Shannon rang the doorbell to the old apartment built in the 40’s and waited patiently for Lila to answer it. Lila had been one of her regular Meals on Wheels customers for about three years now and one of her favorites. She heard a little shuffling and then the rattle of a chain, the turn of a deadbolt and then finally the jingle of the doorknob as Lila cracked open the door.

“Yes?” asked the white-haired lady through a space of no more than four inches.

“Miss Lila? It’s me, Shannon. I’ve got your dinner tonight.”

“Oh Shannon! Is that you? Come in. I haven’t seen you in ages,” Lila said, excitement in her voice.

Shannon entered the modest living room of Lila’s apartment and then moved into her kitchen. The furnishings looked like they had seen better days, probably in the 40’s and 50’s. She enjoyed Lila’s kitschy stuff though–a few Betty Grable statuettes, the one where she’s wearing a bathing suit and looking over her shoulder, a cat clock with a tail for the pendulum and eyes that looked back and forth.

Lila watched her lay out the meal with a curious look in her eye as she sat in her well worn kitchen chair, the table hitting her at her breastbone, she had shrunken so much in size. Her gnarled hands rested in a prayer position on the table as she waited for Shannon to finish her preparations.

“Are you married, Shannon?” she asked. She asked this everyday.

“No m’am. I’m still single.”

“I should introduce you to my grandson, Matthew. He’s a doctor, you know. A real catch. Handsome too. A lovely gal like you should grab you a good one while you can.” Lila winked at her and began to eat.

“I’m sure he’s a very nice man,” Shannon said politely. It’s what she always said.

Lila chitter-chattered with Shannon for the next half hour about everything and nothing. As Shannon watched Lila finish up her meal, ever cautious throughout her visit for any signs of choking, she noticed some strange discoloration on Lila’s right arm.

“Miss Lila, did you hurt yourself?” she asked, trying to remember if the discoloration was there yesterday. She remembered Lila had cut herself on the sharp edge of can a couple of days ago but it hadn’t seemed like any big deal.

“Oh this, it’s no big thing,” Lila said between bites.

“Still, it doesn’t look so good. Maybe you should see a doctor.” Shannon pulled out her notepad to make a notation of what she’d seen so that she could remember to put it in her report and followup with medical attention if necessary.

“What are you writing?” Lila asked, looking somewhat alarmed.

“Just making a note about your arm,” Shannon said as she finished up her thoughts and then put the pad away.

“No need for you to call anyone, I’ll call Matthew. He’ll take care of me. He only lives a few blocks away.”

“Well all right,” Shannon said, satisfied for the time being. “But you’ll call him as soon as I leave right?”

“Of course! My grandson is a top doctor at the local hospital. Maybe when I call him, I’ll put in a good word for you, eh, Shannon,” she smiled a cheshire cat grin at her matchmaking idea.

“Now Lila, don’t you go trying to fix me up,” Shannon gently scolded as she rose and cleared up the trash and after a few parting pleasantries, left.

The next day went almost exactly like the day before. Lila informed Shannon that she had called Matthew and was waiting for him to come by and check on her. That it would be in a few hours and not to worry. She had bandaged up her arm but wouldn’t let Shannon see it.

Two days later, more of the same. No, Matthew hadn’t been by yet but he promised he would come that day. Shannon made a call to the doctor who sometimes aided the Meals on Wheels clients because Lila really didn’t look so good.

Three days later, Lila didn’t answer the door. After Shannon got the landlord to unlock it, she found out why. Lila lay in her bed, still in her nightgown, dead. The discoloration on her arm had turned into a festering wound. The doctor who had accompanied Shannon estimated that she had died sometime the day before, most likely from the infection entering her bloodstream.

Shannon sat on Lila’s sofa and began to cry. “She said her grandson was a doctor, that he’d come see her. Oh Lila, why didn’t you call him and if you did, Matthew why didn’t you come?”

The doctor who had been inspecting Lila’s apartment walked over to Shannon, holding a picture of a young man in a doctor’s coat. He handed it to her. With shaking hands, she read the engraving on the frame:  “Matthew Goldberg, Beloved Grandson, 1970 – 2001.”

****************
Sorry so sad.

Jayna lived on adrenalin, absolutely adored the high it gave her. She drove far faster than the speed limit, crossed double yellow lines to pass, waited until the last minute to do her work, and had a grand passion for thrill-seeking sports. The rush of shifting into overdrive was her particular form of crack, had been for as long as she could remember.

So it came as a huge surprise to everyone when she fell in love with Gavin, a man who planned every second of his day with exacting precision. They say opposites attract and nothing provided a better example of that concept than Jayna’s and Gavin’s love affair.

They married on June 15th, because June was the traditional month for weddings and Gavin loved tradition.  Jayna’s contribution to the wedding was to show up 30 seconds before the wedding march began, still sliding her garter up her leg.

But just as opposites can attract they can also repel. Within six months, the happy couple was not so happy anymore. Jayna exhausted Gavin with her recklessness and Gavin exasperated Jayna with his plodding lack of spontaneity. Their love disintegrated and contempt crept in and filled the void.

Not one to plan anything, Jayna saw no reason to seek a divorce from Gavin when offing him would be so much more fun and immediate. She didn’t plan it per se but knew when the moment was right, she’d seize it. Just thinking about doing it gave her a thrill. She spent her nights fantasizing about different methods of murdering her husband. Knife, gun, fire, fall from a great height, poison, hitman, vicious animal attack, the possibilities were endless.

Gavin took the more traditional approach and filed for divorce when he realized that Jayna would not. They had separated months ago and he had moved into an apartment on the other side of town. He followed the delivery of the divorce papers with an in-person visit.  He had taken the liberty of drafting his suggested division of their marital assets and had couriered them earlier as well.

Jayna answered the door and glared at him. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you,” she snarled.  “You’re not going to divorce me.  I’m the one who will divorce you.”  She waved the asset division paperwork under his nose and ripped it to shreds saying as she did, “And I don’t even get me started on this piece of satire!”

“Jayna, if you think about it for just a minute,you’ll realize that I am being more than fair and reasonable.”

“No, you’re the one who is being unreasonable!”

“Unreasonable?  The only thing I want is the house and I’ll take the whole mortgage.  That’s a very generous offer.”

“And if I won’t agree to this, won’t sign?”

“I’d rather it not get ugly, Jayna.  I’m sure you want your freedom as much as I do.  Perhaps if you just think on it a while.  Maybe when it’s not so fresh–”

“We’ll see about that,” she said and then slammed the door in his face. A few minutes later, she reopened the door and saw that Gavin still stood on her doorstep, waiting.

“Why haven’t you left?” she asked.

“I wasn’t finished talking to you yet,” Gavin said calmly.

“Ugh!  Well, you might as well come on in then.”

Gavin smiled as he followed Jayna inside what used to be their home, would soon be his home again.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” said Jayna as she disappeared upstairs.

“Take your time,” said Gavin as he walked over to straighten a picture on the wall.

When Jayna returned, she brandished a gun and pointed it at Gavin. She smiled and he could tell that she was breathing a little faster than normal, that she was enjoying the thrill of threatening him and no doubt would also enjoy the moment she pulled the trigger.

Pow, pow, pow rang out the gunshots in rapid succession.

Gavin and Jayna stared at each other as the smoke from the gun curled up and then dissipated.  Jayna looked down at her abdomen and saw three gunshot wounds bleeding profusely before she collapsed on the floor. “Gavin. How…”

Gavin lowered his gun and tucked it back inside the waistband of his pants. “My dear, I’ve had this planned for quite some time. I only needed your provocation to validate my actions. Not entirely unpleasant, this whole adrenalin rush, but I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. Afterall, look what it did to you.”

The light in Jayna’s eyes faded until she stared, unseeing. 

“No more fun and games now; let’s wrap this up,” said Gavin to himself as he made a series of trips to his car to retrieve the gloves, plastic sheeting and sulphuric acid he had stowed in the trunk a week ago.  He had always been a tidy man and quick to clean up his messes and correct his errors, all of them.