Hot Water Music Read Online Free PDF

together.”
    “O.K.”
    “‘O.K.’? What do you mean—‘O.K.’?”
    “I mean, you’re right.”
    “You don’t say it like you mean it. You just don’t want to talk. You’ve lived with me all these years. Do you know why?”
    “I’m not sure. People just settle into things, like jobs. People just settle into things. It happens.”
    “You mean being with me is like a job? Is it like a job now?”
    “You punch a time clock on a job.”
    “There you go again! This is a serious discussion!”
    “All right.”
    “‘All right’? You loathsome ass! You’re about to fall asleep!”
    “Margy, what do you want me to do? That happened years ago!”
    “All right, I’ll tell you what I want you to do! I want you to kiss me like you did Lilly! I want you to fuck me like you did Lilly!”
    “I can’t do that…”
    “Why? Because I don’t excite you like Lilly did? Because I’m not new ?”
    “I hardly remember Lilly.”
    “You must remember enough . All right, you don’t have to fuck me! Just kiss me like you did Lilly!”
    “Oh my god, Margy, please let off, I beg you!”
    “I want to know why we’ve lived all these years together! Have I wasted my life?”
    “Everybody does, almost everybody does.”
    “Waste their lives?”
    “I think so.”
    “If you could only guess how much I hate you!”
    “Do you want a divorce?”
    “Do I want a divorce? Oh my god, how calm you are! You ruin my whole god damned life and then ask me if I want a divorce! I’m 50 years old! I’ve given you my life! Where do I go from here?”
    “You can go to hell! I’m tired of your voice. I’m tired of your bitching.”
    “Suppose I had done that with a man?”
    “I wish you had. I wish you would!”
    Theodore closed his eyes. Margaret sobbed. Outside a dog barked. Somebody tried to start a car. It wouldn’t start. It was 65 degrees in a small town in Illinois. James Carter was president of the United States.
    Theodore began to snore. Margaret went to the bottom drawer of the dresser and got the gun out. A .22 revolver. It was loaded. She got back into bed with her husband.
    Margaret shook him. “Ted, darling, you’re snoring …”
    She shook him again.
    “What is it…?” Ted asked.
    She took the safety off the gun and put the gun to the part of his chest nearest her and pulled the trigger. The bed jolted and she pulled the gun away. A sound much like a fart came out of Theodore’s mouth. He didn’t seem to be in pain. The moon shone through the window. She looked and the hole was small and there wasn’t much blood. Margaret moved the gun to the other side of Theodore’s chest. She pulled the trigger again. This time he made no sound at all. But he continued to breathe. She watched him. The blood was coming. The blood stank terribly.
    Now that he was dying she almost loved him. But Lilly, when she thought about Lilly…Ted’s mouth on hers, and all the rest, then she wanted to shoot him again…Ted had always looked good in a turtleneck and he looked good in green, and when he farted in bed he always first turned away—he never farted against her. He seldom missed a day at work. He’d miss tomorrow…
    Margaret sobbed for a while and then went to sleep.
     
     
     
    When Theodore awakened he felt as if there were long sharp reeds stuck into each side of his chest. He felt no pain. He put his hands on his chest and then lifted them in the moonlight. His hands were covered with blood. It confused him. He looked at Margaret. She was asleep and in her hand was the gun he had taught her to use for her own protection.
    He sat up and the blood began exiting more quickly from the two holes in his chest. Margaret had shot him while he had been asleep. For fucking Lilly. He hadn’t even been able to climax with Lilly.
    He thought, I’m almost dead but if I can get away from her I might have a chance.
    Theodore gently reached over and unclasped Margaret’s fingers from the gun. The safety catch was still