I Took The Long Way Home

My voice was rising

"I'd have grabbed his ankles, and dragged him bare ass naked face down the front steps. If his face and genitals got cut up, fine by me. I might have felt some pity, and thrown his clothes down the steps after him, but I cant tell you fore surethat, I Would Not Have Been ENOUGH OF A GOD DAMN CHRISTIAN TO GIVE HIM A CLEANFUCKING SHIRT OUT OFMY OWN FUCKING CLOSET!"

Officer Leon had no further questions.

I ducked out of work early, and looked at a couple of apartments on Craigslist, and arranged to rent one on a month to month.

Wife

What a fucking piss pot I'm sitting in. They won't let me out of here until tomorrow at the earliest, and I am gong to need follow up surgery. If I admit to an affair, my marriage is done. If I press rape or assault charges, Robert'll pull out the motel receipts, and he has probably saved some of the e mails. On top of it all, the doctor tells me I have Gonorrhea, that slimy bastard! Shit, shit, shit.

The good news is that the antibiotics I'm taking to suppress an infection in my nose will also clear up the gonorrhea, the bad news is it won't do anything for Chris if he's infected. And it's probably gonna give me a yeast infection. The other good news is I can pick my new nose out of a catalog. Wonnerful, wonnerful! It doesn't get much better than that! I simply can't think of a plausible story to tell Chris. Fuck, fuck fuck. I really don't know what happened, I mean besides the sex. I'm going to have to call Robert, and tell him. I'll have to tell the truth...the cops too.

Chris

I spent the morning packing what I needed to live in the apartment, and got out the stuff that belonged to me. I took the bed because it had been my mothers, but left the mattress assuming it had been desecrated by others.

That afternoon, I got over to the Hospital, because the living mummy who at the moment still my wife was to be discharged. Pretty much her whole face was black was all one massive bruise, extending in streaks into her neck as far as her color bones, but thankfully you could only see brown eyes, surrounded with black, without a mask of gauze, she'd scare small children!

"Well love, have you gone Moslem on me? We can get something that covers the rest of you as well."

No sense of humor. She was quiet on the ride to the house. We still had not talked about IT. She had no trouble walking. When she sat in the only comfortable chair in the living room, and had a cup of coffee in hand, she said:

"I guess you want to know what happened?"

"That's a fair guess, isn't it. I also want to know beyond what happened just that day, and I want the truth. Forget damage control. Your Mom, Sister, Boss, co-workers, Police all know you've been fucking around. Can't get more public that that than, short of being on TV. This has been a big time breach of trust. If you can't tell it straight without a bunch of lies, then say nothing until you can."

She sighed and grimaced. "Well, you know Robert Campbell, from work,"

"No, I don't think I have ever met him. Wait, isn't he the traffic manager in shipping "

"No that's Eddie Campbell, no relation actually, Robert's in inside sales, and I was assigned to help him put together a presentation. Well, we stopped by the apartment the day before yesterday, to get some stuff I forgot to bring to work, and one thing led to another."

A long pause here while I was thinking 'led to the couch, did it?' When she didn't start, "And?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know what came over me."

The fucking naked body of Robert Campbell is what came over you, I thought, but said;

"And?"

"Well, we started kissing and, you know the rest."

"No I don't know, because this ends up with the apartment looking like a slaughter house, and our new couch, rugs and my fucking trust in you in the trash. That's a long way from kissing Robert, don't you think? Why did you start kissing Robert, and where did you think you were going with it?"

"Well, Robert's a nice guy, and you've been gone an awful lot, and I guess I really needed someone, so in a weak moment, I was receptive."

"Well you were receptive, all right, a willing receptacle for his plug, willing to fuck him bare back, but had the forethought to neatly fold the afghan throw under your ass, so you weren't completely gaga, were you? You're telling me this was a one time event?"

"Damn right, and it hurts like hell. Get me another percocet, will you"

"Sure, Well, I know what you mean, although my hurt is not in the front of my face. A one time lapse isn't so bad, but I know it wasn't a one time thing. Were there others before Robert? Men or women?"

"No, of course not, not since before I met you. And never a woman, I'm not like that!"

"Well, Jennifer, I'm not sure anymore what you're like. God's honest truth is this all?"

"God's honest truth!"

"Hah! He fucked you the day he forgot his coat, didn't he, and that sure wasn't the first time either. Do you even know who's cock gave you the clap? For what's its worth, I'm clean." Thunderstruck, I guess she hadn't thought of that.

"Well, are there a lot of names going through your head? Remember any of their dicks dripping sooner than you were expecting? Who were the others you were presenting your ass to?"

"Stop it Chris, there's no need to be crude."

"Oh, so it was 'Please Mr. Campbell, how is your little Willie this afternoon? Oh how nice, Mr. Campbell, look! He's happy to see me, standing up right proper he is. Do let the nice Mrs. Harlow give the little man a kiss.' You and he were very proper and polite to each other, I'm sure. But back to the clap and dripping dicks. What're the talking points on that?"

"I don't know!"

"Well at least you don't claim you got it from a toilet seat."

"Give your cover story some thought, because it is literally incredible! It takes a number of weeks for gonorrhea to show up in a blood test. I'll be by after work tomorrow to see if you need anything. We can talk some more when you're inclined to stop bullshitting me. I'll leave my cell phone on in the mean while, but do reserve it for emergencies, if you don't mind."

I walked to the door, and had it open.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Home. I rented an apartment in a not so great area of Chestnut Hill. I'll be staying there. I called the property managers here to give my notice that I would not be renewing the lease, but that you might, and would let them know."

"But I can't..." I didn't hear the rest of what she said because I closed the door and trotted down the steps. She was facing an uncomfortable night or two, sleeping on a bare mattress, because I had taken our bed and bureau, and most of the lamps as these were family antiques."

It took a long time to work out of her what had happened and why. After several revisions, of the story, the first time may have been the afternoon he left the coat. They fucked twice more counting the time she got battered. Getting herself battered, and caught scared her badly, so she ended it. No shit Sherlock. Well it was so fucking public an affair it would have been embarrassing to anyone with a sense of shame.

I did decide to stay with her through the surgeries, as a friend. I also planted a tracker in her car, the old trust and verify as insurance. The why she had an affair was difficult to get to. My travel meant loneliness and the boredom for her at home, and add to that boredom at work all depressed her. I did cut back on my travel, to the extent that I could, which reduced the business's profits a bit, but still cheaper than a divorce. We did some counseling which did me some good, learning to speak honestly to one another, which was actually very difficult for me, but I don't think she was as open to it as I was.

I also realized I had made her up in my head to be a very strong, independent woman who wanted to be treated like an equal, which meant I was treating her like another guy. Actually she liked to be pushed into sex stuff, so I shouldn't take the first no to be no.

I never admitted being the one who messed up her face, but I have to say, it is probably one reason I stuck with her during the surgeries...and I wanted to save our marriage, having about five years of my life invested in it. And I did love her.

She agreed to throw out the rules for the bedroom, whether she meant to make so many, or just thought that I wouldn't respect her if she didn't act 'respectable' in bed, I don't know. So now instead of refusing anal sex, she agreed to do it but clearly made it obvious she was just enduring it. Not her idea of erotic, but as I was still angry at her, I fucked her ass about once a week, and I think she got to like it.

Four weeks after she went back to work, I saw on the tracking program that her car left the parking garage she used at 3PM, and was parked a couple of miles away. Google earth showed it to be a Quality Inn. I drove over there, and was rewarded to see her and Campbell come out a little after 5:30. I drove home and got out the divorce papers I had drawn up earlier. The next day I signed a one year lease for the rental of the apartment I was living in, saving me 20% on the rent. I was sitting on the steps when she came home from work. I had her sit down, and just told her flat out:

"I've been thinking about us a lot, and I've concluded that in my heart, I think you are a lying piece of shit, and I am not wasting any more of my time on you. Having said that, go with god, don't bother me again, I wish to forget you."

"No! That's the wrong thing to do. We're on track rebuilding our relationship! Don't give up on us."

"You say that when you spent yesterday afternoon with Campbell in a motel room? Fuck you and the horse you road in on! I rue the day I ever set eyes on you, you lying sack of shit!"

I was done with her. I handed her the divorce papers and would have given her my wedding ring, but the gold was worth $800.

As to her nose reconstruction, she thought about a smaller, fashionable upturned nose, but opted for something very close to her old one. She had a good size nose, which I thought looked fine, and the new one is just a touch smaller but the same general shape. Old friends know something's different but can't tell what it is.

I haven't spoken to my in laws or my ex wife since then, I could give a shit about them. Somebody said Campbell was her fuck buddy for a while after I left. Good for him, they can trade STD's.

It's been six months and I finally feel good about myself, well maybe not bashing them with the foot stool, that was over the top. The rage and pain of her infidelity, and my guilt at injuring them, the police involvement, all took a big chunk out of my life. I think it would have been better for me, and of course her too (may she rot in hell) if I just had the infidelity to deal with. I gave myself a hell of a guilt trip having disfigured her, and months helping her over her injuries, seeing the pain she was going through physically with the surgeries, and mentally atoning for the affair, and it gave me time to accept it as a brief mistake on her part, but as I soon realized, history would repeat itself in the future.

Had I not assaulted them, but confronted them, I probably would have had a righteous wind at my back divorced her on the spot and be done with her cheating cunt. Instead I went through the pain in the ass of nursing her, supporting her, because I had the damn cover story to maintain. And I worked through the pain of betrayal, to the point of accepting her sincerity and her word. Stupid me!

So when she went back to the guy, I got it right the second time and kicked her to the curb and it was over in a few minutes. Much easier.

That afternoon seems a long time ago, when I had thought I was taking the long way home...only to find out, in Thomas Wolf's words, "You Can't Go Home Again."