Jack Nasty
Ennis comes home late tonight. Alma Jr., four years old, and Jenny, three years old, are already asleep. But his wife, Alma, is awake. She sits at the kitchen table, a mug of cold coffee in her hand as Ennis enters their home.
"Out with Jack Twist again?" She asks.
Yeah, she knows.
Ennis stands by the table and looks at her, hands in the back pockets of his jeans. Instead of denying it, he sits down across from her and says, "We need a talk."
"Alright, let's talk then."
He takes a steadying breath before beginning to speak again, "We need a divorce, Alma." He's getting straight to the point.
Alma just nods, "I've been thinkin' about that, too."
A beat. Ennis speaks again, "Yeah? What do you think?"
"I think it's about time. With you n Jack Nasty up in that ranch down the road," she shakes her head, "Can't have that around my girls."
Alma stands and heads to the kitchen sink. She pours out the cold coffee. Ennis stares at her, replaying what she just said in his mind.
He doesn't reply to the "Jack Nasty" comment yet, caring more about the kids than anything else.
"Our girls," he corrects her, "Need a father... Now you can divorce me n hate me but you can't take those kids away from me."
Alma washes the mug, "We'll just see what the jury says..."
This ain't right, Ennis thinks. He stands, and before walking off to the bathroom to get ready for bed (couch), he says one last thing, "N stop callin' him Jack Nasty."
briefcaseofblues on AO3 and ranchhanddelmar on Twitter















