Keeping the Trophy

The more Will talked the more he loosened up and the looser he got the tighter Lyn got. The general description of Lyn in high school was that she was cute as a bug but self conscience of her braces, freckles, etc.; and that she was really into horses. She even belonged to the FFA chapter at school. Mostly she didn't date until late in her senior year because she was a late bloomer, both physically and socially.

Come to find out, Will's folks owned a large farm just outside of town and he too belonged to FFA.

I pretended to hang on every word he spoke, laughed at all the funny parts and we compared football stories when that topic would come up. Lyn sat mostly in apprehensive silence, occasionally objecting to something Will said or adding a bit to a story. She was not happy being the topic of the conversation.

His final story about Lyn centered on a hay ride and bonfire the FFA had sponsored at the end of their senior year just before graduation. As soon as he mentioned "hayride" Lyn turned pale and stiffened up followed by a resounding plea for him to not tell that story. I of course egged him on to tell the tale. The story went that Lyn had never been a drinker but had been teased into drinking some cheap fruit wine that the boys had smuggled onto the hay wagon. Once she had a sip, she had decided that it was pretty good after all and in the course of the evening had become substantially less inhibited in the back of the wagon. There were no specifics mentioned about what less inhibited meant but her personal participation in the evenings activities were cut short when she puked all over another girl, Will and two other boys. The adult chaperone had intervened and summarily had called Lyn's parents. Her parents hadn't been pleased and consequently she was grounded for the rest of the year other than the graduation ceremonies. She wasn't allowed to see or speak to Will or any of the other students involved in the hayride and so she hadn't seen or spoken to him since that time other that the hurried goodbyes and yearbook signing the last day of class. For me, a lot of answers fell in place with the telling of that story.

I laughed at the story like it was the funniest thing in the world and commented that Lyn still wouldn't drink wine. Will had mellowed out and was smiling like he had swallowed a canary. Lyn kept looking at me for some sign of trouble and I just winked back at her. "Boy wait until I tell this one to our friends back home."

"Dammit Jim don't you dare tell that story, it would embarrass me to death."

"Lyn, I'll bet you getting sick on that hayride wasn't the real highlight of the evening was it?" I answered back in a tone devoid of humor.

Lyn got paler if at all possible, Will was suddenly not so relaxed and I wasn't smiling at all. The story had been funny but my comment had returned everyone to the here and now. It was suddenly very quiet. The discomfort was palpable.

Chapter 3

"Will, let me out, I've got to go to the ladies room" broke the silence and Lyn nearly pushed him out of the booth onto the floor in her haste to get to the door with the big Ladies sign in the middle.

Lyn pounded across the dance floor with a measured urgency and disappeared into that inner sanctum that women retreat to during times of stress. Will and I watched until she disappeared.

"I think I had better get out of here, it's getting late and it's hard to sleep in that damned motel I've checked into down by the freeway." Will announced.

"I thought you were staying with your folks?"

"I stayed in town, I love them dearly but there's no privacy at my folks place."

His comment instantly brought my anger back to the surface and I thought to myself "Yea you cocksucker, like being able to bring someone else's wife home to fuck for instance."

"I'll walk you to the door, I need a breath of fresh air and if I know Lyn she'll hide in the bathroom for thirty minutes until she gets over the embarrassment of the hayride story" I laughed.

As we headed for the side door to the parking lot I yelled out to Mike "Hey Mike, I'm getting ready to leave in a few minutes, get those tapes for me OK?" He nodded back and got up from his stool and headed for the back office.

Will walked through the door and I followed him into an almost empty parking lot, only my rental car and a two year old BMW were still there. I guess as an attempt at idle conversation or a sudden dim start of recognition Will turned to me and casually asked "What tapes are you getting from Mike?"

"Oh, the security surveillance tapes for the dance floor and the booth where we were sitting tonight." I answered as casually as I could, then I waited. It didn't take long for the light to go on in Wills head and he started turning towards me with a look of comprehension and alarm. As I walked through the door I had dropped the control I had kept over my anger all evening and let the dog loose. The adrenalin rush was intoxicating.

"Hey Jim..." was all he got out before I hit him with my right fist as hard as I could in the stomach. The air whooshed out of his lungs and he bent over nearly double gasping for breath. I jerked him up by his curly hair and hit him again, this time in the face. Although it didn't knock him out (that's only in the movies), at this point he wasn't putting up any resistance. I popped him another hard one to the stomach then stood him up and leaned him back against his car reaching inside his jacket and retrieving the panties. Then I got in his face and growled like a biting dog "Listen close cocksucker! You don't get any trophies from my wife, not tonight and not as long as she is married to me. Should this little interlude lead to her and I splitting up then you and she can do what the fuck ever you want afterwards, but you need to know something, if Lyn and I get a divorce because of this I am going to hunt you down and put you in the hospital for a long time. If we stay for this reunion for the next few days and I even catch you in the same end of the room with her I am going to beat you like a drum. Do you understand me?" He nodded his head up and down but didn't make any noise other than a low sucking sound as he tried to breath through a broken nose. "One other thing, have you fucked her? Did you fuck her in high school?"

"No, she got sick before we got that far" he wheezed."

"Have you fucked her since she's been here?"

"No"

"Were you planning on fucking her tonight?"

"Yes"

"I'm going to ask you another question or two. If you don't tell me the truth I am going to kick your balls up your ass, do you understand me?" I gave him a little nudge with my knee to get his attention.

"Did she agree to go back to your room and fuck you or give you any indication she would do that?"

"Not really."

"What the fuck does that mean asshole?"

"She seemed OK with a little necking and when she got a few drinks in her I could feel her up some but eventually she always seemed to snap out of it and make me stop." He wheezed as best he could.

"Why the fuck did she give you her panties?"

He rolled his eyes like he would like to avoid answering me but knew he couldn't "Promise she made on the hayride before she got sick, in high school I collected panties as trophies of my conquests but before I could get my dick in her that night she started puking all over everybody. Tonight I talked her into giving me the trophy for old time's sake.

I slapped him up aside his head to get his attention then I opened his car door and pushed him down in the driver's seat. "Get your ass back to your motel and put some ice on your nose and eyes, you aren't really hurt bad. But remember what I said, you come sniffing around again and you are in for some serious hurt. Think twice before you make moves on a married woman in the future. Sooner or later you're going to get your ass killed." And with that I slammed the door and stepped back to watch him start the car and drive away.

I cooled down to a manageable level but my heart was breaking. Even though Will had said that Lyn had ultimately spurned his attempts to seduce her, she had still crossed boundaries a married woman shouldn't cross. I had made my mind up as to what I was going to do so I stuffed the green lacy panties into my pocket and returned to the bar.

Lyn came out of the ladies room just as I was forking over another Benjamin to Mike the bartender for the tapes. Luckily he had put them in a sack so she didn't have a clue as to what they were.

She walked up to me and looked around "Where's Will?"

"He suddenly didn't feel very well and decided to go home." She got a puzzled look but said nothing. "Are you ready for another drink?"

"I don't think I want anything else to drink, I've got Baileys all over my clothes and I'm kind of out of the party mood."

Her last comment nearly put me over the edge, she's in a good party mood until the boyfriend disappears; then doesn't feel like celebrating with her husband! It was all I could do to keep from grabbing her and shaking her until her teeth rattled. "Well I do want another drink although it doesn't have anything to do with partying, so just sit your cute little ass down!" I hissed.

Shocked at my sudden change she abruptly sat down and looked at me apprehensively.

"You don't need to get snarly."

"Hey Mike, bring me another beer." I shouted to our bartender. The bar had emptied and my voice echoed through the place it was so quiet. Mike looked like he would really like for us to go home so he could close up. I had slipped him enough "gratuity" over the evening that he could damned well stay open until I was ready to go home. He must have felt the same way for he brought over another beer and set it down in front of me.

"This one's on the house" he muttered then he returned to his perch at the opposite end of the bar. For sure this was and old neighborhood establishment, I haven't had the house buy me a beer since I was in high school. I took a swallow and sat looking at Lyn expectantly.

As the silence grew she squirmed in her seat nervously "Jim, why are you acting so strangely? You show up unannounced, make everyone uncomfortable, then you just and stare at me like I'm a bug under a microscope. What is going on, I want to know dammit!" she was loosing the battle to stay cool.

I figured the big moment had arrived; I took another long slow drink of my beer all the while looking my wife directly in the eyes. "OK." . As casually as I could, I reached into my pocket and threw the panties I had taken away from Will on the middle of the table. "I found these in the jacket pocket of your "old classmate" Will. They are yours aren't they? They are the ones you had on when you arrived here tonight, right?" Then I sat and waited.

She turned a pale white and stared at the lacey garment lying in the middle of the table like it was a rattlesnake. She alternated from looking at the panties to looking at me and back again until she started stammering "Jim I don't know what......." That was all she got out before I reached across the table and pulled the front of her dress down far enough the expose the bra that matched the panties before us. "Those are your panties aren't they Lyn?"

She turned her head away and placed her hands over her mouth like she was going to be sick but made no reply to my question.

"Goddam it Lyn, are those your panties or not?" I nearly shouted in her face, holding them up even with her eyes so she couldn't miss seeing them.

With pure anguish she looked away from me and choked out "I don't know". Then the tears started flowing big time.

I lost my patience at this point "Don't give me any more bullshit Lyn! They are part of the set that matches the bra you have on! I know because they are the birthday gift I gave you for your last birthday!" Now I was in full attack mode "I sat and watched you grind your pussy into Shitheads crotch while you were dancing, I saw you tonsil swab and swap spit on the dance floor and in this fucking booth. I watched him get your tits out and suck your nipples nearly off and last but not least I saw you shinny out of your panties while giving him a good look of your pussy and hand them over to him." I had abandoned any semblance of restraint or control and as my tenor and tempo increased she flinched at each ward as if she were being struck by a whip.

I took one of the tapes out of the bag and slammed it down directly in front of her. "If your memory has gone bad maybe this will help refresh it! This is the tape from the surveillance camera that has recorded everything that has happened at this end of Clancy's for the past six hours."

At this point she broke into open sobbing as it was obvious that she had been busted big time. No place to run, no place to hide, the naked truth was out.

I paused for a second to get my breath, and she weakly tried to form a response to my tirade. I cut her off then proceeded in a calmer but no less vindictive tone "As far as I am concerned you have been planning for weeks to get together with Shithead and take up where you left off in high school and fuck him. The only reason you're not back in his motel room right now with him jammed up your pussy or sucking his cock is that I showed up and spoiled the party! Instead of being glad to see me you acted like I have intruded into something I didn't have any business being at. Well suit yourself Lyn, as soon as I can catch my flight back home tomorrow I am going straight to the lawyers' office and divorce your cheating ass. You don't need to bother ever coming home; you can take up right where you left off twenty years ago here in Riverdale with good old classmate Will. I'll explain to the kids that you decided that our family was a poor trade off for an old flame that you didn't get to finish fucking when you were in high school!" With this last outburst all my energy left me, all emotion washed away except for a vague feeling of sadness. I slumped back in the booth and looked dully across the table at the person that had been my partner and the love of my life.

She let out a scream that was almost primal and the tears started to flow unabated "No Jim, no, you can't mean that! I love you. Why would you do such a thing! It isn't what you think!" The flood gates were open and sobbed out of control with her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry, please let me explain!"

I sat in silence, watching as she wailed like her life was being torn from her body. It was tearing me apart inside to see her in such pain; I had loved her from the time of our first date. With every passing day and every special event I had loved her even more deeply, with the birth of our kids, our first new house. She was my friend, lover, confidant and guardian angle all wrapped into this cut adorable package. I had always thought that she felt the same way about me. Setting here wallowing in my self pity it seemed obvious that I was mistaken.

I simply sat still and watched as her emotions run their course. I didn't offer any solace, no sympathy, and no comfort. There was no more yelling, screaming, accusations. No violence or threats; I just sat in silence. She was in a pain she was responsible for and she would have to deal with it.

She eventually ran out of tears and sat quietly with her head in her hands without looking at me. Her silence roused me from my stupor; my increasing awareness was strangely filled with feelings of guilt and remorse. Looking at her anguish and hopelessness made me wonder dully "Have I done the right thing here, am I being too harsh?"

The fog cleared away to the point where I could think again and went to the bar and spoke softly to Mike "Hey Mike, can I get a clean wet cloth and a large glass of water?" As he retrieved the requested items I was struck at the overwhelming silence of the place and the weird shadows cast by the neon beer signs, now that most of the lights had been turned off. The numbness and lack of noise reminded me of the feeling you get at the end of a long driving trip where everything is silent except for the ringing in your ears. I returned to the booth and sat next to Lyn and tilting her head back I gently washed her face with the cold wet cloth, wiping away the running mascara and tear streaks. Then I held up the glass of water for her to drink. She looked completely devoid of any spark of life or energy. After she had her fill of the water I sat back down on my side of the booth and silently watched her still form. We sat like that for a very long time.

The silence was broken by Mike walking up with an apologetic look "I'm sorry to butt in, but I need to close up."

I fished out my shrinking money clip and handed him another hundred "Can we sit here for another thirty minutes while you close down? It would really be a bad time for us to leave right now."

He looked around the bar, then at the money and finally at Lyn "Sure, but I'm going to shut the rest of the lights off and lock the doors, I don't want to attract any late night drunks that might want to come in for a night cap."

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

Mike left and went about the business of locking the place up.

Lyn rose up from holding her head in her hands and looking searchingly at my face spoke in a tiny voice "Jim, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do anything to hurt you. I know this evening looks bad but it isn't what you think. I didn't plan to come to Riverdale to have sex with Will and I never would have ever had sex with him no matter what happened."

I thought about what she was saying and what she had said earlier in the evening. "OK Lyn, you keep saying it's not what I think, that's it's not what it looks like, so explain it to me."

She took a deep breath and let out a long shuddering sigh, then sat up straight in the booth. "Please don't get mad and please let me finish before you say anything. I will be absolutely brutally honest. If you have any questions when I'm done then I will answer them without putting a spin on it and without trying to shade it one way or the other. Will you do that please?"

"OK, I'll give it my best shot."

"Jim, the first and most important thing is for you to know that I love you and only you. I always have and I always will. I know now, from your viewpoint that is hard to believe but it is true. What you saw here tonight between Will and myself was just a spur of the moment thing, something that grew out of a bunch of little things coming together at the same time."

She stopped for a long drink of her water all the while watching me carefully, looking for a reaction perhaps? I sat impassively, wanting to miss nothing and not wanting to influence what she had to say. "I had been looking forward to this reunion for a long time, and being honest about it, mostly for very self centered reasons."

"When I first received notice of the reunion nine months ago it dawned on me that I had graduated from High School twenty years ago! Over half of my life has passed since then and suddenly I felt very old and over the hill. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the extra bulges, the wrinkles, the bags under my eyes and it gave my ego a real blow. You haven't been the most attentive lover in the world for a while and I thought to my self, "no wonder, look how you have gone to seed" who can get excited about a frumpy middle-aged house wife. I was depressed as shit but the pending reunion and promise of seeing my friends again gave me the kick in the ass to do something about it. I started watching what I ate and going to that ladies palates class until I got back down to within ten pounds of what I weighed when we were married. I thought I had made real progress and was looking pretty good but you never said anything, you didn't change your attitude towards me, all you cared about was your job and the "company". It pissed me off and I was on a slow boil at your lack of attention and taking me for granted. When you cancelled out on going to the reunion with me it was kind of the last straw. I determined that I would go by myself and have a good time on my own. Now, before you say anything, no I wasn't planning on being wild and pretending like I was single. But I fully intended to go out and have a good time, including dancing and having dinner and a few drinks with old classmates. I figured that although I might be older and married, I wasn't dead! I kind of took a timeout from being a mother and wife with all the attendant chores and duties. I'm telling you this now so you know what frame of mind I was in when I left to come here."