The Split Second Decision

Val was at her desk in the kitchen, talking on the phone with her boss, Jack. She had recently convinced him, after much cajoling, to allow her to work from a home office. Even though she lived just a block away from the business, it was proving to be a lot easier to do her job at home rather than in the confines of an office. She was trying to sound professional, and pay attention to what Jack was saying, he had called as she was putting the final touch on a proposal, and making a few personal notes in her Moleskine® Little Black Book. Jack wasn’t entirely convinced that Val could accomplish at home what she’d done in his office, and had called her as a sort of a test. Val knew that, so she tried her best to keep a professional sound to her uh-hums, as she put the Little Black Book away in a drawer, and turned the lock.

Then Jack asked a question that caught her off guard because she didn’t have the answer ready, and Jack seemed to think she should. Val thought his tone inferred that this new arrangement wasn’t going to work out if she couldn’t answer a question immediately, because, after all, he’d spent a lot of money, or acted as if he had, to give her all the conveniences of a real office, Fax machine, printer, computer, and an extra phone line, with all the required security features, Val loved her job, and loved being at home to do it, so she didn’t want to jeopardize a good thing. She would have to think fast to get Jack his answer.

That question, Val said, “Can you hold a minute Jack? I need to check their account.”

“One,” Jack answered tersely, and flipped over his vintage sand timer, he hated being put on hold by anyone, and liked to use the timer to keep a bit of invisible control.

Val put Jack on hold, and started to make a call on the other line, when she saw Arnie out of the corner of her eye. Something about him didn’t look quite right.

Arnie was a little pale, and his eyes had a desperate sort of look, Val’s husband had his hand on his chest as if he was trying to get something off of him, but couldn’t. He was trying to stay upright by hanging onto the kitchen island, making a sound Val had never heard from him before. She vaguely remembered hearing him a bit earlier, in the living room, mumbling and complaining about something, but she had learned how to ignore him long ago, and didn’t pay too much attention. Now here he was in the kitchen, with that look in his eyes, this time something really was wrong, and it looked as if it might be a little bit serious.

The first thing that popped into Val’s mind was what Arnie had told her a month ago, that along with his promotion at work, he was given a free life insurance policy that was worth $20,000, not a bad supplement, and Arnie joked uneasily, that he hoped Val would never have a reason to cash it in. Maybe it was a guilty laugh, because, he was sure Val would rather have $20,000 than him, he just secretly hoped she wouldn’t engineer a way to cash it in.

Val remembered what Arnie gave her for her last birthday, a week late no less. One of those How to Lose Your Fat, and Get a Life books, he didn’t even bother to take off the discount tag. Val thought grimly with a slight smirk, This will be the easiest way I ever lost 200 unnecessary pounds, and get a new life in the bargain. With a financial cushion Val could tell her boss something she didn’t dare entertain as a thought, let alone say out loud. Ahhh, not now, but, maybe, later.

Remembering her own birthday made Val remember Zane’s last birthday, and how their son had tried to cover his embarrassment when Arnie came home right in the middle of Zane’s sweet sixteen birthday party, drunk. Zane had gotten used to his dad being drunk often, and preferred to do the family things with only his mom and sister along, his dad usually spent his weekends down at Spunky’s drinking anyway. Eventually Zane realized that all his friends didn’t live like that, and he resented what his dad was doing to his teen years. So, when Arnie stumbled into the party, and said something that made no sense, Zane pretended that his dad had been sick, and was just getting over some bug. More than once Arnie slept in the loft over the garage after an incident like that, rather than face the condemnation of his family. He had himself a nice little place fixed up out there.

With Jaz though it was a different story. For Jaz the sun rose and set on her dad, and for Arnie, Jaz could do no wrong, he loved her to the moon and back, and she knew it. He knew what she wanted for Christmas, and made sure it was under the tree, he knew what her favorite snacks were, and the fridge was always stocked. He would even watch her favorite cartoon with her, just to see her curls bounce as she danced to the show’s music.

Oh, he knew how to take care of Jasmine, and Jasmine could make Arnie seem almost human, she even got him to go to church once in a while, and prayed for him every night. Even so, Jaz seemed to realize that she was the main recipient of any good nature Arnie might have, and unconsciously, she knew it was not fair to her brother, or to her mom.

Thinking about Jaz made Val remember an argument she’d gotten into with Arnie last week, the fight was gathering steam when Jaz flew in from outdoors, and seeing Jaz, Arnie finally quit griping. Val didn’t know, but she suspected the only reason he stopped is because he didn’t want Jaz to hear him carrying on like that at her mother. Arnie knew that Val was a good mother, and that it would upset Jaz to hear him yelling at her.

Thinking about the kids made Val remember that she’d had to drive them to school that morning, because they didn’t get to the bus stop on time. That was a task that really annoyed Val because it got her day off to a bad start. It was hard enough to convince people that just because she was at home, she didn’t have time to run errands for everyone, including Arnie, and she certainly didn’t want to waste an extra half-hour every morning carting kids to school. This morning however, it was a bit easier because the car was full of gas, and last night it definitely was not. Arnie must have used the last of the fumes to go to the gas station and fill the tank for her. Though they seemed few and far between, Arnie did have his moments. That gracious thought reminded her that last month Arnie had given her a gift card for 10 cappuccinos at her favorite coffee shop, for no apparent reason! That sorta resembled love, didn’t it? So now Arnie had two points in his favor, four if you counted the kids, and Val wouldn’t have traded those kids for anything on the planet, grudgingly, she knew Arnie was the only reason she had them.

Maybe Arnie was thinking the same things when he feebly called to his wife for help, as he started slumping onto the kitchen floor.

As the last bit of sand ran out of the timer, Jack could hear sirens wailing an approach.