Overdue

The television blared, some program about gorillas. Rachel lounged on the sofa, half-paying attention as she slowly chewed the TV dinner. Not too far away was David, relaxing on the dull red armchair, flipping through the newspaper.

"Well," he said at last. "They say a woman was found dead. Lying in the middle of the street, she was."

Rachel switched the channel to the Late Show. "Was she?"

"Was murdered. Brutally, they say, with a lot of blood." David turned to the next page. "And she was a widow, to top it off, with three kids, not even ten years old, the eldest."

"Terrible," she replied, grimacing. "The state of crime these days."

"Just awful."

Rachel studied her crusted food. "I went to the library today. Your books were long overdue, and I had to pay a fine."

"Were they?"

She glanced irritably at him. "Yes, they were, and you really must be careful."

The newspaper rustled softly. Rachel sighed and put down her fork. "The fines are terribly high these days."

"Just awful."