Skuz-bucket

I slapped him as hard as I could, but as a hand shaped spot reddened on his cheek, all he did was calmly look at me. A hush fell across the room as people looked over to see what was going on.

“Tell me who you really are!” I screamed, no longer able to hold my emotions in check.

He sighed, looked down, and then back up at me for a beat before he said, “You don’t want to know.”

Fists clinched at my side, I fanaticized about a world where everyone was truthful, and where everyone was ok with whoever they were so there was no need to lie. As the anger started to seep away, tears stung the back of my eyes. “I don’t want to see you again. Ever.”

He frowned and reached out to touch me, but I stepped back. If he couldn’t be honest about something so fundamental there wasn’t anything to build on.

“Wait; wait, please. Let me explain.”

“I’m done. If you can’t tell me the truth, I’m out of here. I mean, we’ve been dating for six months and you didn’t think it was important to tell me that you had been married before, or that you had been incarcerated and decided to change your name when you got out? I guess you thought you’d never run into anyone you had known since you moved so far away, huh?” I took another step back and pulled my purse onto a shoulder.

As I turned to go, he grabbed my arm. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I couldn’t help but glare at him for a second until my anger evaporated into hurt. “Yeah, well.” I looked away. “You did.”



Word Count: 290