RING OF POWER

e late

shirt with a coffee stain on the collar that he'd tried to wipe away during his lunch

le with her arms crossed. She was still wearing he

hat cost more than what he made in a week. Her hair was p

tting his work bag by the door. "T

bout your damn sh

overs he'd seen in the refrigerator that morning. Chic

nsus, si

n light caught her face, and he could see the exhaustion there, not the tired expre

oss from her

quietly. "I've been trying for y

t of him wanted her to say it, to spell it o

the water-stained ceiling in the corner that they'd been meaning to have fi

iving like we're in our twenties trying to figure things ou

ted on the table, and he could see the indentation on her ring fi

tinued. "A real home. I wanted

onsus. I wanted to feel like we were building

d. "She's sick. She needs treatment,

t worse. "Do you know what I need? I need to feel like my husband has a future. I need to

he could give that would satisfy her because she was ri

w many jobs he took, no matter how many hours he worked, he

e back, she was holding a manila envelope. She placed it

his?" He al

them drawn up last month.

E was printed on the front in stark black letters.

found a place closer to the office. Smaller, but at leas

it clear from their first family dinner that she didn

d his long-term financial planning. Alphonsus had sat there quietly, eating the expen

Vivian said. She was standing now, he

unt, and move on with our lives. You can focus on your mother, an

but they both heard i

al language, terms he didn't understand, numbers and percentages. He flip

dle name. The formal version of himself,

him. Vivian's signature was already there

was looking out the kitchen window, toward the fire escape and the city beyon

she'd left a long time ago, and th

n said. She was still facing the window. "I'm

but there's nothing much to negotiate. The apartment stays in my n

ir entire marriage

ivia

yes. No anger. No sadness. Just resignation. The look of so

hat's not the point. The point is that try

he back of the chair, and headed for the door. H

?" His voice sounded s

the doorway but d

ack Saturday to pack the rest of my things. Just s

nd her. Her footsteps

with the sound of traffic, sirens, people moving through their lives, going somewhere, doing something. Insi

line was blank, waiting. A pen sat on the table where Vivian must have placed it

y prescription? I ra

vorce papers in front of him

ome for her medication. He thought about h

days. He thought about being thirty-four

he reached