Mending A Broken Heart
/Henry had it in him this early autumn
to turn in his two-week notice
and file court papers to end
his ten-year marriage with Scarlett.
Scarlett used to straighten her
long, red hair and paint her lips red.
Henry would take her to a cabin
for makeup sex. Henry hoped
for a second shot at fatherhood,
but it had yet to happen.
The monotony of their lives
eased into an early fall
and the years moved through
confrontations, watching sappy
romance movies and Henry read
more than a life’s worth of self-help books.
Writing checks for bills
over dark coffee
at the oak kitchen table
shuffled their conversations
like roommates splitting
everything down the middle.
Scarlett visited her sister for dinner,
and Henry stayed in as the sun sank
below the horizon.
Henry plopped himself into the maroon recliner.
The maroon walls had pine-framed family pictures.
Henry’s family pictures on one side;
Scarlett’s family’s picture hung on the other side.
Happiness leaked through the images,
and his tears splashed the ripples
of a misperception.
Henry folded the newspaper, heaved upright,
and moved to the glass coffee table.
He swooped and reached for a new photo album.
The cover didn’t ring a bell, so he returned to his chair.
He opened the book, and his eyes widened
before they eased into a soft gaze.
Scarlett’s ’97 high school picture spread the page.
It was as if Scarlett had left it for him to find.
Her infectious laugh was evident
through her cheesy grin.
Scarlett’s magnetic oval eyes
illuminated his dilated pupils.
Their high school prank calls
pulled the memories of their friendship.
Scarlett sucked the breath from his lungs
and kissed him back to life.
Being around Scarlett
was like walking a tightrope
over a chasm of emotions,
exhilarating and terrifying all at once.
Henry’s heart shuttered in his chest,
his palms clammed up,
and his tongue turned to concrete
whenever she was near.
Henry smitten her with movie dates,
where they kissed
until the credits rolled.
After a time, lust turned into love.
Henery’s cheeks warmed with a smile
that curved his mouth.
Henry turned the page to her handwriting.
Henry shut his eyes and sniffed the Calvin Klein
perfume she sprayed for a mental note
about making love in her grandfather’s barn
for the first time.
“I haven’t been me in some time,” Scarlett wrote.
Henry lifted his hand to his face and rubbed it. “After Mia died three years ago, I just wasn’t myself. She was just five. You begged God for answers. But I know you wouldn’t accept one.”
Henry’s composure cracked
and tears spread across his cheeks.
He moved his sleeve across his eyes.
He cleared his throat and returned to the book.
“When the drunk driver hit Mia five years ago downtown during a Christmas Parade, you didn’t talk to me. Well, you did and you didn’t. That little girl was your world. It didn’t help that I was tired from a long day at work. And I didn’t know where you were. I lost you when I lost Mia.”
Henry paused and closed the book. He sat on the coffee table. Henry smoked a cigarette. He raked his fingers through his thick, brown hair. “I blamed myself,” Henry said inside an empty home. He put out the smoke and held his head in his hands. “I hated seeing Scarlett sob with shakes.”
Henry stood and moved across the cherry maple floor
to the sliding glass door.
A lone boat drifted silently down the moonlit river;
its wake a trail of scattered stars.
Shrouded in a cloak of mystery,
the figure in the boat seemed to be one
with the night, a silent observer of the moon’s
celestial dance upon the river’s stage.
Henry grinned as he caught his reflection.
He moved his hand over his face.
He unbuttoned his Polo shirt and removed his t-shirt.
He turned on the classic R&B
and entered the Hunter Green bathroom.
Barn doors decorated the shower curtain.
The cream floor blended with a light gray trashcan,
soap dispenser, and towel hanger.
Henry opened the oak cabinet and grabbed a razer.
He closed it and faced the mirror.
He reached for a bottle and pressed a button.
Shaving cream filled his palm.
He lathered his neck and face.
With each stroke,
the past shed its weight over
his self-control.
Toni Braxton played lyrics that entered
his blind spots for a perfectionist.
He ran water over the razer and dried it.
Henry wiped down the gray sink with a washcloth.
He walked through the rich maroon hallway
adorned with captivating black and white artwork
displayed on the walls.
He opened his bedroom closet
and moved shirts on hangers.
Henry found the shirt he’d wear for Scarlett.
He threw a white t-shirt over his shoulders
and buttoned his Polo shirt.
He tucked it into his navy pants
with a beige belt looped around his waist.
He sprayed escape on his neck
and returned to the living room.
“Scarlett?” he said.
“You surprised?” She hugged herself. She wore dark red lipstick.
“You look…” Henry’s train of thought died on arrival.
“You look,” she gave him a once over, “amazing.”
“And you,” Henry said.
“Like my hair?” Scarlett posed and stuck out her tongue.
Henry lifted and lowered his hands. “You’re back,” he said.
“And so are you,” Scarlett said. “And I’m pregnant.”
Henry embraced her, and she sighed into his arms.
Their kiss unleashed butterflies more than
their first kiss.
By Andy Cooper
From: United States
Website: https://writeovercoffee.blog/
Twitter: AC0040