The Hero's Other Life

hed me while I was making coffee, his face a mask of strained sincerity.

we need t

e' s nothing to talk about, M

with remorse. He slid the papers onto the counter in front of me. They were health insu

na' s part-time job doesn' t give her good insurance. The

led them out. In the space for "dependen

my insurance plan?" I asked, m

e is terrible for dependents, you know that. Yours is the best we can get." He t

was asking for a favor. He wanted me to subsidize his secret life. To use m

word was small, but

hat

hed the papers back toward hi

y, revealing the ugly, selfish man underneath. "Don' t be like

m you created," I shot back. "You want m

ment, he grabbed my arm, his grip lik

o of me

e. "After all I do, all the time I spend away from home

try? Or serving yo

d. He shoved me, hard. I stumbled backward, hitting the edge of th

time he had ever

ty. The man I loved was gone. Maybe he had never been there at all. Th

t," I w

" he said, picking u

king but firm. "I want a divorce, Mike

aw the look in my eyes, the absolute finality of it. He th

rled. "But you'

a picture fell off the wall. I sank to the floor