presumably their daughter and blonde, beautiful. She looked strangely
familiar.
“It’s his girlfriend! The blonde!” Pete said, excitedly. “Why was
his girlfriend at their Christmas? That’s some messed up shit.” I looked at
him, my brow furrowed.
“Pete,” I said. “She’s obviously not-“ A shout from down the
hall interrupted me. The previously quiet voices rose exponentially. We
could hear them now from behind a door that rested slightly ajar. Olive
appeared out of another room and ran to us, seemingly terrified by the
loud noises.
“Deb,” said Mr. Dutrey, his voice oddly different. “Deb, babe,
calm down. I didn’t mean to.”
“No! You’re so clumsy. I told you to bring me the food, not drop
it on my god damn bed.”
“Deb, I’m gonna clean it up. I’m gonna clean it up right now,”
Mr. Dutrey said shakily.
“Just leave!” his wife yelled. The door creaked open just barely as
Mr. Dutrey backed through it slowly.
“Deb, calm down.” As the door widened a little more, I heard
the groan of the bed and a thud on the ground as Mrs. Dutrey got up.
I heard her walk towards her husband, and he backed up a little more,
the door open now. One arm reached towards his chest through the
doorway and shoved him backwards. Her other arm dumped spaghetti
on the ground in front of him, and then dropped the bowl which had
presumably contained it. The arms disappeared back into the room, and I
heard Mrs. Dutrey sink back onto the bed. Her husband lowered himself
to the floor, and began picking up the remnants of the dinner. I tugged
at Pete’s arm so we could escape without being noticed. He stared at Mr.
Dutrey, mouth slightly agape.
“Why is he picking up the noodles?” Pete whispered without
looking away.
“I’ll just go get you another bowl,” Dutrey said, so quietly I could
barely hear him. He rose and met our startled gaze as he turned into the
hall.
“Kids,” he said breathlessly, his chest rising and falling rapidly,
his eyes darting towards the bedroom. He smoothed the emotion in his
face and pulled the door shut, then forced out a chuckle. “That’s just my
wife,” he said softly. “Sometimes we do some role-play shit. You know,
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