Chapter 21

Charlie drove down the Beltway, dodging a manic in a sports car and an older lady texting on a cell phone.  Houston driving. 

He looked over at Jenny, staring out the windshield in the dim light.  Jenny had impressed the hell out of him, talking to Flaco's Mom and giving her the Bibles.  She'd consoled the older lady in Spanish, praying with her and handing over two very nice bilingual Biblbes.  He wondered what Jenny was thinking.  Jenny glanced over at him. 

"Would you like some music?" Charlie asked.  "I have an input jack if you have your MP3 player, or I have the satellite music channels." 

Jenny shifted in her seat, paused, and bit her lip.  "Charlie"  Her serious eyes burned a hole in him.  "How can you afford this pimp-mobile?" 

Charlie choked with laughter and nearly swerved into another lane, corrected.  "Pimp-mobile?"  He looked around at the plush seats and the elaborate console.  Maybe she had a point. 

"This is a loaner."  Jenny sat up a little straighter.  "My car was t-boned" And I almost died, he thought.  He'd had far too much time to think as the car had slid into oncoming traffic.  Jenny's eyes widened.  "No wonder you're getting migraines." 

Charlie pulled into a gas station, unfastened his seatbelt, and faced his wife.  "I had a lot of time to think about what's important.  Like you." He swallowed.  "I have to make things right."

Jenny's face was still in the darkness.  She'd learned the trick, she said, living with Carl.  He fed on fear and she'd learned to hide her emotions. 

"What does that entail, Charlie?"  Her voice was husky, and she cleared her throat.  "You don't want a divorce - are we permanently separated or what?  I've been living in limbo."  Her voice cracked with annoyance as her face relaxed into anger.  "I've been busting my butt to live on my own and follow the Bible.  And you've done, what, exactly?  Bought yourself some kind of pimp mobile and sent me a thousand a month in guilt offerings?   Thanks for the money, by the way, you pay a lot of bills, but I'd rather have a husband!"

Charlie coughed.  "I know.  I read 'Or Get Off the Pot' after the accident.  It made me realize I had a lot to do."  She nodded tersely.  She'd vented all her anger into the post, calling Charlie a coward and worse, demanding he give her a divorce and get of her life forever - or stand up and be the man she thought she'd married.

Charlie leaned towards her and took her clenched hand in his "I want to be your husband.  I want to live with you and watch you grow old.  I want to take you to Mega Mart and help you hand out Bibles on the corner.  If you'll let me." 

Jenny gaped at him, her jaw slack.  This was the last thing she'd expected.