Tommy hadn’t said a word all day long, just listlessly hung around the house. The night before he had a horrible argument with Jill, and everyone in the house heard them screaming until at least three A.M., when thankfully things quieted down again. The very last thing they heard was Jill, in a high pitched shrill voice yell, “You’ll eat those words”. As the day progressed we noticed how sheepishly Tommy looked whenever Jill walked by. Walked is probably a gentle word, stormed would be more to the point. She’d stop and glare at him until he sat back down and watched TV. A couple of times he looked like he was going to get up and leave, until she would come around the corner quickly and glare. By that evening Tommy was a shadow of the dominant, powerful man he’d been until the day before. All day long Jill cleaned the house for tonight’s “special” dinner. Nobody had any idea what that meant though. Holidays were way off, birthdays had all gone by, and nobody had won awards, or gotten a promotion.
The dining room table was set with all of the best “holiday” dishes, and decorative place mats were out as well. It smelled like a turkey, and perhaps a pot roast had been cooking all day long.
Everyone piled into the dining room and took their place at the table. Sitting reverently, mouth’s watering over the fragrant odors that came from the kitchen. Slowly covered dishes were brought out and arrayed in true festive style. Every plate that is except Tommy’s. In front of him sat a dinner plate with a decorative silver dome covering it.
Finally Jill say down at the head of the table across from Tommy, and motioned everyone to sit. After saying a prayer she stopped everyone by raising her hand in the air and loudly saying, “No, Tommy goes first.”
Shaking he reached out and pulled his plate towards him. For a moment he just stared at it, until he glanced up and caught Jill’s glare. Carefully lifting the lid he set it to one side. Everyone gasped in shock.
In his plate was a well cooked tongue, stuffed with turkey stuffing. Two springs of parsley set leaning against it to make it presentable. Jill slammed her fist on the table hard, making dishes jump, “Time to eat you words Tommy!!”. Using a knife he cut off a small piece and chewed, droplets of blood tentatively dripping out of the corner of his mouth.
We all ate our dinners, but everyone, except for Jill was speechless!! At the very end she got up, laughed once, tossed her napkin on the table and went outside. Moments later we heard a shotgun blast from the garage…