My wife and I ran a home-style diner.
On the strength of honest, no-frills cooking, business was booming. Every day the place was packed, not an empty seat in the house.
On the holiday weekend, a male customer ordered a plate of stir-fried seasonal greens.
But the dish had barely hit the table when he took one sniff, flipped the whole table over, and jabbed a finger at me, screaming.
"You crooked, heartless owner! You actually used lard to cook the greens!"
I froze on the spot.
Greens stir-fried in lard. Wasn't that completely normal?
I figured I'd accidentally crossed some dietary line of his, and I rushed to apologize.
What I didn't expect was the other customers.
When they heard, they went off like a pack of animals too, screaming that I had no conscience, why didn't I just drop dead, get out of the restaurant business.
I was completely stunned.
That was when my wife came back from grocery shopping.
A second earlier, she'd been defending me, explaining things to the customers for me.
The moment she heard me say I'd cooked with lard, her face twisted in an instant:
"Miles Gilbert, are you even human? You're an animal!"
And with that she announced to the whole room that the diner was closed for good.
She forced my head down, shoving me to kneel and bow in apology, and demanded a hundred thousand in restitution for the customers.
Shock and fury hit me at once. "Have you lost your mind?"
"I cooked some greens in lard, so what? On what grounds are you closing the diner?"
But my wife said something I will never forget as long as I live.
"……"
"Let's get a divorce."
I could hardly believe my own ears.
She wanted to divorce me, just because I'd cooked with lard?
My first instinct was to get a straight answer out of her.
But before I could finish, she snatched up the sizzling skillet, fresh off the stove, and smashed it hard against the floor.
A deafening clang, and hot oil splattered everywhere.
I couldn't dodge in time. The back of my hand blistered on the spot, and I screamed from the pain.
But my wife didn't so much as glance at me. Instead she let out a cold, disgusted scoff:
"Serves you right! A man like you, getting scalded to death would be letting you off easy!"
"I must have been blind to ever marry a disgusting man like you!"
I stared at her, unable to believe it.
We'd been married eight years, and she'd never once said a harsh word to me.
When I wanted some collectible figure, she'd drive forty minutes and wait in line to buy it for me.
When I wanted to open the diner, she quit her job without a word to build it with me.
And now, just because I'd cooked a plate of greens in lard, she was calling me disgusting?
"Marian Lyons, what's this about? Just tell me, what exactly did I do wrong, is that so hard?"
"Since when is it wrong to cook greens in lard?"
I was angry and hurt all at once, and what came back at me was twice the rage:
"Still playing dumb? You want to find out if I'll beat you to death right here?"
And with that she grabbed a rolling pin and started swinging, driving me out of the diner.
"Get out! Don't let me see your face again!"
I stumbled and fell at the doorway.
Everyone was pointing at me, spitting at me in disgust.
"Rotten, black-hearted thing! So disgusting!"
"This kind of person gets to run a restaurant? Dying eight hundred times wouldn't be enough!"
My head was buzzing, my mind a complete blank.
In the space of a few minutes I'd gone from the handsome owner with the masterful hands to a rat in the street that everyone wanted to beat.
I couldn't make sense of it. What could possibly be wrong with cooking seasonal greens in lard?
I caught a cab to my childhood friend's place in a daze.
He saw the blisters on my hand and was startled out of his skin.
"Miles! How did you end up like this? Who did this to you?"
My throat went tight, and I almost broke down crying.
"Arthur Delgado, Marian wants to divorce me……"
He blew up on the spot. "What?"
"Has she lost her mind? She actually has the nerve to divorce you? Is her brain rotting or something?"
And with that he rolled up his sleeves, ready to go have it out with my wife.
I grabbed him quickly to stop him,
