Tracey

"I looked around for some one who resembled you and settled on Boyd. I hid the fact that I was married and over time I let him seduce me. I say over time because I wasn't going to let him score until my fertile time. A week before my most fertile time I gave it up and then we kept at it until I knew I was pregnant. A couple of things happened during that time. I decided that I wanted all my kids to have the same father and that meant that I'd have to keep Boyd around and the only way I could do that was keep seeing him. So even after I got pregnant we still got together once or twice a week.

"The other thing that happened is I realized that even if you did accept the baby I knew you well enough to know that you would go looking for my lover. I needed to protect Boyd because I needed him for a couple more babies so just before I told you I was pregnant I broke up with Boyd, let Marvin pick me up and do me until I saw what you were going to do. When Marvin was attacked and beaten I was pretty sure that you were the one who did it. All the bull-crap over Marvin's name was to burn into your mind that Marvin was my lover and you wouldn't think of anyone else. After Marvin was out of the way I got back together with Boyd.

"When I started showing with Jason Boyd told me to forget about trying to get him to marry me because he couldn't stand kids. He did offer to pay for an abortion and that's when I told him that I was married and that the baby was yours. He got a kick out of screwing married women so even though we only got together two or three times a month he was okay with it. When I decided that it was time for the second one I didn't worry much about it because of the way you accepted Louie, but I was still gambling and I was scared that wile you accepted the first one you might not go for a second.

"Once I decided to tell you that I was pregnant again I remembered what had happened to Marvin so I went into my protect Boyd mode, broke up with him and let Bobby hook up with me. When he was assaulted I knew for sure that it was you. You accepted my second pregnancy and I waited two months and then got back together with Boyd. When I decided that it was time for number three was when Boyd figured it out. When I first let him seduce me we made it damned near every day until I knew I was pregnant and then I tapered off to two or three times a month. When I was ready for number two I wanted it every day until it took and then I tapered off. The same thing with number three. Frenzied fucking until I was pregnant and when I started tapering off Boyd asked:

"Is your husband really so dumb that he really believes all my kids are his?"

"I tried to convince him that he was wrong, but he wasn't buying it. Finally he said he could have DNA tests done. I asked him why he would bother since he didn't even like kids and he told me that he didn't want the kids, but he hated being played for a fool. So I told him the whole story and how it all came about. Then he wanted to know why I kept breaking up with him after I got pregnant and then getting back with him after two or three months so I told him how I went about protecting him. He got a big laugh out of it and life went on.

"And then I got number four. That's when I got stupid. I told you what I had guessed about Marvin, Bob and Warren and got you to promise me that you wouldn't go after the father of number four. Not that I was desperate to protect him since I had my four and wasn't going to have any more, but because I was afraid that the odds would catch up with you and you would get caught. You said you wouldn't bother him so I didn't bother to find a substitute like I did with the first three.

"Before you even bring it up I was tapering off with Boyd. He has been trying to talk me into leaving you and I am not going to do that, but since I don't need Boyd anymore I needed to force a big fight so I could break things off with him in a way that he won't expect me to come back to him and he wouldn't bother coming around. I thought that the more I saw him the more he would push me to leave you and finally he would push me just enough and I'd blow up on him, walk away and not look back. It probably would have happened tomorrow or next Monday at the latest."

"That's one hell of a story Tracy. Just way out enough to be believable, but I still have my doubts. I'm still thinking that all I am to you is a support system for you and your kids. Your story is one of those "Tell him anything to keep him here and paying the bills" kinds of thing."

"I don't need to tell you a story to keep you here paying the bills or at least just paying the bills Walt. If that was all that I wanted I would just tell you that you had better keep paying the bills if you knew what was good for you. Pay the bills or I'd go to the police and tell them what I knew about Marvin, Bob and Warren. They would reopen those cases and be after you in a heart beat. No Walt, I want to keep you around because I want you and no one else but you. But I guess I will understand if after hearing what I've just said you don't want me."

"I don't know Tracy. I've loved you since the day I met you and I've spent all of our married life being afraid that I'd lose you because I couldn't father your babies, but I've got to tell you that it set a whole lot better with me thinking that each of your kids had a different father than finding out that they all have the same father. To my mind on the one hand there were three guys who moved into your life and then were gone after three months or so, but now I find that on the other hand you've had a fourteen year affair with just one man. A man who didn't just fuck you when you needed to get pregnant, but who fucked you on a steady basis week after week, month after month and year after year. I don't know that I can get by that Tracy. I just don't know if I can accept that."

"It wasn't an affair Walt. I was only doing what I had to do to keep him available. Look at it another way. I was doing what you were doing. You were putting up with me and my ways to keep me around. I did what I did to keep Boyd around. Basically doing the same thing. Doing what we thought we had to do."

"I'm sorry Tracy, but I just don't see it that way. Fourteen years you were seeing a man behind my back and having sex with him as much or even more than you were having it with me."

"That's not true Walt. Yes he was getting it two or three times a month, but you were getting it three and four times a week. Anyway, it is over Walt. When I see him tomorrow I'll tell him that you know it all and that he and I are through."

"He already knows that I know and if you see him tomorrow it will be at the hospital and not the motel."

"What did you do Walt? You promised!"

"I didn't promise anything Tracy. What I said was that I would rein in my violent streak and all I meant by that was that I wouldn't destroy his cock and balls like I did the other three. I'd leave him his manhood, but he still had to pay for fucking my wife. That was until I heard the tape. After that all bets were off. It is a good thing that four was your limit because when I finished with him there wasn't a chance in hell that he could give you number five."

"Then I guess I don't need to tell him it's over, but that's not what's important to me. You are what is important to me. I can't lose you Walt; I just can't lose you."

"I don't know Tracy. I've got a lot of hard thinking to do and I'll tell you up front that things aren't looking to good for you."

"What about the kids Walt? Your leaving would devastate them. And how would you be able to be apart from them? They mean as much to you as they do to me."

"You don't get it do you? They are your kids and not mine. I am with them the way I am to please you and to keep you happy. Your staying happy enough with me to stay with me was my goal in taking care of the children. Only now I'm not so sure that I want you staying with me. Your long term relationship with the father of your children has changed everything. And given that relationship I'm hard put to believe that I'm anything other than support for you and your kids."

"Damn it Walter Walton I love you! What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"I have no idea Tracy. All I know right now is that what you have done up till now has gone a long way toward making me doubt it."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know Tracy. All I know is that right now I need to get away from here. I've got some thinking to do and being around you won't help the thought process. There is also the fact that Boyd knows who fucked him up and he also knows about the other three so he might point the cops at me."

"The other three?"

"Have you forgotten your story already? You told me that you told him how you had protected him and he laughed remember? So in addition to fucking him behind my back for fourteen years you also gave him the ammunition to get the cops to reopen the cases on Marvin, Bob and Warren."

"I didn't give him names. He doesn't know who or when so he can't give them anything."

"I'm not going to bet on it. I'm just not going to be here if the cops show up."

"Please don't go Walt. I'll do anything you want, but please don't leave me."

"I'll be in touch" I said as I walked out the door. I wasn't even out of the driveway when my cell phone started ringing. I shut it off and continued on my way.

+++++++++++++++++

Thinking that Tracy would figure that I'd find a motel close to work and that she would try to find me I drove over to the other side of town to find a motel. The Castle Inn had an attached restaurant so that is where I settled in.

As I unpacked I thought about the story that Tracy had told me. It was just way out enough to be true, but even if it was true I didn't think that it would make a difference in how I was feeling. A fourteen year relationship with one man was a bit more than I could handle. Most men wouldn't have put up with two or three month affairs that she supposedly had with Marvin, Bob and Warren, but I had been hopelessly in love with Tracy and I put up with what she did to stay with her. But fourteen years with one man?

Then there was the side of Tracy that I had never known existed. She had cold bloodedly set up Marvin, Bob and Warren to take the heat off of Boyd. I'd never known that cold, hard side of her which brought up the question "What else don't I know about her? What other cold and hard things had she done?

I went over to the restaurant to get a bite to eat. The waitress was a very sexy looking lady and as I watched her move around the room I pondered the differences in attitudes between Tracy and me. She had casually fucked four other men -- at least that I knew of -- during our marriage and I had never even thought of playing with another woman. I'd even had some ladies come on to me and I had never given playing with them a moments thought.

As I sat there and watched the waitress, Judy was her name according to her name tag, I had the thought that even if I did somehow manage to stay with Tracy she owed me four 'get out of jail free' cards and the mood I was in just then I'd damned sure use every one of them.

I'd finished my meal and was wondering what to do next when Judy came up and asked me if I wanted desert. I wanted to say, "Yes please. I'd like a double order of you" but I said:

"No thanks. Got to watch the waist."

"Bullshit Walt. You look just as fit as you did in high school."

"Do I know you?"

"No. You were two years ahead of me and seniors didn't pay any attention to us mere sophomores."

"I was that bad?"

"You all were. No biggie; that's just the way things were back then. You still married to that tramp Tracy?"

That one caught me flat footed and I just stared at her.

"You didn't know did you?"

I finally got my wits about me and said, "No I didn't, but yes, I'm still married to her although I probably won't be for much longer. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"You can ask, but no guarantees."

"When do you get off?"

"In an hour. Why?"

"Would you have coffee or a drink with me? I'd like to hear more about this 'tramp' stuff."

"I could do that. O'Malley's Tavern is just up the street. How about I meet you there in an hour."

I was sitting in a booth when she came in. She spotted me and came over and sat down. She was no sooner seated when the waitress set a drink down in front of her.

"I take it you come here often."

"My brother owns the place. I drink for free. So what do you want to know about Tracy?"

"I'm going through a very hard time with Tracy right now and your 'tramp' remark set off a few warning bells. I'd like to know why you called her a tramp because it might just have some bearing on my current situation."

"It is simple enough. While the two of you were dating she was seeing other guys on the side. She had a reputation as an easy piece if you could get a date with her."

"This just hearsay or do you know for sure?"

"I know for sure. Once at a birthday party at Jimmy Swenson's she took on Jimmy, Boyd Mattingly and Darnell Parsons at the same time and didn't seem to care that she was being watched. I think you were working that night. Anyway, I stood in the doorway and watched as she took Darnell in the back door, Jimmy in her vagina and Boyd in her mouth. Another time at another party I saw her pull a train. Nine guys and she did them two and three at a time."

"I know Jimmy and Darnell, but not this Boyd guy."

"No reason you would. He is Darnell's cousin and he didn't go to our school."

"Darnell's cousin?"

"Yeah. I was surprised when she married you instead of Darnell. I thought for sure that she would marry him. He was the one she spent most of her time with when you weren't around. From the look on your face right now I'd say that your troubles with her are because of other men."

"You would be right."

"For what it us worth I had a major crush on you back then and I'm single do if you dump Tracy give me a call. Maybe we can find out what we missed by not connecting in high school."

I looked at her for a few moments and then I smiled and asked her for her phone number. If what Judy had just told me was true my love for Tracy had just died a quick death. Darnell? My super duper A-One 'got your back' buddy banging my girl while we were going steady? His cousin Boyd the father of all of Tracy's kids? He turned his cousin over to me knowing what I was going to do? Something was really, really rotten in Denmark.

Then I remembered that it was Darnell's idea to put a tap on the phone. Did he and Tracy set up Boyd for some reason? Had Darnell been porking Tracy all along? I didn't know that I would ever find out, but I was damned sure going to try. One thing for sure, at least to my mind, was that Tracy knew about the phone tap. If she and Darnell hadn't set it up then she would know because of the tape I'd played her. I had some serious thinking to do.

The next day at work I arranged a shift change with Bennie Kotlarz. He would work my day shift for a week and I would work his mid-night shift. At lunch I hit Radio Shack and bought four more voice activated tape recorders. I had dinner that night at the motel restaurant, but Judy wasn't there. I asked and found out that she was on her days off.

The next day would be the day I'd start working the grave shift so I slept in late, had breakfast at the restaurant and at ten I drove over to the house. Tracy should be at work and the kids would be in school. Tracy's car was gone so I went into the house and headed for the basement. The recorder was gone so either Dar or Tracy had taken it off the line. I went up to the bedroom and hid one of the recorders I'd just bought and then I hid one in the kitchen. I placed the third in the living room and then I went outside the house to place the fourth one. I went to where the phone line went into the house and tapped the line. Even if Dar and Tracy thought I might tap the line they would be looking inside the house or at least I was gambling that they would. Being outside I didn't expect that it would hold up well if the weather turned bad, but I hoped that it would at least last a week. If I couldn't find out anything by then it wouldn't matter. I checked to make sure that I'd left nothing that would show I'd been there and then I took off.

+++++++++++++++++++++

When I got off work the next morning I called Darnell and asked him to meet me at the Strip around eight. It was a Wednesday night again, but this time it was a different wanna be comic. This one was a foxy looking lady so I paid attention more to treat my eyes than to enjoy a laugh or two.

"Have you ever felt like strangling one of those loud mouth cell phone users who seem to sit near you in a restaurant or any other place and forcibly share their private call with you? I figured out all you have to do is take part in the call. It was just yesterday that it happened to me again. I'd had a hard day at work and I found a seat and settled in just as the bus departed. As the bus pulled out into traffic the guy sitting next to me pulled out his cell phone and started talking in a loud voice.

"Hi sweetheart. I'm on the bus."

"Yes, I do know that it is six-thirty and not four-thirty, but I had a long meeting."

"No, no honey, not with that floozie from Accounting."

"No sweetheart, you are the only one in my life."

"Yes I'm sure sweetie, cross my heart."

Fifteen minutes later he was still talking and I finally got fed up with it and I yelled:

"Hey Eric; Turn off that stupid phone and come back to bed."

I don't know what happened to him when he did get home, but I had a smile on my face for days."

She was just finishing when Darnell came in. Maggie saw him and had his PBR at the table when he got there. As he sat down he said:

"What is it this time? She can't get pregnant again until she has the one that's in the oven now."

"Nothing like that. Just down in the dumps and wanted the company of a friend. I took your advice. The solution to the problem was to get rid of the cause. I've left Tracy. This last one was just too much for me to take."

I told him the story that Tracy had told me and then said, "I was able to handle it when I thought that she was just hooking up to get pregnant with a different guy each time, but to find out that all along it was only one guy and that it had been ongoing was more than I could take. I'll probably end up paying alimony, but at least they won't be able to hook me for child support. Thank God they discovered a way to check DNA. I'll have to sell the house and split the money with her, but I don't want the place anyway. Too many memories of the cheating bitch in the place."

We talked and drank beer for the next hour and then I said that I needed to get back to my rooming house and get some sleep before going to work in the morning. As I left the Strip I wondered if he would tell Tracy I was staying at a rooming house instead of a motel. I smiled at the thought of her trying to find rooming houses so she could find me. Then I realized if she really wanted to find me all she would have to do was put Darnell on the case. He was a cop and he had the resources. Oh well, I thought, nothing I can do about it but hope that she didn't try.

++++++++++++++++++++

I worked my shift and then, because Thursday was one of Tracy's days off I went back to my room and slept until three. When I got up I took the car in for an oil change and tire rotation.

I had dinner at the restaurant and made a date with Judy to meet at O'Malley's when she got off work. We had a few drinks and talked. I found out that she had been married, but had lost her husband in Iraq. She had been pregnant at the time and the shock at hearing that he had been killed had caused a miscarriage. There were no men currently in her life: