All sense of time is lost when terrible things happen. I do not know if it was a day or a week, but Irene's morning her husband's death was profound. She spent hours crying in my arms. She did not eat; she did not sleep. She was a mess, and I was not much better. My insides were twisted in knots. At any minute I suspected a knock on the door. It would be the police to arrest me and haul me away for the murder of Oscar. My trial ran through my head. The evidence was overwhelming. There I was a 19-year-old college student, seducing a poor unsuspecting 37-year-old married woman. The prosecutor's words ringing in my ears as she held up his toothbrush, my DNA and fingerprints all over it. Her words pierced through me like a knife. "Sam, we found your shit on Oscar's toothbrush, can you explain how that happened?" Then me just breaking down and admitting that I murdered him so I could be with his wife. I could see Irene's face and how she hated me for what I did. Then finally, judgement day when I lost my life and Irene forever.
Irene finally ran out of tears and the realities of life hit her hard. She was a stay-at-home wife who had never worked, she had no skills. Her lover was a 19-year-old college student that was broke and shacking up with her. She would have to live on Oscars final paycheck for as long as she could, then she would be homeless. It might be a month or two, but she was fucked and not in a good way.
The phone rang, it was the funeral home on the west coast telling Irene that Oscars body would be transferred home the next day. She thanked the caller and hung up. Irene turned to me and asked me if I would be with her at the funeral, she needed support. I told her I would. Just the thought of it made me shiver. His wife's lover was holding her hand at his funeral. Not just any lover, his murderer. That night we lay together in bed. Irene rolled over and kissed me sweetly. It had been our first kiss in over a week. She whispered she wanted me to make love to her and to be gentle. She reached between my legs and rubbed my penis. It did nothing. She rubbed harder as I focused all my thoughts to my groin. Nothing. Irene looked at me with sad eyes and asked me what was wrong. Although I wanted to tell her everything, I told her nothing was wrong, it had just been a long week and I just could not perform. I just wanted to snuggle.