be. Obviously, it was not perfect by any means. She had been in college when she met Arthur, she studying to become a veterinarian, he… was mostly there for the parties. She met him at a frat party, he was guzzling beer and playing poker with his buddies. He spotted her across the room and offered to win a hand for her. They were mostly gambling cigarettes and junk change, but he won every hand if she was by his side. He called her his good luck charm and asked if he could get her some drinks. They had dated until Gwendolyn learned she was pregnant in the last year of her degree. Arthur agreed to marry her, and they eloped at the courthouse. She finished her final exam a few months before she gave birth to Megan, she was literally showing through her graduation robe. Arthur didn't graduate at all, dropping out to get a job and he got himself a job as a handyman. Both were over the moon, but life was tough. She managed to scrape together an okay living as a veterinarian's assistant, but Arthur had problems keeping a job down. He still likes to play poker, except this time, they gambled real money. They managed to buy this small house and give Megan a proper home, but they struggled. Arthur was aloof after a few years of marriage, but he was a devoted father. When Gwen gave birth to Ben, she thought that their family was complete. They both worked to give their children a good life, but it was still hard on all of them. The two of them couldn't afford to put Megan in dance classes like she asked for every Christmas or get Ben a trip to space camp for a week in the summer, it all made her sad in today's economy, it seemed rather hopeless. It's from this economy, that Arthur lost his job. She now worked longer hours to make ends meet and she was sure that Arthur was looking for a job, even though it seemed he was gambling a lot more than usual.
It was a year or so ago that Gwen knew she couldn't have any more children, they couldn't afford it, she had surgery to prevent any more pregnancies and Arthur did not take it well. He hated the medical bill, but also the secrecy, Gwen knew that he changed after that. The goofy and loving man she once knew was replaced by a paranoid and very aloof man. Nevertheless, they soldiered on, despite the many protests of her parents and friends telling her to leave. She couldn't destroy this family, even though it destroyed her sanity.
Gwen goes downstairs to find a sink filled with dirty dishes. She sighs and begins to prepare to wash them. As she goes for a new sponge in the back closet, she notices a large lock on the basement door. Confused, she tries the doorknob and finds it locked. When Arthur comes down with Ben under his arm, Gwen is back to washing dishes.
"What's with the lock?" Gwen asks.
"Oh that," Arthur says. "I'm starting a new construction project downstairs and I'm repairing the furnace. It's making weird noises. Gerry wants me to help by building a new scaffolding frame, he's agreed to spilt the pay with me, but it involves a lot of welding and such so I've locked it to keep the kids safe."
"Oh…" Gwen says. She's a little confused but is happy Arthur is getting paid for it.
"I promise it won't be for too long," Arthur says, biting his lip. "I just don't want anyone getting hurt."
"Alright," Gwen says.
Arthur begins drying the dishes as Ben goes to watch the Discovery Channel.
"So," Gwen says. "What did you do this weekend?"
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