Don't You Forget About Me by Suzanne Jenkins Page A

disrupt that. So when the call came Sunday to come pick Bill up downtown, she simply told the caller to “drop dead” and hung up. He could get his own fucking ride home.
    She fixed lunch for her boys and then asked a neighbor who had babysat for them yesterday to watch them again. She wasn’t going to hide what was going on or pretend that everything was okay. “Bill spent the night in jail again and is coming home today. I don’t want him upsetting the boys.”
    Her neighbor was more than happy to help out if it would keep her son’s playmates safe. The screaming and sounds of flesh slapping flesh had reverberated through the neighborhood before. It has been so peaceful this summer while that prick was in jail .
    “Feel free to call 911 if you hear anything suspicious,” Anne whispered as she walked out the door, waving goodbye to her sons.
    Around 1:00, Anne heard a cab pull up in front of their brownstone. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. She wondered how he was going to manage to twist this around to be her fault. Did he know about the check thing yet? He didn’t have a key, but she decided to let him knock to get in. She wasn’t going to greet him at the door.
    He knocked. She opened the door, trying as hard as she could to keep her face expressionless. At least he has the decency to be contrite , she thought as she stepped aside to let him pass. He was trying to keep the expression on his face neutral, too. She imagined them going at each other, beating with their fists and rolling on the floor. Or if she had a gun, putting the barrel right up to his nose and pulling the trigger.
    Bill threw his belongings down on the chair and went right to the dining room table, pulling out a chair. “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”
    So typical of him , she thought. No hello, no attempt at hugging. How have I stayed with him all these years? She went into the kitchen and dished up the leftovers from her sons’ lunch. She placed the plate in front of him.
    “Yum! What’s this? Boxed macaroni and cheese! Hot dogs! I’m home!” he yelled to the air sarcastically.
    Anne wanted to pick the plate up and smash his face with it, but instead, she said, “Yes, it’s what the boys had. I’d have prepared a gourmet meal for you if I had known you were going to visit your family today.” She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice; it would hold up better in court that way.
    “Well, this is just delicious, thank you so much!” He ate the food without any further comment.
    Anne stood in the kitchen doorway, arms folded across the front of her body. Bill looks like hell. But that was his doing , she thought.
    “Where are my sons?” he finally asked.
    “Next door. We need to talk, and they are scared enough of you not to expose them to any more fights.” She knew she had, once again, crossed that invisible boundary with him.
    “The only reason my sons are afraid of me is because of the garbage you fed their heads while I was gone.”
    “Whatever, Bill. I’m not fighting with you. Tell me what we are going to do next. I understand that we are ruined. It was lovely of you to go away for the summer and leave me with sixty dollars in the bank.”
    “Right! Let’s talk about that. So you were forging my mother’s checks? Did I hear that correctly?”
    “You did. But that isn’t anything for you to worry about. You will do time for your own fun and games. By the way, what took you to jail yesterday? I can’t wait to find out.”
    “Actually, I scared the shit out of my late brother’s girlfriend.” He smiled up at Anne, knowing that would piss her off.
    “I figured as much. Well, Bill, it’s obvious we can’t stay together. You are going to have to kill me before I let you near the boys, unless someone else is here to referee. The neighbors are ready to call the cops if they hear anything over here, even a knock on the floor. So don’t get any ideas. The only reason I let you in today is so