If You Don't Go Crazy, I Will!

Darren was bewildered to see the purple burger. He looked at the burger again. It was still there. It seemed to be mocking him.

He heard Rita's voice from the kitchen. She sounded very impatient. She was asking him to wash up for dinner. He looked at the table again. The purple burger was gone.

Darren went upstairs, feeling disturbed. He seemed to be seeing a lot of things lately. There was the spotted horse last week, and the yellow and blue tree just four days ago. What was going on?

He went into the washroom. He turned the tap and began to wash his hands, thinking all the while. He turned off the tap and went down to the dining room.

Rita was bringing in the soup. She looked up and smiled at him. She stopped smiling when she saw the puzzled look on his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I saw a purple burger on the table just now," he said hesitantly.

"Purple burger?" she said disbelievingly, "What will you think of next?"

"I didn't make it up. I really saw it," he said defensively.

Rita did not answer. She sat at the table and began on the soup. Darren also sat down. They ate in silence.

After dinner, Darren asked Rita to go for a walk with him. She refused, saying that she was going shopping with one of her friends. Darren walked out of the house slowly.

He began to walk down his favourite path. It took him to the park, where he would normally spend at least an hour or two.

He came to his favourite bench at the park. He sat and thought for a while. What was happening to him? He began to think seriously about seeing a doctor. It could not be healthy, seeing things that were not there. He made up his mind to call Dr. Jones for an appointment later.

He gave himself a little shake, and took out his sketch pad, but could not seem to find his pencil. He began to grope about in his pockets, looking for it.

He remembered now. He had taken out his pencil to write down his wife's shopping list yesterday. He left it on the kitchen table.

Darren sighed. There was no point in staying at the park without his pencil. He got up and started to walk back home.

When he got to the house, he went straight towards the kitchen. He stopped by the door suddenly. Rita was in the kitchen. What was she still doing there?

He watched as she took out his new bottle of vitamin pills. He watched as she then took out another bottle. The pills inside the two bottles looked exactly the same. She poured the vitamin pills into the garbage bag. Then, she put the pills from the second bottle into his vitamin bottle.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Rita jumped. She turned and looked at him in shock. She didn't answer.

Darren looked at the two bottles. It slowly dawned on him what she was doing. He looked up at his wife.

"What are those pills?"

Rita stared at him and did not answer.

He said calmly, “You’ve been poisoning me, haven’t you?”

She burst out suddenly, “It’s not what you think!”

In a monotonous tone, he continued, “You’ve given me some kind of hallucination pills.”

She started to cry. “You haven’t brought in any money in months! You’ve been sketching every day. You wouldn’t get a job when I asked you to. I go out with my friends, and they can all buy what they want. I can’t! I’ve been trying to make ends meet by myself. Every time I asked you about your getting a job, you told me you’re doing what you want.”

He stared at her. She sobbed for a while, then continued, “I told you I wanted a divorce, but you wouldn’t listen to me. So I had to do something. It’s just some pills to make you think that your mind’s playing tricks on you. If I can get you certified, then I can get a divorce.”

He continued staring at her. Suddenly, he felt that he didn’t know his wife at all. There was a roaring in his head. Her voice seemed to be coming from a distance.

“If you don’t go crazy, I will!” she finished. She dropped into a chair, put her hands over her face, and began to cry in earnest.

He continued staring for a few minutes. Then, he made up his mind. His hand went involuntarily towards the kitchen knife on the table. His fingers curled around the knife. He said calmly, “You want me to go crazy? Okay, I will.”

Rita looked up hopefully. She was just in time to see the knife plunging into her breast. She looked down at the knife sticking out of her chest, and the blossoming blood staining her dress. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She slumped onto the floor.

Darren stared at her body for a while. She did not move. The knife dropped from his fingers. His gaze fell on his drawing pencil. He picked it up, turned and walked out of the house.