Lesson 7: Relationships

The shadows enveloping the living room like a charred cloak were heavy and relentless. On the chair close to the TV, turned on with low-key lighting and with saturated fuzz on the screen, sat Arthur shoving down his 5th hamburger, empty boxes of fries and styrofoam cups voided of soda scattered on the carpet and his feat. Arthur wore a white t-shirt besmirched with stains of grease, ketchup, and salt. He tilted his head upward, his eyes gazing at the nothingness of the ceiling. A door slammed and he jerked out of his trance, as though he had been slapped.
Lucy dropped her bags on the floor. “Jesus, Arthur.”
“Yeah, so what?” He took another bite of his burger.
Lucy held onto a nearby chair before she went to a nearby window, opening the shades. Light propagated through the room like intense sandstorm, its excruciating brightness so keen that Arthur winced, closed and rubbed his eyes. “What the hell?” Arthur demanded.
“Please tell me,” Lucy demanded and stomped her foot.
“Tell you what?”
“When will this stop?”Her eyes watered.
He shrugged. “It’s my cross to bear.”
“That’s not a good enough excuse. You just give up.”
Arthur stared at her absently.
Lucy continued. “I cannot bear to see you like this.”
The breeze shivered him.
“What can I do?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Anything but this.”
“What good am I? No matter how many times I try, I never hear anything back.” He dropped his burger that shattered into pieces like a chess piece made of ceramic.