the pain of it

"Hey, maybe it won't be so bad," Derrick said to Fish on the way home.

Frankly, Fish didn't want to talk about Kat. They'd never gotten along from the get go. As long as he could remember, she thought their parents only had one child. And that was Fish, who was after all a problem child. Visits to hospitals. His mother's bouts of depression, over him. His Dad struggling to find work that could take care of hospital bills.

His eyes burned with tears, but he wouldn't let them slip. He knew her unhappiness was all his fault. Fish couldn't speak.

"Look, I had a sister too. And yeah, I drove her crazy most of her life. But I miss her so much. Always will. If I had a chance that I could tell her, I would." Derrick told him. "I'm just saying, try to be nice to each other."

Fish nodded as if he guessed he was right. Only, Kat wasn't nice. She could be so hateful. She'd probably hurt Wilder too. Fish remembered what he'd thought on their wedding day. He'd felt so sorry for Wilder, because he knew even then... one day soon she'd hurt him. Not physically, but emotionally.

"So do you even know this guy she's married too? Did she know him long?" Derrick asked as he hit another pot hole in his rusted out car. It gave Fish a jolt that he was almost home. Before he knew it, they were in his driveway.

"A little. It was all so fast. They met when she was in upstate New York. He's Canadian. She was in the Army. He was this dude in a band. She thought she was saving him from something. So she paid for the whole wedding with her money. It was like she was the one in charge. She always is. Then the Army kicked her out when she gained all this weight." Fish festered a frown. "I kind of feel bad for the dude, cause I could see how he thought he'd found this prize that was definitely too good to be true."

"Maybe, they'll work it out. It'll be just temporary." Derrick sounded hopeful. Fish wished he could believe him.