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"Susan, is my coffee done yet?"

Susan emptied the coffee filter into the compost bin and added David's low-fat cream and sugar. The sounds of the fridge opening and spoon-clinking-against-mug could have answered his question alone, but Susan knew he'd get pissy if she didn't answer him. He was always pissy.

”Almost, sweetheart. Just finishing it up."

Susan walked into the dining room, where David was eating his Cheerios and an apple. The doctor had told him to watch his cholesterol, so Susan made him eat Cheerios. He hated Cheerios. Another reason to be pissy.

After setting down his coffee, Susan moved to her side of the table, sitting down to her own breakfast: a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and a glass of whole milk. David glanced up at her with a frown.

”I don't know why you bought whole milk. You need skim, or at least two-percent."

"It tastes better and has more vitamins," Susan answered before lifting the glass to her lips.

”You don't need vitamins. You have a daily multivitamin for that."

"That's a supplement. It's not meant to be your whole--"

"It's fine on its own, you need to worry more about your appearance."

Susan glanced down at herself. She still carried weight from the children that they'd had about twenty years ago. Her metabolism wasn't what it used to be. She had stretch marks. Closing her eyes to hold the tears back, willing her voice not to quiver, she answered him.

”My weight is fine. My doctor said so."

David grimaced. "Your doctor's blind." He continued his breakfast.

After breakfast was finished, David went off to work. Susan had been a stay-at-home mother and was now a stay-at-home wife. She picked up the dishes and took them to the sink. The apple core was thrown into the compost pile after its seeds were removed. Waste not, want not.

---

"Susan!"

Susan sighed from her spot in the kitchen. "Yes?"

”Where's my paper? Why isn't it in here?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. Have you checked the front porch?"

"Why should I? Go get it for me."

Susan felt her eyes narrow on their own. She started the coffee maker, wiped her hands on her pants, and went outside to get David's paper. She handed it to him. He took it without saying anything.

Susan went back to the kitchen to finish up David's coffee, cereal, and apple. She got herself an apple as well. An apple a day should help.

The two ate their breakfast in silence, David reading his paper. Once they were finished, Susan took the plates to the sink, took the seeds from both of their apples, and put the apple cores in the compost bin.

---

“The coffee tastes funny."

Susan looked up at her frowning husband and looked away again. "It's a new brand. It was on sale."

“It’s goddamn disgusting. You know what brand I like. Why would you get a different one?"

Susan repeated herself. "It was on sale."

“I don't care. Cheap out on your own food, not mine."

Susan didn't respond. She sipped her milk and chewed her bagel. She regretted nothing. David drank his coffee, despite not liking the taste. He needed his caffeine fix before work.

After finishing his coffee, David read his paper for a while. He picked up the spoon for his cereal. He ate it, then realized something was missing. "Susan, where the hell is my apple?"

“You don't need it today," she answered.

"What do you mean I don't need it today? You're the one always going on about how I have to eat healthy-- like these goddamn cardboard-tasting Cheerios. At least I actually like apples. Not like this cereal and that sad excuse for coffe--" He gagged. He sputtered. He tremored violently and fell to the floor, finally still. Finally quiet.

Susan looked down at his body. He wasn't moving. He wasn't talking. She looked next to the body and sighed. In the process of dying, he had knocked his spoon and bowl from the table. Now there was milk everywhere. Oh well. She'd spent thirty years cleaning up after this man, one more time couldn't hurt.

After cleaning up the mess he'd made, Susan walked into the kitchen. She scraped out the coffee grinder, rinsing the crushed apple seeds into the sink and turning on the garbage disposal. Normally she'd be worried about putting those kinds of chemicals into the water supply, but it took half a cup of apple seeds to kill one man. She'd done her research and knew that such a small amount of cyanide spread out through the city's water system wouldn't harm anyone.