You've Been Served

A flash fiction story of a man saying goodbye to his deceased wife.

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Tony looked down at his wife, Julia, lying in the open casket. She looked beautiful, just as he remembered her. Even though she was in her late forties, he could still see the young woman he married twenty-five years ago. Back then they were in love and lusted over each other constantly. Their wedding day was a painful day for her. She was so desperate to get him to the bridal suite at the hotel and fuck his brains out. Several times she pulled him towards the door only for some relative or other to separate them. Once finally in their room, they consummated their marriage with Julia still wearing her wedding dress such was her pent-up desire.

That was a long time ago. Three children arrived who were now teenagers. They took their mother's death hard. It was no way to die for a mother.

As Tony watched his wife lying before him, waves of different emotions swept over him, sadness, grief, anger, pain, thirst for revenge, and relief. Tony shook his head to clear the conflicting emotions from his head. He only needed one emotion, indifference.

"Julia, what happened?" he sighed. "I'm going to guess, under the circumstances, it wasn't worth it. I warned you about Quentin Chalfont. I told you to stay away from him, but you told me I had nothing to worry about him. You told me I was crazy for even suggesting you were having an affair with him. When you told me you were leaving us for him, I begged you not to go. I begged you for the sake of our children not to go to him. You called me pathetic, but you couldn't or wouldn't understand what I was trying to tell you. I think you understand now, don't you, but it is far too late though, isn't it?"

Tony paused to compose himself as emotions began to well up inside him again as he spoke to his deceased wife.

"The kids were crushed when you left. They blamed themselves for you leaving. They told me they were sorry. They were sorry for fighting. They were sorry for leaving the house in a mess all the time. They were sorry for everything they could think of that might have caused you to leave us. They tried to call and message you. They tried every way to contact you, to try and persuade you to come back but you never replied. Maybe you couldn't or maybe you didn't want to. We will never know now, will we?"

"Since you left, we have all been in therapy together. We have a weekly family outing to see a therapist, well a family outing missing one person. The person that caused all the problems in the first place. I suppose our new family tradition will be going on for a bit longer now, won't it?" Tony said with a wry smile.

"It was, of course, Jack's thirteenth birthday last week. We tried to celebrate the best we could despite your circumstances, but all he wanted for his birthday was his mom. What do you say to your child when he asks for that? When he asks for the one thing you can't give him."

Tony paused once again to suppress his emotions as he began to choke on his words. That was the hardest moment of his life. It was harder even than telling his children that their mother had died.

"What was it that attracted you to Quentin Chalfont? The money? The cars? His charming personality? Did you want a piece of his lifestyle? I admit it must have been seductive especially when he took an interest in you. After all, you were a married mother of three, what man would be interested in a woman like that? Quentin Chalfont, that's who. He is famous for breaking up marriages and splitting up families. How could you have not known that? A cop on a cop's salary could never offer you what he could. What was less well-known was that he was a crazy mother fucker with a hatred of women, but I knew it. I tried to warn you. I tried to tell you that you needed to stay well away from him, but I couldn't get through to you."

"When the police arrived at the door at the crack of dawn, I have to say I wasn't surprised. I was sad, but I wasn't surprised. They tell me that he beat you unconscious with his fists then he smothered you with a pillow. He had abused many women before you, but his fancy lawyers and his money kept him out of jail. Not this time. Killing a cop's wife, even an unfaithful wife who had left him, causes the system to come after you. The DA says that they found an unsent message pleading for help on your phone. Who were you going to send that message to? To me? To another lover? If was to me, I would have come to rescue you, hell, I would even have let you stay in our home. Not for me, but for the kids. They missed you. I would have loved it if Quentin Chalfont had come to our home, then I could have put a bullet in his head, and it would have been legal. I suppose the law will have to take my revenge for me. Is that why he killed you? Were you going to leave him? Were you planning to come home? The police think that is why he killed you. He couldn't allow anyone to leave him."

"The DA is going for the death penalty. They want to send a message to any rich fucker, and domestic abuser who thinks they are above the law. Quentin Chalfont's place in hell was assured a long time ago."

"It will be your funeral in a few minutes. I will have to shed a few tears for show but to be honest, I have already mourned you and I am ready to move on. I began to mourn you the day you left. I have to say the Undertakers have done a terrific job. There isn't a sign of the bruising that I saw when I identified your body. I barely recognised you, but the Undertakers have made you beautiful again. You were always beautiful."

"As much as I have enjoyed our last conversation, Julia, saying goodbye wasn't the reason for my visit," Tony reached into the casket, gently lifted Julia's stiff arms, and slid a manila envelope under them so it was held tightly to her chest. "Divorce papers. Our marriage was over the moment you climbed into Quentin Chalfont's bed and spread your legs for him. I saw a lawyer a day after you left but I never managed to give them to you. I suppose I still hoped you would see sense and come home. I'm getting full custody of the kids, taking the house and I'm not paying alimony, but that shouldn't be a problem now, should it? I would appreciate it if you could sign them and get them back to me as soon as possible once you've arrived at wherever you're going. Goodbye, Julia, you have been served," Tony told his wife with a great deal of hostility.

Tony turned to walk away before he stopped and hung his head, putting his hand on his hips. He turned back around as a solitary tear slowly found its way down his cheek, "I did love you, Julia," he told her with great sadness in his voice. "I loved you with all my heart. I wonder if you ever realized how much you broke my heart when you began to cheat on me and how much damage you caused. I forgive you, Julia. I forgive you for the cheating because it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? But I can't forgive you for dying. The children are distraught. It was your choices that led to your death. If you had just left us or even left us for a different man then the children would still have a mother, but you didn't and for that, I can never forgive you. Goodbye, Julia, I will pray that you go to heaven and find forgiveness for your sins."