- 3.
David ignored me for the rest of the visit.
He even left with Sarah, his arm around her,
right in front of me.
I didn’t care.
Г
At home, I took out our only photo together,
meant for our marriage registration.
Staring at it, I thought about our past, how
ridiculous it all seemed.
Ten years with David couldn’t compete with
one year with Sarah.
I set the photo on fire, watching it turn to ash.
That night, half–asleep, I felt hands on my
waist.
“Who’s there?”
I bolted upright, seeing David lying beside me.
He jumped, too.
<
“It’s just me!”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning.
He scowled.
“This is my house, too. I don’t need your
permission to come home.”
“Besides, it’s our wedding night. What would
people think if I didn’t come back?”
He lit the kerosene lamp.
I wanted to say, “Haven’t they seen enough?”
But what was the point?
I lay back down.
David pulled a ring from his pocket. My
wedding ring, the one he’d given to Sarah.
Had he gotten it back for me?
He slipped it onto my middle finger while I
was still stunned.
I looked up and saw a smug grin on his face.
He was so sure I couldn’t leave him.
I pulled the ring off.
“Doesn’t Sarah like it? Give it back to her.”
His smile faltered.
“This is our wedding ring. I’ll buy Sarah
another one.”
“Sarah and I are just like siblings. Stop being
jealous of her.”
“The wedding fiasco was your fault. Sarah
always saw you as a sister.”
I laughed coldly. “Should I thank her?”
David ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
“Anna, when did you become so
unreasonable?”
A loud knock echoed through the house.
“Captain, are you awake? Sarah’s sick again.
Come quick!”
David scrambled to get dressed.
<
As he reached for the door, I stopped him.
“David, since you think I’m so unreasonable,
then go ahead and withdraw our marriage
application.”
He froze, then turned to me.
The air thickened.
The knocking came again.
“It’s not happening. We’re getting married in a
couple of days,” he said, and left without
looking back.
The man at the door was Sergeant Johnson,
David’s best friend and Sarah’s brother’s
comrade.
<
He looked at me with disgust.
“Mrs. Miller, don’t think you can bully Sarah
just because she doesn’t have family. The
Captain and all of us are her brothers now.”
