Do Two Wrong’s Make It Alright?

Do Two Wrong's Make It Alright?

It's 1pm, about an hour before I finish work on a Wednesday, as I head out to the front of the house to collect another load of bricks. Just as I begin to load the bricks, I watch as a pale green Toyota Camry drives past, it looks exactly like my brother's car. Seeing the driver, I realize that it is indeed my brother's car, being driven by his wife, Veronica. I almost waved, but it's clear she hasn't noticed me over on the sidewalk at the house we're building.

I'm Jack Button, a thirty-year-old bricklayer. Well, that's the job I've been doing for the last five months anyway. Before that I worked as a trade's assistant, a painter, an Uber driver, and about ten other different jobs since I left high school twelve years ago now. I never seem to have much money, but I always get by.

I live in Boise, Idaho along with my family. There's my younger brother Billy, twenty-eight, his wife Veronica twenty-seven, and their two young kids, Jason and Melissa at seven and five years old respectively. Billy is a plumber and works for my father's small plumbing business, along with my father John and mother Mary.

I do have a younger sister as well named Brittany at twenty-five, but she's turned out to be the brains in our family, leaving Boise to go to college in California where she now works near San Francisco as an IT Developer. I'm the black sheep of the family though, drifting from job to job, and not getting along too well with my father since I was a teenager.

He's never held back in letting me know how disappointed he is in me, that I didn't get a trade and for refusing to follow him into the family business like my little brother has. I don't really care, I'm happy for my brother to take over once my dad retires, although at only fifty-five, he's still got some more good years of work left in him yet.

My mom tries her best to involve me with my dad, but she's been fighting a losing battle since I was fifteen. We're both as stubborn as each other. Billy on the other hand gets along with everybody, loves his family, loves his job, although I wouldn't call him the sharpest tool in the shed and he's also quick to temper. He's a good plumber but doesn't have a head for business, which is why my dad is so pissed with me. He knows I could run the business, but I just don't care to.

As I wrapped up my shift at the house we're building, I got on my motorbike to head home, or the bar, haven't made my mind up yet. As I rode around the corner, I spotted my brother's car parked in the driveway of a nice house. It must be a friend of Veronica's, the car parked beside it in the driveway looks like a brand-new red Chevrolet which had a big sign on the door for Boise Motors, one of the car yards in town.

One of the perks of working for a builder is that we start early and finish early. It's only 2pm as I head to a bar downtown. Upon leaving the bar after 5pm, I happened to ride past the Boise Motors car yard and saw the same red Chevrolet I'd seen earlier. What surprised me was that an old school and workmate Micky Johnstone was the guy getting into the car. I pulled over, turned around and began to follow him home. Sure enough, he pulled into the same house where I'd seen my sister-in-law parked earlier in the afternoon.

As far as I know, Micky is single like myself. We kind of got along in school, he was always popular and knew how to manipulate people. I guess that's what makes him a good car salesman now. One of the jobs I used to do was as a parts courier, delivering spare parts to the different car yards around Boise, and that's when I caught up with Micky again. We even used to go out together a few times for beers and women. Although I usually ended up with the beers, and Micky with the women.

Yeah, he was a player alright. A real lady's man. So, what the fuck is Veronica doing at his house after lunch on a Wednesday when Billy's at work and the kids are in school? The obvious crossed my mind, but I refused to believe it. Billy and Veronica seem to me to be happy and in love with a young family. They started dating when Veronika was in her senior year at high school and were later married before either of them had turned twenty. Billy was almost twenty-one when his son was born, although I did get him drunk anyway, what else are older brothers for?

I figured there had to be an explanation for why Veronica would be visiting Micky's house, maybe he now has a girlfriend I don't know about. I put it out of my mind and headed home. I wasn't going to say anything to my brother, I don't really know if there's anything to say.

The weekend went by, I almost got lucky on Saturday night at the bar, but the woman I fancied had overbearing ugly friends that dragged her away from me before I could seal the deal. Fucking ugly bitches.

During the week I was back on the job, but when I left the site on Wednesday, I again spotted my brother's car parked at Micky's place. Micky's red Chevrolet was also parked beside it, as I started to get a sinking feeling in my gut. Does Micky have a girlfriend that Veronica is visiting, or is Veronica Micky's girlfriend? And why would Micky be there if Veronica was visiting his girlfriend? I don't like where this is going.

I get along well with my younger brother Billy, and with his wife Veronica. I used to look out for Billy a lot when we were younger, he always tried to follow me into the crap I was getting into. That's another reason my dad wasn't happy with me. To him, Billy was a good kid that was being led astray by his older, more irresponsible brother. Maybe some of that was true, but Billy was the one wanting to follow me into mischief. I always saw it as my role to make sure he never got into the worst of it, that I protected him a little from what could happen.

Not that Billy couldn't stand up for himself or fight, he could do both of those things. Just that he was too trusting and a little too easy to manipulate on the account of him being not too bright. Some of the guys I knew had no problem trying to take advantage of that and get Billy to do shit he shouldn't be. That's where I always stepped in, telling them to find someone else to do their dirty work.

Veronica and Billy seem like a great match too, with her being the attractive brains of their relationship while Billy is the brawn, the loyal supportive bread winner and father. Veronica also works part-time as an Executive Assistant for a business downtown, and to me she always seemed like a great mom that loves her family. They both have a big mortgage for a nice four-bedroom house and plan on having another kid to go with the two they've already got. So, to think that Veronica could be cheating on Billy with Micky fucking Johnstone of all people is a little hard to swallow.

That weekend I happened to see Micky out at a bar downtown with a couple of other guys from the car yard. When they spotted me, they called me over to join them for a beer or two. While I got along with Micky's workmates a little better than with Micky himself, it was still a good catch-up with the guys I used to work with. What I did find out during the night was that Micky was indeed still single and lives alone. So, what the fuck is Veronica doing there? And what the hell do I tell my brother?

I thought about it during the week, about talking to my brother Billy about what I've discovered. The truth is I don't really know if Veronica's cheating on him with Micky, it just looks that way. Is that really enough to destroy my brother's marriage and family? I know Billy, there's no way in hell he'd put up with Veronica cheating on him. It'd be the end of their marriage for sure.

Then what about the kids? What about their mortgage? She would probably end up staying in the house with full custody of the kids while Billy has to move out, pay rent and then child support with house payments on top as well. To top it off, Billy is already part owner of my parent's plumbing business, would they be forced to sell that or pay out Veronica in a messy divorce too?

This is not good. I need to be sure before I do or say anything.

On Wednesday at 2pm after work I rode past Micky's house once more, yet again I saw my sister-in-law's car parked in his driveway along with Micky's car. This time I went down to the dealership, to see if Micky was still at work. I made up some bullshit reason for dropping by the parts department, talking to the guys I drank with on the weekend. Micky wasn't there, I found out. He goes home for a long lunch every Wednesday. He gets back to the office by 3pm.

Fuck! It looks like my worst fears are true. Veronica is fucking Micky every Wednesday after lunch. Why the fuck would she do this? Why risk everything she's got with my brother and their family? Just for an idiot like Micky Johnstone. It makes no sense to me. But for now, I'm not going to say anything to Billy. I need to think about this, if it's true it'll destroy him.

On Friday, Billy called me to ask if I was interested in going out to a comedy show downtown tonight. I asked him if Veronica was going, maybe I could talk with her at some point during the night. No, he told me she's heading out for 'girl's night' with some of her co-workers and they've got mom and dad playing babysitters for the night. I declined the invite but did take notice of where Billy said Veronica was going, maybe I'll go there for a few drinks and have a quite chat with her.

I got to the large bar downtown a little later than I planned to, I always take too long to get my shit together. I wandered around a bit looking for Veronica, expecting to see her with a group of friends or up on the dance floor. But I saw neither, maybe they left already to go to another bar. I ordered a beer and sat down at a table near the bar contemplating what to do when I saw Veronica leaving a table near the back to go to the ladies' toilets.

I couldn't see who she was sitting with, their table was in a darker part of the bar and was a good distance from where I was sitting. I got up and moved, walking down the opposite side of the bar to where her table is. The dance floor was in between where I was now sitting drinking my beer as I watched Veronica return to the table.

I could see that it's a guy she's sitting with, and it looks from here to be Micky Johnstone. So, she tells her husband she's having a girl's night out just to meet up with the guy she's fucking. I've never felt so disappointed in someone, I was hoping I was wrong all along.

To make it worse, I watched as she leaned over and began kissing him. Fuck you, Veronica! I wanted to walk over and confront them both right now, to punch Micky in the face and to demand that Veronica goes home to her children. But it's not my place. I'm not her husband, this is not my fight.

I can't believe she'd do this so publicly as well, who knows who else might be here, that could see her clearly stepping out on her husband. If those type of rumors started circling, it would kill my brother to be humiliated that way.

Before I could figure out what I should do or possibly even say to her, they both got up and walked out of the bar. I gave them thirty seconds or so before I followed them out the door. I couldn't see them anywhere, so I began walking towards another bar that was not far down the road. As I began walking along the sidewalk, I saw Micky's car drive past with Veronica in the passenger seat. They're probably heading back to his place, God dammit!

I know Billy plays golf every Saturday morning with his friends, when it isn't winter anyway. Maybe I'll give Veronica a visit tomorrow morning while Billy's out, talk some sense into her before she destroys everything.

As I arrived at my brother's house, his old neighbor was out front gardening and gave me a scowl. He never did like how loud my motorcycle is but fuck him. I walked up and knocked on the door.

Young Jason answered the door, I could hear Veronica calling out from the kitchen.

"Who is it sweety?" She called out.

"It's Uncle Jack, mom." Jason replied.

I greeted Jason, before making my way through to the kitchen where Veronica and her daughter Melissa were making something with dough.

"Oh, Hi Jack. Billy's at golf this morning, he left about an hour ago." Veronica stated when she saw me.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry, I forgot." I lied to Veronica.

As Veronica finished placing the shaped dough on a baking tray, she placed it into the oven before asking Melissa to go wash her hands. Jason had already gone back to playing a video game in the lounge room which gave me a moment alone with Veronica.

"So, you don't usually stop over on Saturday's. What's up?" Veronica asked as she turned to face me.

"Well, I was hoping to have a quiet chat with you, away from the kids. If you don't mind." I replied.

Veronica looked at me a little strangely, before nodding and telling Jason to share the game with Melissa while mommy and Uncle Jack go out into the back yard. They've got an outdoor table and chairs, so we sat down to talk.

"So, is this about Billy? Has he done something?" Veronica asked.

"No, Billy's fine. I actually wanted to talk about you, and something you've done." I replied while watching her reaction.

"Something I've done? What an earth are you talking about, Jack?" Veronica answered.

"Micky Johnstone, that's what." I replied, again watching to see how she'd react.

"Who's Micky Johnstone? I don't anyone with that name." Veronica replied after a brief moment of silence.

"I know, Veronica. People talk. I'm here to ask you to stop this shit. To think about Billy and your family. Micky isn't worth it, not even close." I responded.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about. Are you accusing me of cheating on my husband?" Veronica replied defiantly.

"I'm here asking you to stop, to not let this go any further. Right now, Billy doesn't have to know. You can save your marriage and not fuck everything up. It's your choice." I replied back to her.

Veronica shook her head and looked away from me before replying once more.

"I can't believe you'd come over to my house and accuse me of this. You're fucking unbelievable. No wonder your parents think you're such a loser. I can't believe all the crap I put up with that you dragged Billy into all those years, and now you're here saying this shit to me. I want you to leave, right now." Veronica replied angrily.

I got up from the table but turned to her as I walked away.

"I know you're pissed that someone has found you out, but please stop, okay? Don't keep doing the wrong thing." I replied as I then made my way out to the front of the house and left.

I can't believe she'd flatly deny it, I figured it'd be hard for her to admit it, but to keep denying it like that. Whatever, as long as she stops it now and that she's aware that I know about them. If she's smart, she'll end it. And that's all I really want.

I never mentioned to Veronica that I saw her out with him, or her car parked at Micky's house; I kept those up my sleeve. I'm going to see if next Wednesday she's there again or not.

And she was. Really, Veronica?

Your husband's brother has called you out, that he knows about your affair and your answer is to keep doing it anyway. Okay, I need to talk with her again, but this time I will lay down exactly what's going to happen if this continues.

Once again, the neighbor scowled at the noise from my motorcycle as I pulled into Billy's driveway the following Saturday morning. Whatever old dude. Veronica wasn't pleased to see me this time, she had a look of complete annoyance on her face as she ushered me out the back and away from the two kids.

"What the fuck do you want this time, Jack? Are you going to accuse me again, or are you here to apologize?" Veronica asked angrily yet quietly so that her kids wouldn't hear.

"I told you last week that I knew what you've been up to, but you've not ended it. This is your last chance, I mean it. You keep seeing Micky, I'll tell Billy what you've been up to. I don't want to, I'm giving you a final chance to save your marriage and avoid all the shit coming your way. It's your choice." I replied quietly but firmly.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Giving me ultimatums. You don't get to tell me what I can or can't do. If you say anything to Billy about this, I'll make you regret it asshole." Veronica responded defiantly.

"Veronica, I'm not fucking around. If you keep seeing Micky, Billy will know about it. I promise you. Just end this now, and it all goes away. I'll never mention it again, I give you my word." I replied.

"There's nothing to end you idiot. Besides, your word isn't worth shit. Now I want you to leave, and this time I'm going to make it really fucking clear for you. You're never to come here to my home again. You got that? Not for Christmas, not for birthdays, never. I don't want anything to do with you, and neither will your brother. This is all on you, you piece of shit." Veronica replied as she showed me the door.

Well, that could have gone better, but so be it. If she sees him again, her marriage is done. I've probably done the wrong thing by not going straight to my brother in the first place. I honestly thought that Veronica would not want to risk her marriage over an asshole like Micky Johnstone, but that was my mistake. Now I'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

It was Tuesday night as I settled in to watch a show when I heard a loud banging on my apartment door. Who the fuck is here at this time and banging my door like an asshole?

As I open the door ready to give whoever it is a piece of my mind, I see my brother Billy standing in front of me. Before I can say anything, he lunges at me with a right cross, landing on the side of my face and sending me backwards inside the apartment.

He then followed up with a punch to my ribs as I was already recoiling. He came at me again throwing another punch but this time I was able to cover up and protect myself before starting to throw back my own punches. If he wants a fight, he's got one.

Both of us threw several more punches, some landing, some not. I could feel blood beginning to run down the side of my face and from my lip, Billy too was bleeding from cuts to his face. Yet we continued to fight inside my apartment. Billy lunged forward to tackle me, knocking me back against my crappy dining table which collapsed from both our weight.

He tried to grab me in a choke-hold, but I was able to avoid it while landing an elbow to his jaw which stunned him. I quickly mounted him from behind and applied my own choke-hold around his neck, I could feel him struggling to breathe yet he continued to try and break free and fight on.

Eventually I could feel the fight leave him as he started to blackout, as he went limp, I released him, pushing him to the ground as I sat back up on the floor. What the fuck was all this about? We haven't fought like this in years, and for him to come to my place and just straight out attack me, it must be Veronica's doing.

What the fuck has she told him?

Billy started to stir but looked groggy as he sat himself up.

"What the fuck was that for? My own brother attacking me in my own home." I asked him incredulously.

"I know what you've been doing. I can't believe my own brother would stoop that low." Billy responded while taking deep breaths.

"Just wait until I catch my breath, I'm gonna give you another beating." Billy added.

"You're the one that ended up unconscious, dickhead. If there's another beating coming, it'll be me giving it to you once again. Now, what the fuck is this about? It's Veronica, isn't it?" I replied.

"I know you've been coming over trying to get into my wife's pants. Of all people, my own fucking brother." Billy responded.