Red Collar

Red Collar


Calvin stumbled into the bedroom with ragged hair and scotch soaked skin. His knees were trembling and hands shaking. Mary waited upright in the bed with a book and a lamp on. She checked the red numbers that read 1:37 am. She was silent as she watched him breathing heavily undress to his boxers and white shirt. He crawled into the sheets next to her and let out a heavy groan. Mary closed her book to see that he was lying with his back turned toward her.
“Where have you been?” she asked
“Out”
“What do you mean ‘out’”
“Me and some guys from work went out after the shift”
“You reek of booze and cigarettes”
“So”
There was a dog barking in the distance, and a car pulling in next door. It’s lights reflected on the bedroom walls.
“Look at me,” Mary said as she was raising her voice. Calvin rolled his sluggish body over so his bloodshot eyes gleamed at her.”
“This has been happening for the past week. You come home late at night and I’m stuck waiting for you to make sure you are alright”
“I’m alright, I’ve always been”
“I called my sister earlier to see what I should do about you”
“To do about me? What are you talking about”
“She said that I should just pack my things and leave you”
“Well your sister is a bitch. And besides what the hell would you do without me?”
“I don’t need you, I can take care of myself”
“Like hell you can, your bitch sister can’t even take care of herself. She just spends all day watching soaps and fingering herself to Charlton Hesston movies”
“You prick. This is exactly what I am talking about. This is why I’m going to leave you”
“So you are going to leave me? Good, get the fuck out, I could finally get some sleep”
The room became silent except for the fan in the corner that watched over their room. Mary looked in the mirror that faced the bed. She wanted to see if he wasn’t really there, just imagining it. She noticed a red mark on the collar of his work shirt that was hanging on the closet door next to the mirror. She immediately got out of bed to examine it. It was lipstick. A darker shade of red than was she wears.
“YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE. WHO IS THIS FUCKING WHORE?”
Calvin’s back sprung up in surprise that he didn’t notice it when he got back home. He aired out the smell of perfume. He even sacrificed some scotch to pour on himself to over power the sent.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about YOU FUCKING PIG!”
Mary stormed out of the room with his shirt in hand. He heard her storming down the stairs to the kitchen. Draws were being slammed open, and rustled through. The footsteps grew louder coming up the stairs. She entered the room and stood over him with a glare in her eyes.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing” Calvin asked in terror.
She stood there silent for a moment and then raised his red collared shirt above him and took a grill lighter’s flame to it. The shirt started to singe and black smoke rose into the air. Calvin tried to grab the shirt away from her, but she pulled it away. Soon there were flames that grew up the shirt. When they reached Mary’s hand she threw the shirt onto him in the bed. Calvin felt the heat reached his body; he flailed his arms and legs to try to get the flames off. He had no choice but to roll out of the bed and onto the floor. His body made a thud and shook the glasses on the nightstand. Mary watched as the flames consumed the sheets as Calvin tried to push himself off the ground.
“YOU FAGGOT! You knew this day would come. You’re fucking around with that WHORE from the Christmas party AREN’T YOU?”
He had nothing to say. His face was pointed to the floor and was recovering from the fall he just took. When he finally got up, he was swaggering back and forth; they were both staring at each other as the bed was engulfed in the corner of their eyes.
“What the fuck are you thinking you cunt?”
“Tell me who it is. NOW!”
You wanna know who it is. YOU WANNA KNOW BITCH. IT’S RUTH, YOUR FUCKING SISTER. I’ve been fucking her every night for the past week. She sucks my cock, something you haven’t done in 20 fucking years.”
Mary’s eyes were piercing with rage. Her hands and knees were trembling. When she was down in the kitchen she tided a knife to her with the strings on her nightgown. She began to reach for it as she panted heavily.
“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!”
The flames started to reach the nightstand: it carried itself to the drapes
She took the knife out and began to charge at him with it. There was no time to react. The knife slide into his chest, he stumbled out of the room the same way he came it.
Smoke rolled out of the room and travelled its way to the smoke detector. Calvin made his way to the stairs in hopes to get to the phone. Mary observed his suffering, she watched as he grabbed the railing of the stairs. He took a step down, then another and another. His knees buckled and soon he was falling down the stairs. The knife dug deeper into his chest.
Mary stood at the top of the stairs with the fire chasing her. She walked down the stairs, he was at the bottom with blood spread across this shirt and neck. When she out to the bottom, she stepped over him. She could hear him wheezing with bold eyes following her as she walked out the front door with the fire detector blaring behind her.

The banging of her front door awoke Ruth. She came to the door and opened it to see Mary dressed in only a nightgown with blood on her hands.
“Mary! What happened? Are you all right? Where’s Calvin?”
“The same place where you’re going you bitch”