Let's Not Split Hairs

The next few days were crazy. I tried my best to act as normally as possible, but when you feel physically sick at any hint of intimate contact, it is hard to hide that something is weird. Rachel seemed to accept my excuse of work problems as the reason for my weirdness. I had to get away again. Being close to Rachel was driving me nuts with anger. Two days later, I made the call to go away again, pretending that this was a longer than usual stay away.

Rachel accepted it as one of my usual absences and didn't wait long to call dickhead Miguel over as usual.

This time it would different, however. As soon as he arrived at our house, in Rachel's car, I called 911, on a phone I had purchased at the local 711.

"Hi. This is John Rodrigues. I think my brother, Miguel has been kidnapped and is being held at 25 Miles Parade. (My address). Please hurry. There is a woman in the house with him and I think she is armed. Hurry! Please hurry!"

I hung up before the call centre could start to ask identifying questions. The wait near my usual tree alcove was going to be great! It was less than five minutes later that I heard the sirens. I couldn't have asked for a better response. A police cruiser, an ambulance, a first response SWAT unit and, to top it all off, a roaming news crew with live broadcast capability came to a screaming, noisy halt in front of our house. These guys, I found out later we're doing just such an exercise in a quieter part of the neighbourhood when the call came in. Talk about coincidence! Heavily armed para-military looking soldiers fanned out around the house, climbing the back fence as well. The camera crew caught the action live and in full colour!

"This is going better than expected," I thought.

The sirens calmed down to be replaced by a loud hailer announcing that the police were here. The speaker requested that all occupants of the house had twenty seconds to come out of the house. Miguel Rodrigues' name was also repeated many times and it was requested that if he was in the house, he needed to make himself known and exit through the front door.

There was no exit from the front door, so the decision was made quickly for the SWAT team to enter. Stun grenades were heard, followed by smoke grenades. These guys knew their stuff! Within twenty seconds, two semi-naked individuals were dragged out through the front door and placed, rather roughly face down on the front lawn. Handcuffs on, they were stood up. Rachel's naked breasts were on full display as were dickhead's goods. The tv crew were having a field day. One of the policewomen felt sorry for Rachel and offered a coat to her. Rachel gladly accepted and was seen to try to cover herself while her hands were cuffed. The coat did hide the naughty bits, but it was clear that she was as naked as daylight underneath. Nobody worried about dickhead. I wonder if anyone else would notice that he was rather lacking in the dick department. To be fair, maybe it was the situation which made his cock cockshy! I had to snigger.

It took the police a while to ascertain the facts of the situation and reluctantly release the two individuals, but the damage was done.

After all of the responders had returned to base, the neighbourhood was in a whirl. Gossip abounded and I had to make myself scarce in case I was identified. The fun was had. Now it was time to wait until the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Mrs Amanda Rodrigues received an anonymous phone call to inform her that there was an interesting news broadcast on that night.

The news broadcast was indeed interesting! Obviously, no naked bits were shown, but it was extremely clear that the couple was naked. The couple was identified as a Mrs Rachel Wildthorpe and a Mr Miguel Rodrigues. They were not husband and wife, but were found naked in the residence of the Wildthorpes. No comment was offered by the couple, except to say that the couple would be suing the authorities for wrongful arrest.

"Hi Rach," I asked as I phoned her that night. It took all of my self-control to stop from laughing as I spoke. "How was your day?"

"Oh, umm, hi Tom. It was ok. Have you seen the news yet tonight?"

"No, not yet. I have some reports to finish. I'll probably get to see the late news before I crash." I wanted to drag out her anxiety by adding, "It isn't the same as our local news though. Why? Did something happen that I should know about?" This would be interesting!

"Umm, no not really, but we will need to talk when you get back."

"That sounds ominous! Ok, I'll see you in a couple of days. Bye," and I hung up. This would ring alarm bells in Rachel's mind. I have never hung up on her.

I don't know what happened in the Rodrigues household that night, but it seemed that asshole was not living there at present. Apparently he camped out at work. His father's car dealership had a fully self-contained flat attached which he now treated as his home.

I knew as soon as Miguel and Rachel met up again. This time they decided that our house was not a good option and besides, the neighbours were all now very keen to find out what was going on in the Wildthorpe household. The hotel which they chose was managed by Tom Whirls. Tom was an honest, hard working individual who hated what his hotel was often used for. He could pick immediately a couple who were not kosher. The couple who hired a room that night did not look right. This feeling was confirmed when a well-dressed gentleman entered his office shortly after the dodgy couple went to their room. He politely asked which room the recent customers had hired. He also placed a rather large amount of money on the front counter and requested a spare key to that room. Tom was bothered by this. He was an honest man. Bribes only came back later to haunt.

The well-dressed man, who then introduced himself as Roger, explained the reason for his request. Now this was a different matter. Tom agreed. The money also went into the til.

The two cheaters, who were both naked and engaged in the famous '69' position, were beyond surprised when their room seemed suddenly rather crowded. There was a man in a suit holding two Manila envelopes and another man, the hotel manager holding a video camera. This camera was a nice touch. I had offered the process server extra cash if he could get the action in digital glory!

Mr suited guy asked Rachel, "Are you Mrs Rachel Wildthorpe?"

All Rachel could do was nod, 'yes' while trying to cover herself.

"You have been served." This was said very coldly and clinically as she was handed one of the envelopes.

Before Rachel could even sob, he turned to Miguel. "Are you Mr Miguel Rodrigues?"

"Yes I am! What of it asshole?"

"You, sir, have also been served." With that Miguel was also handed an envelope.

The two extra men left the room to sounds of shouting and arguing interspersed by sobs and loud wailing.

As you can imagine, shortly after that, my cell phone rang hot. It was one call after another, interspersed by the tell-tale pings of incoming messages. I ignored all of them, not in any mood to engage in any sort of communication with my cheating soon to be ex-wife. I did call Megan and informed her of what had gone down. She wished me luck and again reiterated that she loved me and would always be there for me. She also said she would turn her cell phone off and that if I needed to speak to her, I could call her best friend Amanda. After I recorded the new number, I hung up. Rachel would now be incommunicado with Megan and myself.

I called a local realtor and explained that I needed a short term, about six month tenancy in an area close to my work. The agent, a Ms Jones, pointed me to a few possibilities along with their internet brochures. I phoned her back after thirty minutes, informing her of the one I had chosen. It was a neat one bedroom, fully furnished apartment on the second floor of a gated community only ten minutes walk from my office. Perfect! I especially loved the fact that it was gated. There would be no uninvited door knocks at weird times.

All I needed now was all of my belongings.

I really didn't want to meet with Rachel at this point, so I devised a plan for her to be out of the house. All I needed was two hours. I had a trailer hooked up to my car and three work mates ready to go. My burner phone was going to be very useful!

Rachel was a mess. First the home invasion by the SWAT team and that very embarrassing semi-arrest. She was sure that the whole neighbourhood had seen her in all her naked glory. Her years of infidelity was now fully exposed to the world. Strangely, she hoped beyond hope that Tom would not see this.

The arrest incident was not enough to keep her and Miguel separated for long. They clung to their need to be together even after that embarrassing expose. Their need found them again meeting up at a hotel. Then, being served at the hotel. Life couldn't get any messier.

For the umpteenth time over the last few days, she shook her head and reflected how she had landed in this pile of shit. There was no doubt in her mind that her predicament was entirely of her own making. Apart from the frequent absences, her husband was the best. He doted on her, he worked hard to make enough for a comfortable lifestyle, he loved her. She knew that deep in her heart. So why did she carry on an affair with Miguel? It's not like he was any better in bed than Tom. He didn't have the time to spend romancing her, as he did when they first met. That was mainly due now to his wife and daughter. That trophy wife who was so acceptable to the high and mighty Rodrigues family.

Old man Rodrigues hated Rachel from the start. And his wife Maria always looked at her as if she was some sort of 'puta', just for going out with their precious son. Rachel's family didn't live in the well-to-do side of town, but they were good, solid folk, hard-working, salt of the earth people. Obviously not good enough for the Rodrigues clan. Their constant comments and haranguing slowly wore Miguel down to the point that he was reticent to even speak with Rachel. He loved the sex and he loved being with her, but every time they met, Rachel could see the over-the-shoulder glances and the guilt on his face. He eventually ended their relationship. It broke Rachel's heart. She had given her virginity and her heart to Miguel but even though she knew he also loved her, his family had a stronger pull on his heart than her. She hated that family with a passion.

She heard that Miguel had gone from girlfriend to girlfriend over the next two years, never settling on any one. "Maybe none of them are good enough for the Rodrigues family either?" she thought with a certain sense of irony.

Exactly how the next stage of their relationship started was still a blur to Rachel. She saw him on campus. She was already quite heavily involved with Tom and knew that he was the man to be her husband, but Miguel had this attraction for her. It wasn't the sex. What was it?

Maybe in some way, it was revenge on the Rodrigues family for the cruel way she was treated by them. She thought about that idea often, but realised the relationship between herself and Miguel wasn't as shallow as that. It was more. She just couldn't let go of her first love, even though Tom was there also.

She and Miguel met discreetly frequently while at university. Rachel at first felt guilty about cheating on Tom. She knew it was cheating as her and Tom had discussed exclusivity many times. It was all so easy! Tom was stressed to the eyeballs finding time to study. He found time to be with her whenever he could, but she still had swathes of time to spend with Miguel. The cheating became easier and easier until it became a habit. One that was hard to break, even after she and Tom were married. She was always discreet with Miguel, making sure that any liaisons were at times when Tom was snowed under at work, or off on one of his many field trips.

It was all going well for Rachel, until that fateful day that she knew she was pregnant. She never used condoms with Miguel, foolishly relying on the 'rhythm method' to avoid pregnancy. For nine months Rachel could not be sure who the father of the baby was going to be. She prayed to any god who would listen that the baby was Tom's, but part of her secretly was intrigued by the idea that it might be Miguel's love child. The constant angst and questions about the paternity of her child played on Rachel. She later wondered if this unsettled pregnancy in some way caused the frail constitution of Megan's health.

As soon as she held little Megan in her arms, she knew. It was Miguel's. She knew without a doubt. The hair colour, the eyes, all told a story of infidelity, but Tom, her sweet husband Tom, only had eyes for the sweet glory of the moment. His beautiful wife and now mother of his child was all that filled his senses. He didn't't have a clue. Rachel cried with joy, as most new mothers do, but her tears also were mixed with guilt. Guilt over what she knew she had to do. She had to ensure that for all intents and purposes, Megan was Tom's and her's. She was determined to follow that line for as long as possible. Of course she told Miguel, but also insisted that Megan be brought up as the daughter of herself and Tom. Miguel and her continued their liaisons as before with one exception. He had to use condoms! This wasn't going to happen again.

When Megan was about to celebrate her first birthday, Rachel deepened the deception by dying Megan's hair to something resembling Tom's colour. Many commented at her birthday party about her beautiful light brown hair, just like Tom's!

Life went on with the infidelity continuing.

Then Miguel got married.

At first, Rachel was furious, but eventually, rationally, realised that she couldn't stop Miguel from finding a wife. She had no claim on him, apart from the fact of Megan, who was now approaching adolescence. Miguel's wife, Amanda, was stunning! She came from a rich local family, well connected to a real estate development company.

Rachel was sure that her liaisons with Miguel would stop now that he had a beautiful wife. Surely he wouldn't cheat on Amanda! Her conscious brain didn't register the hypocrisy of her being willing to cheat on Tom, but that the same standard would not apply to Miguel. She was intrigued and quietly pleased that Miguel made it quite clear that their clandestine relationship would continue.

Back to the present and that dammed live TV coverage of the SWAT team deployment at their house. Rachel may have been worried about the possibility that Tom would see the report, but she hadn't banked on old man Rodrigues. Giuseppe Rodrigues was an avid watcher of the news channels and when he saw the TV report, he knew immediately what was going on. "That stupid, stupid son of mine!" he shouted at the mega screen in front of him. "Why does he always think with his dick?" Part of him understood the need for a man, especially a Rodrigues man, to bed as many women as possible, but he curbed his desires when he married Maria. She wasn't his first choice either. His parents and her parents had arranged their marriage without his input, but over the years he grew to respect, not so much love, this woman. This woman, Maria, who came from a well-healed family and who settled into the role of a dutiful wife and mother. A role that she was prepared for from birth. This woman who stoically endured twenty-four hours of hard labour to birth Miguel then to be told by the doctor that the difficult birth ensured she would not be able to have any more children. This woman who molly-coddled their son, Miguel. This woman who almost willed her son to quickly grow up and sire her some grandchildren. This woman who watched with trepidation as her son meandered from one meaningless relationship to another and then finally attempted to settle for a Danish 'puta'. One that didn't meet the Rodrigues' clan requirements.

This woman who quietly waited and fretted for the right girl to surface while the cancer spread silently and insidiously throughout her body until she died without ever holding a grandchild.

"Yes," thought Giuseppe. "Maria would roll over in her grave if she could see what her spoiled son had been up to."

The Rodrigues clan would not be happy. There would have to be an atonement. Honour demanded it. Sadly, Giuseppe realised that this may not end well for Miguel. The fact that he had been served in a sleazy hotel, along with that married puta only added to the shit being piled onto the Rodrigues name. For some reason, the court server felt the need to inform him of that fact shortly after he served the papers on Rachel and Miguel. That wasn't normal procedure, so someone must have paid the server extra to do it. The clan needed to meet asap.

Tom used his burner phone and his most disguised voice to phone Rachel and inform her that another news crew was stationed outside her home and that it would be advisable to sleep somewhere else that night if she wanted any peace. Rachel took the advice and ubered to a different hotel. Things might look better after some sort of sleep. She still continued to attempt to contact Tom, but everything just went to voicemail, until the number would not respond at all. Megan's phone was the same. With no Miguel, no Tom and no Megan, Rachel felt strangely alone for perhaps the first time in her life.

Meanwhile, when it became clear that Rachel would not be coming back home, me and my crew went to work. First, everything of mine was loaded into the car and moving trailer. Some had to be put into the helpers' cars as well.

Next, all of Rachel's belongings were roughly packed into moving boxes and stacked into the garage. All of Megan's gear also went with mine. All of the furniture was disassembled and placed into the garage as well. luckily it was a double garage!

The last item of business was to change all of the locks except the garage automatic door. The internal door from the garage to the interior of the house was double bolted from the inside. Rachel now had access to her belongings and all of the furniture if she so chose, but the house, our previous house was off limits and completely empty. Of course I left the original garage opener in its usual hiding place just in case Rachel didn't take her key set with her. See I wasn't a complete prick!

This was a hell of a job and I certainly owed my team big time!

Miguel received the summons from his father shortly after being served. Miguel knew that the serving process was not of concern to him with regard to his father's summons. But what could be so important? He knew that when his father made a summons in such a way, it left no doubt that it had to be obeyed, and fast. Miguel was very nervous as he drove the distance to the family estate just out of town. If he was nervous on the drive, he nearly wet his pants and fainted when he drove onto the round entryway. There, parked in order of hierarchy, were all of the cars he knew so well since childhood. "Holy shit! A clan gathering is being held," he thought aloud as he parked his car with all of the others. He was obviously the lowest on the hierarchical list, as his was the last car to arrive. All of his uncles and surviving other close relatives would be there. It was obvious that a huge decision, one which would likely affect the whole clan in some way, was about to be made.

Because he didn't know the topic of the forthcoming discussion, Miguel, apart from being nervous, was very excited. He had never been allowed to attend when he was younger and since then, these meetings were a rarity. He almost ran into the great hall of his family home. There they all were, arranged around a huge oak table. At the head was his dad, Giuseppe Rodrigues. Even though his relationship with his father was strained over the years, mainly due to his poor choices with women, he couldn't help but feel more than a little proud of his father, the head of the Rodrigues clan. It was a position that Miguel hoped he could also attain one day.