Other Lives, Other Lies

Disclaimer - Mature themes, adult language, sex, violence. This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Other Lives, Other Lies - By gstein.

Just a simple story about wives and lovers in a small southern town.

Dirk Muroski had a taste for women and his only preferences were they were at least a six on the female attractiveness scale and they were married and not looking for any kind of meaningful relationship.

Dirk liked women but he wasn't interested in being permanently attached to one.

And being a handsome, well educated and physically in great shape bachelor at thirty-two years of age, with an ancestral old world suave and debonaire manner. And having just a touch of southern fried good old boy character added in for flavor. Dirk had no problem attracting better than average looking lusty southern women of the married variety.

Now of course the rumors and gossip about Dirk went a long ways in helping him attract suitable women.

Because in private parlors and hidden gardens, and on verandas, porches and piazzas the best of friends talked about their assignation with Dirk. And the particulars of their tryst and the debauchery they experienced stirred the imagination and aroused the temptation of even the most prim, proper and prudent southern lady.

And the consensus opinion, among the women who knew, was that Dirk Muroski was an experience a woman should have at least once in her lifetime. So in the southern cities and towns and communities where Dirk was known, there were women desiring to indulge in some sexual pleasure with this trophy specimen of the southern male species.

And of those married women who took the plunge into promiscuity with Dirk, some were curious, some were adventurous, some were naive and some were daring. But all in all they were women who were fulfilling a secret human desire for a taste of forbidden sensuality.

Now Dirk's playboy lifestyle was made possible by his position as Vice President of Business Development for his family's decades old manufacturer representative business that sold equipment to electric utility companies across the deep south, that is to say South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida's panhandle.

And what Dirk did for the family business was to travel across those states and call on electric utilities to check on their needs and to keep them well-informed and up-to-date on new and upcoming equipment that would help them improve their operations and service to their customers.

And, of course, Dirk usually left those visits with lucrative orders for equipment and services.

Now some of the folks who knew him would say that Dirk Muroski was a smooth operator, just like his dad and just like his granddad. Some folks would say that he was a nice guy and a friend. And some folks would go so far to say that he was a scoundrel, just like his dad and granddad. But regardless of opinion Dirk got the job the done both with his customers and with the women.

Now years ago Dirk's granddad set the bar for schmoozing customers. In fact he set the bar so high that none of the Muroski's competitors could touch their style of entertaining and stroking customers. Now that didn't mean that the Muroski's got all of the business because that's not the way things work in the public utility sector. But most of the time the Muroskis got the 'cream' of their customer's spending.

So when Dirk Muroski would call and set up an appointment to come to a town to meet with the electric utility it usually kicked off a wave of excitement and intrigue. Because the leadership of the electric utility knew they would be wined and dined par excellence. And the single women, the few that there was, would get gussied up with high hopes of attracting Dirk's attention. And the married women, the ones who really knew the score, wondered which of their lot would end up in Dirk's motel room for a night of debauchery.

So, it was November and Dirk was coming to call on the Taliaferro County Electric Co-Op in Bonaire, a small town in southern Mississippi.

Now the Muroski family had been selling equipment to the Taliaferro County Electric Co-Op for decades and Dirk had been calling on them since he started working in his family's business six years ago. So this was just a routine sales call for Dirk and for the Co-Op.

And for this trip to Bonaire Dirk had three very specific goals to accomplish. The first was to wine and dine the Co-Op's leadership team. The second was to get a sizable order for equipment and services; and, his third goal was to bed the Co-Op's Director of Customer Service and Public Relations, Mrs. Angela McFarland-Ledbetter.

Now Angela McFarland-Ledbetter was a thirty-five year old beauty who came from a long lineage of beautiful and alluring women.

The old people who knew said her maternal great-grandmother had been the Belle of Mobile, Alabama during the city's booming war years in the 1940s. Further, people talked about how back in the sixties her maternal grandmother worked as a Bunny at the New Orleans Playboy Club. And then Angela's mother, after graduating from high school, went on to do fashion modeling in Atlanta and eventually worked in Miami and New York before coming back to Mississippi and marrying Buddy McFarland, one of the largest black Angus cattle ranchers in the state.

But unlike her great-grandmother or grandmother or mother, Angela wasn't the Belle of the South. And she wasn't a sexy hostess in a men's club in New Orleans. And she wasn't a New York fashion model.

But she could have been all of those things par excellence, but she chose not to.

Instead, Angela wanted to be a foreign missionary and spread the word of God to people around the world. So after graduating from high school, Angela left home to study at a small, independent Christian university in South Carolina where she majored in Biblical Studies and minored in foreign languages to prepare herself for a career in foreign missions.

And after graduating from college she did in fact get a job with one of the Christian denomination's foreign missions organization. And after a couple of years of orientation and training she was eventually assigned to a post in Eastern Europe to assist with church planting. In other words helping people establish Christian churches in their communities.

Now not much is known about Angela's missionary work in Eastern Europe but toward the end of her second year of service she abruptly left her post and returned home to Mississippi under a cloud of mystery.

Now of course the rumors and gossip about Angela swirled around Bonaire and Taliaferro County.

But the truth was that through her church planting work she had become involved with a Russian Oligarch who was helping fund her organization's work in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

And over time Angela and the Russian developed a relationship that evolved from ecclesiastical to personal to intimate and then to Angela becoming the Russian's mistress.

Now of course this relationship was an embarrassment and a problem for Angela's missionary organization and so they dismissed her and distanced themselves from her. Leaving her dependent on her Russian lover who, by that time, was becoming disenchanted with her and was considering either trafficking her on the sex market in Germany or gifting her to a senior government official in exchange for him looking the other way and waiving some government regulations which were hindering the Russian's business activities.

So suddenly Angela went from being the Russian's mistress to being his pawn, and she was in a perilous situation.

Luckily her family learned of her situation in time enough to work with a different missionary organization, and the United States Department of State, and arrange to get her snatched from of her situation and get her out of Eastern Europe before the Russian could cash in on her.

Angela was extremely lucky.

And soon she was safely back in Bonaire, but out of fear the Russian would try to find her, Angela lived in seclusion on her father's cattle ranch.

Now from time to time she would be seen around town but she was always with either one or both of her parents and always with a man who was thought to be her bodyguard.

She was never seen alone.

But then after a year or more her supposed bodyguard went away and Angela started coming off the ranch a bit more and sometimes she was even alone. But the McFarlands were still fearful for Angela and they were cautious and kept a tight rein on her comings and goings.

But eventually the family agreed that the threat, if ever there was one, had passed. And they recognized that it was time for Angela to breakout out of seclusion and reengage with life.

And one of her first steps to reengaging with life was regularly attending Church services and Sunday School and getting involved in activities at Mount Zion Baptist Church where she and her family had been members for decades.

Of course Mt. Zion was good for Angela because it helped to get her back into the social scene of Bonaire and Taliaferro County. And being back and part of the church congregation helped her get reacquainted with old friends and make new friends and develop relationships.

And one of Angela's new friends was Walter Harris who was president of Taliaferro County Electric Co-Op.

Now Walter had come to Bonaire and Taliaferro County from somewhere in Arkansas during the time when Angela was in college. So of course he didn't know Angela, but he knew Angela's father Buddy McFarland and her mother Marilyn quite well. So it really wasn't too odd that after Walter got a feel for Angela that he offered her an entry level job at the electric Co-Op working in administration. And, of course, Angela took the job and quickly began working her way up.

Then another friendship Angela made through Mt. Zion was with the church's youth minister Wayne Ledbetter. Like Walter Harris, Wayne came to Bonaire and Mt. Zion from a Baptist church in Central Florida. And, like Walter Harris, he came to Bonaire during the time that Angela was in college and Europe.

Now Wayne Ledbetter was about nine years older than Angela but he was certainly not as mature and experienced as Angela who had already explored and experienced the world geographically and ecclesiastically and hedonistically and promiscuously.

Angela was a worldly woman.

But regardless of the age and maturity and life experience gaps, Angela and Wayne seemed to hit it off and after a while they were an inseparable couple. And to make a very long story very short, over a period of about three years Angela's and Wayne's relationship slowly evolved from friendship to romance and eventually to a storybook wedding in which Angela McFarland became the loving wife of the Reverend Wayne Ledbetter who was by then the associate pastor of Mt. Zion.

Of course Wayne and Angela's wedding was the social event of the year for Bonaire and Taliaferro County.

And for wedding gifts, Angela's parents bought the newlyweds a home in downtown Bonaire and Walter Harris promoted Angela to Director of Customer Service and Public Relations.

So after a near disastrous experience in Eastern Europe Angela McFarland-Ledbetter was now a member of the electric Co-Op's leadership team, was earning decent money, owned her on home and was married to a respected member of the clergy.

Angela was Taliaferro County's woman in full.

Now Dirk Muroski and Angela McFarland-Ledbetter had known each other since she had started working at the Taliaferro County Electric Co-Op. And Dirk knew that Angela was a minister's wife. And he'd heard that she'd been a missionary at one time. So for a very long while he saw her as an untouchable because Dirk had a rule about not meddling in God's business or with God's people. But at last she was so damn bubbly, friendly, beautiful and sexy that last year at the Taliaferro County Electric Co-Op's Christmas party he broke his own rules of engagement and flirted with her.

And much to his surprise, Angela flirted back. And, from that point on their friendship took on a whole different flavor.

So ten months later, or by the time that October had come around, their flirting had progressed beyond just playful teasing to sensual expressions. And now both of them were sending verbal cues that they were ready for more. And they both knew what they wanted.

So it was November and two weeks before Thanksgiving and Angela's husband Wayne Ledbetter was out of town. In fact, he was about one-hundred miles away from Bonaire in New Orleans, Louisiana, attending a pastors conference at the Baptist Theological Seminary.

And Dirk Muroski was in Bonaire to bed Angela McFarland-Ledbetter.

Now since Wayne Ledbetter was conveniently out of town for a few days, Dirk's and Angela's plan was that they would do an all-nighter. And since they had the time, they agreed that their night wouldn't start until around 7:30 PM, giving Angela enough time to leave work and go home and primp and preen and pack a small overnight bag. And giving Dirk time to drop by Lewis Farmers Grocery Store and Deli and pick up some food and snacks and a couple of bottles of wine.

So it was a little past Lewis Farmer's 7:00 PM closing time when Dirk was leaving the store and a man approached him in the store's dark and near vacant parking lot.

Now it was obvious to Dirk that the man wasn't a bum looking for a handout, but instead he looked and behaved like a man on a mission.

And Dirk didn't feel threatened by the man who looked like he was probably about his parent's age. And whose John Deere cap and well worn Wellington work boots and heavy khaki pants and plaid flannel work shirt presented him as a typical Taliaferro County gentleman who most likely made his living working in agriculture or some other kind of outdoor work.

"Are you Dirk Muroski?" the man asked in a firm but non-threatening tone of voice.

"Yes sir, I am. How can I help you?" Dirk answered in a polite and salesman-like tone of voice.

The man got right to the point.

"That woman that you're meeting tonight, Angela Ledbetter, do you know that she's married?" the man asked Dirk.

Dirk was taken aback by what the man asked him but answered him without question.

"Yeah, uh, I know that she's married. So what?" Dirk answered without thinking in a startled tone of voice.

"Do you know that she's a preacher's wife?"

And again, still startled and taken aback by what the man was asking him, without thinking Dirk answered the man's question.

"Uh, yeah, I know that too."

Finally Dirk got control of himself and he started asking questions.

"Just who in hell do you think you are? And why is this any of your fucking business?" Dirk demanded.

"I'm making it my business because that woman is my pastor's wife and I'm not going to let you mess up their marriage and cause a scandal for our church."

That comment caught Dirk completely off guard because never in his philandering life had he been approached and admonished like this. So he kept asking questions and demanding answers.

"Who are you? And how in hell do you know my name? And how do you know what the fuck I'm doing?" Dirk demanded in an angry tone of voice.

The man was looking at Dirk and thinking and then he told him in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, "I know your name because I know your mother."

Again Dirk was taken aback from hearing this stranger say that he knew his mother.

"You know my mother?" Dirk asked in a surprised tone of voice.

"Yes, I know your mother," the man answered.

"Who, who are you? What's your name?" Dirk asked in a quizzical tone of voice.

The man thought for a moment before he said, "Dirk, my name is Harold Swanson. Does that name mean anything to you? Have you ever heard my name before?"

Dirk thought for just a moment before he answered.

"No, I've never of heard of you," Dirk told him.

Harold Swanson was now looking at Dirk with a kind of a perplexed look on his face.

"You sure the name Harold Swanson doesn't mean anything to you?" Harold asked him again.

"No old man, why should it?" Dirk answered.

"Dirk, your mother's name is Cathy, isn't it?" Harold asked him.

"What, what did you say?" Dirk asked in a puzzled tone of voice.

"Dirk, I asked you, is your mother's name Cathy?"

"What the hell has my mother got to do with this?" Dirk demanded

"Just tell me, is your mother's name Cathy?" Harold asked him again.

"Yeah, yeah, her name is Cathy. So what has this got to do with her? And how do you know her? What does my mother have to do with this?" Dirk asked in an irritated tone of voice.

"Has your mother ever mentioned to you that she was married to someone else before she married your father?" Harold asked him.

Dirk was thinking but wondering what this was all about.

"Yeah, yes, I remember she told me that before she married dad she was married to a soldier but he got killed or fucked up in Iraq or some other fucking place," Dirk told him.

Harold Swanson thought for a moment about what Dirk just told him before he said, "Well, Dirk, I'm the man she told you about. I was in the Army but I didn't get fucked up in the Iraq. The truth is that I was in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the Gulf War. And while I was there your dad took Cathy from me."

Dirk was flabbergasted.

"So you're the guy! Well, I'll be damn!" Dirk exclaimed as he looked Harold up and down.

"Well, looking at you I'd say my mother made the right decision," Dirk said laughing.

Dirk's laughing enraged Harold but he kept his cool.

"And why are you telling me this?" Dirk asked.

"Because you're a fucking womanizer just like your old man and I'm not going to let you take Angela like your dad took Cathy, that's why."

"What do you mean, you're not going to let me?" Dirk asked.

And before Harold could answer Dirk added, "Have you talked to Angela and told her that you're going to stop us from meeting tonight?"

"No, this is between you me," Harold told him.

"No man, this isn't between you and me! This is none of your fucking business, period!" Dirk declared.

"I'm making it my business! And I'm telling you now to leave Angela Ledbetter alone!"

"Old man, I'm telling you, this is none of your fucking business. Now get the hell out of here!"

Then Dirk turned and walked over to his car and as he reached to open the car door Harold was right behind him and said, "Don't try to leave, we're not finished talking."

Dirk turned around and in a firm tone of voice said, "Harold, we're finished talking. This is none of your fucking business. Angela is waiting for me and we're spending tonight together. Tomorrow morning she'll go back home and your preacher will have her back, but tonight she belongs to me. Tonight Angela is mine old man, you got that?"

"Yeah, I got it," Harold answered him.

"Good, then get the hell away out of here or I'll beat the shit out of you," Dirk said as he reached to open the car door.

But before he could the door open Harold pulled a Browning Hi-Power automatic pistol from his waistband and shot Dirk in his side just below his ribs. It was quick. From drawing the gun to pulling the trigger took less than three-seconds. Dirk never saw it coming.

The muzzle blast, combined with the velocity of the 9 MM round at point-blank range, knocked Dirk back against the side of his car. For a moment he stood leaning against the car and looking at Harold with an almost comical look on his face. It was so sudden that he didn't know what had happened. He didn't realize that he'd been shot.