Guess Who?

"The following day's surgeries were minor. They had to put a pin in each of her wrists because she broke both of them trying to protect herself from the impact. Other than multiple bruises all over her face and torso Heidi was fine."

"As I said, Heidi woke up three days later. She seemed to have all of her mental abilities in-tact. And I guess if I were a smarter man, I'd have gleaned something from the experience. Sarah, do you remember when I fell off the ladder that year that you and I put up the Christmas decorations?"

"Of course Daddy, it was so scary," she said.

"What was the first thing I said when I woke up" I asked.

"You asked the ambulance guy about Mom and us," said Sarah.

"Well, I sat there for three days straight. I never left your mom's side. Her first words waking up were, "Fuck!" Followed by, "How do I look?"

"At the time, I was so glad that she was awake and talking that I guess it went over my head. It was months before I put all of that into focus. The hospital that Heidi was in was eighty miles away from our house. I drove it every day. I was there in the hospital, every day, for four months straight. Once Heidi was able to leave the hospital, they suggested that there were some therapy things and some critical things that needed to be monitored that couldn't be done at home. They suggested a nursing home or a critical care facility. There were several in our area. One of them was only ten miles away from our house. Heidi insisted on going to one that was near East Lansing. That was almost ninety miles away from our home."

"I didn't know why she wanted to go to that one. I did think that with Sarah back in college again, that maybe she wanted to be closer to Sarah. Maybe that way, with me going back to work on an occasional consultant basis, if I had to work then Sarah would be close. There was also the fact that Justin, Sarah's new boyfriend, worked there."

"I drove there every day and stayed for the entire day, then drove home when visiting hours were over. Heidi was scheduled to be there for a month. For me, the first three weeks were uneventful, but that was because I was stupid."

"I remember the day as if it was yesterday. I'd actually gotten there earlier than usual. Traffic on 696 was lighter than normal, so I'd put my foot down and my little pony stretched her legs out. I normally got there just after they'd taken Heidi out of her room to the wheelchair accessible bathroom and let her take a shower. Heidi had regained the usage of her legs but she was still a little shaky on them. So for safety reasons, they transported her in a wheel chair. I guess they wanted her to get out of the hospital before she fell and got hurt."

"Anyway, after her morning shower, they'd return her to her room for breakfast and a round or two of tests and then visiting hours would start. I usually got there at about 9 a.m. So my getting there at 8 am was unexpected. In fact, Heidi wasn't even in her room when the guards let me in. I'd decided to surprise her but I was the one who got the surprise. I'd hidden in the small bathroom in Heidi's room."

"You have to understand that this was perhaps the happiest time in our marriage. We were getting along better than ever. Even when I was at the hospital with her, we'd been planning out things we wanted to do together and places we wanted to see. For the first time in our lives, I was actually sure that Heidi loved me as much as I'd always loved her. Maybe I'd had to wait until we hit our fifties, but I'd won in the end. I'd gotten the woman of my dreams. Maybe it was almost forty years after we'd gotten together, but in the end I'd won."

"So I was already having to hold back my laughter as a guy wheeled her chair into the room and helped her back into bed. He didn't roll the chair out though, he closed the door. And he did it like he'd done it on a regular basis. He walked back over to Heidi's bed just as I was getting ready to walk over there and surprise her."

"He just pulled his pants down and stuck his dick in Heidi's face. I was the one who was surprised. He was a younger guy and he started whining."

"Come on Baby, "he said. "You need to take care of me quick. Once James gets here, I'll have to wait all day for him to leave before I get anymore."

"It's only 8, Honey," said Heidi. "Instead of a blow job that only you'll get anything out of, get up here and fuck me so we can both get off."

"The guy got on top of Heidi and started fucking her. Both of them had to try to be quiet to avoid the nurses hearing them. I thought about leaving the closet while they weren't paying attention, but I was in shock. It was then, locked in my thoughts, that I realized that your mother would never be the woman I wanted her to be. My kids were all grown up, so there was no reason for me to put up with it anymore."

"The guy wheeled Heidi back down to the showers so she could clean up again and I just left. I walked away and drove home. Heidi started calling me almost as soon as I left the building but I didn't answer her calls. As far as I was concerned, the marriage was over."

"I did everything that same day. I saw my lawyer to get the ball rolling. I withdrew most of the money in all of my accounts. I did leave a couple of thousand dollars for her, but nothing else. I arranged with a realtor for a very quick sale of the house. Property values in our neighborhood were very high and I got a great price from a real estate broker. He offered four hundred and eleven thousand for the house. I took it. I rented a big u-haul truck and a trailer. I packed all of my things in the truck and put my Mustang on the trailer. I changed the number of my iPhone and drove away. I did write the three letters to the three of you and included them with the divorce papers. You guys were spread all over everywhere and I knew that you would contact me as soon as you got the letters. I included my attorney's contact info in the letters and told him to give you all my new number as soon as you asked for it. That way Heidi couldn't contact me but you all could. I never anticipated Heidi stealing the money from her own children or her not giving you my letters."

"I drove as far as I could each day, stopping for a while in each state to get a feel for the people there and the areas. I guess I was so upset that I just drove until I ran out of land. I decided to stay in Florida. There's a thriving community of Michigan snowbirds there and the Tigers even do spring training there. For the first year there, I didn't socialize or do anything. After realizing that Heidi had no intention of giving me the divorce, I filed in Florida. I also set up my little turn key business in property management. We take care of properties for people who live elsewhere most of the year. So, if they live in Michigan or Ohio and need a way to get their grass cut or their home ready for a hurricane or anything like that, we handle it."

"After the first year, I started going to bars and clubs. I wasn't ready to date yet, but there were lots of women my age or close to it that had hinted that they were interested. I met a couple of women who looked kind of like your mother. They turned my stomach. The majority of the women our age are kind of on the chunky side. I did like the big boobs and the big butts, but I wasn't interested in the large guts that come with them. I did know that I was tired of flying economy class. No more flat chested, flat assed women for me. That was why I was in the clubs. I was taking inventory of the kinds of women that were available. I met Sam there in one of the clubs, but that's a story in itself."

"James, you were never supposed to find out," cried Heidi. "It was only..."

"It was only you breaking another promise to me and showing me how little I really meant to you Heidi," I said.

"But I called you over and over again that day. I thought that something had happened to you."

"Something had," I said. "I'd gotten tired of you treating me like shit."

"But James, it didn't mean anything," cried Heidi. "Don't you know after all of this time, you're the only man I've ever loved?"

"If that's what you call love, I can do without it," I said. "For the first time in my life, I have someone who really loves me. I'm better off without you Heidi. I even have my kids back in my life, and another son on the way."

"I knew that something had happened that day," said Heidi. "The nurse told me that she'd seen you. She said you'd gone upstairs though."

"Yeah, as a parting gift, I went upstairs and got Justin fired," I said. "I never imagined that you'd let him marry Sarah."

Justin paled until he was as white as a sheet. "What does Justin have to do with this, Daddy?" asked Sarah.

"He was the one in the room with your mother," I said. Then all hell broke loose. Sarah tried to get to Justin who was trying to get up and get away. David grabbed him and took a swing at him. I tripped Justin who landed right in front of Sarah. Sarah and Samantha both started kicking him. Justin finally broke loose and ran out of the house. Kelly and I comforted Sarah for an hour or so while everyone else talked downstairs. After Kelly gave her a couple of sleeping pills to calm down, Sarah was out like a light.

"She's going to divorce him, She's seeing a lawyer tomorrow," said Kelly, coming back to sit with the rest of us."

We sat there uncomfortably for a few moments before Heidi spoke.

"James, for the past three years that you've been gone, I've done a lot of soul searching, I go into the hospital tomorrow so they can diagnose what's wrong with me. I'd really like for you to be there to help me through this."

"Mom, are you out of your mind?" asked David.

"She's a sociopathic bitch," said Sasha. "I want my money now. Write me a check so I can write you out of my life or I'll have you arrested before you get near a hospital."

"Heidi, you're my husband's mother," said Kelly. "But you've overstayed your welcome. All of this time we've been putting our lives on hold when you had more than enough money to take care of yourself. We took you in and..."

"No Kelly," I said. "She took YOU in. Heidi's the kind of person who is always there when SHE needs YOU. She uses people. That's all she's good for. You guys have caught onto that a lot sooner than I did. At least we're all back together again. You guys can call me anytime you need to. Why don't you all come down to Florida for Christmas?"

I looked at my watch and realized it was time for us to leave.

"We'll do that Dad," said David. "Come on Mom. I'll help you pack."

"James, you can't be serious. How can you just fly off with that...child, when I need you?"

"Because that child loves him and is faithful to him Grandma," said Sam angrily. I brought Sam her coat and she started putting it on. She leaned up and kissed me.

"James, you won't leave me," yelled Heidi. "It will eat at you. You've always forgiven me before and you will this time too. You belong to me."

"No," said Sam, stopping in front of Heidi. "He belongs to me now. Have a super sparkly day!"

"Fuck you," spat Heidi angrily.

"He always does," said Samantha cheerfully. "That's how he got me pregnant."

We made it to the airport with about twenty minutes to spare. The little V6 vert fishtailed through the drifting snow the whole drive there, but we got to the airport in one piece and flew home to Florida.

For Christmas, David, Kelly, Sarah and Sasha did all come to Florida. They all had a wonderful time and spoiled Sam, whose belly was getting huge, rotten. Sarah ended up staying. It was great to have her here with us while she tried to get her life back on track after her divorce from Justin. Heidi apparently called them on an almost daily basis but none of them would take her calls. Finally, one day she just stopped calling.

A few weeks later, I was summoned by my lawyer to a meeting. Heidi and I had wills before I left her and apparently she'd never updated hers. Heidi had died in the hospital. She'd died alone. Even on the day that she died, the doctors were still trying to diagnose the mysterious illness that struck her. They think that it had something to do with all of the drugs she used during her youth, but it could be similar to the congenital defect that had taken her mother at the same age.

While in the hospital, Heidi had shriveled up to the point where she looked like hell. Her need for sex and companionship being what it was, caused her to take care of her own needs. They found her dead, with a vibrator inside or her and a shocked expression on her face.

I divided the money equally between my kids. When my newest son goes to college, maybe we'll tell him about the psychotic bitch who'd funded his education, but probably not. The last thing necessary to do is to bury Heidi. As the rain continues to fall, a lot of the people here have left. There are surprisingly few people still here. The biggest surprise is that Justin is here. We all think that he just wants a chance to make up with Sarah.

As the rain got heavier, the minister called me over and told me that we needed to move things along because of the weather. I told him that we'd each drop the ceremonial clump of dirt onto the casket and be out of here. We're all going to gather at David and Kelly's house afterward.

We all got into a line with the family at the end as the guy who used the bulldozer to fill in the grave warmed up his dozer. I'd hate to be him trying to fill that hole as the piled up dirt turns to mud.

The one or two people present, who aren't family, looked into the hole and quickly headed for their cars. Justin tried to get in line next to Sarah who quickly moved away from him. Sarah scooted back in line until she was right in front of me. Justin got in line behind her. David sensing trouble moved over near me.

All of a sudden, the guy with the bulldozer scooped up a massive amount of dirt and revved his engine as a warning to us that he was ready to fill the grave. I waved to him and then noticed that he couldn't see us through the bucket or shovel of his dozer. I quickly looked around and no one was watching me. So I elbowed Justin very sharply. He fell into the grave. Only Sarah and David noticed.

"Justin yelled but no one heard him over the sound of the bulldozer. I spotted his hand trying to hang on to the edge of the grave. The rain soaked sides were too slick for him to climb out. A sense of peace came over me suddenly. I no longer felt angry at Heidi at all. Heidi died doing what she wanted to do for most of her life. The only bad thing about it was that she died alone. Now Heidi had someone with her to explore the afterlife. It was fitting that her last lover was there to make the journey with her.

I stomped on Justin's fingers and he fell back onto the casket just as the dozer drove up to the lip and dropped its first load of heavy wet muddy dirt. It covered the casket and Justin. I looked but didn't see any movement in the grave. I wonder if Justin was stunned by the impact of his head and shoulders hitting the casket as he landed or if nearly half a ton of dirt and water covering him rendered him incapable of calling for help or moving.

In a perfect world the two of them would have been buried in the casket together, but shit, who says we live in a perfect world. In a perfect world, my love for Heidi wouldn't have made me forgive her again and again and again. But at least at the end, I'd regained my self-respect and walked away from her. I know that a lot of more macho guys would have left her long before I did. But I had to put my kids and their happiness before everything.

I think that I got out at the right time, so I could meet the woman who will make me happy for the rest of my life. So at least for me, that makes this a perfect world.

The end