Working Class

First thing the next day, Saturday, I called on Andy and related the facts, as I knew them, about the discussion between Holly and I the previous evening. He played darts for our 'local' and told me was aware that the 'Badger' had submitted two teams in the league. He also informed me that the leading light in the 'Badger' team was none other than Bullet Barnes!

"But I thought he lived abroad?" I blurted out.

Bullet had left town quite suddenly not long after Holly and I married, seven years ago. We never did find out why, but there were rumours that he had molested some young girl and that his father had paid the girl's family to hush it up and that the only condition her family stipulated before accepting the payment was that Bullet had to leave town.

Now he was back and Holly must have known about it! If he was now a regular in the 'Badger' there was no way she couldn't have known. Why hadn't she told me he was back?

"He's been back about six months." Andy told me, "and his father's set him up as manager in one of his car dealerships, so he's not short of money, drives a Jag convertible to boot. Nice car that. From what I hear, he's not changed at all, still a loud mouth and still as arrogant as ever."

This was not good news and it gave me great cause for concern. I walked slowly home from Andy's place. My mind was in turmoil, full of conflicting thoughts. Holly had been his girlfriend, or at least he thought so. According to her, she only dated him occasionally and they were never exclusive. I had always wondered about that. She certainly seemed to spend a lot of time with him in those days, but he had been away for nearly seven year's and as far as I knew had never kept in touch with any of his old friends. I knew that Holly received mail from a pen pal she had had since her school days and that she also kept in touch with some University friends by post, but I had never opened any mail addressed specifically to her. Could she have kept in touch with him? I didn't know what to think, but I knew I had to do something.

When I got home it was mid afternoon and the kids were watching telly. Holly was in our bedroom getting ready for work. I was going to wait until tomorrow when we had the whole day to discus things, but my anger prevented me from waiting. I watched as she carefully applied her make up. She had her dressing gown on and I could see glimpses of her black half cup bra as she raised her arms to fix her hair. She watched me as I stood there observing her actions and smiled at me. I thought, she never takes as much care with her clothing or make up when we are going out, but for her admirers at work she was prepared to spend ages perfecting her image. I turned and checked what she was wearing tonight and saw she had laid out a dress that I had not seen before. It was one of those that had buttons running from the V neck front to finish just below her waist, with tight matching belt that would emphasise her trim waist and accentuate her full breasts. Suddenly, jealousy took over and I just lost it completely and waded straight in.

"Why didn't you tell me that Bullet Barnes was back in town? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Not only do I have to find out from someone else, that he's back, but that he's also a regular at the 'Badger' and sniffing around you again!"

Holly didn't even looked surprised at my outburst, she just coolly turned and faced me and replied, "You're reaction just now is precisely why I didn't tell you. I tried several times recently to open the subject, but the moment never seemed to be right. As for him sniffing around me, he's only doing what most of the other punters in there do every night! You have known all along that I flirt with them and give them a little flash to keep their interest and you have never complained before, in fact it seems to turn you on that your wife is lusted after by other men, so don't come crying to me just because Bullet takes an interest in me! It's more than you have been doing lately!"

With that said, she shrugged off her dressing gown and stepped into her dress. God, I thought, she's absolutely beautiful. I tried to reach for her but she slapped my hand away and said, "Don't even think about it, I've just done my hair and face and I don't have the time for this. You come in here practically accusing me of having an affair with Bullet Barnes and then try to paw me. Well you got no chance now!. We'll talk tonight when I get home."

Before I could stop myself, I said, "if you're sober enough to hold a conversation we will!"

She almost screamed at me, "What's that suppose to mean? Yes, OK, I have a drink or two after hours, so what? Sometimes I think I take it, just to give me the strength to come home and face you and your perpetual inquisitions! You're fucking right we'll talk tonight!"

She stormed out the room and off to work, but at least she stopped to kiss the kids before she left. I sat there on the bed stunned. I went over our confrontation in my head and the first thing that struck me was, what had I said that suggested to her that she and Barnes were having an affair? I went over it again and again, but failed to see the connection. That, in turn made me consider that she is having an affair with him and maybe she suspected that I knew more than I was letting on. I was totally confused and went right back to the beginning of what I saw as the downturn in our marriage. Last Easter, that was five months ago, Barnes had been back in town roughly six months ago, so the timing was about right. Her general moodiness apart from when we went to Majorca seemed to peak around the weekends when she had been working. It was no good. I decided to wait and have it out with her that night regardless of how late she came home.

I took care of the kids, fed and bathed them, before sitting in front of the TV pretending to watch Match of the Day. The programme finished at 11.20 and I switched it off and went to bed, but was unable to sleep. I got up and went downstairs to sit in the darkness and await her return. I heard the sound of a car draw up and peaked out the window. The street light was out so I could not see the car clearly, but I knew it wasn't a Taxi. I expected to hear the car door slam shut, but it was nearly five minutes before that happened. I pulled back from the window and listened as her heels tapped there way up the path to our door. Holly entered and switched on the light and took her coat off. She turned and screamed when she saw me standing watching her. I looked at my wife and noted that the top two buttons on her dress were not fastened correctly. She saw where I was looking and casually refastened.

She said, "You nearly gave me a heart attack, I thought you would be in bed."

"You mean, you wish I had been in bed?" I retorted. "That way I would not have noticed that you took over five minutes to get out the car before you came in. Who brought you home anyway, that was no taxi?"

"I am not going to have this discussion right now, I'm tired and intend to go to bed."

This time I was having none of her bullshit and delaying tactics, I spun her round and dumped her on the settee. "No you're fucking well not!" I said seething with anger. I saw the fear in her eyes for she had never seen this side of me before. I was an angry and frightened man. Angry at her refusal to talk to me until she was ready and had prepared her arguments and frightened that I was losing her.

Wearily, she said, "Alright, Bullet brought me home tonight, but that's the first time he's ever done it. I was so mad at you for what happened earlier tonight that when he caught me by surprise and kissed me, I responded. He took a few liberties and managed to unfasten the top buttons of my dress before I could stop him. But I did stop him! I want you to know that I am not having an affair with him, or any one else for that matter! Now you can choose to believe me or not, as you wish. I will not allow you to continually silently interrogate me with your eyes every night after work. I have done nothing to warrant your suspicions and quite frankly, I'm tired of continually watching what I do, what I say and how I dress for work and always that look of silent criticism in your eyes!. You can either live with the fact that in my job I come into contact with lots of men, any of whom would like to fuck my lights out and Ok, I flirt with them and that's as far as it goes. Now you have to decide, can you live with this or not. It's your choice, but I cannot take much more?"

She got up and stomped off to bed. I was once again going crazy with mixed emotions. I wanted to believe her and mostly I did, but the one thing was missing from her outburst tonight, she had never once said that she loved me! That's what hurt the most. When I thought about it, I could not remember her telling me she loved me for over six months now and before that, it was a very rare occurrence.

When I went to bed and tried to kiss her goodnight, her back was firmly turned away and I think she pretended to be asleep. I lay for two hours trying to sleep and in the end got up and sat in the living room staring into space. I don't know how long I sat there, but at some point I fell asleep and awoke to find Holly must have put a blanket over me at some point. I returned to our bedroom and climbed back into bed and reached out to her. She turned round and clung to me as we both wept like babies. I told her that I believed her and she said, "I'm sorry that I put myself in a position where he was able to kiss and grope me. I'll be far more careful when he's around, it's hard to defend yourself, his hands are everywhere! I should have told you that he was back in town, but I just couldn't find the right opportunity."

She even offered to give up the Thursday job, but I told her to give it a try, if either of us found it was starting to screw us up as a couple, she would stop there and then. We agreed that our marriage was more important than the extra income.

Chapter 4 -- Things come to a head

They say that make up sex is the best, but we had no chance that morning to find out as the kids came bouncing in demanding to be fed. Later, we more than made up for that night and the next, I truly felt we were back on track.

The next month or two was pretty good. I got a couple of commissions for proper portraits and I have to admit that it was Holly's mother that was responsible for me getting them. They both paid well and we were comfortably managing to put money away once more. They were badly needed as the country was in the grip of inflation running at 8.5% and getting worse. Britain had joined the EU and enforced pay restraint. A maximum pay award of 3% was the order of the day. The Middle Eastern oil producers were restricting the flow of oil to the west and as a result a three day working week was about to be imposed on every working man.

It was November when my doubts were once again given a prod. This time it was Andy who put me wise to some shenanigans going on at the 'Badger'. We were out for a drink with some of our pals one Saturday lunchtime when he pulled me aside and asked, "How are you and Holly getting on?"

I was instantly on full alert and told him, "OK, I guess. Why are you asking?" I knew he would not have raised the subject without good reason and my heart was sinking as I awaited his response.

"We were playing a darts league match in the 'Badger' last Thursday, just a normal league fixture. Towards the end of the night, Bullet Barnes was at the bar talking to Holly then started whispering to her. She shook her head at whatever he was talking about and moved away, but he called her back and said something else to her and she looked around the bar and just nodded in agreement. He started spouting off as usual and said, "I bet I can get Holly to remove her bra in front of everyone here." There was much nudging and whispering going on and money was changing hands. Bullet was holding a book and recording the bets until he had a pile of notes in front of him. He then called to Holly and said, "Ok Holly, There's fifty quid in it for you if you stand on the bar here and take off your bra. Are you game?"

Andy continued as I stood there wondering what the hell was coming next, he had to be joking, but he doesn't make jokes like that and said, "Holly looked over to her boss, Manny and he nodded in approval. She clambered up onto the bar counter using a stool and with many willing hands trying to take the opportunity to cop a feel of her arse in the process. She slapped them all away and told them that she would stop right now if they kept that up. They stopped and she stood there. Everyone, and I have to admit me included held our breath's as she reached for her sweater, but instead of removing it as we all hoped, she slipped her arms out of the sleeves without revealing anything other than her belly button, She then proceeded to unclasp her bra, it was a front opening one and she took it off, one arm at a time and finally with a flourish held it up for all to see. Honestly, Gimpy, she didn't reveal a thing and there was a lot of grumbling from the guys who had placed the bets. Bullet was smiling as he helped her down and someone tugged the bra from her hand. She tried to get it off the guy, but he just held it above her head out of her reach and she jumped up a couple of times to try and reach it. You can guess what happened, her tits were bouncing and everyone could see her nipples hardening due to the friction. Holly must have realised what was happening and strode off back behind the bar, picked up her coat and bag and started to walk out. Manny stepped in at that point and said, "OK guys you've had your fun, now give Holly back her bra and you, he said, pointing at Bullet, pay her what you owe her, she won the bet fair and square." To be fair, Bullet paid up and a crimson faced Holly disappeared into the Ladies to put her clothes back in order."

Holly had made no mention of this to me when she came home that night nor had she since! I looked at Andy at a loss about what to say, when he said, "There's a bit more." He said, "and it's this bit that made me ask you about how you two were getting on."

I was afraid to speak, so he said the words that I was dreading, "Last orders were called soon after that and Holly started collecting up the empties. She went over to the table were Bullet was sitting with a couple of his team mates. She reached for the glasses and when her hands were full, he took the opportunity to run his hand up under her skirt. She just froze for a moment and he took the opportunity to go even higher. Holly dropped the glasses and turned to berate him, when he spun her round and pulled him onto his lap. It looked to me that she was not trying too hard to get free and it must have been his conclusion to as he took the opportunity to grab her breast and kiss her on the lips. She did tell him to stop it and managed to free herself from his clutches and he slapped her behind as she stormed off. Manny had to come out and he blasted Bullet verbally and threatened to ban him if anything like that happened again. Well, you know Bullet he made a joke of it and started making some smart comments about being old friends with her and not doing anything he hadn't done before. He then boasted that he would 'have her' before Christmas and to prove it he would get her knickers off and have them framed for the trophy cabinet. I made a lunge for him, but my mates knowing how close I am to the two of you pulled me away before I could reach him. Just as well really as he would have murdered me."

Andy was only about five foot six in height and ten stone dripping wet. Bullet Barnes was now about six foot and weighed in at nearly fifteen stone. I asked if that was it and he said, "I think so but as we hung around waiting for a taxi, Bullet pulled up outside the pub and the next thing was Holly came out he pub and jumped in and they drove off."

"What time was that?" I asked reluctantly, fearing what his answer might be.

"It must have been about twenty past eleven, because just as we were leaving, I heard Manny telling everyone it was time to get out. I reckon he was scared he would lose his licence, if the cops found anyone drinking after hours as he was already on a warning about that. I also heard him say to Holly that she could go, he would finish up in here. He asked if she wanted him to call her a taxi and she said it was alright tonight, she had a lift."

I thought back to the previous Thursday night and remembered I was in bed reading when she got in. I rarely go to sleep when she's out late, and checked the time, it was twelve fifteen. It doesn't take more than ten minutes to get home from the 'Badger' by car! Where the hell was she in the intervening time? I felt sick and thanked Andy and told him I had to leave. He said he would walk with me and as we walked home, he apologised for being the bearer of such bad news, he had been in a quandary all weekend whether to mention it to me or not. If the truth be told, at least I now knew that Holly was keeping things from me and I once again had to risk her wrath, by confronting her, I could see no alternative, we had to sort this and let the cards fall as they may.

When I got home, the kids were over at my sister's house and Holly was sitting on the couch watching TV. I switched it off and simply told her to shut up and listen when she started to protest. This must have surprised her, I don't often act in such a rude manner and certainly not to her. She sat there and started to listen as I said with more than a touch of acidity in my voice. "I hear that you stripped off your bra in the 'Badger' last week? I also heard you were paid £50 for doing it, have you changed your job description to include stripping now?"

She didn't look surprised at my charge and she said, "Bullet Barnes put me up to it, it was no great deal. When I went back to Uni, after that last Christmas with you and before I realised that I was pregnant, we were always short of beer money. So, Bullet dreamed up this scam that involved both of us going into a busy bar. I would be wearing something pretty tight highlighting my breasts and pretty much displaying the goods while he circulated, setting the scene and talking customer's into putting their money into a kitty. He sold them on the tale that I could be persuaded to remove my bra in full view of everyone. He had me rehearse and rehearse, until I could do it without removing my blouse or revealing any thing at all. Of course, the punters didn't know that and they were expecting to get to see my tits. He wasn't greedy, he would only take a couple of bob from each man, so they didn't really feel all that cheated when I performed the trick. Bullet was pretty good at charming any guys that did get antsy and his physical size intimated them in any case. At the end of the day, each of them had only lost about the price of a pint. We only did it three or four times, before the word went round and we would be warned off as soon as we entered a new pub."

"OK," I said, my voice rising with indignation, "I can see that it would be a good fun scam, with no real victim when you were a student, but you're supposedly a happily married woman now, so what made you agree to perform again? Did you think that I wouldn't get to hear of it and why did you think that I would not be fucking angry when I found out?""

"Earlier that night, before all this came up, I had been chatting to Bullet about our need for a cheap reliable car. He asked my how much I was prepared to pay and when I told him we had only £100, he told me he just had a second hand mini come in and he could let me have it for £150. I told him that was way outside our budget and had to get back to work as a customer was waiting. Later, after he had been drinking a fair bit, he called me over and said that if I did the bra strip scam for him, right now, he was sure he could get the £50 I needed to make up the difference. I was tempted, but said no, but he talked to Manny and it was Manny that told me to go for it. That's how I came to do the bloody thing, I don't know why you are getting so angry, you've used sketches of me doing all sorts of things to earn money, so I thought it would be OK as the punters never got to see anything! As for you finding out, I saw Andy that night and knew it would get back to you, so I asked him not to say anything. I realised, almost right away, that I shouldn't have done it. I hoped Andy would keep his mouth shut like he promised, but obviously he did not. I should have told you myself when I got home, but the opportunity slipped by."