Marita at Bat

"And you explained?"

"Of course. I told him you had known the kids years ago and that you volunteered to take them camping with another couple of kids and their parents. I made it sound so simple and I tried to point out that this gave us an opportunity to be alone and, well, you know."

"That should have gotten him interested," I smiled.

"You would think so, but he shut me down. Any hopes for romance flew out the window. I don't know what to do, Manny. He is so good with Juan and also Isabella, but he's got this thing about any other male in our lives."

"Ahh, Marita, maybe it's better I pull back a bit. I don't want him getting angrier at you or, for that matter, at me."

"But I like having you as a friend. Why can't I have a friend?"

"I can't answer that; only Alejandro can."

We finished our lunch fairly quickly and I headed back out to my place. I spent the afternoon Zooming online until I was half crazy. I eventually took Crash out for a quick walk. I think it settled him and me both.

The knocking on my door was loud and insistent around eight p.m. that night. I checked the peep hole and saw a Latino about my age. He appeared to be nervous, almost hyper, and I guessed it was probably Alejandro.

"Yes?" I said as I opened the door.

"Are you Manuel?"

"Sí, lo soy. And you?"

"Alejandro, Marita's guy."

"Hey, nice to meet you. She's a nice lady and you are a lucky hombre." He refused to shake my hand.

"I want you to stop seeing her and leave Juan and Isabella alone."

"OK. Sure. Uh,¿ por qué?"

"She's mine and I don't want anyone coming between us."

"Alejandro, the last thing I would ever do is come between a couple. You have my word on that. I have no...I have nothing but respect for Marita. She's a nice lady who helped my dog months ago and it turns out we had met years ago when I lived here before."

"Yeah, but what about Juan and Isabella?"

"Yeah, well, back then I met them as well. I recently spoke with Marita at the pet hospital and I offered to take the kids off her hands for a weekend."

"Yeah, well, I don't want you talking to her or taking care of her kids from now on. Understand?"

"Sure, I understand. How about Juan and Isabella? Will they understand why I've disappeared from their lives?"

"It doesn't matter. You can't be spending time with us, with Marita or with her kids."

"OK, I see. You have my word that I will not interfere in your lives. I'm just sorry that we can't be friends."

"You aren't my friend. You leave my woman alone."

"Alejandro, I have no plans to get your 'woman' and I will never move in on another man's woman. I think she has great kids and I just wanted to help them. I thought it would give you and your lady a bit of private, adult time. I'm sorry that it didn't work out like I had hoped."

"You leave us alone!"

"Consider it done. Take care," I said politely as I gently closed the door. I was fairly unhappy after his visit. It seemed he was getting to be more possessive and jealous. I had hoped he would be OK with the kids being gone, but that didn't happen. I guess he was so insecure he didn't want me or any man anywhere near Marita.

I waited a few days and called Marita at work as I didn't want any record of my contacting her on her cell phone. I left a message and a few hours later she called me back. I told her Alejandro had paid me a visit, something she had been unaware of, and that I planned on staying away from her and the kids. She was clearly getting mad but I reassured her and requested she explain things to the kids in a way that let them not to wonder about me.

I didn't see Marita or the kids for better than four weeks. Crash was doing fine and I couldn't use him as an excuse to go to the animal hospital and I never ran into her at the store.

It was a fairly hot and windy night in August when I was startled to hear a timid sounding knock on my door. I peeked out and saw her car in my driveway and when I opened the door, the kids came rushing in with her. Juan and Isabella gave me a big hug as Marita looked nervously out the door.

"Hey, everybody, what's up?" They all started to talk at once but I quickly got the idea that things blew up with Alejandro. It seems he got pissed again when she was ten minutes late coming home due to another last-minute animal emergency. This time he didn't try to hide it from the kids and they became frightened and started crying. This seemed to make him madder. He viciously teased Juan about being a pussy and told him to man-up. Marita thought he had been drinking and told him she needed to go get a take-n-bake pizza and dragged her children with her. With nowhere else to turn, she decided to see if I could help. She needed a place to stay and thought being out of town at my place would be safer.

"Are you worried about your safety?"

"Yes, Manny, I am. Kids," she said, turning to them, "I am so sorry he is acting this way. It is not your fault, I promise."

"Yeah, she's right. Alejandro isn't thinking straight and beer is probably making him worse. You guys did nothing wrong."

"But he yelled at us and called me a pussy," cried Juan.

"Hey, Kiddo, just because he's an adult doesn't make him right. Now, for the record, that's not a nice word, so let's forget we ever heard it. OK?"

"Yeah," sniffed Isabella as Juan nodded.

"Now, we need to decide what your next step is," I said to Marita. "For now, well, this is as safe a place as possible so I want you to stay here. We'll call the domestic abuse hotline and get their input. Tomorrow morning you two will call in 'sick' to school and your mom will get the day off from work. Move your car into the garage and you three will spend the night here."

"Oh, Manny, you can't be serious. That is such an imposition."

"Marita, it is what friends do: help each other. It's no big deal. Now get your car out of sight," I said and escorted her to the door. Once her car was in the garage I parked mine on a small concrete pad behind the house. I figured it would make the house look like nothing was different.

Back in the house I prepared a quick meal while Marita privately spoke to the hotline. The kids were distracted watching TV. After dinner we sorted out sleeping arrangements. Marita and Isabella would take my room, Juan got the floor of the second bedroom, which also was my office, and I took the couch in the living room. Marita protested but I reassured her I wanted to be close to the front door in case anything happened.

On Friday Marita got a lot of info and referrals for help from the hotline and reported her concerns to the sheriff who told her to stay put and let them know if anything happened. She also made plans to take a brief leave-of-absence from work and arranged for temporary home-schooling for the kids.

Friday night was also quiet and I was beginning to relax a tiny bit. We stayed inside all day Saturday but that night, before we had all turned in, there was a loud pounding on my door. I softly asked Marita to take my car keys and Crash, get the kids bundled up and at the back door.

I went to the front of the house and looked out from a crack in a curtain. Alejandro was there waving some form of a handgun as he pounded again and again on the door. I called out I would be right there and dialed 9-1-1 and told the operator that there was an armed intrusion at my place, gave the address and hung up.

Rather than stand in front of the door, I stood off to the side as I yelled out asking who was it and what did they need. I was answered with a spew of profanity in Spanglish and then demanded I tell Marita to come out.

"She's not here, Alejandro. Now, please, just go home."

"Mierda! I know she's here. There's no other place for her to go. You're hiding la puta!"

"Look, she's not here. Honest!"

"Where is she, Asshole?"

"I don't know," I answered, stalling for time. I signaled her to come over and whispered in her ear, "Sneak quietly out the back and get in the car. If you hear any gunshots, drive like hell out of here and go straight to the police station in town, it's closer than the sheriff's office."

"No, I can't leave you," she whispered.

"You must. Think of your kids. They're the most important thing right now. Please." She nodded and led them out the back door which she quietly closed behind her.

Every few seconds I would speak up and engage Alejandro, hoping he would tire of his ranting and leave, but if anything, he seemed to get even angrier. When I could hear the distant wail of sirens, I knew he could to. He started to scream at me, pulled the gun out and aimed it at the door. I kept talking as if I didn't know about the gun but I stayed away from the door.

Then it happened. He held the gun up about chest high and started firing. The noise was deafening and the door shattered. I took off running to the back of the house and right as I went through the back door, I heard the front one start to crack open. Marita had just turned on the car and I dove into the front seat and told her to 'GO!' We tore out of the driveway and turned towards town only to run into a police vehicle turned sideways on the road. Two officers were hiding behind the car with their weapons drawn.

"Kids, please get down, hold onto Crash and stay down. Your mom and I will explain everything." The soft cries and whimpers told us they were two very frightened kids.

We slowly opened our doors and left the car with our hands up high. We were told to sit down on the ground as they approached us. Once they got closer, Marita was asked if she was OK. She started sobbing and telling them that her fiancé was back at my house and had shot the place up looking for her. She told them I was the one who got them out safely. Once they realized the nature of the situation, they radioed for more help and asked us to drive around their car and stop a few hundred yards down the road.

It wasn't long until we heard the sound of a car racing towards us. I don't know if he even realized he was trapped down a narrow, dead end country road with a cop car blocking his escape. He sped towards the car and it became obvious he was not planning on stopping. The two officers dove for the ditches right before he hit their car. The noise was deafening. The cop car was flipped over several times while Alejandro's car swerved across the road and came to a stop against a low embankment. I didn't know if he was hurt but I didn't want to take chances. I told Marita to leave immediately and once we were several hundred yards further, we heard the burst of automatic gun fire.

The kids began to scream and cry and Marita could barely keep the car on the road. After we had gone a mile or so, I urged her to pull over and start the emergency flashers. Within minutes two sheriff vehicles came speeding up. One continued on while the other stopped. I quickly told them what had happened and he jumped back in his car and radioed the information. We sat there with our motor running to try and keep warm. Marita went into the back seat to hold her kids while I took over the driver's seat and waited. Crash just whimpered next to me.

An ambulance and another sheriff's car drove by before one came from down the road and stopped behind us. I got out and walked towards the car with my hands held out at my sides. The officer came out and asked my name and where I lived. I told him I was in the house which had been attacked and we had escaped out the back door as Alejandro bust into the front. I also told him we were stopped by the first officers and were told to wait, but when we heard gunfire we decided to go another few miles to safety.

"Good thing you did. Things got very ugly back there."

"Anyone hurt?"

"Yeah, the perp who rammed the car is in bad shape. He took a couple of hits in the gut. May not survive. One of my lieutenants took a glancing shot to the leg. He should do OK, probably will whine and get a few days off," he chuckled. "Seriously, your house is now a crime scene and you can't go back tonight. Please head down to headquarters and report in and tell them your phone number and where you plan on staying tonight. Thanks for your help."

I relayed most of the news but leaving out the details of Alejandro's injuries as I drove us to town. We checked in as requested and then went a few blocks to a nearly deserted motel. When I ordered two rooms, Marita objected saying they were still pretty frightened and wanted me to be with them. I ordered a double and a roll-away-bed which Juan would sleep on while I got one bed and Marita and Isabella got the other. I was able to sneak Crash in without management seeing him. The kids were hungry so I hit the vending machines and bought all kinds of crap which they ate with relish.

Once lights were out, we all stripped to our underwear to go to sleep. In the pale light coming through the front curtain, I could see Marita in her bra and panties walking through the room and as she climbed into bed. I watched her until she pulled the blanket over herself. Ashamed for having eyed her, I turned over and stared at the wall. I had been aware she was an attractive woman but had never really thought of her in sexual terms. When I first met her, I was on the brink of moving away while lately she had been involved with another man. Seeing her that night was a sudden jolt to my libido and I realized I was developing a definite hard on. There was no way I could have a little 'me time' with three others in the room so I ignored it and eventually fell asleep.

It was still dark when I felt my bed move and the blanket being pulled up. I startled awake and turned over just in time to see Marita crawling in bed with me. Her arms wrapped around me and I heard tiny little sniffs, as if she had been crying. When her face touched my shoulder, I could feel a bit of moisture on her cheeks.

"Hold me," she whispered, "I'm so scared."

"It's over. You can relax."

"I know, but I..." her voice trailed off.

"Look, I don't think you have anything to be afraid of. He's either not going to survive or will be in jail for a long, long time."

"I know that," she murmured, "But my sense of security is gone. We were so vulnerable. And the two, how will they react?"

"I think they'll be fine. Maybe we can get the school counselor to check on them, or something."

"Yeah, good idea."

"So, you feel better?" I asked with the intention of nudging her out of bed before the kids woke up.

"A little," she paused before going on, "Why do I pick such losers? Why? I thought Roberto walked on water and I'm forever grateful he gave me Juan and Isabella, but he turned out to be a lousy husband and a worse father. With Alejandro everything was great until we got engaged, then suddenly he got so jealous." Her tears started up again.

I patted her on the back and tried to soothe her. "Look, they give ball players three strikes. Relax. You've still got a chance."

"But what if there's something wrong with me? Maybe I'll just keep screwing up," she cried quietly.

I didn't know what to do so I lay there holding her, patting her gently and softly repeating she'd be OK. Eventually I realized she was breathing deeply and appeared to be asleep. I knew I had to get her out of my bed but I was so tired I must have drifted off to sleep as well.

-----

"Mommy? What are you doing in Manny's bed?"

Marita sat up suddenly pulling the blanket with her and exposing my back to the cool air. "Oh, Honey, I, uh, I had to talk with him about last night, we had to whisper to keep from waking you up and I guess I fell asleep."

By then Juan was also awake. "Did you sleep with him, Mom?"

"Look you two. We had to talk and we were real quiet and we must have fallen asleep."

"So, you slept with him, then."

"Juan, Honey, you need to know there are two different meanings to that, to sleeping with someone. First, there's the meaning that we had uh, you know, that we did what adults do when they're in love, you know, sex. The second is that two people simply slept together and nothing else happened. And last night nothing happened. Manny is a great friend and he's helped us in so many ways. But we did not have sex. Not at all. We just talked, whispered, you know." The kids seemed to buy her explanation and went over to watch TV.

Marita turned to me and said she was going to get up so I turned my head away as she crawled out of bed. Then I saw her. A large mirror on the wall gave me a perfect image of her in her cute little panties and matching bra. Marita was of average height and had a nice figure. She had previously complained once to me about not losing ten pounds of her 'baby fat' but I have to confess, I saw no evidence of flab. Her skin was a uniform light bronze, her tousled, black hair hung down to her mid-shoulder blades and her breasts in the bra seemed full and inviting. As I watched her, I realized I was getting an erection but I was entranced. I was looking at a beautiful woman, both in looks and personality, and my body responded without any control.

As I watched her grab her clothes, she turned and saw me looking in the mirror. She froze for a few seconds before a tiny smile creased her lips. With humor written all over her face, she glanced over to confirm the kids were watching cartoons on the idiot box before she looked directly at me. With a proud, defiant gaze, she stretched out with a fake yawn and then ran her hands slowly over her breasts, across her belly and down over her thighs.

Any thoughts of erection control were immediately lost. Marita was teasing me, tempting me and I knew I had lost the battle of the mirror. I turned away only to hear a tiny snicker as she went towards the bathroom.

With her in the bathroom, I hopped up, pulled on my pants over my unruly cock and pulled on my shirt, leaving the tails out. Once she was dressed, the kids put their clothes on and we made arrangements to head out to the nearby pancake restaurant.

While the kids pigged out on blueberry pancakes, Marita and I each had a small combo breakfast and coffee. We then went down to the sheriff's office where a rather large woman dressed in uniform greeted us. We were told my place was still a crime scene and I wouldn't be able to go back at least until the next day. They had checked out Marita's place and other than it being fairly messy, they found nothing of interest and suggested we could go back there.

The place was a mess. Nothing had been picked up for days but all of the major items were OK, including her computer. Some drawers at her desk were opened and the contents were strewn on the floor. In the kitchen the sugar and flour bins had been emptied on the floor.

"I guess he thought you might be hiding something and he went looking."

"Yeah, I guess so. You know, about four weeks ago when he got to be super jealous, I decided to move my personal records, banking stuff, you know, to my office. I'm glad I did."

"Your jewelry?"

"The only thing of value is right on my finger," she replied as she pulled off her ring. "I'll decide what to do with this later, but it's off for good."

She shooed the kids off and told them to get cleaned up and put on fresh clothes. While they were dressing, Marita and I picked up the mess before she excused herself to take a shower. I hung out with the kids and let them rope me into playing some crazy video game. I was thoroughly humiliated to their infinite glee.

Marita came back in and I was stunned. She had on a pair of black tights which looked like spray-on paint. Her loose, white blouse featured a deep front which barely concealed the beginnings of a very attractive cleavage. I couldn't tell, but I would have bet she did not have a bra on. She looked at me and that same little smile I saw in the motel room was again on her face. I stared at her in the eyes and let my eyes drift down and look at the whole presentation. Once I looked back at her face, I nodded slightly and smiled. She blushed a little before turning away.