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bathe?”
    â€œHow’s Carlos doing? Did you give him my best?” Joel asked, biting into his burger.   
    â€œI’m not doing this tonight.”
    â€œC’mon, baby, don’t you wanna fight? It’s written right on your face.”
    â€œInstead of acting like some moronic beggar, why aren’t you out looking for her? Why haven’t you brought her back to me?”
    â€œDing-ding-ding. We have a winner, folks. All of life’s mysteries and consequences are Joel Phoenix’s fault. Thanks for removing all doubt.”
    â€œThere’s still a mystery I can’t seem to crack, Joel. Just one.” Her eyes splintered before she said it. “Why I ever married you.”
    He was quiet.
    â€œYou should be out there looking for her, not in here, hiding.”
    â€œI have looked! We’ve looked. We’ve contacted half the state, for heaven’s sake. I’ve called family and what little friends we still have. I’ve spent hours on the internet and on the phone, waiting for someone at those elite agencies to tell me they haven’t found jack squat! Why am I not out looking for her? How do you sleep at night?”
    Aimee hurried around the kitchen. She was searching for something. She yanked open cabinets and drawers, shoved items aside, broke a coffee maker in the process. Then she moved to the far end of the kitchen to the hutch they rarely used. There she found the box of wine. She poured herself a tall glass.
    â€œHe doesn’t want you anymore, does he?” Joel asked, taking another bite. “Makes sense now. Your fantasy is over.” He knew he struck a nerve when she didn’t reply but rather stared coldly at him, the way a cobra studies its prey.
    â€œBet it feels good to lose it all. Lose control and get tanked,” she eventually said. “I want to feel good, get stupid. Like you. That’s what you want, right? You want me to feel like you.”
    â€œLet loose, baby,” Joel snarled, but all he wanted was to pull the wine away from her lips. Tell her she didn’t need it. But he was frozen in the situation his bitter words had created.
    Aimee chugged the full glass and filled it once more. “Feels nice.”
    â€œStop it,” he asked finally, regretting egging her on. “The show’s over. You don’t need to impress anyone.”
    â€œThe control maniac rears his ugly head again. Punish me, Joel! Why don’t you tie me up in the closet? Tape my mouth shut when I have an opinion. I’m just a helpless woman with no will of her own. Isn’t that right?”
    â€œI never said that.” He swallowed the rest of the burger and tossed the bag in the trash. “Be rational.”
    Aimee bellowed. “You are asking me to be rational? Priceless words of wisdom coming from a full-time drunk. Who are you to tell me anything? You’ve been irrational for months. It’s your fault we’re in this mess. Your fault we even moved out here in the first place to this freaking cow town!”
    â€œYeah, and having you as a wife is a real trip.”
    â€œI’m not your wife; I’m only a whore, remember?”
    Joel chewed his lip, silent.
    She was lit like a fire, blazing with anger and discontent. He watched her chug the glass until it was nearly empty. “I’m like this because of you. I’m tired of you! You can’t even bring her back. You can’t fix it, Joel. There’s no miracle. There’s no right word. It’s your fault she’s gone!”
    â€œIs it my fault you went out and—” Joel stopped himself short.
    â€œWhat, Joel?” she said, moving closer, aching for a response. “What are you dying to say?”
    â€œI wasn’t the one who had the affair, Aimee. Take a good hard look in the mirror. I have my sins, but you drove her away just as much as I did.”
    â€œFor your information, I didn’t sleep with