A Whore and a Thief

As soon as we got to his apartment I went to his bedroom. He had the biggest most comfortable bed I had even been in. It had tons of blankets and comforters. I took off all of my clothes and got into his bed. It took a while but he finally called me from the living room. "Danica, are you okay? Did you find it yet?" he called.

Then he came into the room. His eyes bugged out.

"Ray, you never did tell me about what you liked about what we did," I said in what I hoped was a sultry voice. "You kept sucking and squeezing my tits. I know they're kind of big. They're always in the way. Do you like them?" I sat up and let the blankets fall away. His eyes were immediately riveted to my breasts.

I got up onto all fours and turned so my ass was facing him. "Ray, I run or walk every day, trying to shrink my big ass. Do you think it's working?" I asked. Ray had also spent a lot of time squeezing and kissing all over my ass. Even when we weren't having sex, he liked feeling on my ass and I liked letting him. After all of those years without having sex, I was ready to explore. The next thing I knew Ray's pants hit the floor with all traces of guilt washed away by lust.

One of the biggest differences between Ray and Joey was that Ray took his time. He also took pains to make sure that I got off too. He did things to me that Joey never had. He ate my pussy until I couldn't take it anymore. And that second time that we had sex, Ray stuck his finger up my ass when I was about to cum. The shock and the odd feeling only added to my giant orgasm. He looked at me innocently, but I could tell he had plans for my ass in the near future.

The first time that Ray fucked my ass was like being a virgin all over again. He took his time and slowly eased his way inside of me. It pissed me off more than anything else because it made me wonder how much better my sex life would have been if someone caring like Ray had been my first.

Joey had taken my cherry with no thought of me. As I looked at the man I thought I loved through a haze of throbbing pain, he had smiled at me and said, "Hey, the first time always sucks. It gets better. You'll get used to it."

Ray had a habit of spontaneously sending me flowers and candy. It was old fashioned, but it made me love him even more.

After I reeled Ray in with a steady diet of sex, I realized that it was time for the next step in my plan. It was time for Ray to meet the kids.

I was nervous for nothing. Ray and my son, Tommy, bonded immediately. The Marshalls had always been kind to Tommy, but they had a job to do. It had always been a case where Tommy followed them around trying to get attention. He tried as much as a five year old can to do the things they did.

Ray on the other hand found out what things Tommy was interested in and did those things with him. He took him to ball games and played catch with him. In the space of two months Ray could do no wrong in Tommy's eyes.

The girl was another matter. I know that a big part of her attitude problem was the fact that she had been with me and had heard what went on in that house the night that her father was killed. There was also the fact that I had withdrawn after that and hadn't been much of a mother to her. She hated Ray on sight. She hated him almost as much as she hated me.

I saw Ray, constantly trying to make progress with her. I wondered why he bothered. It was almost funny to see him bringing her little gifts like T-shirts or bracelets with her name on them only to have her tell him that her name which the week before had been Camry, was now Allera. I remembered when she put me through that. Now I just referred to her as the girl.

Things all changed though after a trip we all took together to an amusement park. The girl had complained all the way home about how stupid Tommy was and how Ray was trying to buy us. She had stomped up to her room. It was the first time Ray had gotten a look inside of the apartment. The Marshalls were watching from cars up and down the block.

As she slammed the door to her room which was right off of the living room. I hugged Ray and told him not to worry about her. I told him that she was just crazy and there was no reason to beat himself up over her.

"There really is," he said. "She's an amazing little girl. And she's worth it." I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I had never wanted to fuck anyone that much in my life. I knew that I had made the right choice. In some ways I really wished that I had more time with Ray.

I really believe that the girl was listening when Ray and I had spoken about her, because she slowly came around, with Ray if not with me after that. She began asking him for things. But they weren't material things. She also did it in the most abrasive ways possible, but it was a start.

I remember the first time. "Hey," she said to him. "She..." meaning me, "She's not smart enough to help me with my Math homework. Can you?" He just nodded and the next thing I knew they both had their heads in the book and he was explaining now to add and subtract fractions to her.

They were at it for a while which pissed me off because I was hoping that after the kids went to sleep Ray could do me in my own bed for the first time. It didn't happen.

But the next evening, when Ray came to pick me up for dinner, she came running out and hugged him. I had never seen her display any type of affection with anyone. "Ray, I got a "B" on my math test," she screamed. "My evil old math teacher said that she was impressed. It was the highest grade in my class!"

"Next time you'll get an "A," Hannah," he said. She just stood there smiling at him.

"Ray, her name is Estonia, this week," I said. She just rolled her eyes at me.

"My name has always been Hannah," she spat. "Ray, did you say we were going to dinner? Can we go to Dave and Buster's? All of my classmates talk about it but I've never been there. They have little kids' games for Tommy too."

Before I could protest, Ray answered her. "Dave and Buster's it is," he smiled.

"Get your coat, Hannah," I said.

"My name is Pepsitia," she spat before running off to grab her coat and her brother.

The next day, I knew that it was time. I called Mary in and had a serious talk with her. "Mary, you've been in charge of my safety since the beginning," I said. "So you're the one I need to talk to about this. In case anything ever happens to me. I want Ray to be the person who gets custody of my kids. He clearly cares about them and would take great care of them."

"Danica, there's no need to be so damned dramatic about it," she smiled. "No one is looking for you anymore. They haven't been for a long time. But if it makes you sleep better at night, I'll start the process for you. You do understand that I'm going to have to tell him everything, right?"

"What everything, I married a drug dealer and had no clue. He was also screwing everything he could his dick into and was married to at least two other girls. He got mixed up in a drug war and was killed while I was in the house, along with our daughter. What else is there to tell?" I asked.

* * * * * *

Ray

The bastard was everywhere. Even though he was running for the Senate as a candidate from my home state of Michigan, somehow Ambrose was making appearances all over the south as well. He had cost me too much. It was time to take him down a peg and I kind of knew how to do it. I just needed some help.

It came from the most unexpected source. There was a kid who hung around the diner that I often had lunch with. I caught him looking at my car on a couple of occasions and we struck up a weird type of association. It took me a couple of weeks but I discovered that he was homeless. He was a runaway and it was obvious that he wasn't doing well. I gave him some change and a few bills from time to time.

Knowing that street kids usually knew some of everyone, I asked him if he knew anyone who could do computer work. He told me that he could put me in touch with a guy but it had to remain anonymous because the guy had been arrested for computer fraud and was legally not allowed to possess or even touch a computer.

I gave him a hundred dollars for the intro and bought him a bus ticket home. The hacker guy wasn't what I expected. I guess I thought I'd be dealing with a forty year old computer science guy who had run afoul of the law. I wasn't expecting a pudgy bespectacled nineteen year old with buck teeth and acne.

I outlined my plan and explained to him who we were taking down. I explained to him the amount of money and power Ambrose had and he laughed. He told me he'd do it for a thousand dollars plus expenses.

We went to a radio shack store that was three states over and bought a third rate smart phone. The phone we bought was the kind where you don't have a phone bill because you use cell minute cards that can be bought at any gas station. Using the phone he set up a hotmail email account under a false name. Using the hotmail account as his email address he set up a YouTube account. Then he uploaded the video of Claire and Ambrose to the web. Within hours Ambrose was the subject of more scrutiny than he wanted and not for the reasons that he wanted. He had his people try to get the video taken down. That was a mistake because the people on the web are like sharks. In the first few hours the video had been downloaded thousands of times. All of those people who had copies sold them to other websites and even reloaded them to YouTube and other video sites.

Ambrose's people were good but there was no trail to find. They traced the YouTube account to an email address on Hotmail that had been deleted. The IP address pointed to a location that wasn't even in our state. There was no trail to find. Even if they had traced the hotmail account to the phone, it had been destroyed the minute the video was uploaded. If they had traced the phone, the people at radio shack would have only have been able to say that it had been purchased by a teenaged boy in a hoodie. He paid cash for the phone, so they had no credit card info to trace.

Within two days the Ambrose campaign was over. Ambrose tried everything he could to spin the video in his favor. He told the reporters truthfully that he had been single then and that the actions were between consenting adults. But most people were more interested in the conversation afterwards where he talked about his reasons for doing it. Since a husband was mentioned in the video, it was worse. Most of the people, in our state especially, didn't want to vote for a man who not only paid for sex with a married woman, but one who did it to gain a psychological advantage over his own cousin in business.

By the second week, Ambrose's family corporation had started to bleed customers. The board of directors asked him to step down and then distanced themselves from him in an attempt to save the company's reputation.

By week three, his wife was divorcing him and he was the butt of jokes by comedians and late-night talk show hosts. He did change pop culture though. They named a term after him. Over paying an aging prostitute became known as Ambrosing.

Speaking to Archie yielded the news that Claire was fighting for her job and had been removed from the classroom. Unfortunately the shit that had spattered from the Ambrose video had splashed on her as well. There were too many men she had turned down and too many women who were jealous of her for her to come out of it unscathed. Just hearing her name brought back all of the pain as if it was still fresh. I missed her.

And then came the day that a very tough looking blond woman walked into my office flashing a badge. The first thought that went through my head was that she had somehow figured out that I had been the one who uploaded the video. I told myself to keep calm. She had only the word of a nineteen year old felon, who didn't even know my real name.

"My name is Mary Shannon," she said. "I work for the US Marshall's office and I want to take you to lunch."

She told me an incredible story that sounded like an episode of Miami Vice. And she finally ended up by asking me if I would accept guardianship of Danica's children in the unlikely event that something happened to her. I hesitated.

"The chances are that you'll die before she will," she said. "You are older than her. But you're a good bet. You're older and responsible and those kids love you."

I signed the papers. "So do you see a wedding in the near future?" she asked.

"To be honest, I've just been taking things one day at a time," I said. "I keep telling Danica that it would be unfair to her because I'm not divorced."

"That could be handled relatively easily," she said.

"To be even more honest," I said. "The real problem, like I keep telling Danica is that I'm still hung up on my wife."

"Danica said you were a good guy," said Mary. "I have nothing but respect for men who tell the truth. Does your ex know how you feel?"

"I left her seven months ago and haven't spoken to her since then," I said.

"Well, Ray, if Danica gets hit by a car or struck by lightning, I'll be delivering two children to your place," she laughed. "I wish I could do it today. I've watched those kids grow to the point where they are today and I really think that you're better for them than Danica is. Hannah is doing better in school than she ever has. She has friends now. And you're clearly Tommy's hero."

That talk stuck with me. That night I looked at everything differently. Danica got a sitter. But she didn't have to hide the truth from me anymore. I knew that a couple of US Marshalls were watching the kids. We went out to a nice dinner and back to my place. Danica tried to fuck me to death. She was smiling and affectionate when we were done. "It feels so good not to have to hide anything from you," she said. I wish I could tell you more. This is going to be such an adventure." At the time I thought she was talking about our life together. I wanted to be as honest with her as she was with me.

"Danica, I have to be honest with you," I said. "I still love Claire. Even after what she did to me. I'm not really sure that I'm even capable of loving anyone else."

She just smiled. "I know that, Sweetheart," she said. "At least a half a dozen times, when we were really going at it and you were fucking the shit out of me, you called me Claire. I wish I could get more out of you. But what you give me is perfect. So I'm happy with what I'm getting."

I felt bad about that. Danica, like me had her life stolen from her by a dishonest person. In my case, I loved Claire. The only things I had to regret about our life together was what she did with Ambrose and her lying about it. Seven months down the line, I could understand why she had lied about it. She had been so afraid of losing me. According to Archie, Claire wasn't doing well. He had been begging me to come home or at least to call her. It got harder and harder for me to avoid doing it every day.

In Danica's case, it was worse. Her husband had married several other women and gotten them pregnant. There were others that he just slept with and she had no idea what he did for a living. He had moved her out of her hometown on false pretenses and ruined her chance to have a career. He had basically stolen her entire life and given her nothing in return.

Claire had given me more love than any man deserved.

Two days later, Mary showed up at my office again. This time she didn't seem as confident.

"Ray, we have a problem," she said. "In all of my years with the Marshalls and the witness protection program I have never been fooled before."

"I didn't try to fool you," I said. "I was very honest."

"Not you Ray, Danica. She's been planning this for a long time. Probably since very soon after the two of you met," she said.

"Planning what?" I asked. "She didn't try to kill herself did she?" Mary smiled and shook her head. She handed me a piece of paper.

"I got a note from her too," she said. "There was one for you and one for me. She also left one for Hannah. I read yours and Hannah's too."

I looked at the piece of paper she had handed me.

"My dearest Ray," she wrote. "I know that you don't love me. I love you though. It's not the kind of love that a woman feels for the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with though. I would do anything in the world for you, Ray and I hope you feel the same because I've asked a great favor of you, but I'm very confident that you are up to the challenge.

My life was stolen from me at a very young age. I made one stupid decision. I picked to do something with a very bad man that my parents warned me about. And for that one bad decision, my life has been hell. I became a mother far too soon. And I was a terrible mother, Ray. I'm just not suited for parenthood. It was a role that was forced on me by a very selfish man as a result of that bad decision. I may be in the wrong here, but I don't think it is right or just for me to have to suffer forever for one bad decision.

In that way, I have something in common with your Claire. You've told me your story Ray, more than once. And I see a kindred spirit in her. She too made one bad decision and you're sentencing her to a life of hell for it. If what you said is true, you're punishing yourself as much or more than you're punishing her. The correct thing to do is to forgive her.

And Ray, never regret or feel guilty about the time we shared. It was a time of healing. I believe that we healed each other. You got me ready to face the world again as an adult and to go after building a life for myself. I got you ready to go back and work things out with Claire by taking away some of your pain and hate.

We both know that you are not capable of hating Claire, only what she did."

It was signed, "Your friend, Sarah."

P. S. Ray if you really want to punish Claire, making her help you raise my brats sounds like a good way to do it.

Her letter to the kids was far simpler. It just said that she had been a terrible mother to them and they had deserved better. She told them that I was their dad now and that if they let me, I'd be a far better parent than she was capable of being. She left me to tell them why she had run out on them.

* * * * * *

Claire

Administrative duty. It sounded like pure bullshit. They really wanted to fire me. Two things prevented that from happening. The first was that the teacher's union went to bat for me. I was sure that some of the members of the union thought that I should be fired as well. But they had no choice, defending teachers was a part of their function.

The second reason was very ironic. Our contract with Ambrose, stated that I had to administer and submit the request for the grant every year. Ambrose donated two hundred thousand dollars a year to our school. They paid me forty eight thousand dollars. It was very simple math. If they fired me they saved forty eight grand. But since they'd have to replace me anyway and probably for the same salary, they weren't saving it. Then they would lose the Ambrose grant. So if they fired me, they lost two hundred thousand dollars a year.

There was of course the fact that a lot of parents, didn't want me teaching their kids. Even though the incident had happened ten years in the past, it was all new to them. So Mr. Woodman, trying to walk the line between pleasing the parents and pleasing his greed, settled on administrative duty.

I shuffled papers and filed them in the back of the office, out of the sight of complaining parents.

Ambrose never tried to contact me. I guess he was too busy trying to get out of the pickle he was in. That video had basically destroyed his public persona. His divorce was a messy one and even his own family was trying to get him to just go away and live under the radar for a while. I wasn't sure whether or not Ray had been the one to take him down, but I hoped so. My husband needed to make both Ambrose and me suffer as payback for what I did to him. If he had indeed seen the video, then he knew that I had only done it for us. And he had to know that Ambrose had insulted and humiliated me too. But more than anything, I hoped I that he knew that I would always love him.