When I was much younger my husband said I was self-centered. He was often worried I would leave him. If I went out with friends and came home late, he drank whisky until he passed out. He tried to be a good husband, to wash the dishes, do the laundry, and clean the toilet, but for years I did what I wanted, and sometimes I told him what I did, but most times I pretended to be too tired to talk. Now I wonder about those early years. We are childless. I'm too old, too set in my ways. He's too focused on his career. I regret my self-centeredness. I don't understand why he stayed with me. I'm not a nurturer. But he must know this because he has low expectations for me. All he wants is for me to talk to him. Tell him about my day. Ask him, how was work?

First published by Camroc Press Review, April 24, 2014.

Gessy Alvarez is founder and managing editor of the literary website, Digging through the Fat. Her prose has appeared in Entropy, Drunk Monkeys, Extract(s), Literary Orphans, Bartleby Snopes, Thrice Fiction, Pank, and other publications. An excerpt of her first novel, The Last Kingdom in Astoria, was recently featured in Vol. 1 Brooklyn.