What Friends Are For

"Say goodbye Kelly!"

"Goodbye mum, goodbye James, and I'm sorry!" The connection was broken, and I sat still not able to look Marcie in the face.

"I don't know what to say to you Marcie. I loved Kelly with my all my heart; she was the part of me that made me a whole human being. When she let those arseholes...when she did that, it was like she was letting them do it to me! She seems not to have the same feeling for me though." I said as I turned back to look at her.

Marcie raised her face, tears falling like raindrops off a leaf, and she didn't even try to stop the flow. "Nothing you need to say James." She sniffed and sobbed. "I think I know what you're saying. It's the same and different at the same time for us women."

Marcie put her head down and went on ripping her tissue into small pieces. "I know how I felt when that arsehole ex of mine took off with his bimbo. It broke my heart that he felt so little for me that he could just throw me away like that, especially after I gave him everything, all the love and support...it almost killed me. I don't know what got into her, she was such a good girl, or so I thought."

"I can't understand it?" She brought her hands to face crying. My heart broke again for the pain that this poor woman was again going through, and this time at the hands of her own flesh and blood.

All I could do was shake my head in wonder. "I don't understand it either Marcie! If it's any consolation? The first five years were wonderful; I just fell further in love with her. I'm not saying that everything was roses, but you know how it is, there's always jockeying for position, working out the who, the what and the where, like in every union of two separate personalities. I accepted that."

I wasn't looking at Marcie as I tried to tear the label off my beer bottle, in frustration. "Then everything seem to change, Kelly changed. It was so slow that I didn't even see it at first, then it got to be some sort of fight for supremacy, just who was in control of the marriage, not like I thought it should be; an equal sharing like it started out as."

I looked up to see if Marcie understood what I was trying to say. "Everything was going well until Chadwick and Pamela Stanton showed up seven months ago, along with their ilk."

Marcie's head shot up in a snap at the mention of them, pulling another tissue out of her purse, she wiped her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me. Pam Stanton's maiden name wouldn't be Gleeman by any chance?" When I nodded, she continued, "Let me guess; that bubble head Veivers, what about that nasty piece of shit Dalton, and I suppose her sluts-in-waiting, Tracy and Sue Kenmore were there as well?"

"The surnames have changed, but you nailed some of their given names perfectly. Except for Veivers, but if I don't miss my guess, you're referring to Elizabeth McIntire, the airhead. I don't know any Daltons, but if the name's Caroline Dalton, then that's her, although I haven't come across any Tracy, but Suzanne is one of them. You seem to know them better than I do."

Marcie's face had gone from distraught to downright angry in seconds. "Damn right I know those trollops. I had to pull Kelly out of grade ten and change schools, just to get her away from the "Dalton gang" as they called themselves. Carol's a case in argument for euthanasia, and Pam is one for female circumcision. If I had known she was consorting with that lot again, I would have told you to get her the hell away from them. How long have they been back?

"From what I can gather Kelly met up with Carol about a year ago. I thought she had told you by the way she spoke. I got the impression that you were good with her friends."

Marcie scoffed angrily, "Not fucking likely!" Her language brought me up a little short. I'd never even heard Marcie say blimey without blushing with embarrassment.

"Now I understand why she's locked herself in her room and didn't want to talk about what had happened. Wait till I get back home, that stupid girl will be wishing she was lying in some morgue by the time I get through with her."

I was still in thought and commented, "I know I've talked a little about them, but I've always used their surnames, and since they're different to the ones you knew, we seem to have missed the boat here. Come to think of it, now that it's mentioned, Kelly always seemed to steer conversation away from them when you were around."

Marcie shrugged, and I went on to tell her what I had done to try to avert the demise of our marriage and her face turned hard as iron. I held up my hands, "Don't worry, I won't enforce the codicil. She can have what she brought into the marriage as per the original prenuptial. I won't fight that."

What Marcie said next flawed me. "Don't you fucking dare James! You take what's rightfully yours young man. If my stupid daughter knew and signed something as blatantly obvious as that, and she still went ahead and played around on you, then she deserves everything she gets."

Marcie settled a little. "Don't worry about Kelly; I'm certain she'll be at home when I get there. If there's one thing I do know about my daughter, and that is that she can't stand being alone, my threat to never come home will be enough to make her decide to stay and take her medicine. I'll see to it she doesn't starve, but by God, is she going to be licking boots and scrubbing floors until she gets back on her own two feet again."

I just sat there and thought that I was damn lucky to have parents like mine. If Kelly thinks that it is all over bar the shouting, she's going to find she's painfully mistaken." Marcie sat a little longer not saying much. Well when you think about it, there wasn't really all that much you could say! As she was about to leave she stood up and hesitated, "James?"

"Can I give you a little of my perception into how differently men and women think?"

I nodded. "Any advice you can give me to help me get my head around this would be appreciated, Marcie."

Marcie smiled. "Just a little I've gathered over my life James, you know men and women see marriage a little differently. I know Conroy loves me vigorously, and shows me by what he does for me. Every time he gets that twinkly in his eye I know I rock his world, and that he's showing his love for the only female on this planet for him."

"We both know that some times that gets misconstrued as being seen as a sex object, and for casual partners that might be true. Women don't need the physical as much as men; theirs is more emotional, so they show their love by giving of themselves, their most precious possession to their partner in a show of love. That's why I don't understand what happened to Kelly."

"I'm as much at a loss as you are James. She shouldn't have been able to do what she did if she loved you the way she claims. I can only assume that she was hoodwinked by Carol and her cronies, maybe trying to relive the earlier years without the constraints of parental control."

I look up to her and nodded, thinking she was right, but not saying anything and Marcie sensed I was waiting for her to finish. "Please don't judge all women by my daughter's stupidity. We don't know what came over her, and don't blame yourself for backing the wrong filly either! You can study the form guide and track all you want but sometimes the stupid old nag just up and breaks a leg on the home stretch. There's nothing you, or anyone can do about it! Marriage is a bit like a horse race in that regard!"

I got up and gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek, whilst she sniffed and patted my chest. "You know your father and I go loggerheads at each other, but we really do understand that neither of us was to blame for our marriages failing. You just be thankfully that you weren't screwed over like us. As you know, Conroy is my third husband and Kelly's father and your mother is your father second wife. They're good people! I know Conroy will be devastated by this. You'll find someone who loves you in return as well. You just have to get back on another horse and finish the bloody race; you hearing me James?"

I smiled and wondered how unfair it was for a woman like Marcie, to be saddled with a daughter like Kelly. "Yes mum!" Marcie's face broke out in a teary smiled, patting my chest affectionately once again as she turned away one more time.

"You be good, and don't be a stranger. I have an errant child to horse whip, so I'll be seeing you around sometime." She chided me good-naturedly over her shoulder, and with that, she left. That left me thinking about all those stupid mother-in-law jokes? I actually got on better with her then I did with her daughter! How fucked up is that?

As I went back over to Lennard to fill him in on what had transpired with Marcie, I thought about how I first met Kelly at The Melbourne Cup. Kelly and Marcie had entered the Fashion on the Field competition as a mother daughter entry. They won hands down and I was taken with Kelly from the start.

Marcie is a racing nut, but rarely bets, her first husband cured her of that. She just loves the excitement of race day. Ohhh yeah, I didn't tell you, Marcie taught me everything there is to know about horse racing. She's the nicest woman you could ever hope to meet, bar none!

~...~

Marcie gave me a sympathetic smile and rubbed my arm affectionately, as she walked past me and out of the courtroom.

I watched as Kelly came up to me after the decree nisi was finalised and handed down. I pondered once again, "Six years for us to make the marriage, six months for her to kill it, and now six weeks for me to bury it!

Six, six, six; isn't that the devils number, or the mark of the beast? I wasn't sure, all I really knew was, it was bloody appropriate. I was now officially single again, and it gave me no real joy seeing the marriage I fought so hard to keep, laid to rest.

"It didn't have to end this way James. I have always loved you, and still do. You never returned my calls ... never allowed me to explain what happened!"

I sighed to myself; she was looking her best, even dressed very conservatively. Marcie must be choosing her wardrobe, or only allowing Kelly to wear her more staid clothing now. Kelly only had the clothes she was wearing when I caught her, and what she was wearing now is certainly not that outfit. I use the term wearing, metaphorically, since apart from her heel boots, she was fucking buck-naked at the time.

"What was there to explain Kelly? You cheated, lied, and disrespected me; you shit all over our marriage. I know all about the Dalton gang, your mother explained it to me in sordid detail, so there's nothing to wonder about."

Kelly had the good grace to wince when I mentioned Dalton. "I know we're finished James, but we need to clear the air, so we can feel better about ourselves and be able to move on with our lives."

Isn't it amazing, once you step back and look with a dispassionate eye, you suddenly see things you always missed before. Here it appears that Kelly is trying to apologise, but is she? Or is there some other reason for her contrition?

"Mum said you probably wouldn't want to hear any excuses, and I'm not going to make any. I just ..."

Holding up my hand, I shook my head. "Your mother's right Kelly! Just what could you say to me that would help me hurt less, with what you did, Kelly? I saw you on your knees with a cock in every hole. You cuckolded me Kelly. What can you possibly say to that? I tell you what! Nothing!"

I could feel my anger returning all over again. "All you want to do is to ease your own damn conscience at my expense, Kelly. You just want to go over every little miserable detail. All that will do is make me sick to my stomach again. Why should I allow you to feel better, while making me feel miserable? Well fuck you and the horse you rode in on Kelly. Find some other way to get it off your chest and feel better in yourself. I'm not interested in anything you have to say from here on in!"

I stewed for a second and then wondered. "No! Can that for a minute; there is one question that you could answer for me. Why, when I made it abundantly clear that I had no wish to go down the swinging track, why did you continue to flog the dead horse? That's the one thing I still don't understand to this day. Why didn't you back off before it got to this?"

Kelly was sobbing as she fidgeting with her mother's ratty old clutch purse. "I don't know James. I think it got to be a pride thing. You know how I hate to lose, and your refusal got to me. It was like you were challenging me, or... something and I lost my head." What Kelly had said actually made sense.

"Tell me Kelly, did you ever enjoy our time in the bedroom? Was your love making for love or was it just some form of control, something you thought you had to hand out, to pay for the things I did for or gave you?" She looked at me with a confused look and I knew then that her idea of a marriage was severely warped. For Kelly, marriage was a win/lose affair, and there was never going to be a win/win situation in her eyes. For her to win, someone has to lose, and in this case it was me. Just how fucked up is that?

Before Kelly could answer, I heard a voice, "Hello stranger!" And I immediately knew who it belonged to. What is it about me, that women seem to think it's ok to sneak up and attack me from behind. I spoke as I turned, "Hi Michelle, good to see you. What are you doing here?"

I noticed another woman standing beside her. "And with Sarah no less, what a pleasant surprise. Hello Sarah, long time no see. You're looking as ravishing as I remember!"

Sarah smiled, "Too long James, way too long. You're looking as good as I remember too. Let me apologise for my part in the deception, but I had a job to do, if you can understand that?"

I smiled as well, "No harm done on your side; it wasn't your doing Sarah. Did you actually get stood up by a date, or was that just a ruse?"

Sarah blushed with embarrassment. "You bet my date stood me up! But you were tactful and gentle in your refusing my advances. So I forgive you." I gave each a peck on the cheek and they smiled. I have to admit to a little longing to see them both again as well.

Kelly was set back on her heels. "Who and what are these two witches doing here?"

Michelle giggled, "My my, what a mouth she has James. Whatever did you see in her?"

I guessed it was a rhetorical question, because she turned her attention to Kelly. "Don't you recognise us my dear? Ohhh that's right, the agency only gave our description, and no actual picture of us. We're the women you foolishly threw your husband at, and we're on a mission."

With that she pirouetted. "Good huh! You paid top dollar for the best! I make you look like a bag lady, don't I? Does it kind of make you feel all queasy and sick inside?"

It mustn't have helped Kelly's vanity in the least that she was wearing her mother's old clothes. I thought to myself, this must be the female equivalent of name-calling we blokes do. You understand what I'm saying here? You know, "What are ya, come on, ya wanna go mate, come on, ave a go mate an I'll tear ya fuckin head off, ave'ago ya mug!"

But bloody hell and shit a brick, I can see a catfight brewing and I'm none too enthusiastic about jumping in between them. Have you ever thought to break up a catfight? Well fuckin don't as you'll come off the loser; trust me on this one, they have talons that would put a wedge-tailed eagle to shame, so please, for your own health. I made that mistake once and will never make it again.

I got into the scuffle when a sheila I was dating at the time, had a little kitty-meow with some tarted up trollop that thought my sheila was the one dancing horizontally with her bloke. As I found out later, the damn trollop was right, but I didn't know that at the time, bitch! I don't know which one nailed me with her claws, but I lost my one and only good going out shirt, and ended up with gouges on my shoulder blade that looked like Waves Rock!

What? Waves Rock WA! Ohhh for fuck's sake ... Just Google it, you'll understand. A couple of my mates have commented over the years on my scars when they see them. I just tell'em they're from an energetic threesome I had when I was younger. You should see the impressed looks I get from the blokes. Well it's a half-truth. What was I suppose to say, that I got tangled up in a stupid catfight ... and lost. Get real!

Michelle flicked her long blonde locks back across her shoulder. "That really was a silly thing to do, if I do say so myself. You need to get your head out of your arse Kelly. It's not the roses you're smelling sweetie! Only a moron would think of doing what you did." Kelly paled at the remarks Michelle was firing at her. I thought Kelly was good at verbally slicing and dicing, but Michelle was a master chef, so Kelly really had no come back.

I was starting to feel a little less anxious with these kitties and their playtime.

I started to chuckle, "I was thinking the same thing Michelle. I don't know what hurt more, Kelly's infidelity and her lack of respect, or the fact that I fell in love with and married a seriously stupid woman. What was it your mother said Kelly?"

Michelle and Sarah perked up wanting to know, so I decide to tell them, much to Kelly's dismay. She said, 'My daughter hasn't got the brains God graced a grasshopper!' That was about it, wasn't Kelly?" The two deviletts broke out laughing at Kelly's expense. "But I do have to ask myself, what does that say about my tastes?"

Michelle placed her hand on my arm as she brought her cackling under control, and that action certainly didn't sit well with Kelly either. "It says that you loved and trusted her without question, which is how it should be, and for me that says a lot."

I smiled. "So how did you know I'd be here?"

Michelle chortled again. "Have you forgotten? I worked for an agency that gathers information on people. I've had my eye on you ever since our dinner." I almost met up with you at that water hole you drink at, but some older woman beat me to you; good looker too, who was she?"

My eyebrow rose at the mention of my meeting with Marcie. "Kelly will be able to tell you, after all, Marcie and I were talking hands free to her at the time, weren't we Kelly, or should I say that her mother was doing all the talking and all you were saying was 'yes mum' if I remember." Kelly held her head down, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed, so I turned back to Michelle. "So! You've been stalking me then?" I know that sounded nasty, but I have to admit that I was actually feeling good about the idea.

Michelle's sheepish smile just looked so cute. "Ummm, yes and no! I heard that there was new husband material being dusted off and put back into circulation, so I thought that I'd get in early with my bid. Quality merchandise is just so hard to come by these days. I had a little twinge of regret when I saw you with, Marcie is it?" I nodded. "But she didn't stay long and the peck on the cheek was friendly rather than... well you know, then you went back to your friend and I thought better than to interrupt. It didn't look like a good time to be making an accidental meet up for selfish reasons, so I left."

She slid her right arm around Sarah's waist. "That's when I decided to asked Sarah to help me convince you of the benefits I can offer. That is if you should decide that it might be in your best interests to ... let's say to ... take me for a spin."

There goes those sexy eyebrows, and for a minute I was stunned to silence, as in unison, all my IQ points went "WHAT did she just say?" Michelle couldn't help but see the look on my face and ramped up the pressure. "Sarah almost hugged me to death for making the suggestion to her." She smiled, as she affectionately rubbed the back of her left index finger on Sarah's cheek.