Liar by Joanna Gosse Read Free Book Online Page A

this nonsense, I’ll sleep in the spare room. Every human being has the right to expect at least six hours of sleep each night. What with your snoring and grabbing me for a quick fuck every five minutes, I’m averaging about two hours sleep a night. Write down this statement and if you don’t abide by it, I’ll have you arrested. I, Sam Eagle, promise not to wake China between the hours of midnight to seven. Write it down Sam! I love China and I respect her wishes to get a good night’s sleep. Now sign it!”
    Sam sheepishly signed the note and handed it to China.
    “Thank you,” said China with vindication.

    She put the note in her bedside drawer, turned out the light, and pulled up the duvet. God damn the son of a bitch, now I’m too mad to get back to sleep.
    “China?” whispered Sam.
    “What now?”
    “Are you awake?”
    China cursed, grabbed her pillow, and hit Sam repeatedly until he fell off the bed laughing. He pulled her down on top of him and she gasped when his hard penis thrust into her.
    “Sam, you are one mean, hard, son of a bitch.”
    She rocked angrily on his penis and came quickly, wanting to both smash Sam’s smiling face and kiss him tenderly.
    He rolled her over into his favourite missionary position and finished what he had started. As China drifted off into the afterglow sleep, the alarm rang and Sam got up to shower. That man is going to kill me, thought China sleepily .

    ~ ~

Dream Robber

    China needed the car for groceries and dropped Sam off at the office. Bear had built a lovely cedar long-house on the beach side of the road, next to the shed where he carved, and rented out the rooms for office space. She wasn’t quite sure if Sam actually did any work in his office. Surely it wasn’t possible to work surrounded by such a mess. Bear, who was very tidy, jokingly threatened to evict Sam for having a messy office. Every time she picked him up, he and the boys were usually shooting baskets to see which loser would have to buy lunch.

    China put away the groceries and wearily opened her journal.

    Sept. 2/96

    When I can't sleep, I slide quietly out of bed, careful not to wake you. When you can't sleep, you grab my hips and pull me roughly out of dreaming into your nightmare.
    You rob me of my dreams. Why? How can I work, think, love you when I’m angry? It takes many hours of not being myself to forgive you. I cannot bear to not love you because not loving you hurts me unbearably. I trust you to love and respect me. Robbing me of my dreams, of precious, healing sleep, is not an act of love and respect.
    You rob me of my dreams. Why? Because you have none? Before you, I slept the sleep of angels, sailed on ships to other worlds, moved with the wind of freedom. When you rob me of my dreams you steal pieces of my soul, you steal the healing that I need to face another day. I cannot give you beautiful days if you rob me of my nights. Hear me. Respect me. If I cannot trust you to love me when I'm dreaming, I'll sleep in a safer bed.

    ~ ~

    The next morning the alarm went off before Sam did and China jumped with surprise at the unusual noise.
    “What time is it?” asked Sam.
    “Seven-thirty.”
    Fantastic, thought China , he even went beyond the seven o’clock screw. Maybe I should make him write a deposition regarding his farting and snoring.
    Sam satisfied the morning wood and stumbled to the shower. China made toast and coffee feeling pleasantly used. They ate, sipped leisurely, scanned the news, spoke a few words.
    “What time is it?” asked Sam.
    “Eight-fifty.”
    “Oh, my God, I gotta go. I didn’t realize it was so late. I thought we got up at seven-thirty.”
    “Yes, Sam, you were up at seven-thirty but you were cooling the morning wood. You were actually on your feet at seven-fifty.”

    China always put her watch on as soon as she awoke, painfully aware of how fast the day would slip by with no carving done because of all the details that had to be attended to so that