Free Sisters and Husbands by Connie Briscoe

disgusts me now.
     I don’t need it, don’t want it. The question is, are
you
willing to give those things up?”
    Evelyn was silent. She didn’t know what to say to that.
    “I didn’t think so,” Kevin said.
    Evelyn swallowed. Kevin was right about one thing. He had changed—a lot. But was this permanent? Could they work through it
     and perhaps find a middle ground? He didn’t seem to think so, but she wasn’t ready to give up on him or on them yet. “Are
     you saying you want a divorce? That you want to give up on us without first trying to work through this?”
    “I’m not saying anything now,” he said. “I know it’s not fair to ask you to give all that up, and I really don’t expect you
     to. But I need to clear my head and think about what I can realistically live with.”
    “And you need to do your thinking away from me. Right?”
    “It’s better that way, Evelyn.”
    He seemed determined to have this time away from her, and fussing about it wasn’t going to get him to change his mind. “How
     long do you think you’ll need?”
    “All I can say is that I’ll call you at some point.”
    She sighed. “Can you give me something a little more definite? It’s frustrating to be completely shut out like this.”
    “It will be soon,” he said. “More than that I can’t say now. I need to clear my head.”
    Your head, your head, your head.
Was that why he had shaved it? To clear out all the memories of their lives together. That was what she wanted to shout.
     But she didn’t, simply because she knew it wouldn’t do a bit of good. “Fine. Where are you staying?”
    “The Wynfield apartments in College Park.”
    “Apartment number?”
    “Just call me on my cell if you need to reach me.”
    “Honestly, Kevin, do you have to be so secretive?” Her lips tightened. “Fine, I’ll call you on your cell.”
    “Good. Anything more?” he asked.
    Of course there was more. She had a million questions for him, but it was hard to express her innermost thoughts to someone
     who so obviously didn’t want to be bothered with her. “That’s it. Oh, wait. Have you talked to Andre and Rebecca? Have you
     told them anything about this yet?”
    “I haven’t talked to them since I left the house. I’ll probably call them before the week is out.”
    “Maybe, um, maybe you should hold off telling them until we decide what we’re going to do. This will come as a shock to them.
     It might even affect Rebecca’s studies.”
    “Fine. I can go along with that.”
    Evelyn let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
    “I’ll call you soon.”
    She listened as he hung up, then stood and looked out the window behind her desk. It was hot out and the streets were slick
     from several thunderstorms they’d had since Monday afternoon. The heat she could do without, but they had needed the rain
     desperately. After a multiweek dry spell, the flowers and shrubs in her yard at home were starting to dry out. The wet weather
     should do a lot of good toward replenishing everything.
    If only she could figure out how to replenish her marriage. Or was it just too hopelessly dried out? How had it come to this?
     The distance between the two of them, the heated disagreements. They had always argued from time to time, but where there
     was once fire and passion now there was only bitterness and resentment.
    She would wait for his stupid call and she would try to be patient about it. She didn’t have much choice. She hated the feeling
     of waiting in the dark until he was ready to bring the light. She hated that he had the upper hand in all of this. It was
     demeaning and exasperating beyond belief. But she had to swallow her pride, her feelings, her convictions—all of that and
     a whole lot more—if she wanted to try and save her marriage. For now the best thing to do was to get on with her life, just
     as she would have told Cathy and all her other clients.
    She sat back at her desk, picked up the phone, and dialed