Fractured

Breakfast was quickly consumed so chatting was minimal. Allie rushed to pack, and Dave went to his home office to gather things he needed.

Allie and Dave got in the car, and both sighed in relief. "How'd I do, Dad?"

"Perfect. Your idea to go with me, though, was a stroke of genius. Now neither one of us has to worry about the quality of our acting skills."

"You mean, the poor quality, right?"

"Exactly."

"Dad. Have you thought more about me being with you when you confront Mom?"

"I'm still not sure, Baby."

"I want to be there, and when you see Uncle Shitface, too."

"Language!"

"Sorry. It just seems this whole mess deserves a lot of cursing."

Dave smiled, admiring Allie's strength of character. A question occurred to him. "If you're there, what would you say?"

"I'm not sure. I think I would go with my first instincts. But she'll have no doubts as to how I feel and how much I'm on your side. I want her to know she can't hide what she's really like from me."

They checked in at the hotel on the other side of town and were in the elevator on the way to their room. Allie had been unusually quiet for a while. She stared at the floor in the elevator, and quietly asked her father a question.

"When do you think their affair started?"

"I'm not sure, but it was a long time ago."

She looked up at her dad with tears in her eyes. "You don't think..."

He interrupted her. "I know what you're asking, Baby. I don't know, but the answer wouldn't change anything between us."

They exited the elevator and walked silently to their room. As soon as the door closed, Allie continued to talk about what was on her mind.

"Do you want to find out?"

"I don't know, Sweetie. Do you?"

"I know who my one and only daddy is, but I guess it would be smart to know. It's just...well, it's bad enough to be the daughter of one cheater. I don't know if I could take being the child of two selfish assholes."

"So, do you want to know?"

"I think so. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. I feel the question is like an ax hanging over my head. Is it okay if we wait a few months? I have a reason to hold off for now."

She answered with a tearful hug before they started to unpack.

*****

Allie and Dave continued to bond at the nearby hotel during their stay. When Dave had to meet with the lawyers or take care of other details, she spent time at the pool swimming or reading while sitting in the sun.

The first day of their stay, Hannah came to the hotel to secure their strategy, then joined them for dinner. Allie and Hannah really enjoyed each other's company.

After dinner and back in their room, Allie chose to freely share an opinion.

"Dad, you know Hannah has a thing for you, right?"

"What? You think so, huh?"

"Yeah! She's really into you. You and she never, you know, did anything, did you?

Dave stepped back and his face looked like she slapped him. "I hope you know me better than that. I've never come anywhere near stepping out on your mom."

With tears in her eyes, she lunged forward and hugged him. "Oh, Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't...I mean, I know that's not like you. I shouldn't have asked that. I'm so sorry."

Dave's heart melted. "Sweetie, your mother has really shaken your world and mine. I guess it's rational to doubt if anyone is as they seem after finding one parent isn't what you believed they were. Rest assured, I am who you know. I loved your mother with everything I am, and I would never cheat on her or anyone else."

Still choked up, Allie asked him the question they both had on their minds. "Then, why did she?"

"I don't know, Baby. I just don't know. I hope we find out on Friday."

"I'm sorry I said that, Daddy. I know how good you are. Forgive me?"

"You don't need forgiveness for asking what's on your mind. You just caught me by surprise."

The warm glow of his daughter's presence quickly returned to Dave's heart. She had been looking out for him and had been his only true anchor to sanity. He almost forgot that she had a lot to overcome, too.

*****

The following day, Hannah called Linda at her home office.

"Hey, Hannah."

"Linda, how are things?"

"Couldn't be better. What's up?"

"How's the month's end closing going?"

"Just about done. Why do you ask?"

"Well, are you planning on coming to the office tomorrow? Our IT guy is gonna need your laptop over the weekend to update some software and to make sure it doesn't have the virus that our network had."

"I expect to be there all day. I've gotta catch up on some filing."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow and don't forget to bring your laptop. Maybe we can have lunch since your normal lunch partner is out of town."

"Sounds good. See you then."

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her soon-to-be former friend's life was going to be upended. She felt a twinge of sadness for her and for her family. But down deep, in a place she spent years trying to control, she felt a bright ray of hope.

*****

Friday, the day that would mark the destruction of her family, Allie awoke and cleared her eyes. She looked across the room to see her father with a cup of coffee in his hand, staring out the window at nothing in particular. She could see the few tears gently falling.

"Dad, you okay?"

He looked at her with a forced smile, walked to her bed, and sat on the edge. He gently stroked her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Am I okay? Not really. How about you? Are you ready for a really bad day?"

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "There's no choice, is there?"

"What do you mean, Baby?"

"You can't forgive her and stay, can you?"

"I wish to God that I could. I've struggled every minute since this was heaped upon me asking that same question. But all those years, all the hiding, all her pretending to be loving and faithful? I just can't see her as the same woman I loved and married. Even if it was just some random, singular event, I think I could find a way past this. It's so much deeper."

They embraced and sought to draw strength from each other. Allie whispered in his ear. "Thanks for including me. I'm glad I know what's going on. I don't think I could handle waking up tomorrow and being surprised."

He pulled back from the embrace and looked into her tearing eyes. "Baby, some will think it was wrong of me to lean on you this week and include you in everything. I've really needed you, and your maturity for a fifteen-year-old young woman is remarkable. Are you okay?"

"With my daddy here, I'm okay."

"Then, I'm okay, too. What do you say we get this shitstorm started?"

"Language, Dad!"

"Sorry, Baby."

After the light breakfast they both picked at, they both showered, packed and checked out. They drove to his lawyer's office and were pleased to see both Bill and Angela there. His legal team spent a lot of time talking with Allie and were clearly impressed with the young lady's poise and composure.

The four of them reviewed the divorce and other documents. Allie was fascinated by being a part of the review team and had good questions and input.

Angela felt she had to make a comment. "Allie, you seem to really understand and have a knack for this."

"Actually," Allie responded, "the law interests me. They're my favorite TV shows, for sure."

"Actual law practice is a lot different than TV," Bill added.

"Oh, I'm sure," Allie said. "But I still think it's what I'd like to do."

"I have an idea," Angela offered. "When you're old enough, maybe you'd like to work with me helping our paralegal team. It would give you a taste of the legal profession."

"Yeah, that would be awesome!"

Watching Allie interact with Bill and Angela fueled his confidence that she was fully capable of getting through this major storm. She was going to be okay.

The four enjoyed a light lunch together, then Dave and Allie ran a few more errands. They arrived home just before 3:30. That was when the weight of the coming confrontation seemed almost unbearable, and their uneasy silence amplified the pressure. Dave organized the evidence and paperwork on the dining room table, then talked Allie into playing cribbage to pass the time. They had about an hour to kill before the family would be broken and shattered.

*****

The sound of the garage door opening alerted Allie and Dave to take their places at the table. There was no more acting, no hiding behind masks. It was going to be real. Very, very real.

Linda strolled through the front door with bags in her hands, shouting, "Chinese food is here. Let's get the party started!"

Then she saw the somber faces on her daughter and husband as they sat at the dining table. "Hey, you two. What's wrong?"

Quietly, yet forcefully, Dave said, "Sit down, Linda."

She hesitantly walked to the table and started to say, "What's going..." Then she saw the picture of her Tuesday night meeting with Rich. She fell into the chair, almost missing it. She gathered herself as tears started to fall. A look of excruciating pain cast a shadow across her face. Lowering her head, she kept repeating, "No, no, no, no..."

Forcing herself to look up, she saw the two people she most loved just silently sitting, staring at her. The intense look on their faces clearly spoke volumes of their contempt for her.

"Please, Dave, don't do what I deserve," she said softly between quiet sobs. She grabbed a tissue from the box that they were kind enough to place on the table and tried to wipe away enough tears to clear her distorted vision.

After a moment of torture, Dave gently asked, "What do you think you deserve?"

She cried harder as she spit out the words, "Please don't leave me! Don't throw me away!"

"You mean the way you threw away our marriage? Our family?"

"Oh, God! Please! It was a horrible mistake," she cried out.

Still calm, Dave softly asked, "How long was this 'mistake,' as you call it, going on?"

She hesitated while trying to think if she could get away with a lie. Not sure of what Dave already knew, she tried a safe answer. "It doesn't matter. One time was too many. Please, Dave, can we work to get past this?"

"Doesn't matter? Are you serious?" She flinched at the harshness and volume of his response. She finally admitted to herself that he knew. She didn't know how he knew, but he did. "How long," he shouted?

She flopped her forehead down into her hands, her elbows resting on the table. She couldn't look at her husband or daughter with her answer.

"Just...just before he met Sonia."

"I see," Dave snidely said. "So, about seventeen years. I guess seventeen years of cheating on me doesn't matter to you. Is that what you're telling us?"

"No! Of course, it matters. It was a horrible, selfish, hurtful thing to do."

Allie could not hold back anymore. "Ya think! Geez, Mom, how could you do this? Do you have any idea how much you've destroyed Dad and me?"

Dave suddenly stood to emphasize his anger. "Who the hell are you, Linda? What the hell are you?"

"I think I know," Allie added. "Let's see: Tramp, slut, adulteress, cheater, liar, traitor! Oh, and how about, bitch!?!"

Linda was nearly hyperventilating. Her bowels and bladder fought to relieve the internal pressure she was under. "Please, don't call me names," Linda pleaded. "Dave, please ask her not to say things like that."

"When she says something that isn't true, I'll correct her," he answered with anger dripping from his voice.

The members of the broken family were silent for a few moments except for Linda. She tried to stay calm but couldn't stop sobbing. Finally, she managed to ask the question weighing most on her heart. She knew the answer would crush her.

"What are you going to do?"

Dave replied, "Go up to your room, clean up, and calm down for a few minutes. Your crying is just pissing us off. Then come down and we'll talk for a few minutes before Allie and I leave."

"But we need to fix this! Where are you going?"

"Not your concern, and there's sure as hell no way to fix this in a few hours. Go upstairs," he ordered.

Linda staggered up the stairs and Dave sent the expected text to Linda's sister.

[Dave] It's done. She's gonna need you.

[Shelly] Be there in 30.

[Dave] Great. We won't leave till you're here. Just walk in.

[Shelly] Got ya.

*****

Linda sat on her bed and let her emotions take hold. Tears streamed as she wailed for the first five minutes while her mind ran out of control with horrible thoughts. As her tears calmed, so did her brain. She started to think of ways to keep her family together. She rested her head on her bed, and the realization hit her. This would no longer be her bed. She screwed up everything for no good reason. A new wave of tears emerged.

After twenty minutes, she came downstairs still clearly in distress, but more under control. She sat quietly, looking sheepish and ashamed. She was relieved that Allie wasn't there for this part of the conversation. She waited for Dave to take the lead.

"First, I guess you understand that you're fired."

Linda's tears started up again. "Why? I'm good at my job. Why fire me?"

"You really need to ask? I no longer know who you are, or if I can trust you. Plus, frankly, I don't want you around."

She looked down to regain control, then asked, "What else?"

"Here are the documents I'm sure you're expecting. The envelope includes a severance package and agreement. Open your own checking account with the check in there. As for the documents, review them. You should probably get a lawyer. I'll cover the initial cost, but if you fight anything, that will be on your dime."

"This all seems so harsh and that's not like you, Honey. Can't we work on fixing this?"

Ignoring everything she said, Dave continued. "Shelly will be here shortly to support you. I strongly urge you to go with her for a week or so, because I'm not ready to talk. When we are both ready, you can return here to the guest room until more permanent arrangements can be made."

"Can't I just stay?"

"Damn it, Linda. I really don't care to see your face for a while."

The last sentence was like a knife thrust into her chest. She paused before asking another question she dreaded. "Is your mind made up? Isn't there any chance for us?"

"I don't see a way past this, Linda. Seventeen years, and with my brother, of all people! You two have completely shattered two marriages and fractured three families."

"Three?"

"Sure! Us, Sonia and Rich, and my parents now that my brother is dead to me."

Her face dropped as the weight of her behavior kept getting heavier. "Oh, God! Forgive me," she pleaded.

"I'm sure God will. I hope the coming years will find me more willing than I am now."

Shelly picked the perfect time to walk in. Dave greeted her with a hug, then called Allie down from her room.

Before leaving, he turned and made brief eye contact with his wife. Both of them could see the agony in each other's faces. It was at that moment when he felt the full pain of their lives being ripped apart. The two who became one almost eighteen years earlier were now violently torn from each other to become two once again. That wound would take time to heal, if it even could.

*****

Dave and Allie both knew the plan as they drove in near silence to their next destination. Whether they were ready or not was the question in their minds. Initially, Dave really wanted to enjoy what came next. Then he realized how many people would be seriously impacted in the moments that followed. Being the messenger for what would cause all the pain tore at his heart.

They pulled into Sonia and Rich's drive behind their dad's car. He knew his parents were there for dinner. He prayed they would be okay after what was coming, but he needed them to witness firsthand the evidence and see the confrontation. Dave was going to cut his brother out of his life, and they had to understand why.

Dave's heart was pounding so hard that he feared he might pass out. Allie noticed him struggling, so she took his hand and smiled at him.

"Dad, it will be okay. We can do this."

"Okay, Baby. Remember to stick close to Grandmom and Grandpop and give them the picture when I give one to Sonia."

"Got it covered. You never answered if you were gonna beat up Uncle Shit-for-brains?"

"I don't plan to, but we'll see what happens. Remind me that we gotta talk about your growing use of profanity," he said while forcing a chuckle.

Allie and Dave walked in without knocking just after everyone in the home had finished dinner. The four adults had just gotten up from the dining table and the kids were off somewhere else in the house.

Allie ran to hug her grandparents, while Sonia greeted Dave.

"Hi, guys! I didn't expect you, but we have plenty if you're hungry."

Dave kissed his sister-in-law's forehead. "Thanks, but we ate. I'm afraid we have something uncomfortable to discuss."

He handed Sonia the picture of Rich and Linda's rendezvous while Allie gave her grandparents their copy. A chorus of "What's this?" filled the room, getting louder as the images became clear. Dave handed a copy to his brother.

"Well, dear brother, would you like to explain?"

Rich turned white and fell back into his chair.

"Yes," Dave's father asked of his younger boy. "Can you explain this, Richard?"

Sonia charged her husband and slapped his face as hard as she could while shouting obscenities and accusations at him. Dave struggled to restrain and soothe her anger.

"Let's hear him explain."

"Yes, let's hear this," their mother added while Allie hugged her protectively.

Rich stuttered and hesitated to find any words that would get him out of this mess. "It was...damn! How'd you get this picture?"

"Wrong answer, asshole," Dave shouted. "I know the truth, so let's hear you admit it!"

"You know so much, you tell the damn story," Rich spit out with anger.

Sonia looked at Dave with pleading eyes. "Dave? Please?"

"All right. This piece of trash and my wife have been having an affair. Not just a little fling. Oh, no! These assholes have been at it since before he even met you, Sonia."

She hurled curses and insults while kicking and punching him seemingly at the speed of the Tasmanian Devil. Rich fell to the floor and curled up trying to protect himself. Finally running out of steam, she burst into tears, ran into the living room, and threw herself on the couch. Their mother and Allie went to help her.

Their dad strode over to Rich and, standing uncomfortably close, asked him with an unmistakable tone of authority, "Is this true, Richard?"

Rich looked up at his dad with a face full of tears, and simply nodded.

"You stupid piece of shit! How could you do this to your own brother and your wife? Damn, Son! I don't know how I could be more disappointed. You're a complete disgrace."

"I'm sorry," Rich pleaded. "I'm so, so sorry, Dave. I..."

"Save it, asshole," Dave spat out. "There's nothing you can possibly say to make things right. You're dead to me, man. I never want to see you again. Obviously, by the way, you're fired!"

"Dad," Dave continued, "I have no brother. Do you understand?"

"Son, take time to cool..."

"DAD!" I have no brother. I never want to see him at Sunday dinners, or holidays, weddings, or whatever. If he's there, I'm leaving! If he 'accidentally' appears once too often, I'll assume you've made a choice. Am I clear?"

"All right, Son. I understand. But don't expect your mom and I to cut him out like you plan to do."

"I get that. Just don't get the idea that this is something you can fix."

Sonia led the ladies back into the dining room while shouting at the top of her voice. "I put up with your crap and this is how you treat your family? GET OUT! GO. Pack a bag and get out, NOW!"

"Go on, Rich," their father ordered. "And don't think you're staying with us. None of us care to see you right now."