Unfaithful Ties by Nisha Le'Shea

over by the stove where a paper towel holder was mounted onto the backsplash, yanked off a handful of paper towels and then stormed back to the table and wiped it dry.
    By then Kenneth had grabbed the gift box from the countertop and threw it into the wall. "And I suppose that you think I don’t work hard on my job? You know what, forget it. Don’t even answer that question because I’m sure your answer is only going to piss me off more than I already am. For years you've carried on in this marriage as if you're the only one that said I do.   Everything that has anything to do with this condo, the cars we drive, the trips that we take, are always your decision as if I'm nonexistent in this goddamn marriage. I'm beginning to wonder if whether or not you want to be married. Or if you married me because you'd gotten pregnant." He roared, and then grabbed his vibrating mobile. “You’re real close to having your wish come true!” He didn’t mean that, he was just so frustrated. Kenneth stood, then grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator, and sat back down on the barstool.
    "This is Detective Gibson"
    “Gibson, where are you?”
    “I had to run home for a bit”
    “One day you’ll learn to leave those Krystal Burgers alone. They mess you up every single time” Storm chuckled.
    Storm was Kenny’s partner, the only partner he’d had since he’d joined the Atlanta Police-Homicide Unit almost seven years ago. She was gorgeous with a super-model face and a figure to die for. Which didn’t set well with his wife. That damn women intuition . She believed that Storm had feelings for her husband. And she was right. “My bed or yours?” Storm had asked Kenneth years ago while she sat on the corner of his desk, a few years after they’d started working together. Every man in the department longed to be in his shoes but Kenneth would never dream of cheating on Lena. Storm’s beauty didn’t entice him. To him, she was just another beautiful woman. A beautiful woman that could never beguile him into cheating on his wife. Although Lena didn’t believe him, the only thing that he found appealing about Storm was her adoration with solving cases because he shared that same passion. Seven in a half years ago when Kenneth’s parents were found sitting on their front porch lying in a puddle of their own blood, a gunshot wound embedded in his mother’s skull and a bullet hole stamped on his father’s heart, he resigned from his position as the finance director at JB&L accounting and became an officer of the law. Since that tragedy happened to his family there has been nothing that means more to him than capturing bloodthirsty criminals and locking them away. His marriage hasn’t been the same since.
    He could feel Lena gazing at him. She hated when Storm called. “Get off my phone with that nonsense” He cackled, although he wasn’t in a joking mood. He got a kick out of it because he knew that it was pissing off Lena. “You better be calling me to tell me that we have a lead on Sanchez”
    “That’s exactly why I’m calling. Captain says that he had a witness call him this morning that claims they can identify Sanchez as the shooter.”
    “No shit!” Kenneth said, sparking up a little bit. “I’ll meet you at the office in a few”
    “Why don’t you just meet me on Kenwood, witness says that Sanchez has been spotted recently hanging around his sister’s house.”
    “Alright let’s just meet there around three thirty”
    “Let’s make it four”
    For a moment Kenneth had forgotten about the problems that he was facing at home. Communication couldn’t fix his marriage, because his wife was a wisenheimer, and it’s hard to resolve anything with a know-it-all.  The only thing that seemed to keep down arguments was for Kenneth to be compliant with everything that Lena wanted to do or had done. And even that wasn’t working anymore. “I’ll see you at four o’clock on the head” he said “Don’t be