conflict

by corinne delmonico

marcia flamm married bradley miller because she was tired of listening to her parents and her extended family asking when she was going to get married, and predicting terrible things if she did not. marcia knew from television and the internet that there was such a thing as feminism, and that women in “today’s world” supposedly did not “have to” get married any more, but as far as she could tell that was only on television, like wars and earthquakes and serial killers. she did not like bradley much, but he was kind of quiet and mostly kept to himself, and what were you going to do? her mother and her aunt jane had often told her that getting a job and getting married were just something you had to do, so just deal with it. whatever. so she married bradley. marcia and bradley both had boring jobs that they did not want to talk about when they got home. neither of them liked to cook, and they both sustained themselves mostly on the food they ate on their lunch hours at work. on weekends they ordered takeout, marcia usually chinese or thai, and bradley pizza and grinders. they only had one television but as only bradley watched it, this, too, was not a source of conflict. marcia spent her off hours staring into space and reading. her favorite authors were james patterson and nora roberts. neither of them took the slightest interest in politics or the “culture wars”. they were barely aware that the “cutture wars” existed, although they occasionally heard arguments regarding them at their workplaces, or at the cafeterias where they ate lunch. sex? don’t ask. it was not a source of friction or conflict, let us leave it at that. so, all in all, they got on well enough. until one day bradley decided to grow a beard. i don’t like that beard, marcia told him. well, isn’t that just too bad, bradley retorted. so, you are going to grow it, even though i do not like it? marcia persisted. you got that right, bradley laughed. marcia made no further reply, but the next morning, before bradley was awake, she packed a couple of bags and left. bradley never saw or heard from marcia again. they had lived in an apartment, and both had their own cars and their own bank accounts. bradley put the few belongings marcia had left behind in storage in case she should ever return and wish to claim them. he rented a smaller apartment, for only a little more than half of what they had been paying together. at christmas bradley received a card from marcia’s mother, addressed to them both. he sent marcia’s mother a note explaining that marcia had left him. he never heard from the mother or any of marcia’s other relatives again, any more than he heard from marcia. if all conflict could be resolved so amicably, it would be a better world, do you not agree?