Roaches

The roach climbed for its life, submerged as the water rained from the spout of the faucet. The water created massive swamps and gapping pools in seconds. The small feeble creature desperately attempted to cling to the walls with no hope of escape.

"Baby", the wife paused for a reply. Babe.... he was only in the dining room which was connected to the kitchen no more than ten feet away, but he didn't hear her or maybe he just refused to. "BABE!" Laurens patients had run thin.
"Ugh, what?" Her husband looked startled as if woken from a deep dream as he exhaled deeply from his gut.

"Love, there’s another roach in the sink again."

"Kill it, babe" her husband's response was as thick as sand rolling off the tongue of a dry-mouthed dog.
He was unengaged and existed in other places of the mind, rarely ever present no matter what his location. Jefferey always sat in the same chair, by the same window, at the same times routinely, every day, for the past 20 years. The news was blaring and he was typing desperately on his tablet.
His wife Lauren looked away from her husband and towards the desperate creature in the sink. She couldn't stand to kill it, not due to the fact it was a living creature whom by its own existence walked unknowingly into its own demise. The truth was, she couldn't stand to kill it due to its alien nature with its strange and foreign body, its dark eyes, and the mess of cleaning it all up, Lauren shivered and the hairs on her neck felt as if they were jumping out of her pours. She also didn’t want to drown it, what if it came back up the drain. She walked away from the sink, overwhelmed by the pure desperation of it all.

The TV shouted "Another killing in the west side," said a white woman in a three thousand dollar suit. Her voice echoed and droned over the room's empty lifeless walls. Her silhouette was outlined by the flashing lights of police vehicles in the background. "The police are investigating multiple avenues trying to find the motive of the murder. Local community members believe these crimes are directly related to the housing crisis, it has been reported that hundreds are being forced from their homes due to rising rent prices. This may have led to the desperation of the vicious murders which happened earlier today on this street corner you see behind me." Lauren was staring at the TV on the wall with a blank expression. Her cheeks which used to be so full of life now drooped as if they were reaching for the floor. A fog rolled over Laura's eyes and her mind went blank of any thoughts, all of life and its existence was silent until her husband broke the sound waves with angry screams. Laura jerked as if she had just been punched and quickly moved to the stove remembering she was making breakfast.

"I can’t stand it!" Her husband screamed. "These filthy creatures keep getting in my way."
Lauren looked in her husband's direction as she was stirring the oatmeal half-heartedly on the stove.
"What are you going on about?" She asked.

"These damn animals. It’s an infestation. We’ve tried to position their water, limiting their access to food, mismanaged land to allow flooding, but no matter what these bastards keep living. I've been trying to get this land sanitized and quarantined and they keep living damn it."

"Babe about the roach, (Lauren knew her husband hated insects) I just left him there. I don't know where they keep coming from, I couldn’t stand the thought of cleaning up the mess."

"Darling, you're brilliant!" He husband responded full of life as if he was 20 years old again.

"What do you mean?" Lauren had a look of confusion on her face. "I just left the roach there, I want you to take care of it."
Oh, I will. I’ll take care it. I'll take care of all the roaches. His eyes lit into a firey madness and his grin resembled the Joker's murderous smile. "I’m pulling my investments on the west side. I’m no longer going to be developing in that religion. It’s a roach nest and I’m not trying to be near that filth." Spit flew from his gums as he wiped the spit from his bottom lip.
Just then Lauren realized her husband's heartless statement.
He compared those of lower income with that of an insect and at that very moment, her husband stood from the table. His energy has turned violent, he ran at his wife laughing and slammed her body to the ground. "Stupid bitch," he said as he stepped over Lauren's body and walked to the sink. His fist flew down with such force that when he crushed the roach with his bare hand he cracked the enamel along with the roached body. Lauren sat on the floor trembling as if the kitchen tile was made from ice, Jeffery looked at his wife and laughed. Lauren at that moment no longer recognized the man she had been married to for the last 20 years.

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