Read A Way to Get By for Free Online

both of you but I convinced her to give you a little alone time.”
       My best friend and I caught each other’s eyes as Eddie threw an arm around me and shot back, “So why are you bugging us now just when things are getting good?”

CHAPTER 6
    Half a Mile Away
     
     
    BRENDA
    Monday, September 22
    1980
     
    D inner at Tony and Ginny’s. Great.
       I knew they’d try and stop this, but I also knew there wasn’t anything they could say to change our minds. Eddie and I needed to do this. We’d tear each other apart otherwise.
       I sat down on the edge of the bed to put my heels on, but I lost my balance and sank into the mattress with a squish. The stupid waterbed. I don’t know what the hell Eddie was thinking when he bought the damn thing.
       A few years back, the two of us were getting ready to go out for our customary anniversary celebration at The Plaza. No matter how bad our financial situation got, we’d always manage to pull it together enough to hit New York City for a few drinks. I’d throw on a pretty dress; Eddie always wore his suit.
       That year, though, we had a slight excess of cash. Unbeknownst to me, Eddie had been saving up for a couple of years. Had I known there was any extra money socked away, I would have used it to pay for school or found some other just-as-good place to invest it. But apparently, Eddie had other ideas.
       He’d been sitting in the living room with ants in his pants and I didn’t know what the heck was going on. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and Eddie jumped up to answer it. He was met with a couple of Sears delivery guys hauling in box after box, and Eddie directed them to our bedroom. The only thing we had in that room was our bare mattress on the floor and a few laundry baskets that held our clothes, so it was no problem for Eddie to clear a space for my present.
       It was a sweet gesture, really. And trust me, we made good use of the thing. But every time I went to lay down on that damned waterbed, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was laying across my abandoned college degree.
       I dislodged myself from the confines of my squishy prison and stood up to check my reflection in the wall mirror. I didn’t know why I felt the need to get all dolled up, but something about looking my best always gave me a boost of confidence.
       Smoothing my hands down the front of my red wrap dress, I was thinking about how unfair it was of me to wear the thing. It was always Eddie’s favorite dress on me, one which was never worn for more time than it took for him to rip it off my body.
       I hadn’t seen him in over a week, ever since he packed his bags and moved out. The original plan was that he’d sleep in Virginia and Anthony’s guest room but he must’ve come up with a different arrangement at the last minute. I had no idea where he’d been spending his nights. I’d already started to get paranoid that he found some hot-to-trot hussy’s place to crash. The thought made me physically ill.
       Maybe I was overreacting. Eddie probably just didn’t want to deal with the pressure of our friends’ unyielding questions, as evidenced by the fact that as soon as those two got wind of our separation, they immediately stepped in to play Marriage Counselors. I felt pretty guilty going into the night knowing there was nothing they could say or do to repair things.
       The divorce was going to happen.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 7
    Pressure
     
     
    EDDIE
    Monday, September 22
    1980
     
     
    S o I was wearing a suit. So what. Is it so wrong that I wanted to make Brenda drool? She bought the damn thing for me, the only expensive suit I owned. Dark, charcoal gray, suitable for weddings and funerals, which were the only two places I’d ever need to wear it. Although, I guessed it worked just as well for torturing my soon-to-be ex-wife.
       The separation was her idea, after all. Of course it was.
       I would have been perfectly happy living out the