The Groom

The fever broke.

Rosa Sharon stared at the ceiling and the water stain.

Joseph rolled off her.

He lay on his back. His arm covered his eyes.

The money was everywhere.

Rosa sat up. She pulled the sheet around her and thought of Jack. Standing at the altar in his tuxedo. Checking his watch. Smiling at his mother.

Waiting for a door that would never open.

A sob caught in her throat.

Joseph moved his arm. He looked at her.

-Rosa?

She put her face in her hands.

-I left him there, Joseph.

-You did.

-He’s a good man.

She wiped her eyes.

-Everyone stared at him. Pitied him.

-He’ll survive, Joseph said.

-He’s broken. I broke him.

She looked at the scattered cash.

-I’m rolling in stolen money with a stranger while he’s probably calling hospitals.

Joseph sat up.

-You didn't break him, he said. You saved him.

-Saved him? I humiliated him.

-You saved him from a wife who was already gone. You saved him from waking up in five years next to a stranger.

Rosa looked at him.

-He would want you to be happy, Rosa. If he loves you, he wants you alive. Not just breathing.

-I don't feel happy.

-You feel guilty. That means you’re decent.

He moved closer. He put his hand on her neck.

-Let it go.

-And what’s left? she asked.

-Us, he said. And the road south.

Rosa took a breath.

She imagined Jack one last time. She imagined him taking off his tie. Walking out of the venue.

She exhaled.

-Cousin Benny, Joseph said. Baja.

-When do we leave?

-Now.

Rosa nodded. She dropped the sheet.

She stood up. She stepped over the money.

-I need a shower, she said.

-Make it quick.

-And Joseph?

He looked up.

-Thank you.

-For what?

-For the truth.

She walked into the bathroom. She turned the handle.

The water was clear.