The Mechanic Ch. 03

A story about a woman who wants more than she has but finally makes a mistake that convinces her husband that what he thought was the truth, is all a lie.

Edited by Lady Cibelle. From her comments, this story took a major turn for the better.

*

I drove into the road leading to what used to be my trailer and saw that her van was still there. I pulled in and parked my flatbed truck down the street from the worn Toyota and shut off the ignition. Now that I was here, I felt all of my old anger and uncertainty return. I used my training to gain control and after a solid five minutes of self-flagellation, berating myself for my weakness, I felt a degree of calm return. I opened the door of the truck, stepped down onto the gravel road leading up to the path to the door and convinced myself to move. I walked slowly to the steps, walked up and reached out to knock on the door. After all, this was no longer my home.

As I waited, working on my breathing to regain my hard-earned calm, I looked at the small porch fronting the trailer, It needed work: paint and sanding and a general reconditioning of the plank floor. Well, that was no longer my job now, was it? But it still rankled, knowing that I had worked my ass off to buy this place and make it ready for Heather and my child and because of her and her damned need to party and screw around, it was going to pieces! As I felt some of my calm slipping away, the door opened.

As I focused on the face in front of me, I saw that it was the face of Heather's mother, Grace MacArthur. What was she doing here? Her Mercedes was not here, only the van. I stepped back in surprise but not before she had seen me clearly.

"Jesse? Is that really you? My God, Jesse! Come in, come in! God, where have you been all this time? What happened? Jesse, come inside!"

I stood there, my own surprise temporarily freezing me in place. As Grace spoke, she reached out and grabbed my arm and was tugging me inside the door. I finally found myself following her inside. The door slammed behind me as Grace led me into the small living room, the one I had been so proud of. It was a pull-out, and the room was a full five feet wider than the sixteen feet the trailer provided. The pull-out contained the couch, a chair and a small storage shelf. Grace pointed to the chair and asked me to sit.

I did as she asked and just stared at her for the time it took for me to process her presence. For background, Grace never liked me. Her husband, Walther, had no love for me but he did accept me as his son-in-law with some reservations. Grace, on the other hand, always felt Heather had married beneath her and never hesitated to tell me or anyone else how she felt. Now, she acted as if she were glad to see me! And why was she here, with her car gone and Heather obviously not here as well? Polly? Where was Polly?

"Hello, Grace. Yes, it's me and I used to live here, if you remember. Of course you never stopped by when I lived here but now that I'm gone, you seem to have little trouble finding the place. Anyway, I was in the area, delivering some merchandise and decided to stop and see my daughter. Where is my daughter by the way? I assume Heather is out with her boyfriend, Drake? She must be helping him get better. I hear he had a bad accident." I snickered to myself at that. It certainly felt good to remember him slamming headfirst into the bar.

Grace had the grace to blush at my comments. She and I had never gotten along and it seems that nothing had changed. Well, so be it. All I wanted was to see my daughter and if the opportunity presented itself, to deal with Heather. It was time to divorce each other and let her get on with her life. All I would ask for was liberal visitation to see Polly. I wanted nothing more from her or the life I had here. That life was gone, along with my marriage. Heather had moved on, or so it seemed. Now it was time to make it legal.

"Heather is out tonight. She called me and asked me to sit until she could take care of something. I don't know what it was but she said she'd be back around midnight. Polly is in bed and I sit for her sometimes. Walt and I both try to help when we can."

"I send enough for her to hire a decent sitter and to find a better place to live! She has no need to ask you for charity!"

I was sending Heather far more than I ever earned when I worked for the Ford dealership and we were making it fine at that time with just my salary. Hers allowed us to save some for the house, but we didn't need her salary to live on.

"Maybe she's living too high now that I'm gone: she always did like to party. I remember her need to party was what led to my beating and forced me to leave. So, it seems nothing has changed. I saw Drake early on tonight and he told me that he and Heather were together now. Seems like he could take better care of her."

Grace's face was pale and her hands were clenched tightly together in her lap. She was angry and it showed. Well, too fucking bad! Heather was her daughter and Drake was more to her liking than I ever was. She should be happy now that I was out of the way. I decided to finish my conversation and see my daughter and then leave. The whole idea of talking to Heather now seemed so stupid and futile.

"I guess you're much happier now that she's with that scumbag. He's got money and he's someone important; more her style than I ever was. Or so you kept telling me and everyone else. I'll just look in on Polly and then leave."

I stood and walked down the hall to Polly's bedroom. I opened the door slowly and looked in. She was asleep, one arm wrapped around a blue bunny and the other on her pillow near her face, her hair billowed out on the pillow. I stood, transfixed at the sight. How I missed this piece of my heart. My eyes filled with moisture as I looked at her. I made no sound, not wanting that picture to end. I filled my mind with her as she lay there. I was not aware of Grace coming down the hall behind me. She laid one hand on my shoulder and I made no effort to move away. She wasn't worth the effort.

"She's missed you almost as much as Heather. Both of them cried for so many nights after you left. You broke their hearts and it's taken all this time to heal."

I turned away to look at her as she backed away. Her face was set and she seemed determined to say more.

"You have to come back to the living room and sit down and listen to me, Jesse. If you want to leave after that, it will be your choice. But if you don't listen, you'll be proving me correct in what I believed of you."

She turned and walked down the hall and with one more look at my sleeping daughter, I followed. I walked into the room, chose the single chair that used to be the one I took to watch TV and to sleep in when TV was dull. I sat down and looked at Grace. I nodded and leaned back, ready to listen. I cared not one damned bit about what she thought of me! Grace had to have her say; her time to tell me what she thought of me and how it was all my fault, and I could listen. She meant nothing to me anymore. Actually, she never had.

"Say your piece, Grace. You need to blame me for everything and that's just fine. I just don't care what you think now any more than I did before. I tried with you but I wasn't good enough. So, go for it!"

Grace faced me, her lips pinched in disapproval. "I need to tell you what happened that night and afterward. You were gone and you have no idea of what your wife and daughter went through. I'll tell you so at least you'll know the truth. That much I can do.

"You're right: I never thought you were right for Heather. I always believed she would choose someone more of her level. Drake was rich, well-to-do and his father was an important man in this town. I would have accepted him for her. But she told me she had no use for him, ever. She always said she would rather die than be married to someone like him."

I laughed at that. "She was right about that. He didn't want to marry her; he wanted to get into her pants. Drake was way too selfish to ever want to take care of anyone besides himself. She was just a quick fuck for him."

"I guess I should have expected language like that from you, Jesse Prentice! You have no respect for Heather and never did! I never respected you, that's true. I thought you were too common for her. I never bothered to learn anything about you and when she decided to marry you, I almost disowned her. It was her father that convinced me that I should reserve judgment on you. So I did. I watched, and to my great surprise, Heather seemed happy with you. She loved you and when Polly came along, she had never been happier. I began to think that I was wrong about you.

"Then you left her and my grandchild! You just up and left! I was furious at you, and Heather was beside herself! I tired to comfort her and take care of her but she kept pushing me away, telling me I didn't understand. When I spoke of you, she would snap at me, telling me to keep my mouth shut about you. I didn't understand. You left her and she would not let me complain about you. I was stunned!"

I was getting impatient. So far, this was what I expected. Grace wanted to blame me and she didn't understand why Heather wouldn't allow that. No surprise so far. I opened my mouth to try to say something but she stopped me with a wave of her hand and a glance that took me by surprise. There was real anger there.

"I know what you're going to say! Heather finally told me the truth and made sure I knew what really happened. She confronted me one night when I was really getting into it and running you down. She told me what really happened, how you came inside and faced Drake down and then, how after you hit him in self defense, his cronies jumped you. I didn't get the rest until much later when I heard about it from one of Drake's friends: that they told you he was taking your wife away and if you tried to stop them, they would likely kill you."

Well! I admit I was surprised at how much she knew. I wasn't sure anyone knew the last part. That was said to me in the parking lot away from everyone else. I heard it and one of the gang must have bragged about it to someone else. But, this didn't change the rest of it.

"Then you know that Heather brought this all on us by her actions. She knew what would happen that night and she decided her party time was more important than her marriage to me. She made the decision and I had no choice but to leave, believing she and Drake were going to get together and the shame of that was too much for me. I couldn't live in this town if that happened. I don't know what really happened after I left, but none of her friends could find her that night and she didn't get home until well into the afternoon the next day. Where was she? Who was she with? Did she ever tell you that much?"

Grace looked surprised at my words and before she could realize what she was doing, she shook her head telling me she had no idea where Heather was all that night.

"Well, now you know the truth, Grace. She did it; she went out without me; she drank too much and ended up with Drake at that bar. And when I came in, she just laughed at me. The beating was something I could have lived with but the humiliation of what was going to happen was too much. I knew that she intended on staying with him that night. And I believe to this day that she did spend the night with Drake."

That reminded me of the night I proposed and after hearing Drake's words at the bar, I wondered now if I hadn't made a mistake that time. I suddenly understood quite clearly that the same thing happened: She spent the night with him and then came back to me the next day pleading innocence. I decided Grace should hear about that as well. It seemed to me that maybe I had been given a warning and I ignored it.

"I don't know if Heather ever told you, Grace, about the night I proposed to her? I went to her apartment with a ring and the intention of asking her to be my wife. When I got there, she was with Drake and they were kissing. He had his hands on her in ways that he shouldn't have been able to unless she were willing. They were going up to her apartment. I saw them, I got angry and left that time and went back to my trailer. It was the same thing then. It was the next day, later in the afternoon when she told me that it was just her trying to tell him to leave her alone and I believed her. I often wondered what happened after I left her there that night. I think I knew the truth, but I chose to believe her and I married her.

"When I saw her that night at the bar, she was with Drake again and my doubts came flooding back. It seems I was right in what I thought might have happened that night. It seems she never got over him."

Grace was shaking her head and smiling now. She seemed to have gotten past whatever was making her angry. Maybe it wasn't me.

"You're wrong, Jesse! You're so very wrong! Heather told me she never even liked Drake that well. He was always chasing her and I thought it was cute, but she didn't. She said she asked his dad to make him leave her alone and she put out the word that she wanted nothing to do with him. And she made it clear to me as well. You're wrong about him and her. There was never anything between them and there never could be.

"Heather loves you, Jesse, and she won't let herself forget you. She's very unhappy now and the only thing she cares about is Polly. I've tried to get her to go out and have some fun but when she does go, she says she can't enjoy herself. I sometimes baby-sit for her but she's always home early on those nights. She only goes out on the weekends and then she's with the girls. She never dates, or at least not to my knowledge.

"I know you've been sending money to her every two weeks. I know it's enough to allow her to stay home with Polly but she won't do that. She saves every cent you send and puts it into a college fund for Polly. She lives on what she makes and hasn't touched a single dollar of the savings that the two of you had."

Grace rose from the couch and reached for her purse. "I'm going now, Jesse, and you will have to stay to sit with Polly until Heather gets home. I'll take the van and she can return the car tomorrow. She drives it a lot because she's sure it starts and that the brakes are OK. Her van is pretty well shot: you were the one that kept it running all that time. Now, it just barely manages to run. Why she won't get rid of it is beyond me, but it'll get me home. Good night, Jesse."

Before I could do or say anything, she was gone. Now, I had no choice: I had to stay and wait for Heather to come home. As I watched her leave, I thought about what Grace told me and I found a lot of holes in her story. First, the van was never any problem. I was a good mechanic, one of the best. It was fine when I left: a new engine, new brakes and tires and everything running like a top. That shouldn't have changed that much in the time I had been gone. Anyway, the guys at the garage would have fixed anything at all for Heather at cost.

And Heather didn't have to work at all to support our child. What I sent was more than enough to do that and the past year I had been sending a little extra for Heather. If Heather was working and making any kind of money, she could afford to buy a new car if that was a problem. And working at the hospital was not a low paying job. They were giving bonuses for signing up.

Finally, Heather couldn't stand to stay at home if there was a party somewhere. I had that fight often while we were married and she left more than once without me. Most didn't involve Drake and his cronies but some did. That particular night was not unusual; only her reaction was. So, it was hard for me to believe Heather wasn't still going out with her girls to party. What she did when she was out wasn't something Grace would know about and nothing Heather would tell her, but with me out of the picture, there was little to stop Heather from enjoying the attentions she always got from men.

Well, I did want to have this out and now it seems I had no other alternative but to wait until she was in front of me. I stood there, trying to decide what and how I wanted to confront her without anything coming to me. I decided to walk down the hall and look at my daughter again. That was something I could do without thinking. She was my little girl and now I could look at her to my fill.

I heard the clock in the living room strike one and I decided to go in and take a seat. No reason to be uncomfortable while waiting for Heather to get back. Grace said she would be home just after twelve, but I thought to myself, that is unless she decided to stop to see her boyfriend, Drake. Now, here it was, one o'clock. With Drake's problems at the bar tonight, he probably spent some time in the emergency room at the hospital so Heather would have had to spend a lot more time with him than normal.

I was having a lot of trouble believing what Grace told me. I couldn't see Heather not going out and partying like she did before. After all, that was what got us to the place we were now. No, Heather was a party girl and nothing was going to change that. So, odds were she was still seeing Drake and her mother was none the wiser. She used to brag at how well she could fool her mother when she was younger. Things didn't change much.

I was just considering finding something to eat when I heard a car pull in and stop. I looked out the window and saw her mother's car pull into the driveway, followed by an older Mercedes sedan. A brand new car, actually the same one I had delivered earlier to Drake's father, sat on the street, waiting. Heather got out of her mother's car, a big man got out of the other car, gave Heather something, probably the keys, and walked back to the one waiting on the street. Heather waved back at the newer car which then pulled out and left. I saw her look around for the van, then just shake her head and start for the door.

It was just seconds later when the door opened and she came in. She moved into the room, shut the door behind her gently and just stood there, looking at me in shock. I was surprised at the changes in her since the last time I saw her. She was slimmer by several pounds, her once short blond hair was now longer and brushed to a shine, her dress was much shorter and tighter than those she wore when we were together. She had that look that she always got after dancing and drinking; sort of starry-eyed and unfocused. She would suck on breath mints if she had to be with her mother. I looked into her eyes and I could still see the spark of vitality that used to be there, but this wasn't the Heather that I left.

"Hello, Jesse. It's been a very long time since you were here last. How are you?"

Those words were said in a soft voice that I had never heard before. I was suddenly unsure of what I was going to say. It was clear that this woman was different from the one I left. She wasn't at all sad and unhappy: so much for Grace's assurances! This was more like the Heather that I knew before we were married. Could it be that she was not the same girl I left behind? I had to be sure. I had to know, but now I had to be very careful.

"Hello, Heather. I'm good, thanks. And it's been over two years since I was here last. The last time was the night you decided to party with your friends without me. I'm sure you remember that night."

She moved over to the couch and sat down. She took off her coat and dropped it beside her on the couch. She had on a short skirt, one that just reached her knees, a blouse that looked to be a size too small, high heels and way too much makeup. She must have come directly from a party.

She raised her eyes to meet mine and said, "Yes, Jesse, I remember that night. I remember it very well. As a matter of fact, I can't forget that night. I see you when I close my eyes and I see them drag you outside. That's all I remember before Jake and Janie dragged me out the back door."