Dueling Duets Pt. 04

The Dueling Duets Series
Dueling Duets (One): Don's Erudition
Dueling Duets (Two): Lisa's Hobby
Dueling Duets (Three): Dave's Education
Dueling Duets (Four): Judy's Revenge

This is the fourth part of the Dueling Duets Series, telling the same story from four different perspectives. Although you should be able to enjoy this story if you read it first, I recommend that you read the series in the order above.

Judy's Revenge
This story is copyright ©1999 by Adam Gunn. All rights reserved.

"Revenge is a dish best eaten cold."
- Anonymous

I was a good girl. I knew because Father Thomas told me, "Judy, I'm glad that you're not like some of the other girls. You're so respectful. When you grow up, I'm sure you'll be a fine wife and mother." He told me this at the Catholic Camp at Smith's Ford when my CDC class went there in fifth grade. I remember that he told me this on the banks of the stream near a pretty little bridge. You remember things like that. Somehow, I felt that I didn't even let him down while I was lying naked with Don, waiting for my husband to come home with his lover.

Throughout parochial school, I always did exactly what the nuns told me to do. My mother and father told me how proud they were of me. When Father Thomas taught us religion, I listened as if my life depended on it. There was never any doubt that I would go to Catholic High School, even though my father suggested that maybe I should go to a public school and find out what life was like.

Even in a Catholic environment, there were problems with undisciplined children. I remember some of the girls snickering when the nuns told us in Health class how we should have marital relations. When one of the girls dropped out during Christmas break, I heard that she was pregnant, and I thought that served her right for not listening in the class.

Oh, I dated a few boys in high school. I even let John Saunders kiss me after the prom. But I knew I had to be careful so that my husband would respect me when we got married. I had good looks, a nice face, my body developed nicely and my breasts never got as large as some of the girls did. I was glad, those things just made guys fall over themselves. I let my brunette hair grow long, below my shoulders. In the thirty years since then, I haven't changed my looks very much.

Unfortunately, even though I was good, I wasn't particularly bright, except in English where I got straight A's, except for two B's. When it came time for me to choose a college, the baby-boomer and Vietnam situations meant real competition for the good schools. The only acceptance I got was from the State University.

In the second session of my freshman English class, there must have been a hundred kids in the class. Two boys were talking and carrying on, and the professor was getting irritated at them. He gazed at them and asked if they knew what a sonnet is. The boy that was sitting next to them and was being very respectful thought he was being called on, and gave the correct answer. The boy was tall and handsome, and I knew right then that this man would be my husband some day.

The next session, he noticed me and introduced himself. His name was David. I let him invite me to the Freshman mixer that night, and we went steady almost immediately. Now understand what I mean when I say 'go steady.' We always dated, and I let him kiss me on occasion, but that's all. Oh, once in awhile he'd try to get fresh with me, but I carefully let him know what wasn't appropriate. A few times he thought about dating other girls, but he always came right back to me. We both lived in the same city, and I soon had him to dinner with my mom and dad. They approved of him, even if he wasn't Catholic. I didn't worry, we had plenty of time to work on that problem.

Through our Junior year , I could see that he was getting a little frustrated. This was the period when war protests were going on, and some of the less mature students were talking about 'free love.' Well, some of them were doing more than talking about it. This attitude was bound to affect David, even though I ignored it. The summer before our Senior year we saw a lot of each other. When we were alone in the car, he tried to pet me a lot; most of the time I stopped him, but after awhile, I figured it wouldn't hurt if I let him touch my breasts.

We both had Tuesday, August 17, 1971 off of our summer jobs, so we decided to go for a swim at a lake north of our city. We had a great time, I wore my cute little white two piece swimsuit, and David couldn't keep his hands to himself when we were in the water. That night David decided to drive his Chevrolet back a different way. We came upon Smith's Ford, and I had him drive across the bridge so that I could see it again. No one was camping there that week, and he turned the car so that we were facing the stream in the moonlight. We started kissing, and then he proposed to me. Now David didn't have a ring because money was so tight, and he had a problem verbalizing it, but I knew that's what he meant. I accepted right away, of course. Now, I knew sex before marriage wasn't right, but things were getting so hot that I decided to let him have me. We got into the back seat, and I allowed him to take my panties off and put his thing in me. It hurt quite a bit, but I'd heard that it did the first time or two. After we were done, he told me how it was so much better than he had ever anticipated. I got a blood stain on my skirt, but David was so in love with me that I didn't care. When I got home, my mother saw the red mark on my clothes and asked what happened. I told her that I just started my period a little early, that's all. Neither David or I wanted to make our engagement public yet, so I kept it to myself. David and I went back to the camp a couple of more times, and sat on a blanket. I let him take me those times too, but David had prophylactics. I knew that birth control was wrong, but I figured it was better than begetting a child.

I decided that if David wanted to touch me while we were kissing after we got back to school, I would let him, but I wouldn't let him put it in me anymore. We had to keep some mystery for after the wedding, didn't we? But he missed me so much after we got over there, that I let him rent a motel room for the night, and I let him do whatever he wanted. I'm sure you can imagine the love we made that night.

My period should have happened in early September, just before school started. I spotted a little bit, but not much. I worried all through September, and in early October when I still didn't have my period, I knew what was wrong. I was heartsick for the next two weeks, and I wondered what I was going to do. I had to have the baby, of course. Even though I knew that some girls had an abortion, I couldn't kill a baby. Finally, I told David about our problem in his dorm room. He recognized we had to get married right away.

The next weekend, we drove down to the city to tell our parents. My mom and dad were quite understanding, and we all made plans on how to get us married. In the long run, we decided that it would be best if we had a quick civil service; there wasn't enough time to get David converted so that we could have a Catholic marriage. I remember going to see Father Thomas about my problem. By this time he was an old man, but he understood. He told me that I and my parents were making the best decision, and he told me that the most important thing in my life from now on was to make my husband and my baby happy. When I took confession, he assured himself that I would never have carnal relations with a man I wasn't married to, and gave me absolution.

I remember the tears in my fathers eyes as he gave us enough money to go to West Virginia. My parents were also nice enough to pay for an apartment off-campus so that David and I could live together right away.

We couldn't have much of a honeymoon, due to our class load, but we did go to a hotel near the campus and reserved the bridal suite.

Although we were careful of the baby, I let David make love to me anytime he wanted to, which was a lot. Neither David or I cared that we couldn't go to our graduation because of the size of my stomach. Our daughter, Jennifer, was born on June 10, 1972.

David was a good student, and got a good job doing engineering on a farm soon. I tried to get him to find a job closer to our home, but he really wanted this job in a city about 150 miles away. We were very happy, and a few months later we were with child again. Mary was born on July 17, 1973.

I kept a good house for David and the children. David didn't want me to work, he felt that a married woman with children should stay at home and take care of the family. I let him have his way, and realized that with my education degree, I could ensure that Jennifer, Mary and all the other children we would have would be better off. David, Jr. was born on March 28, 1975. I expected to have many more children, but I was never able to conceive again.

David took care of us very well, and in 1981 he had an idea that he could invent something and make a lot of money. He told me it was a large risk, and I knew how worried he was. I was concerned, but I let him do what he wanted to do; you have to let men have their heads sometimes. At first, it seemed to be very successful, but then something happened and his business failed. I took care of him when he was so depressed that he was almost sick. He didn't know how he was going to make enough money to feed and shelter us. My mother told us she'd be happy to let us live with her; with my dad gone, she had this big old house and no one to live in it. David took us home, and I'm so glad he did because it gave the children a good chance to get to know their grandmother before she passed away eight months later.

David got another job, and after two years had passed he decided that he had enough experience to try his invention idea again. I remember how he kept explaining it to me, even though I didn't understand. He told me that it would be different this time, and I encouraged him, even though I was so worried about it this time. I even let him take out a mortgage on my parents home.

On the second attempt, my wonderful husband did it right. He told me that his partner, who knew all about business, was a large part of the success but I knew it was David's invention. Without it, the company wouldn't have anything to sell! I knew that David was just taking care of us, and I tried to tell the children why they didn't see their father a lot. I'm not sure they quite understood, but after awhile they got used to it.

It takes a lot of work to be a successful mother and wife. All of the people in the family want something different, and if you let them squabble over it, you'll have nothing but constant arguments and hurt feelings. It was my job to keep not only a neat house, but a happy home. I became expert at telling my husband and children only things that they needed to know, and changing things around so that they saw problems in a completely different light. Occasionally, one of them would catch me in a little white lie, but they knew I was just trying to keep problems to a minimum. Eventually, I got caught less and less. The children always came to me when they needed to give their father bad news, and I was always able to make him see the silver lining.

A few short years later, David told me we were rich. He showed me the bank books and stock certificates, and he told me we would soon be worth over a million dollars. I didn't quite believe him. He bought us both new cars, and made arrangements for the children to go to only the best colleges. He decided that we would buy a new house; I wasn't happy about it, as the home we were living in was the one I had grown up in. But the neighborhood was going down hill, and I could see it was best for David, so I made the children happy with his decision. I made sure that we bought a residence in the same school district; our children were still in school, and I wouldn't let him rip them from their friends.

The children loved their father. He didn't spend too much time with them because of his work, but when he was there he gave them a lot of attention. Sometimes, the wrong kind. For example, I've tried to cultivate a love of classical music in the children, and keep them away from rock and roll. David knew this, and usually supported me in the home, even though he let them listen to that music when he was alone with them in the car. But one day he brought a record album home by somebody named Pot Roast or something, and played it over and over again. There was one song on it that had to do with having sex in the back of a car that I just hated. After about three weeks I hid the record on them.

A few years later, David Jr. graduated from High School and went off to college. I was left with very little to do. I always loved the fine arts, and allowed David to subscribe to the ballet and symphony, but he was much too busy with his work, so I took one of my friends when he couldn't make it.

David wanted to travel, but I was a little afraid of going too far in case the children needed me. I started volunteering for charity work twice a week, but still didn't have enough to do. Even worse, I had to stop being so active in the parish. They had found out that we were now well off, and the new priest (Father Thomas had passed on,) was interested in little but how much money you could contribute to the Church. Luckily, David had joined a country club a few years earlier, and I decided to start taking advantage of the facilities. They had a wonderful swimming pool where I could exercise in the summer and watch the children at play. The rest of the year, I could work out in the women's locker room and take steambaths there. I found a group of nice women who played bridge on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings after they all had dinner together, and I took up the game. I haven't missed a Thursday night in four years.

The club also had another advantage. David really liked it there, and had found some golfing friends. Eight times a year or so there were dinner-dances that we went to. If it wasn't for these, David and I would never meet other couples. We go out to dinner regularly, now that we can afford it, but it's a lot more fun when you're with people you know. David even dances with me, something I know he dislikes. But married couples do little things for each other, don't they? David tried to get me to take up golf, but it just didn't appeal to me.

There's another group of people at the club. Some of the wives aren't as respectful as they should be. They drink quite a bit, don't wear enough clothing and sometimes shamelessly flirt with other women's husbands. I was sure there was some sleeping around going around, but not with my husband; I was sure he was immune to that kind of temptation. He loves me too much.

At the club, we have a problem during the summer. Usually we have two good tables for bridge, eight wives. But during the summer, some of us go on extended vacation, and we can't round up enough players. Thursday, August 6 was one of those days. We met for dinner at our regular time, 6:00. Five of the regulars were there, which meant that one of us would have to sit out a rubber in turn. I've done that in the past, but it's not my favorite way to spend the time.

As we sat there, I thought that it might be nice to go to a movie. A new Sally Fields show was out, and I know David likes Sally. So I told the girls that I was going home to get David, and to have a good night. When I got home, David wasn't downstairs, which isn't like him. I wondered if he was sick. Then I heard some noises coming from the bedroom. I wondered what David was doing up there. Maybe he was repairing something in the bathroom. I walked up the stairs and opened the door to the bedroom. I was shocked to find my husband completely naked, and on the bed with him, with just a pair of scandalous panties on, was one of those women from the club.

Of course, I started crying. I never expected my loving David to cheat on me, never even suspected him of it. I just looked at him, and wondered what I should do. I thought about throwing something at them in anger, but decided against it. Finally, I just turned around in confusion, closed the door behind me and walked down to the family room where I sat in a dark corner and sobbed.

A few moments later I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They weren't heavy enough to be David's, and then I heard the front door open and close. At least the hussy had enough consideration not to continue her seduction while I was in the house.

For a long time, I tried to think about what I needed to do. I guessed I was going to have to divorce David. The children would be so disappointed in their father. Finally David came into the room. He was dressed. I sounded so trite when I asked him, "How could you?"

David explained to me that this was the first time that he had ever cheated on me, and that the affair had just started in the last week. He promised that he would never do it again with another woman. I could see that he still loved me, and that he had just made a terrible mistake.

I asked him how he had met the woman (I knew that her name was Lisa,) and he told me that she had started flirting with him unexpectedly. Well, I had always thought that those women were nothing more than homewreckers. I didn't ask for details, and with every word he said, I could see his regret, and how much he still cared for me.

I still wanted to hurt him. I've never wanted to harm anyone more in my life. He had betrayed me and the children! But in the end, I decided that we would just have to live through this, just like the time Mary's puppy died. In the end, I just got up and went up to the bedroom which she had sullied.

I started to strip and make the bed. I certainly wasn't going to sleep on those sheets, and wound up tossing them in the garbage. As I finished, I noticed a pair of earrings, a diamond bracelet and a necklace on the stand next to the bed. I just slipped them into my dresser drawer, until I could figure out how to get them back to her. I certainly wasn't going to let David hand deliver them. I was still angry with David, and decided to sleep in the guest bedroom that evening.

The next day, I made David breakfast, and after he went to work, I sat around and thought about my predicament. I don't watch the soap operas or talk shows, but I had the TV on, just for noise, and there was one of those shows on. The topic that day was men who cheat. I got fascinated, and then one woman stood up and said, "The reason men cheat is that wives don't give them anything to stay home for." My first reaction was disgust at any person who could misunderstand human emotions that way, and then I thought, 'what didn't I give David that he went to another woman for?'

I turned off the TV and got a sheet of paper. On one side I put down all the good things that I did for David. The sheet was full of entries such as 'caring mother', 'supportive', 'good cook,' and the like. There were at least 25 notes on that side. On the other side, I could only think of three negatives: 'not attractive,' 'not interesting,' and 'poor sex.' I guess I always knew these things about myself.

I knew I didn't dress very well. In my defense, for many years we weren't able to afford nice clothes for me; we were too busy making sure the kids had good things. But I thought back to high school, and even then I must have appeared dowdy. I looked at my face in the mirror. A few sags here and there, and even worse, no highlights, no allurement. My long hair, straight and fine, wasn't something a man would enjoy.