The McCalls

Burge and Venita McCall were unhappily married. Burge was a short, heavy-set man with a loud voice and Venita was a tall, thin and submissive woman with black hair and big black eyes. She never had much to say. He was known as a lady killer and had been married twice before, but his other wives ran away from him and got divorced. Most of the women in their town were disgusted by him and said Venita married him to get away from the noise of the Santa Fe railroad engines.

Burge hated Venita and didn't like the way she looked at him because it made him nervous.
He was very stingy with his wife and spent his money on himself and was generous with other women. He called her names in order to fight with her, but she never answered him. It made him angry because he got used that his other wives called him names right back.

However, Burge didn't get the attention he wanted when he tried to fight with her. That made him start hating her a few months after they were married. After a while, Burge slapped Venita on the face. Then she called him a "big rat" and promissed he would regret what he had done. One day, Burge heard Venita bought some rat poison. He got nervous and sneaked all over the house, searching for the poison. However, he didn't find any - what made him worry terribly. Burge decided to be a better husband because he was affraid she would kill him. He became nicer and generouse with Venita.

Unfortunately, in the end of the story, Burge died two years after the marriage with Venita got better. Their relationship was sad but we can learn from it that we should choose our partners after knowing them well enough. I think Venita was smart because her plan against Burge succeeded, although, in my opinion, she should have found a better husband.

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Daphna