Here is a sample from the short story ‘Mr Flannery’.

Mr Flannery

Jack Flannery sat down at the kitchen table bracing himself for the tirade which was about to come from his wife’s mouth. His wife had a volatile character and was prone to violent outbursts. Sometimes he could just feel the tension in the air and know that something was about to go down. He knew deep down that he never deserved such treatment but he would always accept it. He would give her the benefit of the doubt of working hard, of being stressed out, of being hard done by life or some other excuse which would entitle her to dish out abuse to him.

“You’re not bringing enough money into the house Jack. I slave away at work and then come home to do more housework and what do you do? That crumby job at the Travis offices and for a pittance of pay. How are we supposed to live on that? From the wages you make from that job. You tell me,” said Patricia

Jack swallowed back hard. “Well you see love, it’s a good starting position and once I’ve got a foothold on that rung in the ladder I can make my way up by promotions to better jobs and better money,” replied Jack.

Patricia turned red and started to seethe before taking another gulp from her wine glass. She went over to the side bench opened the top drawer and pulled out a sharp knife. She then turned and pointed the knife at Jack who recoiled at the sight.

“That’s not good enough Jack. I need more effort from you both at work and in this house. You need to ask for a better position and for more wages. You’re probably just too lazy at work. I know you’re lazy in the house because you leave all the work for me, this place would be a pigsty if it wasn’t for me,” said a raging Patricia.

“Ok love, I’ll see what I can do, but just put the knife down please. We don’t want any accidents here,” begged Jack with his hands up. Jack’s heart was racing at this point as he wasn’t sure how far Patricia would go with this. Whether he would end up with kitchen knife in his chest or not.

Patricia relented and placed the knife back in the drawer. She then sat down opposite Jack and they continued to eat their evening meal. She was starting to settle down and gain control of herself. These episodes could be frightening for Jack and they were becoming more frequent. Jack had helped prepare the meal and set the table and put as much effort into the evening meal as Patricia had, but for some reason Patricia had just exploded at him and then calmed down as if nothing had happened.

Once the meal was finished Jack gathered up the plates and took them to the sink. With hot and cold water running he added the liquid detergent and was soon covering the crockery and cutlery with suds. Jack was again washing and drying the dishes, they wouldn’t take long to do. They soaked on the rack for a couple of minutes before Jack had a chance to dry them. As he was about to place them in their cupboards Patricia approached from behind.

“Let’s have a look at your cleaning skills,” snapped Patricia as she picked up a plate to inspect it. Not too impressed she placed it down before picking up a cup and then going through the same inspection process with a saucer. “Just as I thought, you haven’t cleaned these properly. There is grease and food on the plate and tea stains on the cup. You never made a tiny bit of effort. You can’t even get cleaning up right.”

Jack was picking up the warning signs and realised that Patricia’s temper had not abated in the slightest. Her temper was escalating and reaching a crescendo.

“Sorry love, I’ll dip them in the suds again and add some more hot water. Won’t take me a second,” said Jack

Patricia’s face had turned red “It’s too late for that,” said Patricia as she picked up a pan full of fat which was still warm and threw it at him………………………

 

‘Mr Flannery’ is one of the stories in ‘Mixed Bag: 10 Short Stories’ by Alan Barr which is available in eBook and paperback formats from Amazon.

Kind Regards

Alan

Email: alanrove@hotmail.com

Twitter: @AlanAlanrove