Hometown Advantage

"Monty, you got one chance to tell the truth before I start listing the charges I'm thinking about."

"I'm sorry judge. It was just a joke. I got a friend to doctor the photo to make it look like it was Ben getting a blowjob from this hooker. She was the stripper at my cousin's bachelor party and was blowing everyone for $20 a head. I was taking pictures on my phone. One of the men there was about the same build as Ben. The picture has Ben's head, the one on top of his shoulders I mean, was put on the other guy's body.

"I figured Esther would get jealous and give Ben a hard time before making up and going on just like before. I didn't think it would go this far. Esther, I'm sorry." I noticed I did not get an apology.

For the last few minutes, Esther had her head on the table, crying. Her lawyer spoke to her briefly. She nodded in agreement to whatever he had said.

"Your honor, my client withdraws her petition for divorce and apologizes to her husband."

"I declare . . . "

I shouted, "Excuse me your honor. Will dismissing this case effect my lawsuit for slander or stop my divorce proceedings?"

The judge only thought for a few seconds, "No. I declare this hearing closed."

Esther's lawyer approached me. "You don't intend on pursuing the slander suit, do you? You see how she was tricked by Monty. It's not her fault."

"I guess you're just trying to prove you're a good lawyer. She IS at fault. She chose not to let me see the photo. She chose not to let me have a chance to explain. She chose to spread the fake photo claiming it was proof of my infidelity. Now tell me how she is not at fault."

"$3 million dollars? That's a ridiculous figure."

"I only want the amount of money that makes it impossible for her to support her being able to take care of Bonnie. I want to be the primary custodian and live in the house. I'll drop the lawsuit if she will agree to that in the divorce."

"You know that Monty will be willing to support her and Bonnie."

"You mean after he faces all the charges and lawsuits about to come his way if I want to pursue it? Good luck with that."

Esther came over. "Ben, please forgive . . ."

I walked away before I could hear her 'too little, too late' apology.

I went to my favorite bar to celebrate my courtroom victory and mourn the loss of my marriage. I didn't get much chance to do either as person after person came to offer congratulations and pronouncements that they had never believed her accusations about me in the first place. I was not comforted.

Esther's lawyer called the next day. Esther was requesting a meeting. She wanted to come to an agreement where she would be able to stay in the house with Bonnie. She would give me unlimited access to Bonnie and request minimum financial support to her if I would agree. She wanted it clear that she did not want a divorce but figured she may have damaged our relationship too much to save the marriage. I agreed to meet.

"Ben, I'm so . . . "

"Stop! I don't want to hear apologies. I want to hear about custody and money. You were so jealous, you were easily tricked into believing I betrayed you. You didn't trust or respect me enough to give me a chance to challenge the photo. Instead, you ruined my reputation and got me fired. Without trust or respect, there is no basis for us to be married any more. So, custody and money."

Esther cried a while before speaking. "Okay, but I was so jealous because I loved you so. I guess I never thought I was pretty enough to get a man who wanted me for more than my body. I love you. I really . . ."

I got up to leave. "Ben, I'm sorry. I'll talk about custody and money. I want us to have joint custody, but she needs to live with me, her mother. You can see her as often as you want, but that means I need the house to live in. I would rather you live there too. We could live like we have been even if we get divorced. All I want is money enough to keep the house and child support for Bonnie. I don't deserve alimony. Don't you think that is fair?"

"Fair? Now you want to be fair? Too bad you didn't think of being fair when you got the fake photo."

"I thought you only wanted to talk about was custody and money."

"Good point. I don't know about letting you have the house. You are probably planning on moving Monty in as soon as I leave. You cannot have the house unless you agree not to bring him or other man in the house."

"I am not living with Monty - anywhere."

"Whatever. I will make sure you have enough for Bonnie and the house. You'll have to support yourself otherwise. I just hope I can make enough money."

"Ben, Mr. Larson says you can have your old job back. He's mad at me for not making sure the photo was accurate. He says he hopes you can forgive him."

"I don't know if I want to work for him now. He chose to believe you over me. I want someone who won't jump to conclusions without finding out the truth. That means him as well as you. I'm thinking about starting my own repair shop."

"Oh Ben, that would be wonderful. I'm sure you'll do well. Are you sure you don't want to stay in the house until you can afford a place on your own?"

"Oh yeah, then you can accuse me of raping you and abusing Bonnie. Sorry, I'm not feeling that stupid. I will let you stay in the house, but I reserve the right to change my mind if you get crazy again."

"I only got the restraining order to get back at you when I thought you were cheating on me. I'll never falsely accuse you again. The offer I'm making is meant to help you out. I owe you a lot for what I did. Please let me do something to help."

"Okay, come to me for repairs to your computer, printer or iPhone."

"Of course. So, is that for us? I mean as a couple."

"We'll always be connected because of Bonnie. I'll always regret we were not able to raise her together."

"We could if you would forgive me."

"I'm sorry. It's just too easy for you to get crazy jealous on me. I can't live that way."

"What if I get help? A therapist who can help stop me being so jealous."

"I think you need that. But I'm not waiting to see if you get better. Even then, I don't know if I could take the risk again."

"I understand. I need the help even if it is to make me a better mother."

"And a better wife for your next husband."

"There won't be a next husband. I hurt the husband who was the best for me. I'm not interested in anyone else."

"You'll change your mind after a while."

"Maybe you will too."

"Please, for your sake, don't count on it."

The divorce went through and we developed a new routine that involved sharing time with Bonnie. Sometimes I would give in to Esther's invitation to go with her and Bonnie to an outing or share a meal. She put no pressure on me to re-do the arrangement but let me know she had been going to therapy and she was not dating anyone.

One night when I brought Bonnie home, Esther asked me to stay and talk after Bonnie went to bed. I had been impressed with Esther for the last few months, so I said yes. Once Bonnie was in bed, Esther brought us both a bottle of my favorite beer.

"Ben, I hope this doesn't sound too strange, but I'm glad we got divorced. No, I don't mean it that way. What I'm trying to say is that the divorce has helped me change for the better. I now know what happened in my life that led me to be so jealous. I believe that part of me is now under better control. That doesn't mean I think everything is hunky-dory now. I still have one task I need to do, but only you can help me accomplish it: I need to make amends to you for what I did to you."

"Well, you have sent some business my way."

"Not enough. I know your lease on the apartment is up soon. I want to invite you again to come back to our house. You would live here and would have the same privileges that you had when we were married. Yes, I'm talking about sex too. Stay here a year, save money on expenses, get your business flourishing, and get to see your daughter every day. Then, if you want to move out, I will feel better about paying you back for the grief I caused. I am ready to move on. I would rather move on with you, but I will move on without you if you are not interested. Think about it."

She moved over to where I was sitting and got on her knees before me. "Let me give you some incentive for considering my proposal." She started rubbing me between my legs. I got hard instantly. It had been too long, so I put up little resistance. Before long, she had me in her mouth and held it in until I had shot my load. She swallowed me for the first time. "I don't know why I didn't want to do that before. It wasn't bad at all."

"Do you want me to . . .?"

"Munch my carpet? Sorry, I took up the carpet. It's slick now. Want to see?"

I almost shook my head off. She had never shaved her public hair during our marriage.

I may be a wronged husband, but I am also a man with normal sexual urges. Seeing Esther with shaved genitals allowed me to put my objections on hold. I did my best to convince myself this was a one-time relapse. Esther did her best to make sure I would want more. She won.

I moved back in the house and enjoyed the time with Bonnie and, I hated to admit it, with Esther too. It was nice not to worry about housekeeping and laundry too. I was still having to spend a lot of time at my new business. Without help, I had to work late many nights. I didn't think much of it. Esther would keep a meal ready for me. Then one night, I thought I saw a figure hiding behind a tree near my office. I went on to my car, drove off, and backtracked to my office. I saw a man get in a car. I knew who he was. Only Monty Freemont would pimp up a Prius. He took off and I followed. He went to his house which, luckily, was fairly isolated on his street.

I parked right behind him. I was ready to run fast to catch him before he got in his house, but he didn't seem in a hurry. I found out why. He came out of the car with a gun in his hand. "Stop right there, Ben. I'll shoot." I stopped.

"This is perfect," he said. "I can shoot you and tell everyone that you attacked me, and I defended myself. Then I will have Esther all to myself."

"What if Esther is mad at you for killing me? We made up, you know. She is the one who asked me to move back in the house. I can't believe I almost let that sweet pussy get away from me. Esther told me that she dumped you when she found out how small your dick was."

"No, she didn't. You're lying. My penis has always been big enough for her. If she doesn't care for me, why do you think she had me tailing you?"

"Because you would be the only one who would be stupid enough to do it."

"If I'm so stupid, why am I the one who has a gun and you don't?"

"I have something better than a gun." I slowly pulled up my cell phone. "I called 911 and the police have been listening in."

"You're lying. You're just trying to trick me. Stop right where you are. I will shoot you."

"I give. Shoot me. I hope you're a good shot because if you're not, I'm going to beat you to a pulp, stomp on your testicles and then shoot you with your own gun." Monty was visibly shaking.

When sirens were heard in the background, Monty threw the gun down and started running. I got a good laugh as the fire truck passed by on the way to a fire several blocks away. Now I called 911 for real. When Officer Jocko, a high school classmate, got there, I explained what had happened. He retrieved the gun and looked it over. "It's a good thing he didn't shoot you. I think it might have exploded in his hand."

After answering a few more questions, I said good-bye to Jocko and headed to the motel. I called Esther. "Hello?"

"I just wanted to tell you that Monty won't be making a report tonight."

"What . . . what are you talking about?"

"Monty didn't make a good spy. He's now being looked for by the police for several firearm charges and terroristic threatening. I don't think he'll be forgiven this time, and neither will you."

"You've got to forgive me. You were working late so many nights, I got . . . curious. I wasn't really jealous. I was worried about your safety. I asked Monty to look after you. That's all it was. I didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Well, I appreciate you having your boyfriend gathering unbiased information on me, Esther. Another thing I would appreciate is you finding another place to live. I'm going to stay in the motel a couple of days while you find a place. Bonnie and I will live in the house and you can visit when you want."

"I'm sorry, Ben. I'm not as bad as I was before. Can't you forgive me just one last time. I'll make it worth your while. I'll let you have my ass. No one has ever had anal sex with me. It will be yours only."

"Sorry, I would rather be an ass than to have yours. You have 72 hours."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know this story will be torn apart on technical grounds, but I enjoyed the idea of having someone fight back in an unorthodox way to a routine divorce petition. I am sure there will also be some valid points of criticism of other kinds of mistakes. Nevertheless, I hoped you got some pleasure out of reading it.