Friday evening. Ray arrived late after work. He had stopped at the bank on the way home and withdrew several hundred dollars. He knew he would probably have it out with Sherry about that later, but he hoped it was going to be worth it. He had also stopped at the liquor store, and by the time he got home, Sherry had already climbed up on her high horse. Ray was glad she had chosen to act the bitch tonight. It was going to make the rest of the evening so much easier.
"You're late!" She yelled, from her seat on the sofa. As she did every Friday evening, Sherry had already dropped their daughter off with her mother for the evening. They probably thought Sherry and Ray used Friday nights for some quiet, romantic time alone, Ray reflected. Hah! Fat chance! "I didn't feel like waiting, so I ate without you. Get yourself something out of the fridge. I'm tired. And why didn't you..." Sherry's voice faded into a drone as Ray entered the kitchen.
He sat at the table, chewing on a bite of the bologna sandwich he had made, and watched as puddle of yellow white mayonnaise slowly oozed onto the plate. Not exactly the fare one would see on the Cleaver's table, he thought. Ray had already left three empty beer bottles in his wake, testimony to where his mind was really at. He fingered the plastic baggie in his pocket, feeling the diamond shape of Freddy's tablet, both relishing and dreading its promise. He looked up at the clock on the stove. 8:17 PM. Soon it would be dusk. It was time.
"Dear," Ray said, walking in to the living room, "I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought you a drink." He handed her the lemonade he had prepared, and sat down on a nearby chair, taking a drink from his beer. Sherry looked mildly surprised, but took it, sipping from it slowly. She let out a "Hmphh!" as Ray flicked the television to CNN and began scanning the news. Within minutes Sherry had left the room, the empty lemonade glass sitting on the coffee table. Ray glanced at his watch. 8:32. Freddy had said it would take about half an hour for the pill to take effect. With a few minutes extra to be sure, Ray figured all should be set by about quarter past nine.
Forty-five minutes took forever to pass. The clock on the TV screen crawled along interminably slow. Each news story seemed to be more insipid and longer than the last. Ray flipped through the channels, start to end, mindlessly thumbing the remote without really pausing too see what was on. After what seemed like the hundredth pan through the channels, Ray watched the clock flip to 9:10. Close enough.