You Can't Fight Nature

We later learned that Penny had been sleeping with some of the men in the neighborhood near where we used to live, including some of our friends. There was a lot of gossip about it. Tanya actually saw a couple of the men leaving the house early one morning and confronted them. That was how Tanya found out. When she told them that they should be ashamed of dishonoring their wives with the neighborhood whore, they told her to stop being so nosey and that maybe she should watch her own husband instead of everyone else's since Rick was the first guy in the neighborhood who fucked Penny.

They told her that was the reason I'd divorced Penny and moved away. Tanya confronted Rick who broke down and admitted it.

Two days later when Penny opened up the door to the house and dropped her suitcases on the floor, she had a funny feeling. It was the last feeling she ever had. She figured maybe she should call some of the guys over to make her feel better. Just as she reached for the phone she noticed Tanya sitting there in the dark.

"I always thought we were friends," said Tanya crying.

"We are friends," said a shaken Penny.

"You had it all, Penny. You had a nice house, a good life and a husband who worshipped you. Why wasn't it enough?" asked Tanya.

"I never thought he'd find out," said Penny. "I love him so much, but I couldn't control myself. I guess it's just something in me. Just like my father. I guess you just can't fight nature. When that urge hits you there's no way to kill it."

"Let me give killing it a try," said Tanya as she leveled the gun she'd been holding straight at Penny. Tanya had intended to shoot Penny in the stomach. But the recoil caused the gun to buck and the bullet went straight through Penny's forehead killing her instantly.

Tanya called 911 and waited for the police. It was ruled a crime of passion and Tanya was only sentenced to 8 to 15 years. Rick swore he'd wait for her and visit her every week.

Judy and I did go ahead and get married. With Penny gone we truly were all each other had. There were articles written about Judy and me. Even though it happens a lot more often now, it's still big news when a woman who's over forty carries a baby full term.

We had twins and no we didn't name them Penny and Ed. We kept up with our rule about leaving the past behind. Judy and I visit Penny's grave often and talk to her. It's a sad and terrible thing when anyone dies and neither of us wished it for her. Neither of us had anything to do with her death, yet we both felt a bit of guilt about it. Both Ed and later Penny were victims of their nature. It's sad yet somehow poetic that Penny refused to learn from her father's example and so she doomed herself to die in the same way. I guess you can't fight nature after all.

This is the part where the story usually says and they lived happily ever after, and believe it or not; we did.

The End