Political Affiliation

It seemed sort of funny that the four guys, who did nothing wrong, were having to pay for the shit that their wives did. Something was wrong with the whole scene. Things didn't get better the next day.

I was thankful that Josh and Jordan were old enough to take care of themselves. Josh would be leaving for college in three months, and Jordan would be gone next year. Bradley showed up at the house before I left for work. We went to the IHOP together for breakfast, and to update each other. Carla agreed to drop the charges against Bradley if he agreed to a no fault divorce. As far as he was concerned, it was a no-brainer. He was going to start the paperwork right after we finished eating. I was going to have to take some kind of action, because in my mind that the marriage was over.

Each of us had our own problems to work out, but Bradley and I thought a meeting of the four of us might be a good idea. I agreed to buy the pizza if they brought the beer.

Work was a struggle for me. Joyce, my trusty secretary, tried to find out why I didn't come back to work Friday afternoon. She dropped it when she saw that I was not responsive. The big surprise came just before noon.

"Mister Terrell, my name is Nelson Neuse and I am from the State Attorney's Office." He was fat and had a bad case of rosacea. You could see the sweat beads between his thinning hair and on his forehead.

I decided not to shake his hand. "What can I do for you?"

"This is a cease and desist order that is being served on behalf of the state. You are hereby ordered to stop all inquiries into the private life of State Assemblyman Allen Hoffman. Any future intrusions will result in criminal prosecution by the state." He handed me a manila folder that obviously held some legal papers.

"I am sorry Mister Neuse, but I was under the impression that Assemblyman Hoffman was a public figure, and as such, open to such inquiries."

"Are you a lawyer Mister Terrell?"

""No."

"Than I suggest you read the order and don't make any waves." He had a sarcastic smile on his face as he said that. I leaned back in my chair and smiled right back at him. He suddenly seemed a little unsure of himself as he walked out of the office.

I took the rest of the day off. There were four major TV stations in the Philadelphia area that served three states. There were three smaller stations in the surrounding towns. It took an hour to drive to Philly. Three out of the four stations were more than happy to hear about the cease and desist order, and two of them even taped interviews with me. I pulled no punches, and unfortunately had to paint my wife with the same brush that I painted Hoffman with. The TV station, that wasn't interested in the information, was extremely liberal, and did not want to rattle any Democratic Party chiefs. I hit the three smaller stations on the way home, but they had already obtained the information off the wire service. Just as I pulled into my driveway at home, I heard the Assemblyman's affair being discussed on a talk radio show. I didn't do any more inquiries into Allen Hoffman's love life, but I did tell everybody what I already knew. He chose the game, and I just agreed to play. Any legal action that the state, or the Assemblyman, decided to take would just elevate the situation.

Marcie had come home in my absence and removed all of her clothing and personal effects. She had made her intentions very clear. She left a note explaining that she would be staying with her sister indefinitely. I had no choice but to remain in the house with the boys, which was fine with me. Tomorrow would be a good day to go to the bank, if it wasn't too late. I also had to see a lawyer.

Josh and Jordan got home from school and immediately left for someplace else. Things were amicable between us, but they preferred the company of their friends.

Shortly after five o'clock I got a frantic call from Marcie. She never said what she wanted and just seemed to be content ranting about how despicable I was to air our dirty laundry that way. I tried to explain what her boyfriend had done to set things off, but she didn't want to hear it. Apparently, it didn't matter what the circumstances were, I was to blame for everything. This was beginning to be fun.

Karl, Bradley, and Ray showed up shortly there after. I ordered the pizza and we settled in for a long evening.

Richard Tolliver had disappeared and taken the last months deposits from the Super Lens Optical with him. It amounted to over sixty thousand dollars. Since he was the manager, not the owner, the money was not his to take. Karl felt fairly certain that Betsy was with him. Karl had canceled all his credit cards, but not before she used one at a motel in Indiana. He notified the authorities of the card use.

Bradley had gone past the house at 321 David Drive and found it empty, so he drove by the body shop where Steve Springer had worked. Bradley was sure Springer would have a final paycheck coming and would leave a forwarding address. He told them that he was Steve's landlord and wanted to mail his rent deposit check to him. They were more than happy to give him the address. As soon as the divorce paperwork was completed, Bradley was taking a trip to Nitro, West Virginia. We all wished him the best of luck.

Ray had a silly little grin on his face, as he told us about Jenny's Volvo disappearing. It had been parked in front of her parent's house in Frackville. The car was insured of course, but the payoff was more that the present appraised value. Jenny still hadn't called him and nobody notified him about the missing car. He promised us that Owen Zimmer would be hearing from him shortly. I have no idea what he did with the car.

After I recapped everything concerning the TV exposé of Allen Hoffman, we discussed ways we could help each other. We decided to call it a night when we ran out of beer. Before I got the place cleaned up, the boys were home. They were getting a lot of flack about their mother and they were not happy. I had no idea what I could do to help them.

I never got to work the next morning. Joyce called me on my cell phone, before I arrived. There were some state officials and police officers, waiting for me at the office. She told them I would be in Baltimore the rest of the day. She also notified the personnel office that I was taking a sick day. I spent the rest of the morning with my lawyer. For most of the afternoon, I was at the bank. If there were any state officials looking for me, they didn't do too good a job. At about three o'clock I got a phone call that I wasn't expecting.

"Jack Terrell? This is Alice Hoffman."

"Actually, it's John, but I'll answer to anything. What can I do for you?"

"Meet me at Luciano's, in the bar, at five o'clock. I'll recognize you."

"Any special reason?"

"I think we can be of help to each other. No more questions now. I'll see you at five."

That was totally out of the blue. I had seen pictures of Alice Hoffman, on the news and in the newspaper. She was the power behind her wimpy husband. She came from money and knew how to use it. I had a strange feeling that Allen had over-stepped his boundaries this time. Alice Hoffman always had perfect hair and makeup. She always wore the best clothes. The term 'high maintenance' was created with her in mind. Maybe Marcie wanted to take her place, but Allen Hoffman did not have the money, Alice did.

I stopped by the house to get a clean shirt and tie, but couldn't get in. Two official looking cars were parked in front of the house. She would have to meet me sweaty and dirty.

I had no trouble at all finding Alice Hoffman in the restaurant. A big goon, in a dark suit, met me at the door and escorted me to a very private corner booth.

"Do you mind if I call you Jack?"

"Not at all. My father always calls me Jack, but he is the only one."

The light was dim but I could tell her hair was blonde with bits of silver. It wasn't dyed. She was over forty, but carried it well. Her attire was simple; a white blouse and a beige skirt. She wore a crystal heart on a silver chain that seemed to tie the whole picture together.

"I wanted to thank you for the great job you did embarrassing my husband. I couldn't have done better myself, though I wanted to. However, I am sorry for the price you had to pay. For a loving husband, it must be terrible to find out something like this."

"It was not my intention to humiliate you or your husband. I would have been content if everything would have remained low key. I am afraid your husband pulled the wrong string. I don't respond very well to threats."

"I understand. I am not humiliated or embarrassed, Jack. If anything, I am relieved. I was getting ready to dump the lout, but I couldn't do it without looking vindictive or shrewish. You solved that problem for me. Since you are already committed, I was hoping we could help each other."

"You want me to look like the bad guy, so you can get a divorce?"

"Exactly. Can you handle it?"

"How do you help me in this operation?"

"I have videos, three of them, to be exact, of your wife and my husband. They are very high quality and very explicit. I will be glad to give you copies that you can use for your divorce if you promise to make them public, somehow."

"That would be a rotten thing to do to my wife. I don't mind screwing over your husband, but I would be hard pressed to do something like that to my wife, no matter what she did."

"You might change your mind after you watch them. The conversation between Allen and your wife on the last tape is not pleasant. Some of the comments are hurtful and cruel. I found it difficult to believe that a woman could be married for twenty years to a man, and think so badly of him. They didn't treat me any better. I would prefer it, if you could consider my feelings a little, when you decide to make the tapes public. It is your choice in the end, however. I'll trust you to be fair."

"Now I am starting to feel bad. Can we get something to drink?"

Alice waved her hand and a waiter appeared from nowhere. We sat silent for a few minutes until the drinks arrived. I was deep in thought and she was nervously waiting for my response. I gently squeezed the slice of lime in my gin and tonic. Without the lime, it is just booze and soda. I thought about what she said was on the tapes. "Okay. I'll do it. "

It was worth it, just to see her eyes light up. Allen Hoffman was a jerk, not to realize what he had right at home. He was a stupid, stupid man, who just threw his life away.

"Jack, I will see to it that you are no longer bothered by any state or local police agencies. My husband may hold the position, but he doesn't have near the power he thinks he has." She slid three CD's across the table to me. "Make copies of these and edit them anyway necessary. The third one has some phone conversations also. I am hoping it will be a fun project for you. Feel free to use the Internet, if you think it will help. I know you have two sons, so don't do anything that will embarrass them."

"I am not going to embarrass you, am I?"

"I am not on any of the video's. I might get my feelings hurt, but I won't be embarrassed."

I got the feeling our meeting was coming to an end. "Will I get to see you again, Mrs. Hoffman?"

"Do you think it is necessary, or is it something you just want to do?"

"I'm sorry. It was out of place for me to say that. It didn't come out like I meant it to."

"Oh, now my feelings are hurt."

We both smiled. I put the CD's in my pocket and got up to leave.

"Friday, seven o'clock, at this table. This time we will eat. Is that Okay?"

I smiled and nodded. For some reason I felt guilty, but I liked it.

The black cars were gone when I got home. Josh and Jordan had prepared a diner, of sorts, for us. It was all stuff that they liked and not very balanced, but I appreciated the effort. We watched a pay-per-view movie later.

I stayed up all night editing the videos and phone conversations that Alice Hoffman gave me. The three videos were boring for the most part, with short spurts of the good stuff. She lied about the condoms. What hurt most, was watching Marcie's face as Allen sodomized her. The back door was always off limits to me, yet he got to use it at each of the three sessions that were recorded. She denied it to me, but definitely enjoyed doing it with him. During a break, she reminded him how lucky he was to get something that she didn't even share with her husband. There was also a blowjob each time they met, in fact the last time he was pleasured orally, twice. Marcie actually seemed to enjoy giving deep throat and was very good at it. The comments that Alice felt would bother me hurt me deeply. However, some of them felt a little insincere, as if Marcie was telling him what he wanted to hear. Of course it didn't matter, because the results were the same. At the end of the last recording, Allen was talking to a friend of his on the phone, after Marcie had gone. It was a short conversation and only one side was recorded, but it was significant enough that I made a separate copy of it to play back for Marcie, if the situation called for it.

I got to go back to work the next day, and I was tired from being up most of the night. I thanked Joyce for covering for me, with a nice bunch of daisies, her favorite. By this time, she knew what was going on, as did everyone else in the building. I couldn't tell if I was being considered a hero or a chump. One of the TV stations, from Philadelphia, agreed to come and see me about the sex videos. That saved me a trip and an afternoon.

The TV reporter, who picked up the edited CD, was excited to get it. He very carefully explained that almost all of it could not be viewed on public television. Of course, I fully understood. I casually asked if the rest of it might accidentally end up being displayed somewhere else. He smiled to indicate that he knew what I meant, without saying it. Since he seemed receptive, I gave him a second CD that contained far more graphic images. He shook my hand and promised that everything would be taken care of to my satisfaction.

Josh and Jordan both had high enough SAT scores to make college entrance a snap. Unknown to dear old dad, Jordan had applied for early admission based on his scores. All he had to do was get a GED, instead of another year of high school. I wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he set it all up and felt confident. So, now, I would have both of them starting Penn State at the same time. I took out a second mortgage on the house and prepaid both tuitions for four years. That took all of our savings and all of the equity Marcie and I had in the house. I was now ready to set the terms of the divorce. My wife would not be happy.

I was falling behind at work. Joyce was doing a great job covering for me, but she couldn't keep it up forever. Marcie called to complain about the credit cards that no longer worked. I took that opportunity to tell her she would have to start using her pre-paid cell phone, because I was canceling her regular cell phone later that day. That night, I told the boys that there might be some disturbing videos of their mother on the Internet. They were not thrilled, but indicated that I had their support in whatever had to be done.

The next morning, Marcie was waiting outside, until Josh and Jordan went to school and then knocked on the door.

She sat at the kitchen table, and I gave her a cup of coffee.

"John, can we stop this? Everything is getting out of hand. I am afraid to look at the TV or even go out of the house. I heard a rumor that there are some pictures posted on several web sites. This is not fair, John. I know I did something wrong, but I was careful and discreet, so that you wouldn't be embarrassed or hurt."

"Your attempt to be careful didn't work out too well, did it? Do you have any idea how much embarrassment you caused your sons?"

"I didn't do that, you did. When you made all this public, you ruined everything."

"I think that would have been good to keep it quite. I told you before, I would have been very happy to do that, but when your lover decided to threaten me, I was forced to change my mind. What ever made you hook up with such a despicable character in the first place?"

"He was not despicable. He was understanding and caring. You took me for granted. He appreciated me. He flattered me and made me feel good about myself. After being with him, my self-esteem was always high for several days. He was not despicable."

It was disturbing to listen to my wife justify why she was unfaithful. The sad part was, that she was completely wrong about his feelings for her. I knew it would be cruel, but I felt it was time to stop her from living in her fantasy world. I took the small digital play back unit out of my pocket and placed it on the table.

"This was a telephone call that Allen Hoffman made to a friend, the last time the two of you got together. I am sorry, but under the circumstances, I feel obligated to play it for you. I don't feel that it is fair for you to blame me for what you did. For twenty years I treated you with decency and respect, and you threw it away for this guy."

I pushed the play button and watched her face, as Allen Hoffman started to talk. It was a one-way conversation.

"Hi Greg. Sorry I'm running a little late." (pause)

"Fabulous, as usual. It's a nice way to brighten a cloudy day." (pause)

"I don't think so, buddy. She a great fuck, but there is no way I would be seen in public with her." (pause)

"Behind close doors, with the lights turned down, she a bomb, but that is as far as it will ever go. The only reason I am still seeing her is because she has a nice tight asshole and gives great head." (pause)

"I know, but her face looks like somebody attacked her with a cheese grater. Hell, I think she puts her makeup on with a paintbrush. That's why I always try to keep the lights down." (pause)

"I don't know if she is up for a threesome, but I can suggest it the next time we hook up." (pause)

"No, that is Okay. I should be there in about twenty minutes." (click)

Marcie sat silent, staring straight ahead. She wasn't really looking at anything, just staring. Her eyes looked like they were misting up. I knew the recording hurt her. In all the years we were married, I was careful not to bring up the subject of her teen acne, and the scars and pock marks she was left with. I could never hurt her that way.

She focused her eyes on me. "I didn't need to hear that. What the hell did you think you would accomplish, by playing that tape? At least I thought I could get out of the whole fiasco, with some pleasant memories, but now you even ruined that."

It was amazing. Allen Hoffman, my wife's lover, reveals his true feelings about her, and she gets upset with me.

"I never made a remark to you or to anyone else about your complexion in twenty years, and you still prefer to side with this weasel."

I put the recorder in my pocket and stood up, to leave. She was still sitting at the table, staring straight ahead, as I turned, "Why the hell did you lie about the condoms?"

I didn't expect an answer and I didn't get one.

After I got to work, I called my lawyer and told him to deliver the divorce papers as soon as he got a chance. We decided to use infidelity as the reason, instead of anything milder.

Karl called and set up a lunch meeting. Joyce seemed a little full of her self, because she found two web sites with video of my wife and Assemblyman Hoffman. I was sure they would not be up too long, because they hadn't met any of the privacy requirements, but by the time they were taken off, the damage would have been done.

According to the local television station, Allen Hoffman was on an unscheduled vacation to the Bahamas. There was no statement for the press available.