The Anniversary

“Don’t start all this again, Mike. I thought we were going to have a meal together and catch up.”

“We are. And we’re talking about that bi*ch you’re married to.”

Toby took a deep breath. What he really wanted to do was swing at Mike but he didn’t need the publicity. Mike would thrive on it but Toby wouldn’t. He preferred his privacy.

“I’ve told you before and I’m telling you again, Mike – stop being so disrespectful about my wife. You’re not married to her so why should you be so bothered?”

“I’m just worried about you, little brother.” Mike sat back in his chair. His expression said he was anything but worried. “In my experience black women always cheat. You’ve been with her since you were fifteen and I shudder to think about the amount of times she’s slept with someone behind your back.”

Toby had the misfortune to know about all of Mike’s conquests. His brother had never married but he had had a string of girlfriends, sometimes several at once. He wasn’t bothered about their ethnicity and had been known to date black women. But he was not very nice to them and they always ended up walking out on him. Mike tried to claim they had cheated and he had thrown them out but Toby knew better. Those women had more self-respect than to sit around and be verbally and physically abused by a man who thought he was God’s gift.

“Simone has never slept around.” He said stiffly.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course I am. Are you sure your girlfriends don’t sleep around?”

“Why would they need to?” Mike gave an arrogant smile. “I’m excellent in bed.”

“So you say.”

Toby knew better. None of the girls Mike dated would be brave enough to sleep around. With Mike’s reputation they would be pulverized. The one girl who dared to sleep with another guy – with Mike’s approval – ended up in hospital with a broken jaw.

“I do say.” Mike leaned forward. “And you shouldn’t trust women completely, except our mom. All black women cheat and Simone would have done it dozens of times.”

Toby tried to rein in his temper but Mike was pushing it.

“I trust Simone completely. Who was the one who took me in when Mom and Dad kicked me out?”

“All you had to do was kick her to the curb and then you’d still be talking to them. You wouldn’t be married to a sponger with three half caste kids.”

Toby’s self-control snapped. He resisted the urge to physically attack his brother and stood, his dinner half-eaten.

“Right. I’m done.”

“Where are you going?”

Toby picked up his jacket from the back of his chair and put it on, giving Mike a glare.

“Are you seriously kidding me? You know my family is my world.”

“I’m meant to be your family.”

“I’m talking about Simone, Carl, Craig and Nick, who you refuse to see and who our parents refuse to acknowledge.” Toby leaned over, causing Mike to back up as he got in his brother’s face. “I don’t like it when you slag off Simone but I grit my teeth. But calling my children names is cross the line. No one says things like that about my kids.” He straightened up and turned away. “Do me a favor and don’t call me.”

“Toby…”

But Toby was already walking away. His blood was boiling. How dare his brother talk about his children like that? The man didn’t give a sh*t.

Maybe he really should cut off contact. Trying to maintain things with his brother was too much stress.

As he went outside and stalked across to his car, Toby felt his cell phone ringing. Digging it out, he saw it was Carl calling.

“Hey, son, what’s up?”

*****

Simone turned off the hairdryer and picked up her lipstick, delicately applying a slight amount to her mouth. The shower had made her feel better after the hard slog of her errands. Now it was time to freshen up and get ready to see her youngest son at his basketball game at school.

People would wish they had her life where she didn’t have to work and she could do whatever she wanted. But Simone didn’t like sitting around trolling through magazines, having millions of salon appointments and sunbathing. She preferred to be up and moving around, hence why she played tennis regularly and tried out other sports. She loved her art and taught classes at the community center for underprivileged people. It was fun and it was rewarding.

Simone even did all of the household shopping, from groceries all the way through to furniture. And never any of the fancy stuff unless she liked the look of it. Even after twenty years married to Toby, Simone could never get the hang of spending lots of money; she spent within a budget she set herself and that was it. The children never went without but they were never spoiled. If Toby or herself wanted something they went and got it. Nobody spent money on a whim.

Simone couldn’t understand women who sneered at her for not taking advantage of her husband’s money. But Simone wasn’t interested in spending money just for the pleasure of spending money. That wasn’t how she was.

Finishing off the light touches of makeup, Simone heard the front door opening and closing. Voices, faint but recognizable, floated down the corridor. Smiling when she heard her husband, Simone left the bedroom and made her way into the lounge. Toby was standing by the kitchen island with his arms folded glaring at Carl, who stood by the couch with a scowl.

Simone pulled up when she saw Carl’s head. It was heavily bandage with remnants of dried blood crusted on his face. His temple and his eye also had a bruise coming up a deep purple.

“Oh, my God, Carl.” Simone approached Carl and reached out. “What happened?”

Carl knocked her hand away before she could touch his face.

“Guess.” He muttered. Then he stepped around her. “I’m going to my room.”

“Carl…”

But Carl had already disappeared down the hall to the bedrooms. A door slammed loudly a moment later. Simone flinched and looked at Toby, who was still glowering.

“What happened?”

“He was attacked at school.” Toby growled. “I picked him up from the emergency room. One of the other boys hit him with a baseball bat.”

Simone’s stomach dropped.

“Oh, God.”