Pheasant Construction

"Kevin, Kevin I am so glad you called." I hadn't even spoken yet. "I know we had a few differences on Friday, but this can all be worked out." He went on in his most persuasive voice.

When I finally got a chance, talking over Marshall, I simply stated, "Marshall I'm resigning immediately." That's all I had to say.

"Kevin, you are not resigning." He said in his most confident voice. "You and I are going to sit down and get this all worked out. Where are you? Let's grab lunch and hash this out." He went on.

"Marshall, I'm done. I will never work with you again ." I told him.

And then he went on about our backlog and all the work that needed to be done. After all these years, how could I abandon our company? His outrage had no boundaries.

Then just to throw in a dig, I said. "Marshall I am sure that Terry Destry and his crew, with all their skill, can easily handle all the work. After all, just a few days ago you told me how good they were. Didn't you?" I couldn't help it. I was still so pissed off at this guy.

There was a pause on the line as if we were digesting what I had just said and my sarcasm.

" You son of a bitch," he hissed at me. "After all I've done for you. You will never get work in this town again. Hell, you can't even keep your woman satisfied." He said with a sarcastic chuckle mixed in.

I hung up. My woman? What was this all about? Why would he drag Tracie into this? Did something happen in Cabo with Tracie? I needed to find all this out.

An odd coincidence happened as I was heading home. Passing a popular coffee spot I saw Belinda Pheasants car parked in front. She drives a white BMW X1 with the vanity plates: BLNDA. I stopped. Maybe she could tell me what may have happened in Cabo.

I saw Belinda sitting by herself fiddling with her IPhone. I sat down across from her. I think I startled her with my abruptness.

"Jesus Kevin? What the hell are you doing here." She asked me without a great deal of friendliness or warmth.

I was surprised to see that she was as pale as I was. Even after a week or so you would expect some of the bronze to linger.

"Belinda, can I ask you a quick question or two?"

She just looked at me. I took that as a yes.

"Did you go to Cabo this year with Marshall?"

"Do I look like I went to Cabo?" She asked, holding her arms up to demonstrate the paleness of her skin.

I sat there stunned for a moment digesting the meaning of this.

"I left Marshall in November. I'm living in one of the condos in Forest Meadow." She told me.

"And I think your little wifey had something to do with it." She went on. "I never caught them but she sure was hanging around a lot. He said he was helping her with her business. I think he was helping her, but it didn't have anything to do with business." She said.

"So, wait a minute, are you saying you saw Tracie and Marshall together?" I asked.

"Together! Yes, a lot. It started sometime last year when I began to see her hanging around some. Before I left him, I had my spies tell me that they saw them together in bars and restaurants all the time. And even when I didn't hear about them there were a lot of nights he wasn't home until well into the evening." She went on.

"A couple of times I had reports of his car at some of the houses Pheasant was building way after business hours. When you drive a big white Suburban with red Pheasant logos all over it, it's hard to sneak around." She told me.

I just sat there stunned. All those late nights, mysterious phone calls, the time away, and then all the comments from everyone. I must be the only idiot that didn't know what was going on.

I got up to leave without speaking, my mind in a fog.

"You aren't still with her are you . . .?" She called after me as I left.

Quietly I said to myself as I walked away, "no, no I guess I'm not."

Driving home I struggled with my emotions. I was really sad, and so betrayed by my wife and ex business partner-employer. How could they do this? But during the drive my emotions started turning. From sadness to anger. Anger partially at Tracie, but mostly at Marshall.

When I thought about Tracy, one of the things I loved about her was her simple trusting innocence. One thing I had observed about Marshall time and again was his persuasive, manipulative personality. Tracie never had a chance. I know this didn't excuse her behavior but it went a long way to explain it.

When I got home the Corolla was in the driveway. Good, let's get this settled I thought.

When I walked in there sat Tracie, dressed professionally, hair brushed and makeup applied.

She stared at me with a guilty look on her face.

"Who went to Cabo?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

She stared at me then abruptly looked away, then she looked down. She couldn't have looked any more obvious if she was wearing a GUILTY sign.

She finally told me it was just her and Marshall. She admitted she had sex with him while in the villa in Cabo.

When I asked if they had been intimate before Cabo she answered. "Maybe 2 or 3 times."

I interpreted that to be more like 10 or 20. I blew up and started yelling at her. She wept and kept apologizing. I quit bullying her and asked her why.

"He told me he loves me." She sobbed.

The truth was it hurt, but not as bad as I thought it would. Ever since she told me she was going to Cabo without me I believe subconsciously I was planning my exit strategy.

Many would ask why I allowed her to go? Why didn't I drop everything and go too? Why didn't I fight for her?

The answer is somewhere along the line of, deep inside perhaps I knew this was not going to work. In a strange way I even had empathy for Tracie. Perhaps I was forcing a lifestyle on her that she did not want.

She told me she was going to Marshall's and I left to walk the property. I told her I'd be back in a half hour and that I would expect her to be gone. I declined a hug goodbye.

When I thought about my life, at one point I thought I had it all. Beautiful sexy wife, partnership in a growing business, a career I was good at and enjoyed, business partners I could work with and finally the potential to be financially independent through the land I owned.

Now I just had the land, and that still wasn't for sure. As I said, I was sad over the loss, but more than that I was angry at Marshall for fucking everything up. I blamed him.

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Over the next 4 or 5 weeks I didn't get much done. I drank a lot and felt sorry for myself. I didn't get much exercise. I was living a sloppy life. I had heard nothing from Tracie or Marshall, and I didn't want to.

I was in a funk.

Every so often I would get a text from Iris just checking in with me I appreciated it.

One Friday late afternoon I was sitting around trying to work on my business plan and Iris called. She told me she had a new concept for my house.

Suddenly I became a little excited and motivated. I wanted to see her new plans. Maybe I could even get started on it I thought.

She told me she was working at Maxine's but she had the plans with her. I told her I'd meet her at Maxine's.

"Kevin, are you OK to drive?" She asked.

"I'm fine," I told her. "I've only had one drink." Well maybe it was 2 or 3. I'll need to be careful driving.

About halfway to town I made an assessment. I probably should have cleaned myself up a little before heading to Maxine's. I was in sweatpants, work boots and a long sleeve T shirt. I hadn't shaved in a few days and I probably needed a shower. Not the image of the typical Maxine's customer.

Maxine's has a nice wood paneled bar area. Not a pickup spot, more likely for a celebration or romantic dinner. Not unusual to see people in jackets and ties or dresses for the ladies. Not dark, but mood lighting for a martini or a glass of Pinot Noir.

I was a little self conscious about my sloppy appearance and I apologized to Iris for that.

She was watching me closely and said, "Don't worry about that. We're not too busy yet. But you definitely could use a clean up."

I asked her for the plans and once she gave them to me I got up to go.

"Kevin stay for a minute. I'm slow right now, take a look and tell me your thoughts on the house." She said. "Let me get you a cup of coffee."

"I can stay for a few minutes, how about a scotch and soda." I asked.

She gave me a long silent look but brought me the drink.

She had a customer at the other end of the bar and left to help them.

As I was sipping my drink and looking at her plans I heard the door open and I saw Iris quickly look up with alarm. Then I heard him, it was Marshall along with Destry and those other two cowboys.

He immediately saw me and the group walked over. What the hell were they doing in Maxine's? I saw Iris watching the scene with concern.

"Well, well if it isn't good old Kevin." he said. "How are things going my man." He said and kind of looked me up and down with a big grin on his face.

I didn't say a word.

"A little celebration for our company." He went on. "We just signed contracts on 3 new home builds on River Ridge this week. Business as they say, is booming." He laughed.

"You look a little under the weather Kevin, you doing OK?" He asked with mock sincerity. Krump and Destry got a chuckle out of that.

I said to Iris, "gotta go, talk to you later." Ignoring Marshall and his crowd.

As I got up, Marshall got right in my space and said, "I'll let Tracie know I saw you, she's home waiting for me right now." With a knowing smile he threw that in my face.

This produced another chuckle from the group.

I think it was a combination of my hatred for Marshall, the humiliation in front of the three scumbags and the disrespect for Tracie.

I hit him in the face, knocking him down.

Quickly Junior grabs me from behind pinning my arms and here comes Destry. He slaps me, backhanded, right-left, right-left.

As Marshall gets up he snarls at his boys, "Pin his hands to the bar."

With Junior holding me, Destry grabs one hand and Krump the other. Junior is squeezing me and I can barely move, my hands flat on the bar.

"Sister Joan taught me a lesson in Catholic School, swollen knuckles teach lessons." Marshall hissed at me.

And with that he slammed a beer bottle down on my left hand.

I had enough strength to move it, but he still caught a lot of it and it hurt.

Just then Iris and a couple of the waiters jumped in.

"Get the fuck out of here!" She is screaming. For a moment I think she is directing that at me, but no, she's looking at Marshall and the others. Junior releases me with a shove and then they walk quickly and silently to the door.

She looks at me and tells me to sit in a small table by the kitchen door away from the other customers.

Everything quickly returns to normal in the bar. I am thoroughly and utterly humiliated, and my hand is in intense pain. One of the waiters brings me some ice.

To be insulted by Marshall, my knuckles smashed and then slapped by Destry was humiliating. On top of all that, I looked at myself. I looked pathetic. Unshaven, sloppy clothes, hand bleeding and half drunk. Embarrassing.

Iris comes over, "I've got a ride coming for you."

I start to protest and she tells me "you've been drinking, you're hurt and you're emotional. Don't even think about it." She gives me a long hard look.

Not long after I see none other than Preston Balfour enter Maxine's. I see Iris point to the corner I'm in and he walks over.

"C'mon Son," He says to me and we walk out.

A silent drive home. Now I'm embarrassed in front of Preston too. I feel like I've really hit rock bottom.

We pull up and he says, "clean yourself up, and I'll see you in the morning."

Saturday morning and Preston shows up about 7:30. Fortunately I'm showered, shaved and dressed.

We have a long discussion first about life in general but gradually we begin to talk about my life, some of my mistakes and then the future.

"Son, I'm going to tell you something that someone once told me." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "See, I used to like to gamble at cards. Truth be known, I wasn't very good at it either. One night I lost all my rent and food money for the month. I sat out on the front steps feeling sorry for myself."

"Then this old timer sits down on the steps next to me. I started telling him how unlucky I was and how I kept getting bad cards. Pardner, he says to me, in cards you gotta remember one thing. We don't control the cards we get. But once we get them it's our job to play those cards the very best way possible."

"As he gets up to leave he says, that goes for life too. And then he walked off. I never forgot that advice and never gambled again."

A little while later Preston left but I didn't forget his words.

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Things got slowly better. I started taking care of myself first. I finished up my business plan. I swore off alcohol. And I kept to myself mostly.

I would get texts and phone calls once or twice a week from Iris and I talked to Preston. He helped me incorporate my business, "KC Custom Carpentry", as an LLC.

My anger at Tracie turned to more sadness. At what we had and what was now gone. I was sad we were not together and sad about what life path she may be on.

Poor naive Tracie, being seduced by that sociopath. My anger at Marshall burned bright and hot. I just hadn't figured out a way to get my vengeance.

Out of the blue one evening Preston called and invited me over.

We convened in his study (that I had built) and I noticed an open bottle of champagne.

"Are we celebrating?" I asked as he poured me a glass of bubbly.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we are." He said. "My friend on the county commission said that they voted to expand zoning to R5. All of your property and much of mine will receive that zoning designation on June 1."

We toasted and talked about what all this will mean. It was a happy discussion. Eventually I was going to be rich, or at least comfortable.

We also talked about my life and the twists and turns it has taken within the past year or so. I vented, and Preston just listened. In the end I talked about Marshall and what a bad human being he was.

As I made to go I gave Preston a hug, thanked him and told him what a good friend he was. He just nodded his appreciation.

He stood on his porch as I walked to my car.

From the porch he said, "Son, you know something has to be done with him."

"Who?" I asked.

"You know who" he said as he turned and walked into the house.

Three days later I got a call out of the blue.

"I'm looking for a custom home to be built in the River Ridge area, I was given your name." He said.

He introduced himself as Fairchild Reese. We made an appointment to meet on his land the following day.

We ended up walking the land and I put together my bid. I had healthy margins, but I really wanted to do this project.

I presented the bid, we haggled over a few things and reached an agreement. I later learned that he had originally signed with Pheasant but pulled out after he saw some of their more recent work. I have a strong suspicion that this recommendation came from Iris. She will not admit it.

I called Angel to talk about this opportunity. We agreed to meet at the job site on River Ridge Saturday morning.

We looked at the site and looked at the plans. Angel asked a couple of questions and had some ideas on the build. What he said made sense. I told him the Reese's had money, were particular, but seemed reasonable.

Finally I asked Angel, "So are you ready to quit Pheasant and work with me?"

He looked at me, looked down, thought for a minute and said yes. I hugged Angel, so glad to be working with him again.

"KC, I need you look at something." Angel tells me.

It seems on the current Pheasant build on River Ridge, Angel had some concerns. The property spanned over a canyon and the plans called for a bridge that linked the property on both the east and west side of the canyon.

Destry and his crew built the bridge. Angel was doing some finish work at the house to get it buttoned up. When he saw the bridge he had some concerns. When he tried to ask Destry about it. He was told to "shut up and stick to what he was doing."

I asked if Marshall or Destry would be at the build today. Angel told me "no way". Sounds like this group would never be confused with workaholics.

We went to the job site. It wasn't that far from the Reese's property, maybe 3/4 mile. As Angel said, no one was there. We walked over to the bridge. There was a small shelf about 4 feet down the side of the canyon. The full depth of the canyon had to be 40 or 50 feet.

Angel led me on to the shelf so we could look at the construction of the bridge from the underside.

"KC look." He pointed at the joints. "Just using screws, no metal plate. They gonna break, that bridge gonna kill somebody." Angel told me with deep concern.

He was right. This bridge would never pass any type of inspection. The entire structure was compromised. The county was so far behind in building inspections, it will be months before anyone ever saw this.

As I looked at the structure it looked like typical Destry work. Poor quality, just enough to get by. Just enough to get through the first warranty year. Certainly not built for the long term. The problem with something like a bridge is, a failure could very easily kill someone.

"Angel, forget about this, let's go." I said.

"KC?" He questioned as he looked at me with concern.

I told him we had to leave. I also told him to resign from Pheasant immediately and not to come back to this job site ever again.

I started thinking about a few things.

Two days later I got a call. Caller ID said "Tracie". I almost didn't take it.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

With a quiet voice I heard, "Kevin, I think I'm in trouble. Can you meet me?" She said.

"Where's Marshall?" I couldn't resist, I asked her.

Then she started sobbing.

"Kevin, please!" She choked out.

I met her in town and she told me she was scared. Scared of what she had gotten herself into. When I asked her to explain she said it was a long story and she didn't want to be in town. Someone might see her.

I told her to follow me to my place, our old place. Along the way I made a phone call.

When we got there I told her to pull her car around behind the old shop, out of sight.

We got in the house and I asked Tracie to tell me what was going on. She was visibly upset and shaking. She told me this:

Marshall at first was charming. Taking her out to dinner, buying her clothes. Treating her well. I really didn't like hearing this but also a twisted curiosity on my part wanted the whole story.

Sounds like after the last trip to Cabo things started to change. She wasn't respected. She was treated as a sex object. He didn't take her out as much. Just expected sexual satisfaction for himself. She didn't understand what was happening, she said. Marshall used to tell her he loved her.

Then last night Marshall took her out to a nice dinner, really turned on the charm and asked her if she loved him. She told him she did. He told her he was having some problems at work and he needed her help. She told him anything, she would pitch in.

He told her that Destry and his boys were talking about heading back to Texas and he needed them to stay. He had a big backlog of business. She just looked at him wondering what she could possibly do to help. He told her that if she could just be friendly to them he thought they would stay with Pheasant.

At first she didn't comprehend what he was asking. But eventually she got it. She had to fuck Destry, Krump and Junior to get them to stay.

As she told me this she looked at me and silent tears streamed down her cheeks. I asked her where Marshall thought she was right now and she said that she had told him her mother was ill and she was spending a few days with her.