Rules of Resistance by I. M. Hunt-Logan

Author:I. M. Hunt-Logan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyline Ridge Press
Published: 2018-06-27T16:00:00+00:00

31

Women’s Work

Saturday, October 13th, 24 days until the midterms

“That’s not the way I heard it,” says Imogen, rooting around in the kitchen island drawer for a bottle opener.

“You think you have insight into Darryl Gniewek’s marriage?”

“Nope.” She’s working her way through the counter drawers now. “Kathy Gniewek’s marriage.”

“Kathy Gniewek?” I can feel my eyebrows approaching my hairline.

“Kathy Gniewek volunteers on the Delgado campaign.”

“Does she now?”

How’s that for plot thickening? I guess it explains Darryl being so understanding about Imogen and her support for Mrs. McCready and Sylvia Delgado.

Imogen has given up on finding an opener in our poorly provisioned rental kitchen and resorts to popping the beer cap off by lining the top up against the edge of the kitchen sink and giving it a quick hit with the heel of her hand. A woman of many skills, she gets it on the first try.

“She does indeed. She and Delgado have their kids in the same day care and have even exchanged a little babysitting. And Kathy Gniewek tells a very different story.”

Imogen comes and plops down on the couch, forcing me over. She takes a long pull at her beer and sighs with satisfaction.

“On the money/job front, Darryl is not making 80K. He’s making 70K. He’s had the same job pretty much since high school—the job is nothing if not steady.”

Imogen wriggles around until she’s in lotus position on the couch and starts rubbing her feet.

“I must have walked fifteen miles doing door-to-door canvassing today. My feet are killing me,” she says by way of explanation.

“So Darryl inflated his salary a bit, so what?”

“That’s not all. Kathy is not making 80K, she’s making 100K. The hospital keeps hiring and Kathy keeps getting promoted. Kathy says it’s not a problem for her that she makes more, but it seems to be a problem for Darryl. So Kathy suggested Darryl consider being a physician’s assistant. And guess what Darryl does?”

“Darryl’s not interested in a nursing career,” I say, trying to head her off. “It’s not a capital crime.”

“It’s not just that Darryl wasn’t interested. Darryl said some very nasty stuff about Kathy’s job, saying he wouldn’t be caught dead having to wipe old men’s asses, calling it women’s work, etc. This about the work that allowed them to buy a house and enjoy a few extras for their little girl, despite Darryl’s frozen wages and job prospects. Darryl effectively took a shit on her job and on Kathy herself.”

Imogen sets her beer on the coffee table and slides off the couch, stretches her legs out in front of her, and bends forward to touch her toes. She emits something between a grunt and a groan as she presses forward, folding herself neatly in half, her chest and face pressed into her legs, stretching out her back and the backs of her legs.

“For Kathy, it was the final provocation.” She’s talking into her legs and her voice is muffled. “Kathy and Darryl have always had their ups and downs, but they’d been fighting pretty regularly since Trump’s election.

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