Just Once, Never Again

"Genny I say, unconsciously stroking her head, "At the moment sex is the last thing on my mind. If anything you are the one I should be thanking after what my wife has laid on me. Believe me, and please do not take this wrongly, You have given me a distraction from my misery and the fact that that distraction needs and deserves help, makes me feel better because I can supply that help. Now if it makes you happier, how about I give you a job as my housekeeper and I will pay y..."

"No, I will keep house for you but you will not pay me."

"How are you going to pay for room and board then?" I ask with a grin. "Not to mention the car hire," as I slide over the spare set of keys for Marcy's car and keys for the new locks I will be fitting tomorrow. The horror in her face is quickly replaced by a grin and then a giggle as she realises I am teasing her. "I have set up a profile on the PC for you to use to look for somewhere to live and anything else you may need or want to do, or even just to entertain those three wonderful children of yours.

With the ice now fully broken we settle down and actually talk to each other as friends. She talks about the triplets and how were the result of an ex-boyfriend pressuring her to do more than she was ready for and when she said no to a second try he dumped her, when the kids were born he was so proud of his "manhood" and potency for siring three children he and his cronies had managed to get hold of some liquor and after getting drunk drove his car and ran into the front of a semi, killing himself and his passengers. She does not mention any other boyfriends.

Me, I talk about my kids, and my own childhood and the poverty I grew up in. We retire to our own beds, as soon as I walk in my room I see that my camping equipment is still laid out on my bed, I stash it all on the floor, I don't want to wake the kids up.

As is my norm, I am up at 05:30, I have a quick swill, a glass of juice and go off for a run, getting back just before 07:00. They are all still in bed, so I put some coffee on, get out plates, bowls, cereal and cutlery. I have just enough time to pour myself a coffee when two whispering boys come creeping into the kitchen with their GI Joes in their hands. I pour them juice and help them with some cereal, I had forgotten how pleasant yet annoying children can be.

Gayle and Genny arrive a little later and I serve them their breakfasts. The kids chatter incessantly, Genny looks a little uncomfortable and says very little.

Greta arrives jut after 09:00 and gladly watches the children while Genny and I finish clearing out her house and taking anything she does not want to keep to the dump. She does not say anything but I know leaving her home, especially under these conditions is troubling. I am not usually very sympathetic, but for some reason my heart just goes out to this poor woman and her innocent cherubs.

I don't leave until after dinner, I bid the children and Genny goodbye, promise the kids I will bring them a present each and jumping in my jeep, I head out for Louisiana.

My first destination is about 850 miles from here, Doogle says it'll take me the best part of fourteen hours to get there with no stops or holdups.

I drive for just over nine hours with only two potty breaks before I pull in to a motel to hit the sack for a few hours. I leave soon after I am awake and arrive near my destination at just before 19:00 hours and begin to look for a place to stash the jeep, a place that is surprisingly easy to find.

It is an isolated run down gas station, the owner must be in his sixties, dirty, smelly, with a toothless grin and a strong Cajun accent. It is hard work conversing with him, his accent is so strong and I don't think he had ever spoken with anyone from over a ten mile radius apart from the tanker drivers delivering the gas. I arrange for him to keep an eye on the jeep for a couple of nights for $50 up front, 25 a day and another 50 when I come back and an agreement to forget I was ever there.

He watches me leave on foot with a small pack on my back, I guess he figures I am some middle-aged fool going through my second childhood and I am liable to get killed trying to bag an alligator single-handed. No, my plan is to avoid any gators, just to get through the terrain. It is many years since I have been in a jungle and I figure hiking my way through a few swamps may refresh my memory and my muscles. True the swamps of Louisiana are not the jungles of south America, but they are both overgrown dark damp places, where anything living wants to feed on you; plants included.

I sleep on a hammock and inside a mosquito net during the day and travel in darkness. Aside from a few scratches and bumps I get to the other side in two nights, turning around and heading back for a few hours. I say no injuries besides bumps and scratches and that's true, but the pain from my muscles as they relearn to work in long forgotten ways is also something that I have forgotten. I see a few gators, I also see some wild pigs, snakes, birds and shadows of god knows what moving in the undergrowth.

I travel into the daylight on the last day as I know I am near the end of the trek. I arrive at the gas station before midday.

After I leave the gas station, I start looking for two things, somewhere where I can scrub up and eat, pack rations, well you can live on 'em, I am also looking for a new home, maybe with a little bit of land.

Two hours later I have a hotel room, I have showered, changed and made arrangements with a realtor to view one of the places I saw this afternoon and another in the morning. Now I am sitting down in an eatery, nursing a soda and waiting for a waitress to bring me something called boudin balls, with a side of something else called maque choux.

The food is not as spicy as I expected and that is not a complaint, it still leaves the mouth tingling and it is lovely, if I buy either of the places I have seen I will definitely be coming here for more.

Although I am at the house in good time the realtor is there before me, he too has a thick local accent, but with a name like Prejean I am not surprised. It is soon apparent that it will need a lot of hard work and money to make the house liveable, more I think than I am prepared to give.

I do not tell him no, but I do tell him I am wanting to look at other properties in the area, he pulls out a catalogue of houses for sale and I see three more places, all smaller, I arrange to meet him early afternoon at one of them.

I go to the same eatery for supper and I am served with gumbo and fresh bread, it is much spicier than my earlier pork sausage balls and corn, peppers and onion blend.

I am in my hotel bed by 22:00, I am just getting to sleep when a knock on the door pulls me back to consciousness, not expecting a visitor, keeping the door closed and clutching my glock I ask the visitor to identify themselves. "I seen y'all alone fella, you want company?" Great, a hooker, jeez if I wanted to spend a night with a slut I could have stayed at home.

"No thanks," I say.

"Come on big Rick, You need what I'm offering."

Wtf, how does she know my name? I cautiously crack the door open. I see a woman, big hair, big breasts, short skirt and a strong odour of cheap perfume."

"Come on Ricky, I got what you need."

I suddenly catch on and with a grin, I throw open the door, grab the woman's arm and pull her into my room. As soon as I slam the door I greet my visitor, "Hey Dee, still turning tricks I see."

"You wish you old fossil."

"You can talk, you're only two months younger than me you dried up old honey pot."

They both laugh and hug each other

"Looking good Rick."

"Looking like a cheap tramp, Dee."

"Good, that is what I am going for."

Dee has done all I had asked of her, she goes through everything in detail, making sure I had everything firmly fixed in my mind before relaxing and talking like the old comrades we are.

We talk until the early hours, she leaves just before 04:00, I grab three hours before getting up and ready to meet with the realtor at the first house.

The house itself is sound, for now, there are a couple of things that if not seen to soon will be a problem, other than that, a lick of paint and it will look nearly new. It is on a parcel of land running up to some woodland on two sides, it is very reasonably priced, my only problems with it, first is the size, it is huge, the ground floor is a two car garage a really big 'L' shaped living room, a kitchen and a latrine, upstairs are five big bedrooms, two with en-suite bathrooms and a larger bathroom, The second thing I do not like, is the bathrooms, everything really needs replacing.

The next two, although nearer the size I want are not in any better condition that the first I looked at with the other realtor, I am hoping that the first realtor I talked to yesterday will be able to offer me something better when I meet with him this afternoon.

I eat again at the same eatery, this time turning my attention to some Jambalaya, whew, that made me sit up and take notice.

I meet again with the first realtor and the places he shows me are small and only just inhabitable, the better of them had very little land, I think about taking the big place I saw this morning and splitting it down the middle and renting out half of the house. I still have a few weeks to make up my mind, I tell him I will let him know in the next couple of weeks if I choose one of his.

I spend another night in the hotel before moving on to my next swamp.

I find another gas station to stow the jeep and repeat my earlier excursion, this swamp is bigger but I get through it almost as quickly as I had the first and without so much muscle ache. I had less luck looking for houses, I do check out a couple, but there was no need to even contact the realtors selling them. I do however make a preliminary decision about one of the houses I have already seen.

I arrive home fifteen days after leaving, just as Genny is putting the kids to bed, I had tried to get there earlier, but traffic.

The kids barrelled into me as soon as I walk in the house, hugging me and asking with the innocence of young children much to their mothers chagrin, "where are our presents?"

I reach into the sack I have brought in and give them their gifts, vehicles to go with the dolls I already gave them. I also have another gift for Genevieve that I intend giving her later.

After she gets her children settled we open a bottle of wine and talk. She is despondent as she tells me of her unsuccessful search for somewhere to live, the only places she has found that she can afford are worse than the one I stopped her moving to. I tell her a little about the swamps glossing over most of it and not revealing the reasons for doing it, I also tell her about my search for a new home. I then pull out her gifts, telling her I have kept receipts if anything does not fit.

"She seems overjoyed at first but I see the cogs whirring in her head, "they're lovely, bu it's just a waste, I will never go anywhere to justify wearing such fine clothes."

"I thought you might say that so I am now asking you to have dinner with me, at a place where you will not look out of place."

I see immediately where her head is going and say, "Before you go accusing me of ulterior motives, I will repeat what I have told you before. There will be no demands from me to compromise you honour. Now talking of honour, I will be grateful if you would try them on to see if I have ought the correct sizes.

Although I am really good at estimating sizes on a woman I had to guess how much, if any, weight she may have put on. The dress is a little loose, but still hangs in a flattering way, the shoes fit perfectly. I had thought about lingerie, but expected that would be viewed as too much and just bought her several shades of pantihose.

I somehow did not expect her to model the clothes, but she comes out from her bedroom looking a million dollars, did a couple of twirls and hugs me, she feels so much better than when I had held her sobbing frame before I left. The hug lasts longer than I expected, I had thought about making my offer to her over dinner but I couldn't stop myself from blurting it out, " I did find one place, a fixer upper with a good bit of land, the trouble is it is huge, if I buy that I will need a housekeeper, so will you take that job I offered?" The look she gives me shows me her distrust, "Look, I am serious, there are no strings attached, you'll have locking doors and your own car. Forget it, you obviously don't trust me, possibly any man."

She releases her hold and goes back to her room, she does not return and I sit there cursing my big mouth.

The following morning, when I get back from my run the boys are arguing, I am embarrassed when I find out why. They are arguing over which, GI Joe is me and both want their GI Joe to marry Barbie, their mother, Gary says, with spite, "Your Joe is not Mr Rick, he is Grandad," that was it, world war three breaks out and they get physical. I separate them and ask them why they are acting as they are.

Gerry sobbing says, he said my Joe is Grandad, it's not true I hate him he is a nasty man."

"Gayle joins in saying he hit mommy and threw her out when she made us."

I am shocked, I had noticed there was some awkwardness from Genny if he was mentioned and very little mention from her mother of her husband considering I know they are still together, but having met Greta I had not expected Genny's father to be less involved. What sort of father chucks his daughter out for getting pregnant these days?

I tell the boys that the GI Joes are neither their grandfather and are not me. I tell them that their mother and me are only friends and we have no thoughts of getting married, Gayle says she is glad that we are not getting married because all the men that love their Mommy, tell lies and throw them out. She suddenly looks fearful and I see her looking behind me, As I turn to see why, I hear a sob and see Genny running to her room and I immediately regret my choice of toys. I reassure the kids and tell them I am going to try and put things right with their mother and I need them to behave themselves whilst I am talking to her.

I tap gently on her door and get no response, I tap a little louder and hear, "Go away," I reply with, " I hope you are decent because I am coming in."

I slowly open the door and peer around it, only to be welcomed with a flying pillow.

I catch a second one and say as gently as I can, "the boys think you are crying because of your father and Gayle thinks you're crying because I said we are not getting married, me, I don't know why, I just wish that I have not been the cause of your upset."

"No it's not you..."

"Nonsense, if I had not given them those particular toys, they would not have been arguing."

"They're three four year olds, of course they'll be arguing," she says forcing a smile.

"I told them that if they were good and I could get you to smile we could go somewhere nice, so how about it, will you smile for them, a real smile."

"I'll try... for them. Are you sure you want to be seen with me."

"Why on earth would you ask that of me?"

"Because my clothes are in a dreadful state."

"That is only temporary, especially if you come and work as my housekeeper."

"Stop saying that or I will start thinking you are serious."

I say, "I am," and that sets off the tears again. I want to cradle her in my arms and comfort her, I hesitantly begin to reach for her when the door bursts open and three children run in and start hitting me, "Stop making our mom cry, you're just like our granddad."

"No! Mr Rick is nothing like your grandad, he is kind and I am only crying because he is making me happy."

I say "I am?" as I feel relief wash over me.

"Yes, I'll clean myself up and try and make myself presentable."

"Wash away your tears and brush your hair and I will be proud to be at your side. Now kids, who wants to help me unpack from my trip?"

Half hour later, even with my three helpers, my camping kit is either in the wash, or stowed until I need them again. I then clean the inside of the jeep and then wash it, leading to Genevieve having to redress her giggling children in dry clothes.

Our first destination is Walmart, I buy three car seats for the kids and get them to cajole their mother to allow me to get her some new clothes, just some jeans and t-shirts, she complains and is still complaining when I tell her I will take it out of her wages." To my surprise she smiles at my comment.

We have a conference and decide on a place called Mystery Hill as it is only about an hours drive from our location.

The kids really enjoy themselves with the activities as do their mother and I, although I must admit, most of my pleasure is from seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter from my four companions, there is one thing I do find fascinating, it is one of a few places on earth with a gravitational anomaly. I make up my mind that when all the shit with my wife is done I am going to find out more about this strange phenomena.

We stop at a fried chicken place on the way home and the kids are all asleep in the car five minutes after leaving the restaurant. Back at home we carry them to bed and once they are settled we sit down with some wine and a couple of snacks and she brings up with no prompting from me, what happened to destroy her relationship with her father.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you are not particularly religious?"

"Yes, you are correct, I only go to church because it is expected of me. I think a lot of people are of the same opinion. I always want to laugh when I hear these TV preachers say there are no atheists in foxholes, in my experience many atheists are born in foxholes, yes many young inexperienced soldiers do cry out to their god for help but most seasoned soldiers curse him for not caring."

"Really, I suppose I shouldn't be shocked by that, but I am, I guess that's my upbringing. For me, I can say the same as you, my father however, is a full bat shit crazy bible believing lay preacher."

"So he did kick you out because you were unmarried and pregnant?"

She drains her second glass, I pour her another and she drinks half before speaking again, "He was angry and said some unkind words, but that was not why he threw me out. He did that because of what I said." She finishes that glass and pours herself another, "I am worried that if you know what I said it will be too much for you and you will throw us out as well, so please I am begging you, please let us stay until the morning, don't throw my babies out into the night."

"Genevieve, I am sure there is nothing you can say that will make me do that, but I am not going to pressure you, if you are not comfortable telling me, the solution is easy, don't tell me."

"Thanks for that, but I want to be totally honest with you. You have been so good to us and I admit it, I thought the worst of you, I could not believe you were doing all you were doing just because you wanted to help, I could not and I'm still haying trouble believing that you really are not expecting me to umm pay you off so to speak."

I take hold of the hand without the glass in it and look into her eyes, "Genny, you are an attractive woman with a beautiful heart, soul, personality or whatever you want to call your inner you and yes, another time, another place I would be very much chasing you, but right here, right now, all I am after is a friend and I am very lucky because that friend has three of the five most precious kids in the world and for the moment is allowing me to share their lives and bring me some joy in what is possibly the worst time of my life."

"My god Rick, how could I have been so selfish, I have been so centred on my problems #i haven't given a seconds thought to what you are going through."