"That's right, champ," said Jerome Shipton appearing around the corner. "What a trip! Ice climbing is more of a rush than women- almost! Sure you don't want to reconsider?" He slapped Ryland on the back before the younger man could move.
"No, thanks!" Ryland grumbled as he wasted no time leaving the room.
Jerome just laughed over his shoulder, "Don't be a poor loser!" He turned to Cynthia, ignoring Dean. "What's for supper, honey? Sex makes me ravishing."
Cynthia turned on the balls of her feet, still holding the immense knife, waist-high, pointed directly at him. The look on her face startled her husband.
"Get lost," she said. "I'm busy."
Shipton held up his hands, mimicking surrender. "Never let it be said I don't get the point!" He turned with a wave, "I'll see you later, honey bunch!"
"God, I hate that man," she said as soon as he was gone. "I can't wait until he leaves. How can Edith be so stupid to as go back to him after all he's done to her?"
"Edith is a very fragile woman. She's used to being dominated. Unlike you." He gave his wife a hug. "What would you do if I beat up on you?"
She pulled away and growled her answer. "I'd go out and buy a gun and shoot you in every part of your body that you hold dear and then finish you off right between your eyes."
He kissed her on the cheek as she continued working, chopping the carrots with a new-found vengeance. "I'd be getting just what I deserved if I hit you. Nobody has a right to hurt another person, especially a defenseless woman." She turned, still holding the knife. "I withdraw the 'defenseless' part," he added, stepping back. She returned to her chopping.
"I thought you didn't believe in capital punishment," he said, trying to lighten the situation.
"I don't. And I don't believe in abortion either. Or killing in general."
"But you believe in blowing out the brains of a woman beater. Isn't that a wee bit inconsistent?"
She thought a moment. "No. I didn't say I believed in it-I don't. I just said that's what I'd do. It's not the same thing."
"You mean you'd start blasting away on the spur of the moment- in the heat of passion."
"Not necessarily. I might even plan it."
He just looked at her, waiting for her to explain, but she said nothing. "Plan it, but not believe in what you were doing?"
"Believing in it and doing it are two different things."
"You're confusing me. What's the difference?"
She put down the knife and thought a moment. "I'd know I was doing wrong. I'd even feel terrible about myself after I'd done it and most likely be devastated. And I'd accept whatever the consequences were and never be the same for the rest of my life, but I'm not sure knowing all that would still stop me from going ahead and doing it." She looked up at her husband. "Sometimes you just do things, because you feel they have to be done. That doesn't mean you believe in them, believe they're right. Maybe just the opposite. You know you're doing wrong, but you sort of admit to your own imperfections."