Chapter #5Marsha Gates by: Unknown “Where has your mother gone?” I asked my wife Andrea.
“She has gone outside to get some fresh air” she replied. I looked round the curtain to see Andrea’s mom, Marsha struggling to light a cigarette whilst leaning against a tree by the sidewalk.
“So I see” I replied sarcastically, shaking my head. “How many times has she been told to give up smoking by her doctor now?”
“God, don’t start Steve. You don’t understand. Giving up smoking is hard,” my wife said as she filled the kettle.
“You did it”
“Yeah but only because listening to your complaining was marginally more painful. If we hadn’t had the kids I doubt I would have stopped. Its been 13 years and I still crave them when I’m stressed” Andrea said, swishing her long honey blonde hair behind her back as she took some cups out of the cupboard.
“And who’s faults that?” I griped “When are you going to realise she has always been a terrible influence on you?” Andrea’s parents we’re stinking rich. They never encouraged Andrea to aim for anything, believing that she would marry one of their rich friends sons and spend her time as a lady of leisure, whilst her stockbroker husband brought in the money. Just has Marsha had done one she met Andrea’s dad Doug. When they met me, a trainee teacher who had encouraged they’re daughter to study law, they didn’t exactly welcome me with open arms. Even when she was made a partner in a major city firm, they maintained that she would have been better off as some kind of trophy wife for a banker.
“Steve, mom came over here to build bridges not burn them. Look, do me a favour, go out there and talk to her. Hold out the olive branch for her.” Andrea pleaded.
“Me?! I’ve done nothing wrong! It was your parents who stopped talking to us!” I fumed.
“I know, but Steve, they’re both even more stubborn than you.” She shook her head and turned to face me holding my hands “Please Steve. I want them back in my life….in the kids lives. Mom defied dad coming over here. You know how hard that was for her to do that? They reacted badly to Scott’s death…we’ll did in our own way but this is your chance to show them you can be the bigger man!” I caved as soon as I looked into her big blue eyes, slowly filling with tears.
“OK, I’ll try” said gently. I smiled and left to talk to the enemy.
Andrea’s brother Scott was my best friend. He was opposite of he’s parents, eschewing a life in the City to become photographer for National Geographic, much to his parents disgust. Five years ago I suddenly developed a rare kidney disease and needed a transplant to survive. Scott immediately volunteered himself and, finding himself a match, insisted against his parent’s wishes that he donated me one of his kidneys. My operation was a success, but when I came to a day later, I found out that Scott’s hadn’t been. He had suffered a complication following the kidney removal and had died in the operating theatre. Andrea’s parents had been inconsolable with grief and unfairly blamed me for Scott’s death. Even Andrea had struggled to meet my eye. It was only birth of our daughter Megan a few months later that had reconciled us.
I walked outside and heard Andrea quietly follow to set the tea on the porch table and to be near at hand should things go south.
“Hey Marsha” I called out. She turned and gave me a sour look. People say that if you want to know how your wife will turn out, look at their mothers. Well you could certainly see the resemblance and I guess at 58 Marsha didn’t have a bad figure, although I knew a lot of that had been paid for. She was shorter than Andrea at 5’4’’but basically the same body shape, her ass had expanded quite a bit with age and I knew her expensive beige Armani pants suit covered a muffin-top, but she certainly wasn’t fat. Her boobs were definitely larger than Andrea’s, thanks to a 40th birthday present from Doug. You could see Andrea’s face in hers, but her lifestyle had not treated it well. A facelift had made exaggerated her cheek bones, giving her a slighty pinched look. The heavy make-up she applied coud not hide the multitude of fine lines around her mouth and eyes. And where Andrea’s hair was a lustrous natural honey blonde, Marsha’s has been bleached and dyed to a light ash blonde within an inch of its life. It was dry and heavily styled to give lots of volume.
“Hello Steve” she replied blandly and at the sound of that voice, my shackles rose. It had a horrible nasal tone and was husky from years of smoking. When she spoke it was like someone sawing into my brain. I took a deep breath.
“Look Marsha, thanks for coming over” I started as Marsha took another drag on her disgusting menthol cigarette. “I know you and Doug hate me and that is unlikely to change, but it is important for Andrea that you are in her life…and Megan and Ben’s life.”
“But its not important to you?” she asked acidly.
“I didn’t mean that Marsha…” I replied through gritted teeth.
“That’s the problem with you Steve, you never mean what you say” she sneered “If it wasn’t for you Scott would be alive and Andrea would be married to someone wealthy rather than living in these slums” she gestured to the high-end suburb that we lived in with her cigarette.
“Mother…” Andrea started in a waning voice, but I held my hand up.
“Marsha, listen to me. I loved Scott like a brother and I miss him terribly. I know you blame me for his death and nothing I will say can change that but you have to believe me when I say I owe Scott my life. Thanks to him I was alive to see Megan born and if there was anything I could do to repay your family I would do it at the drop of a hat.”
Marsha paused in her rant and but whatever she was about to say was interrupted by Andrea screaming and pointing .I saw behind Marsha a car lose control and head straight towards her. The world slowed down and felt like I was running through treacle. I’m sure I managed to push Marsha to safety before I felt a sudden burst of pain, followed by dizziness and finally blackness…
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