Brian, just do something already! Ethel snapped, nudging her sleeping husband. This is unbearable!
What? Whats that? he muttered in his dreams.
Brian didnt mind the shouting from the flat above. Ethel, however, lay awake.
Noras screaming again! Cant you hear?
Brian gave no answer, slipping back into his slumber.
Sleep, will you! Ethel fumed, Ill go myself; theres nobody else in this block to calm this monster!
She threw on a robe and stormed out, slamming the door so hard a picture rattled.
A groggy Brian rolled out of bed, cursed the world in his mind, and shuffled after her.
***
Ethel stood before the door of the peacebreakers, pounding it with all her might.
Just in time, Paul flung the door open.
From somewhere deep in the flat came the wail of sixyearold Dennis and the sobs of Nora.
Whats the matter? the drunken landlord growled, swaying on two legs.
Did you look at the clock? Ethel shrieked. Its night!
What now? Paul stepped forward, fists clenched.
Nothing! Brian roared and, with a single swing, knocked the neighbour off his feet.
He collapsed at the threshold, and silence fell.
A few minutes later, a frightened Nora peeked from the hallway, a fresh line of bruises on her face. She stared at her husband, terrified to come closer.
Call the police, Brian said, his voice softening as he looked at the distraught woman. Hell sober up and start again.
He wont, Nora whispered, hell just sleep now.
Are you sure? Ethel asked.
Nora shrugged. I hope so
No, Im not, Ethel cut in, tone final. I cant endure another act of this farcical ballet; I have work in the morning. Take your son, youll stay with us for the night. And as for you, she glared at the neighbour, youll sort it out tomorrow.
***
Nighttime quarrels had become a routine for the whole block; rarely did anyone intervene.
Only Brian, obeying his wife, sighed heavily, dressed, and trudged upstairs.
Ethel soon grew tired of it too. She also noticed that the farther she climbed, the more eagerly Brian rushed to rescue the neighbour.
Again? Youre a saint! she hissed after him.
Brian heard nothing. In his mind he saw only Denniss frightened eyes, the boy now clutching his mothers knee, and Noras pale, terrortwisted face.
After dealing with Paul, Brian habitually escorted the woman and child to his own flat, away from temptation. Ethel spread a blanket for them in the sitting room.
By the next evening Nora was bringing pastries and other homebaked treats to thank her rescuers. The neighbours grew friendly.
Soon Nora and Dennis became frequent guests at Brian and Ethels house. Nora constantly offered to help around the home, and Dennis
He reached for Brian like a child reaching for a superherostrong, calm, smelling faintly of old tobacco and reliability.
Brian basked in that reverent gaze. He bought the boy toys, repaired his plastic cars, once brought a metal building set, then a football.
***
Brian and Ethel had no children. At first they wanted to be just the two of them. Then it simply never happened.
That quiet ache was a third resident in their flat.
And then that boy his eyes flung open like shutters in a storm
***
Ethel usually kept her displeasure hidden at home, but at work she let her feelings run wild. The smoking room became her escape.
Can you imagine? Last night the neighbour burst in, all tears! Her husband was out of control again! I dont get women who put up with that! Its ridiculousno respect for herself! Id never stand for it! she ranted, voice cracking with heat.
Maybe she loves him, suggested Valentina, the senior clerk, gently. You said when hes sober hes a golden man.
A golden man? Hes a fishintheair, a useless calf! Any other woman would have walked away from that drunk by now!
Perhaps she has nowhere else to go, chimed in young Ira. Its hard with a child alone.
No! Theyre not even married! Hes still living in her flat! Its time to sweep him out with a broom, but she endures! No pride at all! Shes a pushover!
Ethels voice rose, as if trying to convince herself more than anyone else, to prove she was clever, strong, independentfar better than Nora ever could be.
Yet each night she returned home to the same picture: Brian and Dennis bent over that metal set, their laughter a rare, coveted sound that seemed foreign to her.
One Saturday, Ethel came back from the shop with heavy bags. Noras front door stood ajar. She peered in automatically and froze on the threshold.
They werent kissing, werent hugging, werent doing anything scandalous.
They simply existed.
Brian sat on a stool, a hammer in his hand; Dennis stood beside him, solemnly handing over nails. Nora, leaning against the doorway, watched them with a deep, serene joy that sent a chill through Ethel. They were one, a perfect little family she could never create.
What a monstrous thought, she muttered, turning away. Nonsense! Brian couldnt He isnt like that. Im everything to him! And Norashes a foolish hen!
***
The next time Nora knocked for help, Ethel stopped her at the door and shouted so loudly that Brian could hear:
How many times, Nora? When will you finally see sense? He isnt even your husband! Why put up with that drunken beast in your own flat? Throw him out and itll be over! Do you enjoy playing the victim? Shame on you! Your sons watching!
Her words fell like poisonous seeds on fertile soil.
A week later, a haggard Paul, suitcase in hand, left the block.
Ethel celebrated. At last!
Now Nora and her son would vanish from their lives forever. No more protection needed.
***
Silence settled. No more Saturday pastries, no childs laughter echoing down the hallway.
At first Ethel rejoiced in the order, but the quiet in their flat grew heavy, oppressive.
Brian came home, ate in silence, and slipped into the living room to talk to the television. He grew darker, more withdrawn.
Hes just tired, Ethel told herself, thats why he doesnt look at me at dinner, doesnt laugh at my jokes. He sleeps with his back to me, as if Im not even there.
Then something turned their world upside down.
One day Ethel returned from work early, a throbbing headache in her skull. In the lift she pressed the wrong button, stepped out a floor below, and found Noras door ajar
Déjà vu
She stepped inside
She kept asking herself why, why shed gone in.
Seeing Brian and Nora tangled together, oblivious to everything else, she was so bewildered she said nothing, made no sign of her presence, slipped out on tiptoe and closed the door softly behind her
An hour later Brian appeared, as if nothing had happened, ate dinner in silence, glued to the telly
Ethel said nothing.
She never told Brian what shed seen. She decided that knowing his secret was enough to try to fix everything.
How she hated Nora in that instant! And herself! For having pushed Paul out, clearing space for her own husband. Husband? But Brian was never truly hers. Hed proposed many times, she always brushed it off, saying a certificate wasnt what mattered And now He could walk away From her
No, she wouldnt tell Brian about his betrayal!
What if nothing works out with this hen? She would wait.
She would endure
***
And she endured.
Brian and Nora kept their secret romance hidden. Ethel pretended not to see, not to understand.
Sometimes Nora visited, with her son and with pies, just as before. Ethel smiled, forced a laugh, and stayed silent.
She endured.
Years passed.
One day, calling Nora a pushover, Ethel didnt realize she was programming her own future.
Now she sat in an unenviable spot. Her silence was the loudest confession of her own defeat.
Ethel feared saying too much, lest she crumble the happy family where she played the starring role.
The role of the victim.
