Ah... Honey, We Have to Talk Ch. 02

He had this guilty look now and it turned to pleading when he faced me.

"Look Jake, she is so hot. I mean what do you expect. Guys hit on her all the time when you are gone. She was bound to crack one of these days and I figured why not me?"

"You motherfucker," I said under my breath. "I trusted you and called you brother after Kandahar. Is this how you repay me?"

I had saved his life on a mission just outside Kandahar Afghanistan chasing after a haji carrying explosives and a short AK automatic. I had pushed Todd fucken Manson out of the line of fire before the haji fired. The bastard owed me.

"Look here bitch," I spat at him. "If I see you come near my family or house again, I will personally track down Jenny and fuck her. I won't do it behind your back like you did. I want you to know. You know she will do it."

"Come on Jake..." he tried pleading with me.

"Tell me the truth, and I'll back off," I said. "What exactly happened."

He nodded in submission and told me. As soon as he was done I stood.

"You put your hands on her," I said barely controlling my anger. "You and I are done. Never talk to me again. As for Jenny, I like her too much to hit on her because she would do it and regret it after. You don't fucken deserve her. You are dead to me."

"Come on Jake," he said as I backed off to leave.

He turned to say something. I never let him.

"If I see you near us or if I hear you hurt Jenny, your ass is mine," I said to him. "I bet my wife was not the first you hit on. I remember you used to hit on army wives before you got hitched. Ask for a transfer Todd. Before word gets out what you've been doing."

"Whatever..." he scoffed as if he didn't care.

He was realizing how deep in shit he was and wanting to minimize it. But I was not done with him.

"Jenny was willing to take your fucked up name and have your child. And this is how you treat her? Maybe the name suits you."

"You told her didn't you?" he said in anger. "You didn't have to."

"See here shithead," I told him ignoring his question. "My wife talked to my mother about you and I am going to talk to Leila as soon as I get to her parents. If she tells me you forced her into anything, I will come back and end you."

"I told you what happened," he replied but I didn't speak to him again. "She didn't do anything..."

Then he turned to me with a smirk.

"But she eventually would have, and you know it Jake. If not me, with someone else. She ran away to her mommy and daddy, but she ran because she knew she was close to giving in. They all give in eventually Jake. The good looking ones anyway. They are used to the attention and crave it."

I just stared at him. He made me sick. If we were not on base where a fight would go down on my record, I would have jumped him right there. Take my word for it. A fight between two Delta operators would have ended with someone maimed or killed. I was not afraid of him, but I had business to tend to with my wife and children to think off. I would not be able to do that for them from the stockade of from prison at Ft. Leavenworth.

It would not take long before word got out about him and he would be unwelcome in the tight community of army operators. We all knew each other in Delta. No team members would trust him if this got out. His best chance was to leave the Unit if he wanted to stay in the army. But that was his problem.

"Fuck you Manson," I said and walked away making sure he stayed at the porch. He never moved until I drove off. But I knew he would be trouble. It was in his nature to be a dick.

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Sitting at the airport I looked at my phone and checked my texts.

One from Leila. "Have a safe trip. I love you."

Ignoring it for a moment, I checked my mother's text.

"Jake, my lovely boy. You may be a man now, married and a combat veteran. A man in every sense, but you will always be my boy. I am sorry for hurting you with mine and your father's news about our divorce and my past. I am sorry for hurting you with my attitude earlier. But forget about me. You can deal with me after. Just focus on your wife hun. Please focus on her and give her a chance to explain. Promise me you will not barge in when you see her and let her have it. Just listen to her."

I read the message over and over and called my mother.

"Hi Jake," she replied on the first ring.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" I asked wondering if she was busy with some guy.

"No hun," she replied. "Did you read my text?"

"Yes," I replied. "I promise I'll give her a chance to tell me her piece. But I need you to promise me something as well."

"What?" she asked.

"Don't call her and warn her that I know who hit on her."

"Jake, the list of who hit on her is probably long. But only that asshole Manson got close. He knew her from before and knew what buttons to push. And still she didn't...she told me she didn't. But I understand how you must feel, and I am on your side in the end Jake. I will choose you over her any day. You know that don't you?"

I paused to exhale and get myself under control. It was part of my battle discipline when I was in the shit.

"I do Mom," I replied. "But I am not all for all you did. I still think you crossed many lines you shouldn't have in your marriage. I wish I had known."

"Jake," she said in a loving voice. "Worry about your family right now. I and your father are not going anywhere. You can talk to us and bitch us out about our mistakes after you and Leila sort things out. I love you so much."

"Love you too mom," I replied. "You gave me a lot to think about."

"One more thing Jake," she said. "Think of your little ones. They need you both. I kept our family together all those years until you two were grown Jake. I wasn't happy, but still stayed for you and your sister. Find a way for you two to make it work. If you need me. I will drop what I am doing and come there and help. Just tell me."

"Thanks mom," I said glad for her offer. "I'll handle it. But thanks for the advice."

"Jake," she said hesitating.

"What mom?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry for hurting you today."

"Like you said mom, I'm a grown man. Your and dad's relationship is yours. I have to tend to mine," I said with trepidation and anxiety.

"Jake, you may not think so," she replied, "but I am hurting for you in ways I can't relate to you. I won't rest until you talk to Leila and you call me after. Please believe me."

I listened realizing this was the mother I have known all the years I was growing up. The one that cared about us and raised us when pop was out of town. I just had to accept that the woman I talked to at Red Lobster and this one on the phone were the same and still love me. No matter what, she would be my mother even after she was gone from this earth or if I went to our Maker first.

"I believe you mom," I replied. "And I love you too. And mom..."

"Yeah?"

"Don't make me call you a slut again," I said.

She laughed.

"Oh come on," she laughed. "That was funny, admit it."

"Not at the moment it wasn't," I replied. "But right now..."

We both laughed together on the line.

"I love you mom," I said.

"Love you too son," she replied.

"Slut!" I said and hung up on her with a grin on my face. I had to get the last word in on her.

I never answered Leila's text before I boarded the plane.

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I was numb as I boarded my flight to Ohio ten minutes later. My thoughts jumbled and unfocused. I would think of my father, mother, my wife and what about my sister. With all this stuff tossed at me in one day, I had not bothered to ask mom about my sister. Did Nancy know?

I had this urge to text her and talk. She and I had not been close as kids and not for the first few years of me in the army either. But ever since I got married to Leila, my kid sister was more approachable. We didn't talk often, but she would occasionally email me and text. My deployments left big gaps in our contact time, but we seemed to make up for it when I returned. Now I wanted to talk to her but was not sure if I should yet. It was a good thing I had no net access or cell reception on the plane.

I sat back to take stock of things. There was nothing to be done about mom and dad. They were adults and had made their own decisions. It still hurt to know that my parents had split after so many years of marriage, but at this moment my own marriage should be my concern I decided.

And the biggest question was what had really happened when Todd fucken Manson had visited my wife and put his hands on her. Why had she let him in? Yes we both knew him and his wife, but still. I was not around. She had known him before me since she transferred to my team from his. Is this how he managed to gain her trust? Had they been together after she and I had met? All these questions and more racked my brain as all sorts of emotions overwhelmed me. Fear, jealousy, anger... I had to stop!

My mind went to my training about self-control in strenuous situations. Deep breath, focus, count to five, repeat. After a few deep breaths, I felt my anxiety recede. Not totally, but enough for me to calm down.

How had I missed the signs about mom? I had seen that man in our home and yet my mind did not want to accept what my instincts told me. OK, so I had been a teenager then and ignorant to the ways of sex, relationships and infidelity. Still, I remember...and it was not just that day. Funny how things adults do when we are young don't make sense to us then, but they do when we are older.

Mom had been home another day I came home, and she was on the phone with someone. She had said something about being tired and "worn out after that morning." She went to the gym Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, but that day had been Tuesday. I had asked her later what made her tired and her face had gone cold.

"I went for a run," she said after a minute or so. It sounded plausible so I let it go. But that slight hesitation and the brief look of concern on her face came back to me now vividly. And there were other incidents where things just didn't seem right. Like her leaving to go out in one outfit and coming back in another. Or waking up at night to find her chatting on the phone and going quiet when I came in the kitchen.

I wondered if my father had ever noticed those little things or if like the rest of us thought everything was fine. Now I knew it wasn't and had not been. In those days dad traveled more than recently. His career was in its early stages and he had to prove himself to his bosses by traveling all around his territory. I asked myself if he had been cheating on my mother on those trips. All kind of thoughts went through my head. And the worse of all were how my wife and I were dealing with our marriage.

Here we were just shy of two years married and we had our first test. Mother was right. My wife was young, beautiful and had a high sex drive. She was no virgin when I met her. Because she and I fell all over each other I didn't bother thinking about her past. Eventually, during my first deployment I had a little time in between missions to do that thinking. No way a woman that sexually talented had a small sexual footprint.

We had known each other just five weeks before we got married and barely knew each other now two years. It was time we sorted somethings out we had both left untouched. They say in the military that no plan survives contact with the enemy. And in marriage, no relationship lasts without constant and honest communication. It was time Leila and I stepped up and did just that.

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Jake - special forces soldier returning home

Jenny Manson - Jake's girlfriend before Leila

Todd "Fucken" Manson - Jake's fellow Delta force member

Angie - Jake's mother

Leila - Jake's wife

Randy - Jake's father

Joanna - Jake, Angie and Randy's neighbor in Indiana

Bruce - Angie's man-friend

Charlie - Joanna's ex husband

Nancy - Jake's sister