Love in the Wreckage by Jesse Sprague

Author:Jesse Sprague [Sprague, Jesse]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jesse Sprague
Published: 2021-02-09T08:00:00+00:00

Winter

A yellow mega block hit the living room wall.

“This shit is everywhere!” Preston held his foot where the offending toy had jabbed him. “If you insist on keeping those parasites, then clean up after them.”

“Quiet. You’ll wake Izi.” I sucked in a deep breath and calmed myself.

“Seriously? This is my house.”

“No, it’s our house.”

“Really, June? What the hell do you do other than play nursemaid to your brother’s kid? At least you used to have dinner on the table.”

“I still would if I ever knew when you were coming home. If you were coming home.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I work late on occasion.”

“You were home after ten every night last week. Thursday you never left the city.” I went to retrieve the mega block, picking up a beer can I’d missed when cleaning earlier. The block dropped into Izi’s toy box. My purpose in life—a clean house.

Well, for a few more months until the world ended. Why bother? An urge to tip over the bucket of toys nearly overcame me.

“Just ‘cause you don’t go into the city doesn’t mean you can ignore what’s happening,” Preston said. “Those religious freaks were all over the roads. Screaming about the end of the world. I told you that. There was no driving in the crowds of crazy.”

I crumpled the can in my fist and turned to the window so I didn’t have to watch him lie.

Preston plopped onto the couch. He didn’t meet my eyes. “I love you, June, but your brother has been here over six months. It isn’t healthy for Izi for her father to sit on his ass. How many people have to tell you that? Your mom agrees. Greg’s behaving like a baby.”

The sky brimmed with stars. Another lie. The window showed me a false sense of security, but on the other side of the planet, hid the truth. The stars were still disappearing. It was just the other half of the globe’s turn to see that absence.

“Just a little longer, Pres. Who’re we to tell him how to move on? And I’m not putting Izi out on the street ‘to teach Greg a lesson.’”

“She’s not our kid, June.” Preston’s voice held a smug sweetness. “God couldn’t have been clearer. Now is not the time for us to have kids.”

God? I glared. When we lost that first pregnancy, he’d been as torn up as I was. No talk of God’s will then. When we couldn’t conceive again that’s when God came into it. When it was Preston’s body failing us—when having a child meant admitting his limits.

Preston had always been good at pretending nothing was wrong. I used to be, too. Was that public façade all that remained of the couple we once were?

Preston glanced at the laptop on the coffee table. “You reading that crap? The world’s not about to end, June. Don’t buy into the crazy.”

The article on the screen had a picture of a firing squad. North Korea this time. Shooting scientists wouldn’t stop the Suneater. The USA wasn’t much better.

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