Isn't That How You Got Her?

He had his back to her and was grinning.

"Thanks, officer. I hadn't thought of that. I'll be down first thing tomorrow to fill out the papers." I looked over at Deb and grinned. She drew in a breath but decided against speaking, got behind the wheel, and drove off. I had one more shot left in me.

"Unless I'm mistaken, there's no insurance on that car, officer. Might want to check that out."

Since the car was in my name, I'd canceled the insurance two weeks ago. Surprise, bitch. She was standing beside her car trying to explain things twenty minutes later when I drove by. I tapped the horn and waved. She looked at me and it hit her. I could almost hear her screaming as I drove off.

...

Saudi Arabia was interesting. It wasn't fun, it wasn't torture, it was just plain boring. All we did was work, eat, and sleep. We had satellite TV, the latest movies on video, a gym, basketball and tennis courts. We had internet, so we could talk to friends, do Facebook, even take online classes.

Very few of the workforce were women, for obvious reasons. The ones that were there were usually married to another worker. Putting that many guys with that few women was, naturally, a recipe for disaster. If you get horny enough, a gold band doesn't slow you down much. Over half the couples either left before contract end or ended up divorced. I kept my hormones in check until I got to France every quarter. Despite being rude and having a low opinion of Americans, I found French girls still loved to fuck us, especially if you're spending money on them.

I learned to get out of the larger towns. The smaller towns tended to be a little friendlier, the girls cleaner, the prices lower.

Loved the Riviera though, and the nude beaches. Went to a couple of casinos and watched fools losing money. I played a little, key word being little, just enough to keep from getting thrown out. Bet once on a game I couldn't pronounce and didn't understand, let the bet ride fives times before I cashed out. I flipped when I was told I'd won eighty thousand Euros. Not knowing what to do with it, I banked it at the casino. The next vacation found me with a small comped room and all the extras. I lost eight thousand, which made the management happy. The next trip I won it back and twenty thousand more. The next I got a little drunk and stupid and lost forty thousand. I never went back.

Surprisingly, the years passed fairly quickly. I had decided, thanks to my gambling winnings, that I wasn't going to stay another year. They surprised me when I told them, offering me the job of assistant manager with a forty per cent pay increase, and a thirty thousand signing bonus.

After considering it for a few days, I signed.

I would contact my lawyer, talk to my mom and step brother once a month, just to keep in touch.

My ex, to put it mildly, was not happy when I left the country. I had given power of attorney to the lawyer. It was pretty simple, really. She got all the joint assets in the marriage minus the twenty thousand I'd took. The net worth was far more than the debt, so despite her objections the judge granted the divorce, citing the assets would more than make up any alimony she'd be given.

Of course, she couldn't afford everything without my income, and her new man left fairly early, saying he wasn't paying for things he'd never own.

She managed to sell the house at a small profit, as well as my boat and everything else, and left town.

I ended up working one more year as plant manager. I might have still been there if I hadn't got a call from my mother.

...

She was crying.

"It's Charley. He's been in a bad accident. You need to come home."

Charley was my step brother. Mom had married his dad twelve years ago, three years after my real father disappeared. He was a good man, treated mom well, and seemed to like me. After a year I would just introduce him as my dad, something he seemed to like.

Charley was about ten when they married. I'd never had siblings, but was old enough to enjoy him. I made his day when I broke up a fight after school one day. He was on the losing end when I waded in.

I was a senior in high school, and he was in the first year of middle school. The schools were side by side and I would walk over and collect Charley, driving us home.

"Leave him alone, assholes! If you touch my brother again I'll kick your ass."

I'm a pretty large guy, and the twelve and thirteen year old bullies backed off fast.

I boxed Golden Gloves like I said before, even won a regional championship when I was fifteen, but I soon realized I would never be good enough to make a career out of it. Still, the skills I learned came in handy from time to time. That afternoon, I found my old gloves and worked with him. Soon we were sparring or training four days a week. It paid off when he knocked the shit out of two bullies a year later, and they weren't even picking on him.

I only had five weeks to go on my contract, and had told them I would not renew. It was time to go home. Under the circumstances, they waived my final weeks, wishing me well and making me promise to keep them in mind if I wanted to come back.

When I got there, he was in a coma and it didn't look good.

"What happened?"

Mom sighed.

"Things haven't been going well for him lately. He lost his wife because she cheated on him with his best friend, then his company closed. He started drinking. They say it was a factor in the wreck."

We held vigil, we prayed, but eight days later he passed.

His ex was at visitation for a few minutes. I was going into the bathroom, and got a glimpse of a blonde hugging my mom. She was gone when I got back. She didn't go to the funeral.

Turns out I was executor of his estate. It also turned out that even though his company closed they had him on full salary and benefits for six months. He had two weeks left when he passed, so his insurance paid most of his medical bills. He also had a company paid life insurance policy of fifty thousand, double indemnity. Since he died from an accident, it paid.

He had recently changed the beneficiary to me. He also had a private policy in the same amount naming mom, so we both ended up with a hundred thousand apiece. His savings finished up the medical bill.

...

I asked mom about his exwife. He'd married about eight months after I left, and I never got to meet her.

"I liked her. She was a sweet little thing, trusting and gentle. I think she really loved him."

"If she loved him, why did they divorce?"

"He left her alone too much. He was driven to succeed, and his job called for travel and long hours. His best friend, the snake[she said this with more disgust than I had ever heard from her], seduced her. He was married, so he ruined two marriages. She begged Charley to forgive her, but he was too hurt. She ended up married to the snake. It won't take that too long to implode. She doesn't deserve it, but he does."

...

So there I was. Between my saved wages and the life insurance policy, I was sitting on a little over four hundred thousand, cash. I didn't need to find a job right away, even though the headhunter I's used before called me almost weekly with opportunities. I told him I wanted to take a few months off, I'd call when I was ready to go back to work.

I talked to my brothers' friends. I talked to the snakes' exwife.

"He's an asshole. I just was too much in love with him to see it. I'd like to say I hate her for having the affair, but she was just as much a victim as I was. I can't believe she married him."

...

Well, by now you've guessed the woman I seduced was my brothers' exwife, and the snake was Tony.

I did my research before I decided what action to take. While I was pretty much over it, my experience with my wife left me with a low regard for cheaters. I'd found Charley's journal on his computer, going back six years. He talked about meeting Chris, how he'd fallen in love with her.

He filled three pages expressing his joy when she'd agreed to marry him, more planning their future together.

The last year in he was expressing concerns about the times he left her alone, worrying that she might be drifting away from him, worrying about the innocence and gullibility that had partially drawn him to her.

The discovery of her cheating was revealed in disjointed rants and bouts of deep despair. Even then he may have forgiven her if Tony hadn't given him tapes of them together, revenge for his own wife divorcing him.

His last entry was two days before he died. Chris had called him, crying, begging for a chance to talk to him. He was thinking of it and Tony found out and sent him some more tapes. Charley seemed to think Chris didn't know she was being taped.

He had been drinking the night he died, but the autopsy showed he was well below the legal limit. I think he had too much on his mind and wasn't paying attention.

...

It was amazingly easy to slip into their lives. I applied for and got a job at his company, making about a third of what I was overseas. I shrugged during the interview when the HR man asked why I was there instead of still overseas.

"I got tired of it, and lonely. When all you do is work and can see women once every thirteen weeks, you don't have much of a life. I want to meet somebody, settle down. You can't meet Miss Right when your address is all wrong."

It seemed to satisfy them, so the next week I was working beside him. He was just as arrogant and egotistical as I thought he would be. In three weeks I'd been invited to their boys night out at a local pub every Thursday, where I bought the cheap bastard drinks until he was out of it. I talked to the other guys, and to a man they didn't care for him.

"Watch your woman whens he's around. He's a jerk, but he's got a line of shit and when he turns on the charm he could talk a nun out of her panties. Sad, really. His wife is the sweetest thing you'll ever meet and smokin' hot"

After the third time drinking with them, I ended up taking him home. I pulled up, knocked on the door lightly. When she answered, I almost lost my breath. I'd seem pictures, but they didn't do her justice.

You could tell she had a nice shape under that robe, her almost platinum blonde hair straggling out of the loose ponytail. Her eyes were so blue they were startling at first. Despite their beauty, they were sad, tired, and older than her body.

Suddenly I felt unsure of my path.

"Hi. I don't know if Tony has ever talked about me, but I'm Chill. We've been working together for a while. We got a little carried away, things got a little out of hand, and we thought it best he not drive."

She shook my hand hesitantly, then held the door as I half carried, half steered him into the bedroom. He fell on the bed like a chopped tree, out instantly. I started to straighten him but she told me to leave him.

Chris walked me to the door, thanked me for watching over him, and started to close it.

"Hold on for just a second. Tell him to call me if he needs a ride to work in the morning. He can pick up his car on the way. It was a pleasure to meet you Chris. Good night."

After thanking me again. she closed the door.

I engineered a way to meet them socially. I admit Chris was a stunner, great body and long blonde hair. A little cupid's bow mouth, and really great legs. They seemed to say they had to be fantastic in order to hold up that amazing ass. She seemed nice.

Chris frowned a little when we were introduced, seeming to search her memory. I didn't have the same last name as Charley or my mom, and she had never seen me before. She'd probably seen pictures of me, all taken many years ago. I was bigger[you tend to bulk up when one of your relief valves is exercising], had much shorter hair, and a goatee.

...

Finally, I dropped the bomb on good old Tony, sending him a recording of me having sex with Chris. I had blurred my face out, so he couldn't tell who the man was screwing his wife. He ranted to me, promising death and dismemberment when he caught whoever it was. He also promised to kick Chris out.

"First I'm gonna teach that bitch a lesson. She won't have much to offer in the way of looks to her new man when I'm done with her."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say, Tony. Is she worth going to jail over?

Walk away, man." I was really hoping he'd ignore my advice. I didn't want her physically hurt, but seeing him do a little jail time wouldn't displease me. I called Chris.

"Time to go to Plan B. Tony knows, I don't know how. We must not have been as careful as we thought. He's pretty pissed and on his way home."

"Go to my house, pull into the garage and close the doors. DO NOT answer the door if he comes over, call the cops immediately. I'll be home shortly and we'll plan what to do next."

I already knew what to I was gonna do next. The house was a rental, the car was a lease, and my job was pretty much a joke. We were getting out of town as fast as we could.

She had already moved a lot of small stuff, and she didn't want the furniture. I did have her go to the bank and take exactly half of their money out of their checking and savings account, making her put it into an account in her name only. Mostly just to piss him off. It worked.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch!" he ranted while at work. He's just been served, in front of everyone.

"Leave it alone. From what you said she didn't take anything more than she would have gotten anyway, Say you do find her and beat the shit out of her. You get a free trip to jail, and any money you have left will go to bail and lawyers. You might even do jail time. She's left you in the dust, man." Tommy, another friend, was actually making sense for a change.

"Amazingly enough, Tom is actually right this time. She obviously doesn't want to be with you anymore. Turn her loose and get another. It seems to be pretty easy for you." He'd done a lot of bragging about his abilities.

The asshole smirked, thinking of the possibilities the future held.

"You're right, I guess. Still pisses me off, though. And I'd still like to know who the bastard is."

...

After we moved, I sent him a nice video, not blurring my face. When the sex scenes were over, including me coming in all her orifices, there was a few minutes of me smiling into the camera, explaining in detail why I'd done what I did.

"He was my brother, you sonofabitch! A good guy, and he didn't deserve the shit you heaped on him. In my opinion, a lot of the reason he's dead is you. You need to think about your lifestyle. Ben sent me a picture of your face after he was done with you. Wonder who told him you were sniffing after Judy? Oh wait, that was me. My biggest hope is next time you fuck another married woman, the man gets pissed off enough to kill you. If I find out, I'll dig until I find the guy and have a nice talk with him. My best advice to you is move, and start over. The guys are watching you now, the word is out."

I heard later he did try another woman, and got two broken ribs and extremely bruised testicles for his trouble. Not my doing, the guy found out on his own. If he hadn't done it in a bar Tony would have been killed. The guy had to pay his hospital bills, serve six months in community service, and attend anger management counseling.

A big part of the trial was a detailed description of his past exploits given to the defense lawyer by me. After sentencing, the Judge told Tony he needed to get a new hobby, before the one he had now of bedding married women got him killed. I actually attended the trial, willing to give testimony. After hearing my story, the lawyer declined, but still asked me to come to keep him unbalanced. I could tell by the look in his eyes he wanted to jump me, but for once he was smart enough to listen to his lawyer.

...

We moved back to my home town. The first time we went to see my mother, she was in shock. We had a pleasant visit, and after we went home I explained why I did what I did. She cried, realizing she'd been used once again.

"What happens now? You gonna throw me out? Got your rocks off and your revenge so now you're done with me?"

I deserved her tirade, so I took it in silence until she ran out of things to call me.

"You're right. I'm a horrible person. But if you'll admit it, you deserved at least some of it.

I had every intention of putting you on the streets when I was done, but I've actually started having feelings for you. Here's the deal. Stay with me, at least until we have our emotions sorted out. If you want to leave or I decide you should go, I promise to give you enough money to find a place and live reasonably well for six months. After that, you're on your own. Deal?"

She accepted the deal, and we lived as man and wife for eight months. Chris decided that constant sex was the way to my heart, and she nearly fucked me to death for the first six months. And she was the best I ever had. Some people can paint, others, write, some are mechanical or mathematical geniuses. Her talent was sex. She was inventive, funny, and there wasn't a thing that two people could do she wouldn't try.

Non sexually, I found her funny and endearing. I'd asked her what she wanted to do with her life when we first got together, and a month later she showed me some pottery. They were works of art in clay, funny, sad, some mostly for decoration, but many pieces were functional. Most surprising, they were by her.

Seems she had apprenticed to her uncle, one of the noted potters of the area. He was a big deal, even had pots in the National Gallery and the Smithsonian. She wanted to start doing it again, so I leased her a small building and bought her everything she needed to set up shop. The sex was so intense when I told her what I'd done I was afraid if I didn't get blood flowing back up to my head I'd suffer permanent brain damage.

She worked six days a week for three months, then put an ad in the paper for a Saturday sale. Many remembered her uncle and the turnout was substantial. She gave everyone who came a number, and the first time through they were allowed three pieces. If the response was indicative of what she could expect, she had a very nice business in the works. I couldn't believe what people were willing to pay. Seems sex wasn't her only talent.

Two months later I was sitting at the kitchen table when she came in. Sandy had been hinting at something more permanent up until about six weeks ago, when she dropped it. Little red flags went up all over the place. I had a professional check on her. It was a fellow potter, one she had been close to when she first learned the trade. They had been together at least three times, at her shop. I didn't even know the couch in her office was a foldout.

One look and she knew. To her credit, she didn't try to plead or bargain. She just sighed and asked if she could have until the weekend to get her things out.

I gave her the time she wanted, and a little money to tide her over until her business was on firmer ground. Charley would have wanted that.

The sad truth was I'd expected her to do it. I had investigated her past, and found one boyfriend and one fiancee she had cheated on. With Charley, it was just business as usual. If she had stayed with Tony and I hadn't entered the picture, it would have been someone else, eventually. Over the next twenty years, she married and divorced four more times, caused by her cheating in every single relationship. She even warned the last two, and they married her anyway.

...

I didn't hang around. I called the headhunter and he had me back in Saudi Arabia six weeks later. I did two more contracts, adding to my nest egg. It was close to three quarters of a million now, thanks to a smart investment councilor.

This was just after the economy tanked, and I was looking to buy a nice house, or maybe some investment property. The realtor showed me some pretty nice properties, but all were wrong for a variety of reasons. Then the real estate agent showed me a set of apartments, twelve duplexes in pretty poor shape. Structurally they were sound, but had been neglected for years.