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Mama Connie had gotten up to help straighten up the living room by taking the glasses left by my once-very-good friends. She had wiped the moisture from the coasters and stacked them as well.
She was on her latest trip to the kitchen, when Dad told me what he had finally gotten up the energy to say.
"Well, Son; you are definitely burning your bridges here. You have served Jamey with a petition for divorce; two of your friends with suits for 'Alienation of Affections;' and one for 'IIED.' Does that just about cover it?"
I know that he was just trying to be matter-of-fact about things, while adding just a touch of levity in an effort to try to lift my spirits. He was probably certain that he had instilled sufficient degrees of survival instincts in me -- physically in the woods when I was a boy and a teen; and emotionally as I had matured under his mentorship. The confidence in his face showed that he was certain that everything would turn out well in the end.
That's probably why he blanched and almost dropped his beer bottle when I pulled out and handed him my last envelope; and said, "Almost."
****
It was now completely dark outside, with the light atop the tower on Lookout Mountain blinking off in the distance, along with the glow of the city on the horizons.
I reached the top of the driveway, heading for my truck, so that I could find a new bar to settle into for a couple a beers away from my house. I glanced back at the house and looked through the front picture window. Dad had the contents of the envelope in his hand, which included the transcript of one other conversation that my PI had recorded during that fateful week out at the Outer Banks. His look was a combination of incredulity and anger; Mama Connie's was one of anguish and misery.
I started up the big Cummins diesel engine and pulled away from the curb, not worried about leaving them at the house. I knew Dad had a key and would lock up when they left.
****
Author's Wrap-Up:
Yeah, I know. Almost none of this stuff would pass a sanity check in an actual court of law.
But, I am not an attorney; nor -- as they say -- do I 'play one on TV.' But, there is enough of stuff on the internet to provide a survey or an overview of various tort actions that may be considered in situations of 'Domestic Non-Tranquility,' so to speak.
It is truly amazing to read some of the seemingly over-feminized reasons given by legal analysts in the majority of states that have done away with 'Alienation of Affections' as a reason for suing others involved in an affair leading to divorce. They claim that it is only a 'revenge' tool for the so-called 'evil' husband to get his ounce of blood out of someone contributing to his losing his 'property,' as those bashing men for supposedly still having medieval attitudes toward the wife's place in a marriage still assert. They go on to claim that any hopes at possible forgiveness and reconciliation would be dashed by the efforts of the spouse to exercise his revenge through use of 'Alienation of Affections' law suits; also claiming that such cases polarize everyone and leave a scorched-earth result that affects all parties, especially any children involved.
Interestingly, there are still only a few states that retain 'Alienation of Affections' as a tort action: Hawaii, Illinois, North Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. Most of the others allow the tort measure known as 'Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.' That comes as close as you can to the 'Alienation of Affections' action, but is much stricter in its definitions of what constitutes the case for the plaintiff.
Anyway, that's my story. I hope that you enjoyed it. In this case, it was not so much 'Burn the Bitch' as 'Burn the Enablers.'
Regards,
Flavian
THE END
Liked it, but can't score it above a 2 because no explanation was given for Mama Connie's involvement.
for those that may have missed it he had invited his step mom, Mama Connie, to that girls weekend at Nags head. So she either knew ahead of time or learned at that weekend about his wife's affair and Mama Connie said nothing. So the envelope had the PI report.
Unreadable. For example, the scene at BWW with Roy, we get a whole paragraph on Roy with everything but his GPA in middle-school, and maybe 1/10 of it was relevant to the story. The diatribe about the phrase, 'moving forward,' only clogged up the scene. It ruins a story to include interminable commentary within the story.
3 stars - For the most part, I like this story.
However, if it happened to me - I would probably take a much different tack.
More like scorched earth, by sending every one we know - pictures, audio and video.
Maybe a 16X8 foot sign on the side of the main highway into our town.
Her name would be mud for the few years we have left, and that would give me peace.
Ignoring legal accuracy, it was well written and thought provoking. Said about his father and stepmother. Eveb his wife knew she deserved a divorce. She had the decency to not even try to talk to him. She "loved" her husband and greatly preferred him as a lover but Doug was the nasty temptation on the side for a cheap thrill for a three months before she settled down to be a chaste wife and a mother. Narcissism much? Roy was not a friend. I don't necessarily blame Mary Joe. She knee and did not approve but Jamey was her close friend. She did tell Roy though. He was the major letdown. The other women burned their own marriages with the admission of their own infidelities. You don't have much privacy outside on a beach.
I have often wondered about the differing views towards marriage and infidelity in different states. Differences over "heart" torts, alienation of affection suits, etc. allegedly reflect difference in the legal evolution of thinking about the dissolution of marriages. I think just about everyone who is a thinking adult values marriage, but may differ over HOW one handles the dissolution of marriage. I used to think that collateral legal culpability towards such enabling was silly, but wonder as I have gotten older and been married much longer. Marriage is an "all in" emotional as well as other investment (financial, children) and SHOULD be respected as an institution and with consequences to consider. SHOULD it included deliberate facilitators? I wonder. As the author admits, it's a fantasy as another commenter put it. BUT it also makes a point whose wisdom I increasingly think about too, as one of our own adult daughters went through a nasty divorce with good cause. No one 'wins', including parents, grandparents, in-laws, and their circle. A though-provoking story, well written. Thanks.