Chapter 1

“Have a wonderful day at work, sweetie.” Cynthia embraced her husband as he leaned forward to give her a kiss. She skirted it and allowed him to plant one on her cheek instead; she didn’t want him messing up her lipstick, not when she planned to talk to the other wives.

“Thanks, honey,” he replied, undisturbed. Richard was used to his new bride’s peculiarities by now. He straightened his suit lapel and smoothly entered his red 1960 Chevrolet Impala replica, briefcase in hand. He sent one last smile to his wife before backing out of their driveway and taking off. A few other husbands, all in similar black suits and ties, left as well, kissing their wives and hugging their children. Eventually only the wives remained, loitering in front of their houses and waving their husbands goodbye. Once the cars were out of sight, they shooed their children back into their houses and shuffled in their heels and slippers to their usual morning meeting spot, the Samsons’ driveway.

Cynthia smoothed her dress, a blue peplum with half-sleeves and a gingham print. Her mother had told her countless times that blue was her color, and she wanted to look her best today. Today felt important, although she couldn’t really place why. She supposed she just wanted to impress the wives of Neighborhood 01. That was important to her. She pulled out her phone and checked herself in the front-facing camera. Her pink lipstick was still perfect, and she swept a stray lock of her red hair from her bangs. The rest of her bouncy curls were in place, perfectly framing her round face. She stared into her blue eyes in the camera, rimmed by long, mascara-clad lashes. ‘You’ve got this,’ she told herself, trying to build up some confidence. Once satisfied, she put her phone into her skirt pocket and followed the rest of the wives who were gathering around Kelly Samson like flies.

Kelly was a striking woman, incredibly beautiful with deep skin, bright hazel eyes, and dark curly hair that passed her shoulders. She wore a simple red dress, she almost always wore red, with an asymmetrical neckline and subtle ruching that accentuated her slim yet curvy figure perfectly. Around her, other wives in similar dress styles tried to make themselves look just as sophisticated, with varying levels of success. They mimicked Kelly in style, but none of them wore red, that was something you just did not do. Her home was the biggest on the street, grand and modern with a white rendered facade and large glass windows. And to top it all off, her husband Aaron was the fattest in the sector. Kelly looked bored as the wives went through their usual routine of offering up lame gossip most of them already knew. But as Cynthia approached, her eyes seemed to light up, and a smooth smile took over her full, glossy lips.

“Cyn! What’s up, hun?” Kelly’s voice rose above the chatter of the other women and they all fell silent, turning in the direction that Kelly was addressing. “How was the honeymoon?”

Cynthia couldn’t help but feel a little special. She’d never liked when people nicknamed her Cyn, but somehow hearing it from Kelly’s mouth made it cool and sexy. Like they were friends. She embraced the attention.

“It was amazing! Richard and I had a great time.” Cynthia’s face took on a dreamy expression. “We were so grateful to have to have the opportunity to go. Especially with how difficult traveling is these days.”

A couple of the wives nodded and mumbled in agreement. The lack of traveling opportunities were a common grievance among pretty much everyone and an easy, non-controversial way to stir conversation.

“You’re so right.” Kelly had a way of drawing out her vowels in a manner that made her sound thoughtful and deliberate, albeit a bit condescending. “You stayed in the New States, right?”

“Yeah, all the way to the west coast, where California used to be,” Cynthia said proudly. A trip so far was expensive and would require a lot of strings to be pulled, a fact she knew the other wives would be impressed by. Their looks and surprised faces confirmed as much.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Kelly’s eyes went wide in a fake way as she drew out her ‘a’ sounds. “I remember the last time Aaron and I were out there, it’s a really nice sector. Although, of course, I’ll always be biased towards the Mediterranean, where we went for our honeymoon.”

And with that, Kelly quickly retook the special moment she had given her. Leaving the New States was practically impossible, and far more impressive than a trip across the country. Some of the wives even sighed at the thought of going somewhere so far and ‘exotic.’ Cynthia stepped a bit closer and opened her mouth to try and pull the attention back to herself, but it was too late. Someone had asked Kelly to recount her romantic trip, which was years ago and a story the wives had no doubt heard dozens of times, but that was all it took to get Kelly going. She smiled and eloquently talked about the gorgeous waters and scenery, about how romantic Aaron was, and so on and so forth. Cynthia fell back in with the rest of the unrecognized wives as the story continued, respectfully listening and copying the group's exclamations and reactions. When the story was done, Kelly turned her attention back to Cynthia. There wasn’t much to do in the neighborhood so Cynthia must have just been new chatter.

“So Cyn, I suppose you’ll be having your hands full with Richard. He looked SO skinny this morning!” Kelly’s face contorted into one of concern, punctuated by her delicate hand laid across her chest.

Cynthia’s face grew red. She definitely had the slimmest husband in Neighborhood 01. Granted, she’d only just gotten married so no one would expect any different, but she certainly didn’t expect to be called out on her first day back. She mentally kicked herself for not getting Richard to eat more on their honeymoon. Any wife with a brain would have done so. Maybe if he had come back a bit pudgier it could have won her some cred.

“Yeah, haha! I mean we’re just getting started, settling back in y’know?” Cynthia waved her hand dismissively. “He’ll be gaining in no time, you’ll see.”

“I’m sure,” Kelly replied. “Aaron gained…what was it? Around 105 pounds or so in the first six months of our marriage. I’m sure you’ll manage just as well.”

Cynthia felt a bit annoyed, and jealous. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to get Richard to come even close to that amount of weight gain in such a short amount of time. None of the wives had. The closest any of them had gotten was 67 pounds, and that was in seven months, not six. Cynthia dreamed of having the fattest husband in Neighborhood 01, or maybe their whole sector, even in all the New States. One that served as proof of their wealth and her competencies as a devoted and loving wife. It was what she was raised to aspire for her entire life, to do her duties and care for her husband as he and others continued bettering the world.

“How much is Aaron weighing these days,” a wife called from somewhere in the small crowd.

Kelly beamed. It was every wife’s favorite, or most dreaded, question. One that revealed your status, whether you were a good or bad wife, whether your husband was rich and important or low-class and a nobody.

“513 pounds, as of this morning,” Kelly revealed, her voice nonchalant. But her face said ‘aren’t I amazing?’ all over it. The group erupted in praise and congratulations, calling Kelly blessed, lucky, talented and demanding her secrets. Passing 500 was an achievement none of the wives had reached yet, so Kelly was the first. Because of course she was. And for a morning weigh-in, no less. It was a common understanding that morning weigh-ins were more accurate, your husband’s weight unaltered by a full day of eating. It was impressive indeed, and Cynthia couldn’t help but feel an aspirational jealousy rise up in her as well.

“How about you, Cyn? Have you had a chance to weigh Richard yet? It’s good to get a starting point, you know.” Kelly addressed Cynthia with a smirk on her face.

“Uhh yeah. He’s, he’s um…170.” Cynthia lowered her head in shame as some of the women gasped or expressed their pity.

“Oh, hun, that's unfortunate.” Kelly reached forward and took Cynthia’s hand, she squeezed it in comfort. “Don’t worry, the scale’s only up from here.”