Short story

 I Have not written ( or mor accurately I have not shared) a short story in ages.  I am taking an online Master Class and I thought Why not put it here and see if anyone comments.  Short stories are, frankly, not something I have ever done particularly well, but I have been doing a lot of reading and  find myself thinking "hey I could do this" ( It's something I remember my Creative writing teacher Don Wulffson doing with us in class, showing us work and asking if we could do this or better)  So  I present (and hope you enjoy) my short story  "Salsa"  It's probably still a work in progress, but take a look at the draft. Comment, but don't break my heart!

Sally Southerby  took her cup of coffee and sat out on the picnic table on her

patio that looked out over her small garden.   Sally enjoyed the peaceful time

she had in the morning, before going to work. If she were quiet, she would not

wake Ralph at all and her day could be a good one.  Ralph was still asleep,

"recovering" from his nightly  visit to his "watering hole" ( Sally thought of it as

his second job)  She had planted a garden this year, alongside the oleander

hedge, that blocked the neighbors prying eyes and ears from what went on at

the Southerby house.

 

Sometimes, Sally wondered if they heard, but refused to get involved.  Sally

resigned herself to the fact that there was no point in wondering and looked

again at the garden. Yes, everything looked ready to pick and Sally still had a

little time  before she had to go to work.  She would finally make that salsa she

had been creating for so long in her mind.  Today was the day.

 

Sally walked along the oleander hedge that bordered the garden, carefully 

selecting all the items she would need for the special salsa.  Once in her kitchen,

 she worked quickly and quietly and placed the finished  product in a ceramic bowl

her mother had given her when she married Ralph. Her mother had high hopes 

that Ralph would be good to Sally and Sally was glad her mother had not lived 

long enough to see the results  of Sally's bad choice.

 

Sally quietly put on her uniform and went off to the Rattlesnake Cafe, where

she worked from seven to two in the afternoon.  The pay wasn't much, but the

tips were decent and Sally got to see people.  It was better than being trapped

in the house all day.

 

The regular crowd was there and Sally was quickly taking orders for eggs and

omelets and filling coffee cups.  She was joking with Harry and bussing his table

when the sleeve of her uniform slid up to revel the huge  bruise that wrapped

around her wrist.  Quickly she yanked the sleeve back down, but she was fairly

sure Harry had seen it and she knew Jesse the cook  would have caught the

motion and known that Ralph had been Ralph  again.  Jesse had been angry

when he saw the last set of bruises.  He told Sally to get out.  "In my own time"

she assured  him.

Sally stopped at the store on the way home.  Tacos.   Ralph loved her tacos and

would eat at least eight or nine of them in one sitting.  Sally hoped the salsa

would come out the way she dreamed it would.

Ralph came home from the bar at Sally's urging "I'm making tacos" she said

"and I know how much you love them hot."   He had been at the bar long

enough to  have a few under his belt, but not be the blistering angry drunk his

usual night at the place made him.  Sally was pretty sure the bartenders who

made a good wage on Ralph' bar tab  had no idea what the results of their

nightly ministrations meant for Sally.  Ralph was a professional drunk, the life

of the party in public.  It was only behind closed doors that the angry monster

poured out of him.

 

Sally was grateful to see Ralph eat nine tacos and generously spoon the new

salsa into the shell.  "This is some GOOD salsa, Sal" he said more than once. 

Sally smiled back and told him it was a new recipe.

 

Ralph soon staggered off to bed, waving off her reminder to take his heart

medication and  leaving Sally to clean up.  She smiled to herself as she scraped

the rest of the  salsa down the garbage disposal.

 Sally always cleaned the kitchen after dinner was done. She looked out  the

window over her garden at the oleander hedge and smiled.

 Tomorrow was going to be a good day.