“This the same Evan you divorced because he couldn’t stop slapping you around? This the same Evan who was banging that waitress who looked like Jabba the Hutt’s uglier sister?”

“Nobody’s perfect.”

“I’ve never slapped you nor cheated on you with an obese alien.”

“Sure, but that’s a low bar you’re clearing.”

Ricky looked hurt by that statement so Charlene went over and kissed him on the cheek and said, “You know I love you. You’re a huge upgrade over my former husband.”

“Yet, we’re up here in this rat hole to help him out? You know he’s going to ask for money.”

“I brought food and supplies. I’m not giving him a cent.”

“Food and supplies that cost money.”

“I know, but I also know he wouldn’t have run off if he wasn’t in some serious trouble.”

“You sure he just didn’t want to go to jail?”

“He’s been to jail before and Hell, I probably would have dropped the charges anyway. He didn’t even leave a mark.”

Rick shook his head. “That’s part of the problem, you know. If you’d pressed charges when he hit you ten years ago, he’d have been out of your life.”

“I know, you don’t have to tell me. I didn’t though, and now he’s got himself in some serious shit. Right or wrong, I loved him once. I can’t not help.”

“He wouldn’t do the same for you.”

“That’s not the point.”

Rick shook his head. “You know I disagree, but I also have to say this is one of the many reasons I love you, Charlene. You’re a good person even when you shouldn’t be.”

“You trying to sweet talk me?”

“We are in a hotel—or at least, a motor lodge. Just the two of us and the sheets might be clean.”

“Evan is going to be here any minute.”

“I suppose you have a point.”

“I don’t think those sheets are clean either.”

“Another point,” Rick said as he found his cigarettes and tapped one out of the pack.

“I didn’t get a smoking room.”

“Are you serious? This dump won’t allow me to smoke in here?”

“They’ll charge us an extra hundred. Just go outside.”

“You want to come out with me?”

“Nah, I’ll wait in here. See if there’s anything to watch on this ancient television.”

Ricky nodded and grabbed his lighter. He paused at the door. “You know, if he’s really in trouble like he says, maybe we shouldn’t be helping him. I don’t want that kind of trouble coming our way.”

“Evan won’t bring us into it. He’s a lot of things, but he ain’t a rat.”

“Everybody is a rat if you press them hard enough.”

“If they can press him, they have him. If they have him, they won’t care about us.”

“Let’s hope not,” Ricky muttered before he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Charlene was mindlessly scrolling through the channels finding nothing that looked interesting when she heard Ricky yell out, “What the Hell?”

“What’s going on out there?” Charlene asked without getting up from the edge of the bed.

Ricky didn’t reply.

She muted the television and called out again, “Ricky, what’s going on?”

The door opened and Rick stumbled in. He took one step before he fell onto the threadbare carpet.

Charlene moved to him, repeating her earlier question, and getting no response. As she got closer, she saw the blood spurt out of his chest. Every time his heart beat, a small fountain of blood came up. Charlene found herself frozen; she wanted to scream, and she wanted to look away, but all she could do was watch the blood pump out with every beat of his heart. It was happening fast at first, but she could see it was slowing down. She knew that meant he was dying but couldn’t think of what to do.

She was so transfixed by the sight of her new husband’s heart pumping the blood out of his body that she didn’t see the sawed-off baseball bat coming for her head until it was inches from her face.

As she fell, Charlene realized Ricky must have been right; trying to help out her stupid ex-husband had brought trouble their way. She was going to tell whoever stabbed Ricky and hit her everything she knew, but whoever it was hit her again before she could open her mouth.

She felt herself black out. As she lost consciousness, she thought that she would never wake up. That the person who did this to Ricky would do the same to her.

She was wrong.