Bret Foltz
“Karma”

On a small farm on the outside of Iowa City lies a small brittle old woman named Ruby that has gone through hell and back. She was forced into an arranged marriage to a bitter man when she was only 13 years old. Pete, her husband, was nasty and mean to her and abused her like there was no tomorrow. He was 18 when they got married. Most days on the farm, Pete would only hit her once or twice a day for stupid things like not making a dinner that he had wanted. But on September 3 1952, things were a little different. Pete had a bad day at the cider mill that he had worked at for over 40 years and when he came home to Ruby sleeping when she was suppose to be making dinner, he became enraged with anger. He slammed the door and started to storm down the hallway grunting and breathing heavily. As soon as the door slammed open, Ruby’s eyes shot open in fear.
“Ruby!” Pete hollered.
Ruby got out of bed faster than she ever had before and replied
“I’m so sorry honey, I have been working all day and I just went to lie down for a minute and I guess I just fell asleep… I’ll start making dinner right now,” she exclaimed as she walked past Pete to get into the kitchen.
“Oh no you don’t!” Pete yelled as he grabbed her hair and threw her to the ground.
“Pete stop!!” she yelled in fear. Pete stepped back and then kicked her in the face with his steel toed boot. She curled up in a ball as he unleashed. Her nose was gushing blood all over the floor and her clothes. Pete picked her up over his shoulder and she is like a rag doll as he threw her back to the ground. The lifeless body of Ruby laid there as Pete goes and takes a nap. He finds his bed and plops his fat, over weight body on the mattress and falls asleep in a few minutes.

Ruby gained conciseness and peaked around the room barely opening one eye. Everything was still a little foggy and blurry, and doesn’t really remember exactly what happened. She just remembered being thrown to the ground and being kicked in the head. She heard snoring in the other room so she knew Pete was asleep. She slowly leaned up in her pool of blood, and got to her feet. She slowly walked to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest and sharpest knife she could find. She then walked into Pete’s room and stood over his sleeping body. She looked at his neck and just imagined what she was capable of. She stood motionless; her old hunch back body draped over her snoring husband who was unaware what was about to happen. Her robe dangled next to the bed, right next to Pete’s back. Her arms shook in excitement, her eyes wide as an owl’s. She had been waiting for this moment for all her life. She just had to make one swift cut on the throat and all the trouble will be over. She will be a free woman. She is not going to let this opportunity go, she has to end it. Then without warning she struck as fast as she could. Blood squirted all over her and the bed and Pete opened his eyes. Then she struck again and again as the blood poured out of his neck.
When the job was finished, she just stood there and looked at her husband’s body. She stood there in accomplishment and grinned as she walked back into her room, and took a nap.


When Ruby woke up, she acted as if nothing is wrong. She went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee and watched her favorite T.V. show, The Abbott and Costello Show. She threw he legs up on table in front of her and leaned back, not having a care in the world. Then, in the distance… sirens! She stood up and ran to her husband’s room and just looked at the body, and tried to think what she should do, how she should hide it. Then she realized, she was proud of what she did. She wanted people to know that she stood up for herself and fought for her life and won. The cops busted in the door and found the old women with her hands already behind her back, kneeling right next to the bed. The cops slowly stood her up and read off the Miranda rights. Ruby didn’t even bother to claim that it was self defense because she already knew that the jury wouldn’t believe her.

In court, she plead guilty to the first degree murder charge. She didn’t care that she had to go to prison for the rest of her life, she was just glad that she never had to see her husband again.

Every night in prison, before she went to bed, she would play the scene back in her head, the day she slaughtered her husband. The day that he had come back from work, angrier than normal, and decided to attack Ruby. She would watch her self over and over in her mind, stabbing her husband again and again. The thought…. made her grin, and then she could fall asleep.