Cheated

It was a chilly July evening and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. The stars were small twinkling balls of fire suspended in the big black sky and all that was heard were the small crickets batting their wings in the night. It seemed like a night that only Vincent van Gough could paint.

But in between all the beauty, Patricia Mabel was washing the dishes from the dinner she and her husband had just consumed two hours ago.

“John!” cried Patricia as she scrubbed the last plate. “Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?”

“Sure dear,” said John Mabel from the sittingroom of their cottage.

John and Patricia didn’t own the cottage; they rented it from their friends Lucifer and Sandra Rhinert who owned the cottage next door. Since the cottage was rented, many of its accessories were shared between the two couples.

They had a lot of water equipment, which included paddleboats, canoes, and waterskis. All the equipment was owned by the Rhinerts, and shared with the Mabels and much of it was stowed in the small brownish green shed behind the Rhinert’s cottage. The garage—which stored most of the equipment during the winter months, along with tools, lawnmowers, and other equipment used to keep a cottage clean—was also shared.

The only things that weren’t shared were the Rhinert’s cottage and the small cabin that sat on the lawn far away from the cottages. The Rhinert’s guests sometimes occupied this.

But all the sharing didn’t bother the Mabels; they still loved this place. Apple trees and pine trees littered the lawn front and back and a small park was located across from the two cottages. This wasn’t much used by the couples, but was mostly used by the children in the area.

“John, have you even looked outside?” asked Patricia as she dried the last wineglass and put it away into the green cupboard.

“Of course, dear,” said John as he put his reading glasses down on the coffee table in front of him.

He had just finished rereading today’s Toronto Star, although he had mostly skimmed over it because the only reason he had reread it was to have something in front of his face to avoid washing the dishes.

John was 65 and Patricia was 58 and it wasn’t the age that stopped John from washing the dishes, it was just that he had never enjoyed cleaning and was always trying to avoid doing the house chores. But once Patricia noticed this, she would stop washing the dishes or cleaning the house for two days so John would be forced to wash, dry, and clean. He couldn’t stand the site of the dishes piling on top of one another and hated the dust piling up around the house. Very rarely did John do these chores, but sometimes Patricia made him just to show that she hadn’t married him so she could slave around.

“You’re not even looking at the stars,” said Patricia as she noticed the newspaper on the coffee table.

“Of course I was,” said John innocently. “I just decided to catch up on some late reading.”

“Rereading the newspaper?”

“I wasn’t rereading it, I was getting a clearer understanding of the events that are taking place around the world. You see my eyesight isn’t as great as it used to be so I sometimes have to reread articles to completely understand what is being discussed.”

“Of course, John. But your eyesight is amazing; much better than mine and we both know you don’t need reading glasses, which is surprising at your age but is true. You probably just bought glasses with fake lenses so you can pretend you need glasses to read.”

This was true; he had bought glasses with fake transparent lenses. John tried everything to avoid chores, even buying fake reading glasses. He had once faked a broken leg but was soon found out when Patricia saw him walking into the bathroom without crutches. He was then forced to vacuum the floor, which was rather disappointing since he and his best friend Henry had spent hours making that cast.

But Patricia never liked arguing with John so she just sat down beside him on the red sofa and turned on the small black television. The picture was all fuzzy so she had to fool around with the antenna before she got a clearer picture.

“Trish, why don’t we just get cable like every other person in this area? It would save us the time from always fixing that stupid antenna.”

It was Patricia who had wanted to rent the cottage. Ever since both of them had retired, she was becoming frustrated with the city life in Toronto. All the smog and traffic really bothered her. Especially in the summer. She hated the summer in Toronto because you became all sticky and sweaty from the hot sun and had no real way to cool off. Here, you could just jump in Lake Simcoe, which was the lake their cottage was on. Also, Patricia could continue knitting and not have the annoying car sirens stuck in her ears every time she sat down. Being a public school teacher had not given her much time to herself even in the summer. She seemed to always be planning for next year before next year had even begun. John had been a construction worker and he didn’t seem to mind being in the city or out of it. When Patricia had mentioned the idea of a cottage, her husband had just shrugged his shoulders. “If you want to,” he had said.

Patricia had thought it would be a joint decision rather than her decision. But knowing John, she wasn’t surprised. She had even made his lunches when John was still a construction worker. She had always wondered how John had been before she had met him. She assumed he was the kind of man who would have been making Kraft Dinner every night. It would explain his chubbiness.

John wasn’t an overly obese man, but he had gained some pounds. But Patricia had never married John for his looks, she had married him for the man he was, weight included. Even if he was downright lazy, he was someone she could always talk to and would always speak the truth. And those dazzling blue eyes made her think she was lost in some other universe where all she saw were swirling colours of blue.

But even though Patricia loved John, she knew he didn’t care about being at the cottage and that the only reason they rented it every summer was so John could please his wife. The man didn’t know the first thing about cottage life. If Patricia had her way, they would have no television but Patricia knew that she would dread that decision so had never acted upon it.

“Who would pay for it monthly?” Patricia asked. She couldn’t believe John needed cable.

“Why, us of course.”

“Even when we’re away? Sounds pretty foolish, John.”

“We’d mail the Rhinert’s the cheque.”

“No. For two months of our life, it’s not worth it. We don’t even have cable at home. We use the V.C.R. and the D.V.D. player more than the channels.”

Once she got the picture, Patricia realized that there was nothing on so turned off the black box.

“We watch television here.”

“You watch television here. I hardly touch the thing and the only reason you watch it is for another excuse to avoid chores. Don’t think I don’t know you, John. I have been married to you for thirty years.”

Sometimes Patricia felt that she was the older one.

“You have, my Patricia. And it’s been thirty good years,” said John as he leaned over and kissed her.

There was a slight pause.

“Is that all we get?”

“What do you mean?”

“It sounds like that’s it as if you’re planning to sign the divorce papers soon.”

“Nothing of the sort my love, I just mean…well never mind.”

“Well, it’s about time.”

“What, divorce? Darling what is”

“I don’t mean that, I mean that you’ve finally learned to shut up. Now if we could just cut down the excuses I think we’d have a miracle on our hands.”

John smiled and the two kissed each other’s lips.

“I love you, John.”

“I love you, Patricia.”

“Don’t ever leave me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

And the two snuggled close, put an arm around the other, and were sitting like that so comfortable and happy until they heard an alarming scream.