Their Cheating Hearts
Flash Fiction by Rich Watson
Rich Watson’s flash fiction crackles with tension as an uneasy conversation unfolds on the road to a wedding. With every mile, unspoken truths linger in the air—waiting to be confronted. Some betrayals can’t be left behind. If you enjoy this feature and would like to see more, let me know with a comment, 💌 share, ♥️ like, or better yet, a 🔄 restack!
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Jeremiah rolled down the window in Aiden’s Mitsubishi and held his Winston out the window. Heaven forbid the boy should be exposed to a little harmless smoke while they drove to Thurber for his wedding tomorrow. Kids these days.
“So where are you and Christine going for the honeymoon?” he asked.
“We thought about the Bahamas.” Aiden moved into the left lane of the highway, passing Kings Island. An eighteen-wheeler blasted that goddamn hip-hop music.
“Aw, that’s terrific. She’ll love seeing that part of the world.”
“Yeah.”
Jeremiah stared at him.
“What’s on your mind, Aiden? Last-minute jitters?”
The boy made a face like his prostate was giving him hell.
“Can you keep a secret, Grandpa?”
Yikes. Jeremiah straightened in his seat. This wouldn’t be good.
“Does this involve your mother?”
“Huh? Uh, no, it doesn’t.”
“She keeps insisting I get that MRI. She thinks my liver’s on the verge of giving out on me when in fact—”
“It’s nothing to do with Mom.”
Jeremiah looked at Aiden.
“What is it?”
“Remember last Christmas? When Cousin Ed and his girlfriend had that fight and Dad stepped in and beat the shit outta him?”
Jeremiah laughed.
“Do I ever! The son of a bitch had it coming, too, for calling her a cunt in front of the kids.”
Aiden snickered and hunched his shoulders.
“I took his girlfriend home. We talked a lot on the drive. When we got to her place, she invited me inside. One thing led to another and, um… well…”
Jeremiah’s eyebrows shot up.
“Aiden. You didn’t.”
“I’m in love with her.” He pounded the steering wheel. “I love Christine too, but I… don’t wanna marry her anymore. The thought of tomorrow’s wedding turns my stomach.”
“‘Turns your stomach.’ Appropriate choice of words.” He puffed on his cigarette.
“What do you mean?”
“Hm. Your mother never told you, did she?”
“Told me what?”
“You’re old enough by now. I guess it’s time you knew.” He took another puff.
A Subaru plastered with bumper stickers passed in front of them. A pair of kids in the backseat waved. Aiden looked back and forth between Jeremiah and the traffic.
“Grandpa? Time I knew what?”
“You ever wonder why your grandma and your Uncle Tyler died the way they did? Both of ‘em healthy one day and bedridden the next?”
“Mom said they got cancer.”
“They did. But they also had affairs.”
The turnoff from the 71 to the 48 approached. Aiden moved into the right lane behind a Dodge that had seen better days.
“It’s true,” said Jeremiah. “Our family is cursed.”
“Are you nuts? There’s no such thing.”
“There is in our case. Whenever one of us has affairs with someone—boom. God gives ‘em cancer.” Curses, spirits, witchcraft and crap like that made Jeremiah shit himself. He’d seen too much in his life to not believe. Hopefully, when he dies, he’ll discover what it all meant.
“That’s crazy. That’s not—wait. Grandma cheated on you?”
Jeremiah looked away.
“But… she was your ‘buttercup.’ You couldn’t keep your hands off her. You showered her with presents, took her everywhere. How could she cheat on you?”
He took a long drag.
“What can I say? It wasn’t enough.”
Aiden drove onto the exit for the 48. Soon, they’d cross Procter & Gamble Stadium and the Little Miami River.
“Who with?” he asked.
“No one you know—and that’s not the point. Some asshole in this family, way back, cheated on his wife and pissed off God. The Longs have been paying the price ever since. ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.’ That’s what the Good Book says—but we haven’t listened.”
“Did it ever occur to you that cancer is hereditary? I don’t know exactly how it works, but I know that much.”
“Then why did it hit only those who had affairs? It got my uncle, my grandfather… uh, I don’t know how far back it goes, but I’ve seen it happen. For generations. And now you’re next.”
Was there some way to protect the boy? Technically, he and Christine were still single. Maybe… no. They’ve been together too long. Aiden’s a goner. Damn. Beverly’s gonna be heartbroken. He rubbed the rabbit’s-foot on his keychain.
“Grandpa, listen to me,” said Aiden. “I made a mistake. I admit it, and I regret it. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna die because of some family curse. That’s only in your head.”
“Your grandma thought the same thing.”
“If she did cheat on you, it must’ve made you mad. Maybe you’re inventing this curse as a way to punish her.”
“Tyler too? I didn’t even know he cheated on Maria till after he died. No, boy, it’s real and it’s gonna give you cancer.”
“I feel perfectly—”
A front tire blew out as they reached the river. The car slowed.
“Shit.” Aiden pulled over off the south end of the Carrier Bridge. Traffic sped past on Jeremiah’s left towards the west end of Thurber.
“Hope you got a spare,” he said.
“Yeah, I do. Sorry about this.”
“It’s okay. I’m in no rush to spend the night with your mother. She’s making meatloaf.”
“Gimme twenty minutes.” He turned the car off and stepped out onto the narrow shoulder.
Jeremiah threw away his cigarette and sighed. Then, in the rearview mirror, an Audi cut in front of a Ford without warning. The Ford swerved right to avoid him.
“Aiden, look out!”
The boy turned, but he never saw the Ford. It whacked into his torso and hip and sent him spinning into the trees and bushes. No way he could’ve survived that.
Jeremiah bolted out of the car but stopped.
Aiden’s ghost appeared before him.
“Well,” he said, “at least I didn’t get cancer.”
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Rich Watson writes about twentieth-century pop culture biweekly at byrichwatson.blogspot.com. He enjoys baseball, cooking and hiking. He lives in New York City.
Very nice read.