Amor Prohibetur Ch. 17

Some of my stories start off as short stories, but they take on a life of their own and turn into full novels. In the Lovers From Beyond series, Vivian's Escapades was meant to be a short story, but it ended up being a full novel. Similarly, my first Heartbreakers short story turned into an entire trilogy. That's what happened here with Finding Paradise. Originally, I had a 25 to 30 page story in mind, but it expanded into its own title within the Amor Prohibetur series. I am presenting Part 1 of this novel in 4 installments. I thought it would end there, and this is a complete story in itself with a clear conclusion to it.

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Finding Paradise

Valerie Nunez was in a bad mood when she pulled into her driveway. Her whole day at the hotel had been nothing but one pile of steamy shit after another. During the drive home, she'd listened to more commercials than actual music, and then some asshole had cut her off and scared the crap out of her so much she'd swerved into the next lane. Of course, this set a different car in the other lane to honking its horn and flipping her off. Valerie figured things could not get any worse that day, until she saw her husband's car parked on the street, a full three hours before he usually got home.

Something was wrong, the slim Hispanic woman felt, as she exited her SUV and slammed the door shut. Unfortunately, the stupid hem of her maid uniform had gotten caught on the door, and by slamming it while her body was in motion, Valerie had very effectively wrenched the fabric apart. Like an idiot, she was stuck to the driver's door. If there was any luck in the world, her outfit wouldn't be torn too badly, she thought. As the woman opened up the car door, she winced. The fabric had gotten caught on a sharp corner. There was a nice little tear now, big enough for her to stick three or four fingers into, which meant she'd have to pay for a brand new fucking uniform.

"Please, God, let this day be over!" Valerie pleaded out loud. She looked up at the sky, which was looking more gray than blue nowadays, before she trudged into her house.

Valerie's husband of just over twenty-five years was sitting on the edge of the couch, stooped over with his head facing the floor. Both man and wife were in their mid-forties, but while Valerie hadn't gained much weight in all that time, her husband had added some twenty pounds around his formerly lean middle.

"Nick, what's wrong?" She asked, forgetting her mountain of troubles to go and sit by her man. "You look like somebody died."

Quietly, Nick shook his head. He should be getting his hair cut soon, she noticed, as she didn't like it when Nick's hair started looking bushy around the ears.

"Nick, please don't tell me that somebody died." She said. Her day had gone bad enough; she didn't think she could handle any more bullshit. "Nick?"

"It's not that." He said, lifting his head. He sighed before he looked at her. "I quit my job today."

"Please tell me you're joking." She replied. "I know you've been having trouble at your job, but I won't be able to pay next month's mortgage without you. We agreed, Nick! You and I agreed that you wouldn't leave your job until you found another one!"

Valerie expected for a big argument to start up between them. She was surprised when Nick simply stared off into their cozy living room. Her husband looked as if he was in a state of shock.

Suddenly, the woman began growing suspicious. "Nick, is there something you want to tell me?"

Here it comes, she thought. Her husband worked as a manager for a security guard company. Nick had probably fucked some secretary and ended up getting her pregnant, or maybe he fucked some other guard's wife, or maybe he fucked some client's wife. She was convinced that Nick had fucked somebody's wife! And the way her husband's mouth was moving with no words coming out of it, that was a sign of guilt! Here it comes, Valerie thought, as she saw her husband gulp and take a breath in. This was it; the end of their marriage was going to happen right here, right now...

"You know how my buddy George always plays the lottery?" Nick started.

"That's such a waste of time!" Valerie shook her head. "I can't believe that man gets all of you to pitch in like that. You might as well flush all that money down the toilet!"

"It's just ten dollars."

"Ten dollars a week, but how much money is that at the end of the year?"

"Anyway," Nick shrugged her off. "I guess George heard the winning numbers on the radio. He left his rounds and drove back to the office. I was there when he came in. He was jumping up and down while saying he'd hit the big one. Nobody put money into the pot this week, because we never win. George had the ticket in his wallet. He pulled it out and he asked a secretary to pull up the winning numbers on her computer. Guess what? The numbers matched. One of the other guys who always puts money into the pot said he meant to put some in this week, but George said that didn't count. We all agreed a long time ago; if you don't add to the pot you aren't entitled to the winnings. George got into a fistfight with that other guy in the office. I had to help break them up."

"I don't understand." Valerie wondered. "What does this have to do with you quitting your job?"

"I know the other guys are going to start harassing me the same way."

"Because you broke up the fight?"

Finally, Nick had built up enough courage to face his wife. "Honey, I know you told me not to, but I gave George my ten dollars this week."

"So?"

Nick let out a soft chuckle, before he turned away and stared across the room again. "Val, don't you get it? I was the only other guy that pitched in with George this week. He won the fucking lottery. That's the big fucking Lotto for the entire state of California. We're going to split the winnings."

Valerie's mind had been going off in an entirely different direction. Only now was she starting to grasp what her husband was saying. "Well, if you did win some money, I hope it's enough to help me pay the mortgage next month."

"The jackpot this week is at sixteen million dollars." Nick disclosed. "I don't know how much will be left after taxes, but right now it looks like I might be getting half of that money."

Valerie was not accustomed to thinking in terms of eight million of anything, least of all dollars. She understood why her husband had been sitting there in shock, as she was feeling the same exact way now.

Money changes people. That's what Nick told Valerie. You'll see, he said, when your family finds out, they'll change, too. The couple had a big fight over that. On Nick's side, he didn't get along with any of his relatives except for one brother. His family had gone one way while he'd gone the other, and there was very little contact between them.

Valerie scoffed at her husband's prediction, as she went on to boast of their good luck to her side of the family. Nick didn't know what he was talking about. Nobody was going to change. She would roll her eyes as she considered the absurdity of it. Her mother and her sisters laughed right along with her. The days rolled along, with Nick sitting at home deciding what he would do about his winnings, while Valerie kept going to her job at the hotel.

Unexpectedly, Valerie's sisters started showing up at her house more and more frequently, and they always brought their kids along. Little Juanito needs this, they'd say, and little Carmelita needs that. It would be nice if we could afford to fix this washer, to buy that new car, or to hire a man to clean up the yard for us. One sister even intimated that with so much money, perhaps Valerie might see it in the goodness of her heart to pay off her mortgage. Valerie was appalled. Every one of her three sisters showed up at her house asking for a handout, even the sister she barely spoke to!

"Nick doesn't even have the money yet." She explained. "The lottery people are going to put him on TV with the coworker that won with him. They're going to give them the first official check on the TV show."

The date for the TV show came, with Nick and his friend George having to take a train from San Diego to Sacramento to receive their first combined check. That night, every relative Valerie ever had went to her house. Her father and mother came over, her sisters brought their husbands and kids. Even a few uncles and aunts Valerie hardly ever saw decided to make an appearance, with their grown children and grandchildren in tow! Valerie had two adult children. Valentina, twenty-three years old and going to college in Nevada, couldn't make it. Alex, short for Alejandro, was twenty-one and attending a local university. The moment Alex walked in and finished greeting his many relatives, Valerie told him to stay close so he could help buffer away the rest of the family and their incessant requests for gifts and money.

Valerie actually became disgusted with her family, as they were openly talking about how they planned to spend Nick's money. Her mother said Nick should pay off everyone's mortgage, a request that prompted all three of her sisters to start bobbing their heads. They were talking about her husband as if he wasn't a living person anymore, but a bank vault. Two of Valerie's sisters went through a wish list of what they expected Nick to pay for. One sister kept following Valerie all over the house, intentionally getting between her and her son, all the while dropping hints about money.

"We haven't decided what we're going to do with the winnings yet." Valerie said, hoping to put the matter at rest.

"Well, you need to decide! If you don't put that man in his place, he'll spend all his money on beer and prostitutes!"

When they returned to the crowded living room, that same sister told everyone about how Nick was a big drinker and womanizer, and how he'd waste his new fortune if they didn't do something about it. The entire family started quizzing Valerie.

"Does Nick drink a lot?" They asked.

"No." Valerie denied. "He only drinks when we go out. Every once in a while he'll buy a pack of beer if there's a good football game on."

"Well, there you have it." Her family said, bobbing their heads like a bunch of chickens. "That man is a drunk! Do you think Nick is cheating on you?"

"Of course not!" Valerie protested. "He comes home at the same time every day, at least until he stopped working a couple of weeks ago."

"Did he have a lot of women at his job?" They asked.

"There were a couple of secretaries," Valerie admitted. "They were very pretty and they always called Nick whenever there was a problem at work."

"Well, there you have it." The head-bobbers replied. "That man is a cheater! What do you think he's up to when you're working at the hotel? He quit his job so he could hang around with loose women all day!"

Valerie didn't know what to say to that accusation. She didn't know if Nick stayed at home all day like he said. Maybe he was cheating on Valerie with some woman from his old job. Because she couldn't be sure, she stayed quiet as her family made plans to separate Nick from a fortune he hadn't even gotten yet.

When the lottery show came on, everybody finally stopped talking. The hosts gave their usual introductions and showed off their plastic machine with all the numbered, bouncing balls in it. They announced that night's winning numbers and pitched their usual hype. Towards the end of the half-hour program, they announced Nick and George. Both men stepped out from behind the stage curtains. Their smiles were forced smiles as they raised their hands and waved at the audience. Because Valerie had been married to Nick for a good quarter century, she saw how excited and nervous he was.

The show hosts went to either side of the men, putting their hands on the winners' shoulders and getting a good group shot for the TV. One host read off his teleprompter, informing the audience of the lottery pool the security guards had going, and how only Nick and George had put money into the pot that fateful week. There was more to the story, Valerie knew. Her husband's coworkers were planning on suing because they'd been excluded from the winnings.

"You have to tell him to get the lump sum." One of her sisters' husbands said.

Valerie was about to reply what business that man had with the way Nick got his money, when a show host came out to present the two security guards with a giant check. The amount on the check was for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

"Nick is getting all that money?" Valerie's mother asked.

"No, he has to split that with George." Valerie corrected. "And they haven't taken the taxes out yet. I don't know how much it will be after taxes."

George said a few words into the host's microphone, before the host asked Nick to speak next.

Nick was trembling. His voice croaked and his eyes watered. He wiped away at his tears, because he didn't like for anyone to see him crying like that. "I love my wife and my kids. I can finally get them the things I've always want to give them. I can finally take care of them the way I've always wanted to."

Nick shuddered and broke down sobbing. George was so moved he put his arm around the man's back, while the show hosts beamed their fake smiles for the camera.

"That man's a cheater." Valerie's sister Renata said. "I can see it in his eyes, clear as day."

Nick's brother was Mathias, or Matt for short. Matt worked as a stockbroker at some ritzy firm in San Diego's Golden Triangle area, so he was good with numbers. It was no surprise when Nick called his brother to help him figure out how to manage his winnings. Valerie was already used to seeing him around, as Matt would sometimes come by to catch a game with Nick. Matt was one of those guys who'd gone through a bad divorce, and who refused to get attached with any women after that.

Valerie was there when the two men were talking finances. "I think we should get a lump sum."

Both brothers were sitting in the living room when she'd said that. Matt had several documents out in front of them and a calculator in his hand. They'd been crunching numbers for the last ten minutes.

"Why should we get a lump sum?" Nick asked.

"I just think it's better that way." Valerie shrugged. "We'll have the money all at once that way."

"The only reason you're saying that is because your family talked you into it." Nick replied. "We're not getting a lump sum. Matt, how are we doing this?"

"We're getting thirty graduated payments over twenty-nine years." His brother replied.

"Well, how much are the payments?" Valerie asked.

"They're graduated payments." Matt explained. "The amount isn't fixed. The payment will be higher the more the years go by."

Valerie queried her husband's brother. "How much is Nick getting from that first check he got on TV?"

Matt looked over his paperwork. "I'll tell you in a second. The amount of the jackpot was sixteen million. Taxes are taking out about a fourth of that, so we'll have twelve million left. Since Nick is splitting it evenly with George, that means his share will be around six million, give or take. Are you both with me so far? Nick is getting six million in payments stretching out for the next twenty-nine years."

Both husband and wife nodded.

"Okay, after taxes, that initial payout is one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. If you split that in half, that's ninety thousand."

"That's not enough for us to pay our mortgage." Valerie frowned.

"What do you mean?" Nick wondered.

"Well, our mortgage is almost two thousand dollars a month! That's twenty-four thousand a year! Nineteen thousand isn't going to cover that!"

"Honey, we're not talking about nineteen thousand." Nick explained. "Matt said ninety, as in Nine-Zero."

Matt chuckled. "You were off by about seventy thousand dollars, Val."

"Oh." The woman said.

A couple of days later, Valerie pulled into her driveway. Work didn't seem so bad anymore, now that she knew she could quit any day wanted to. When she walked into the house, she observed Nick on the living room couch, messaging someone on his phone. She also noticed how he quickly hid the phone away.

"If you want me to cook tonight, I will." Her husband offered.

Valerie smirked. "All you know how to make is Mexican soup and tacos."

"But those are the best tacos you've ever tasted, aren't they?"

"You can make your tacos tomorrow." She decided. "I'll cook tonight. I want to make some chicken."

As Valerie started getting things ready in the kitchen, she kept hearing Nick's phone going off. Every time he answered it, he went into the living room to get away from her. When this happened for the fourth time, she decided to confront her husband.

"Who are you talking to?" She demanded, the moment Nick returned.

"I'm not talking, I'm texting."

Irritated, she asked, "Okay, who are you texting?"

"A woman."

"It's one of those little bitches from work, isn't it?" Valerie snapped. "Let me see your phone! I want to see what you've been telling her!"

"Will you give me a minute to explain?"

"No!" Valerie shouted back, leaving the kitchen and chasing her husband into the living room. "Give me your phone!"

She went to push her husband and to pull his phone away. Nick liked when she got aggressive with him, so he kept teasing her by holding the phone just out of her reach. If he kept at it, he was going to get a knee to the balls!

"Are you going to let me explain or not?" He chuckled at her.

"What? What excuse are you going to give me? You don't think I'm pretty anymore?"

Valerie gave her husband a harsh pinch on his love handle, before he dropped his phone and grasped her wrists. They wrestled for a minute, until Nick pushed her down on the carpet and got on top of her.

"Don't you think you're getting anything from me!" Valerie growled. "Not when you've got some little bitch on the side!" He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head as far as she could. "You're not getting anything from me!"

Nick did end up kissing her, on the cheek and neck.

"My sisters were right about you." Valerie said. "They said you quit your job so can go fucking around with every woman you feel like!"

"I'll show you my phone later, I promise." Nick told her. "But first you have to let me explain."

"What is there to explain? You don't love me anymore!"

Despite her refusal, Nick started talking anyway. "This woman has been texting me for the last three days. I've been texting her back. I know this will make you mad, but I've been playing along, just to see how far she'll go. This woman said she's down for anything at any time. She said she will meet me anywhere. Everything she wrote down is on my phone. I've been saving the conversations on the app I'm using."

"So help me God, I will scratch that bitch's eyes out!" Valerie screamed.

"Let's go meet her." Nick replied. "This woman doesn't believe me when I said I won't fool around with her. I'm not going to let you fight her out on the street, but I do want you to tell her not to call me anymore. Let me text her so she'll know where to meet me."

Valerie was fuming as Nick drove them to the spot. He pulled into a three-level parking garage behind a long row of shops and restaurants. Next to the garage was a public park with walkways and streetlamps, with joggers and kids on bikes passing through often. Deliberately, Nick parked in a spot where they could get out and have a good view of the park.

"You still haven't shown me your phone." Valerie reminded her husband.

"Not yet." Nick replied, checking the time. "She should be here in about ten minutes."

"I'm going to hurt her, Nick. I really am."

They waited. Nick was patient and kept his phone away from his wife, while Valerie imagined slapping the little home-wrecker and ripping her hair off.