Bird Watching Redux

"That's all bull shit and you know it. I am hurt that you think so little of me that you try to pull something like this. You and Clayton have been lovers for over three months. You have cheated on me and he has cheated on his wife. I am tired of listening to you make up little girl stories. Either face up to it like a grown-up or keep your damn mouth shut."

"You don't know what the hell you are talking about. Just because you make something up doesn't mean it is true. There is nothing between Clayton Mankey and myself except friendship. If you can prove otherwise go ahead."

I was on a spot here. I had pictures, damn good ones. If I showed the pictures I would have to admit that I was on Rainbow Mountain the day Clay died. I couldn't do that. I was trying to think on my feet but it was hard because I was sweating with anger. My fists were clenched and the blood vessels in my neck and forehead were popping.

"I have some very nice pictures, Donna. Would that be proof enough?"

"Pictures of what? Pictures taken where?"

"Pictures of the two of you having sex in a motel room," I said in desperation.

"Hah, that proves you were lying. We never had sex in a ..."

Donna froze, realizing what she had just said. Her denial was also an admission. In her determination to prove me wrong she slipped up. She never finished the sentence. Her eyes glared at me and her lower lip started to quiver in anger. She hated being beaten.

"You son of a bitch. I am not talking about this anymore and you are not getting a divorce from me. You can go to sleep in your new truck because you won't be getting in my bed for a long, long time, if ever. Get your own fucking supper and leave me alone."

"We are still going to the funeral together tomorrow, right?"

"Kiss my ass."

It was an unusual funeral because both Clayton and his wife, Emily, were not from the local area. I don't know why she decided to bury him here rather than in their hometown. The only thing I could think of was that she was upset by the circumstances surrounding his death and didn't want to explain it to their friends and family. Most of the people there were from the office where Donna and Clayton worked.

At the end of the ceremony, the people were walking by the widow, offering condolences. As we approached, Emily sent the two boys to stand with a friend nearby. Donna held out her hand and Emily looked her in the eyes.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here you fucking slut. You ruined my marriage, destroyed my family and you have the gall to come here to rub it in. If I ever see you again I will tear you to pieces. That is a promise."

Donna just looked at her with her mouth open. She didn't know what to say or do. She started to say something but changed her mind and just turned and walked back to the car. Several people nearby heard the whole thing.

I looked at Emily Mankey as she watched my wife walking away. There was hate in her eyes.

"I am sorry if she did anything to offend you. I am sure it wasn't intentional."

"Oh grow up. She cheated on you and you defend her. What kind of a wimp are you? Go comfort your slut wife, you are just irritating me and I don't need that now."

I gave her a small nod and walked back to the car. Donna said nothing on the drive home but when we got to the house she unloaded on me.

"You son of a bitch. Why did you insist that I go to that damn funeral just so I could be made a fool of?"

"Sorry, but there were a lot of people there from your work. Why would she choose you to attack?"

"Blow it out your ass, you smart-mouthed bastard."

She stormed into the house and I didn't hear a word from her the rest of the day.

I slept in the spare bedroom from then on. I didn't want to have sex with her anyhow so when she made the decision, I was relieved. About noon the next day, I drove over to Emily Mankey's house. I had no idea what I was going to say but felt obligated. She was in the garage with the boys sorting through some boxes.

"Hi. Sorry to bother you but I wanted to apologize for anything I might have done to upset you yesterday."

She just looked at me and kept working. Finally, she turned. "Look, I have a lot on my plate right now. I have to clean up the mess my husband left and then find some way to get on with my life. I just don't have time to listen to any whining right now."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Your not serious?"

"Yes. I have the time and wouldn't mind lending a hand."

"Ok. Grab a handful of those trash bags and follow me."

We went into the house and upstairs to the master bedroom.

"That is Clay's closet and this is his dresser. Take everything out of them and put it in the bags. When you are done you can take them to Goodwill. Can you handle that?"

"Sure. Can the boys help?"

"Josh and Terry. This is Mister Powers help him put Daddy's stuff in the bags so we can get rid of it. OK?"

The boys both shook my hand. Josh was about eight and Terry looked to be six. They were two great looking kids that I would have given anything to have.

It took less than an hour and the boys and I were hauling the bags of clothes and shoes down to the hummer. I ran the load downtown and then came back to the house. "Now what?"

"That's OK Mister Powers, you don't have to do anything else. You do not have to feel obligated just because of what your wife did."

"Do you know exactly what they did or is it all conjecture?"

"Little bit of both but I don't want to talk about it in front of the boys."

"Could we discuss it later?"

"Come over tomorrow. I have to clear out the basement and the garage. If you don't mind working while we talk? The boys have a play date with some school buddies."

"That sounds good, but I'll miss the guys not being here."

As I drove away I felt a little better about things. I was sorry for killing Emily's husband, but I think he deserved it. I think Emily felt that way too. I didn't have any idea what I was going to do about Donna. I don't know why she was resisting the divorce.

My wife was making chili when I got home. I figured I would try and get her to open up a little before we sat down to eat.

"Donna, in light of what has happened the last few days do you think it would be better if we considered a separation? "

"No, not really. "

"I think it is pretty apparent now, that you and Clayton were having an affair. I assume you were not happy with our arrangement. Do you want to try and explain it to me?"

"There is not much to say, Brian. After spending some time with Clay, both at work and at other times, I realized that your idea of our future together did not match up with what I was looking for. You envisioned me as a domestic goddess popping out babies right and left and I wanted something more. I was always hesitant to discuss it with you because I never wanted to say or do anything that would make you unhappy. Brian was having the same problem with Emily. She wanted what you wanted and I wanted what Brian wanted. We ended up consoling each other and sex came next. He wasn't better than you just different."

"Wouldn't a divorce seem appropriate now, in light of what you told me?"

"No way. I have no intention of giving up my home and all the comforts of marriage just because we disagreed. I intend to stay here. You can't throw me out because I haven't done anything to justify it. I don't think you will leave so we will just have to get used to staying in the same house, together and putting on the image of being a married couple. I am not ready to call it quits yet."

"For heaven's sake, Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Sit down and eat."

There was no conversation during supper. The meal was unusually quiet. I downed two longnecks because the chili seemed to be especially hot.

About two hours later I started to get stomach pains. I made several trips to the bathroom and finally started to throw up. I noticed there was some blood in the bowl.

"Donna, I am feeling pretty bad. Can you run me over to the emergency clinic?"

"Hell no. Desperate Housewives is just ready to come on. If you are having a bellyache, take a Tums."

"It's more than a bellyache, Donna. Come on. Please."

"Drive yourself. You are acting like a baby."

I grabbed my keys and went to the car. My neighbor was putting out his trash and he asked me what was wrong. I explained and he drove me to the hospital emergency room.

The next thing I remember was waking up and looking at the sun coming through a window. I turned to look to the other side, and there sat detective Greene reading a magazine.

"Good afternoon Mister Powers. I thought you were going to sleep all day."

"What the hell are you doing here? What happened and what time is it?"

"Hey, guy. I am the one who asks the questions. Take it easy and everything will come to you."

"Ok. Sorry if I got a little anxious."

"Understandable, under the circumstances. Brian, it seems like you got a hold of a little bad chili last night. Luckily your neighbor got you here in time. They had to pump you out and give you a lot of fancy medicine that I can't pronounce. I think you ended up with a high and a low enema, or something like that."

"What the hell was it?"

"They told me the fancy name, but basically, it was rat poison."

"That bitch. What did she say?"

"Well, she gave us the leftover chili and it tested okay. She claims she has no idea where the poison could have come from. She ate the same food you did and she was fine. We looked around the house and the garage and couldn't find anything."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing at present."

About that time the doctor came in with a nurse. He checked a bunch of stuff while the nurse took another blood sample. He said I could go home when I was ready and gave me a paper with some bland food listed on it. I borrowed Detective Greene's cell and called Emily to apologize for not showing up to help her.

Felix took his phone back. "Why does your wife want to kill you, Mister Powers?"

"I don't know. Why did she kill Clayton Mankey?"

"Do you know that for a fact? "

"No I don't, but she was on Rainbow Mountain and she was the last person to see him alive."

"Come on Brian, I'll give you a ride home"

Donna was all gushy when we got home and apologized over and over about not being more responsive to my problem. I went to the spare room and closed the door. I didn't eat any more meals at home after that.

The next day I told Marge I would be out on a sick day and asked her to try and find an apartment for me. Somehow she had found out what happened. I waited till after Donna left for work and then started to get some of my stuff together so I could move out quickly, if necessary. I was a little upset that the police were not able to do anything about the poisoning.

After a quick breakfast at the IHOP, I stopped by to see Emily. The boys were at school. Emily was more upset over what happened than Donna was. I promised her I would be back later after I took care of some personal business. Donna didn't want a divorce, but she did want me dead. That meant one of two things, revenge or money. I stopped to see my insurance man. I guess it was a stupid thing to do, but shortly after we were married I took out a million-dollar life insurance policy with Donna the beneficiary. The payments were high but the cash value was now over sixteen thousand dollars. I cashed it in. Then I canceled the collision and comprehensive coverage on Donna's Volvo.

I went by work and canceled the medical and dental coverage that I had on Donna thorough the company. The medical insurance would still be in effect for ninety days but the dental stopped at the end of the month. I change the beneficiary on my company insurance policies to my mother. Marge was glad to see me and offered any help she could.

The bank manager told me that Donna had already cleaned out the rest of the house fund, about twelve thousand. I explained the situation to him and he agreed to set everything up so that he could close out the credit cards and checking as soon as I notified him. I started up a new account and signed a bunch of papers for him.

I swung by the house. Donna was there, wearing her birding clothes. We were pleasant to each other but not gushy. She said she was going up to Rainbow Mountain to do a little bird watching and relax. It felt like I was being set up, but I decided to play along. Shortly after she left, I was on my way, riding the Rebel. Her car was parked on the upper lot along with a gray Ford ranger. I quickly went around the mountain to the lower lot. Her mountain bike was chained to a tree by the side of the lot. I parked my Honda on the other side hidden by some bushes. I hated the uphill hike but it only took a few minutes.

Donna was standing behind a rock outcropping talking to a guy who was carrying a small shotgun. It was the kind of gun that had a pistol grip instead of a stock. As I watched she gave him a photograph and a business-size envelope. He looked at the picture carefully and then opened the envelope and counted a large amount of money. They shook hands and Donna started to rapidly walk directly toward me. I quickly ducked behind a small ledge and waited silently till she passed. The man she was talking to hunkered down behind the rocks so he could watch the trail coming from the parking lot. He was waiting, and I was pretty certain what for. Donna had counted on me to follow her and assumed I would come from the lot where she parked the car. It was quicker going back down the hiking path than it was going up.

When I got to the bottom, I saw that her bike was gone. I took the Honda and went up to the top lot. The Ford was unlocked. There was a jogging outfit on the front seat. I took the registration from the glove box, a pack of matches from the center console, and the jogging suit pants. I twisted the jogging pants as tight as I could and dipped them into the Honda's gas tank. After doing both ends, I shoved the pants into the truck gas tank, lit the end, and got out of there as fast as I could. Halfway down the mountain, I heard the explosion. I hope she gave him enough money to cover that.

I probably broke a few traffic laws getting home, but I had to take some back roads so I wouldn't catch up to Donna. After parking the motorcycle behind the garage, I took out the lawn fertilizer spreader and started pushing it back and forth across the lawn. There was nothing in it, but she didn't know that. A few minutes later, my wife came down the street and saw me. There was a disappointed expression on her face. I didn't know what she was going to say to me, so I got her first.

"Hey, where the hell is the Volvo? You leave in the car and come back on the bike. What is going on?"

She stuttered and stammered a little without saying anything and then her cell phone rang. She turned away while she answered it. I couldn't make out the conversation, but it appeared that the person on the other end was a little excited about something.

"Brian, I left the Volvo up on the mountain and decided to get some exercise by riding the bike home. I know it sounds silly but could you give me a lift back up to get the car?"

"Darling, that doesn't make any sense at all. Come on, I'll run you up there."

She didn't say anything on the drive to get her car. She was playing with her fingers on her lap a lot. She sure seemed worried about something. As we got close to the mountain road we saw a bunch of fire trucks going to the top. We got about halfway up when a police officer stopped us.

"I'm sorry folks, but there has been an accident up on top of the mountain. A truck caught fire. We can't let anyone up there right now."

"My wife's car is parked up there. Can we walk up to get it?"

"Hold on a minute."

We sat without speaking, while he talked to someone on his phone.

"OK. You can walk up to the top and an officer will help to guide you past the fire trucks to bring it down."

Donna looked at me as she got out of the Hummer.

"You can go on home now. I'll be okay from here. Thanks for bringing me up."

I just nodded to her. After she was out of sight, I started to follow her. It was easy, because of all the commotion. When she reached the top, the guy she was with on the trail walked over to her waving his arms. Of course, I couldn't hear anything, but it was evident that she was trying her best to calm him down. They argued for at least ten minutes, and then he walked over to the fire chief and said something. As he and Donna got in the Volvo, I hurried back down to the Hummer. It would take a while for them to get turned around with all the fire trucks and hoses, but I still had to rush. As I pulled out, I saw the Volvo turning the corner.

I went home but left right away on the Honda. I went to see Emily. I had to apologize for being late and she insisted on knowing what had happened. She seemed interested, even though I soften the story up a bit. Josh and Terry were glad to see me and were more than eager to order pizza for supper. We spent a couple of hours getting things up from the basement for the yard sale. The boys worked hard and didn't complain at all. I wished they were mine. I had Emily drive me home about nine, and left the motorcycle at her place. Donna didn't get home until late. I didn't ask where she was.

Early the next morning, while Donna was taking a shower, I removed the SIM chip from her cell phone. After she left for work, I called the banker and told him to close out the accounts and the credit cards. I went to the cell phone office and terminated her service, after paying a two hundred dollar cancellation fee. At the end of the day the landline phone would be cut off as well as the DSL and cable TV. I notified the landlord that I was moving out and told him he could keep the deposits because of the short notice. I mentioned that my wife might be staying and that he should contact her about a new rental agreement. The water and electricity would be turned off at the end of the week.

It only took a few minutes to load my things in the Hummer and I was on my way to the apartment that Marge had found. Marge left a note at the new place, that Detective Greene wanted me to call him. I went down to the station and found his office.

"Well, well, well. Mister Powers, you are still alive."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Felix Greene laughed a little. He seemed to be enjoying my dilemma. "Do you know a man named Bobby Terrell?"

"I can honestly say I never met the man." I reached into my pocket and handed him the registration from the Ford.

He looked at the form and said "Very interesting" using a lousy Charlie Chan impression. We both laughed.

"Mister Terrell and your wife have been having a lot of telephone conversations lately. She called him six times, and he called her four in the last week. Your wife also removed twelve thousand dollars from a savings account three days ago. Bobby Terrell is an ex-con who makes a living by killing people. We sort of keep an eye on him, and we were surprised when we noticed this connection. Is there any particular reason why your wife wants you dead, Mister Powers?"

"There was until yesterday morning when I canceled a million-dollar life insurance policy."

"Doesn't she know you canceled the policy?"

"I don't think so."

"Bobby is good at what he does and I am impressed at the way you handled it. I assume he has already been paid but I don't know if he will still try and finish the contact, since he lost his truck. I just wanted to let you know that we have talked to him. I told him if anything at all happens to you in the near future I will immediately pick him up. He did not appreciate the attention. We also recommended that he take a vacation for a while. I am not sure that this will discourage your wife though."