Same Old Song and Dance Ch. 03: Conclusion

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "Is there anything I can do?" I thought he might want me to give Terry one of those "trust me; it gets better in time," talks.

"Yep," he said. "I have a plan that isn't going to make any sense. It might work and it might not, but I've only got three weeks before Terry goes back to school and fucks up his career."

"Why is going back to school going to ruin his career," I asked.

"Because last year he aced all of his classes," he said. "He aced them all because he wasn't trying to show off or prove anything, he was working as hard as he could because he had a goal. His goal was to have the best life he could with Kira. He was working for HER. If he goes back to school depressed and with nothing to work for, he'll flunk out. And Lana, God bless her, as pretty as she is, she does nothing for him. She may as well be his sister. They don't even kiss."

"So what do you want from me?" I asked.

"I want you not to call the police on me," he smiled. His smile was ... God, I wish he wasn't such a goody two shoes. I knew that Greg wasn't the kind of man who would ever cheat on that wife of his. If he was, my panties would already be down around my ankles.

"Why would I call the police on you?" I asked nervously.

"Because I'm gonna probably make your daughter cry," he said. "But believe me, it's necessary. And in the end, maybe we'll all be happy." I looked in his eyes and saw no sign of deceit. For some reason, I trusted him.

"She's been crying all summer," I said. "One more time won't hurt her."

* * * * * *

Kira

I hated working in the restaurant. The only good thing about it was that my mom let me work the shifts I wanted. I spent most of my time going to places that I knew Terry would be. I avoided running into him and his girlfriend, but some of her friends ... Maybe disciples is a better word, had known me, and pointed me out to her. She'd smiled and waved to me, without Terry seeing me or knowing I was there. Then she had wrapped his arm around her and pulled him into a hug. I knew she blamed me for what Jeff and I did. She enjoyed rubbing the fact that she had taken Terry from me, in my face. We both knew that she'd gotten the better end of the deal.

I had no choice. I needed to see Terry. If I couldn't be with him, I needed at least to see him.

I put a glass of water and a menu on the table before I even knew who I was serving.

"Hello slut," he said. I was horrified. I couldn't believe that Terry's father would talk to me like that. He had treated me like one of his daughters while Terry and I were together.

"So now that you've ruined my son's life, how many guys are you fucking?" he asked.

"None," I hissed, very close to tears. I looked around, and no one could hear us. I looked over at my mother, and she looked away from me.

"Come on," he leered. "A hot young thing like you ... You must be ..."

"I'm not," I yelled. "I made a mistake and I'm paying for it. I spend all of my time alone. I hate my life. I feel like I lost the one person in the world who cared about me, twice. First, he went away to that fucking school and left me here all alone. I know what goes on at those colleges. I've seen the movies and heard all the God Damned stories. I know there are all of those hot girls up there. And Jeff told me that Terry was probably ... And he said that no one would ever find out ... I missed him so much ... I just wanted to be hugged ... And he put ... He put something in ... But after it was over ... " I was babbling and crying, and he grabbed my arm and took me out of the restaurant.

He just let me rant and blubber as he drove.

"Why are you treating me like this?" I asked. "I ... I know I messed up. I ruined the best thing I ever had in my life. Why can't you just let me suffer in peace? I thought you were a nice man."

"Because I want to make sure you get what you really deserve," he smiled. "Kira, do you think that Jeff took advantage of your weakened emotional state or do you think he caused it? I mean, I know that you and Terry, we're texting each other and on the phone and Skype constantly. So think about it, when would Terry have had enough time to go out with any of those girls Jeff mentioned? He got a 4.0 in all his engineering classes. From talking to him, he never had so much as one date the whole time he was away. He loved you, Kira. He was busting his ass up there for you and the future you two were always talking about."

"I know," I cried. "I know ... I know ... I know. But I just missed him so much that I couldn't stand it. And Jeff ... I should kill that bastard. He ruined my entire life and thinks it's funny. He came to me to help him get Lana back, but I refused. I just told him to fuck off and ..."

"Okay," he said. "I believe you. Kira is it possible that Jeff put something in your food or your drinks?"

"I don't know," I said. "Before that first night, I had never drank alcohol, so I have no idea what it tasted like or what I would feel like." He just shook his head. Then he hugged me. I melted into his arms and started crying.

"Stop crying, Honey," he said. "You're gonna have to get a lot tougher than that if you're gonna get what's coming to you."

"What's coming to me?" I asked. "Are you going to keep beating me up about this? I already feel bad enough."

"No Kira," he said. "I'm gonna help you get my son back."

* * * * * *

Donna

The next time I saw Greg, he looked better. He looked stronger. That bothered me. I love the man. I want him healthy and happy, but the best thing in the world for Greg ... Is me. I didn't want him to get stronger because the stronger he got, the more he would start to think that he didn't need me.

As he passed two sets of papers across the desk to my lawyer, I could see that he'd been busy. "Let's just discuss the one of those where you and I stay together," I said. "I'm not interested in the other one."

"We may as well leave then," snapped Greg. "I've already told you that there is no plan like that." I was surprised by the manner in his voice. I was even more surprised that he was serious.

"This is unacceptable," said my lawyer, as he read the documents. "No judge will force her to take this."

"No one is forcing anyone to do anything anymore," said Greg. "She's going to sign it, and then she's going to help me with the rest of my plan, because as always, Donna wants to save the town. The difference is she saved the town one dick at a time. I'm going to get them all together."

Greg was just being cruel. He was trying to use my own words against me.

"But there's no support mentioned here," sputtered her lawyer. "How is she supposed to live? How is she supposed to ..."

"Pay you, right," smiled Greg.

"There are two files in front of you," said Greg. "In the first, I go for an annulment ..."

"What," screamed my lawyer. "This is unheard of! You've been married for more than twenty years. You have children together. You can't get an annulment."

"What does an annulment mean?" I asked.

"It means that there was never a marriage," smirked Greg. "It means that legally, it never happened. You and I are both single instead of being divorced."

"That makes me seem like some kind of slut," I said. "A forty eight-year-old women, with three kids from different fathers who was never married. Shit, all I need is a trailer park to live in, and I could be on Jerry Springer."

"In an annulment, there would be no need to split the assets," said Greg's lawyer. "Your youngest child would be a complication, unless you willingly gave custody to Greg."

I laughed long and hard. "Why the hell would I do that?" I laughed. "I love Debbie. And right now she's my strongest bargaining chip. I've told you once before, Greg is Super Dad. There is no way he's going to walk away from that little girl. So if I get custody, I get Greg."

"True, but you would be destroying the town you love so much," said Greg. "Donna, I don't care if we get the annulment or the divorce. Either way, we're done. And either way you have to make a decision. I want Debbie. You can visit her every week, but she lives with me in the house I bought and paid for. It's in her best interest to stay in the house she's grown up in and continue in her same school, with her friends."

"Well, why can't I stay there too, while you let me work towards earning your trust and your love back?" I asked.

"Because I hate the ground you fuckin' slither over," hissed Greg. "I just want you out of my life. I also refuse to pay you for cheating on me and ruining my life. You will be taken care of, only not by me."

"What exactly does that mean," asked my lawyer.

"We'll be having meetings with all the men on the list that Donna gave us. Donna will be helping us to convince them to do the right thing," said Greg. "In the event that they balk or don't comply with my plans, I'm ready to go public with the whole thing."

Fear clutched my heart, and I realized that I wouldn't be able to show my face anywhere in the state. Lots of families would be destroyed, and our sleepy, friendly little town would never be the same.

"Do the kids know that you're blackmailing me?" I asked.

"The kids are surprised that I'm not murdering you," he spat.

"I'll help you," I said. I took the pen off of the table and signed both documents. I felt as if I was tearing a chunk out of my heart with every stroke of the pen.

"Greg, this isn't over," I said. "You love me. You still do. We made three babies together. Maybe biologically only one of them is yours, but we made love so often and so intensely that they all should have been. It may take months, or years, or even decades, but in the end ... It'll be the same old song and dance. You and I will be back in the same house together, in the same bed, every God damned night. Mark my words." I got up and left the room before the tears started.

The next night I was back there. Greg and his lawyer called all the men on my list together. His lawyer had sat there and explained what was going on. There were some surprising names on the list, including the town's very married minister, Andy, the sheriff's deputy and even the Mayor. Tara's father, the sheriff wasn't on the list, but he was there to help keep the peace and also to help maintain the secrecy of the event. Unfortunately, Tara was also there. She was there to help keep the records and to serve as a notary to legalize any papers that were signed.

Most of the men were embarrassed. Greg and his lawyer explained to them that their time of being embarrassed was over. They were all in the situation together. They had all done the same things.

For a very long time all the men there had at one time or another shared in my favors. And for all of that time, Greg was the one paying for it. It was time for them all to ante up and pay for their share. There was also an issue with the paternity of two of my children. Greg asked for a vote on one of his two plans concerning the kids. He could either DNA test every man there and find out who Sherry and Terry's fathers were, or they could all pay into a lump sum fund to give each child a onetime lump-sum payment.

Most of the men chose to remain anonymous and pay into the funds. It was far cheaper and would be far less damaging to their reputations than to have their wives and families discover that they had another child with a woman they weren't married to.

Then came the worst part of the meeting, each man had a ten minute meeting scheduled to discuss their finances, and how much they owed. Greg had decided that paying me roughly forty thousand dollars a year for five years was fair. Checking the state's guidelines, it was slightly more than I would have received in a divorce settlement. And it was also approximately the same time that I would have received alimony for.

Forty thousand dollars a year divided among twenty men meant that each man would have to pay me about two thousand dollars a year. Some would pay more and others less. That was the point of the meetings to have each one sign an agreement promising to pay. If any of them went back on the deal, Greg would let it all out and ruin all of their lives.

I died as each man talked about why they did it.

"How was I supposed to resist her," asked one. "There's just something so nasty about fuckin' a chick that looks like somebody's mom. It's like you're doing the nastiest shit possible on a woman who should be off limits."

"Would you want your wife doing it," asked the lawyer.

"My wife's not a whore," spat the man indignantly.

"Well ... If you weren't married, would you want to be with her," asked the lawyer.

"Of course not," said the man. "Nobody wants to be the guy who's married to the whore."

"Hell no," said another. "She ain't good looking at all. But she's got that big old ass. And bent over the bitch is irresistible."

"I just wanted some easy pussy with no complications," said another guy. "That's all a chick like that is good for. I've never had a conversation with her. She couldn't talk with her mouth full anyway. But what would you even say to someone like that."

By the time we'd been through them all it had taken just over three hours to get twenty some odd promises to pay and hear their opinions of me. I was crying my eyes out, and no one cared. Even my former best friend, Tara, felt no sympathy for me.

I hadn't spoken to Tara in weeks. Our last conversation had been the one when she found out that I had cheated with all three of her husbands. But this was worse. Tara had told the minister, that although she would keep her promise not to reveal what had gone on at the meeting to anyone, but she would no longer be attending church services while he ran the church. She had also told the Mayor that he no longer needed to bother asking her to attend town functions with her.

He begged her to forgive him, to no avail. I didn't even bother trying to talk to her. She kept looking at me like she would jump down my throat if I said one word to her. It seemed as if she'd gone from being my best friend in the world to hating me. After Greg, she was the one I would miss the most.

It was pretty hard on Greg too. Most of the men thought he was some sort of moron because I had gotten away with it for so long. They acted as if he was stupid for marrying a woman like me. The saddest of all of the reactions though was when the men were friends of Greg's. Just suffice it to say that my husband would be seeking new fishing buddies and new golf partners too. Greg had also been friends with Andy for more than fifteen years. It was a shame that I had ruined that. Those friendships were just another way that Greg lost something because of what I'd done.

When the smoke cleared and the last of the men was gone, only the five of us were left. Greg's lawyer was packing his briefcase and talking about how badly he needed to go home and hug his wife.

The sheriff patted Greg on the back and told him that it would take time, but he'd get over it. He told Greg that it was all for the best. Greg had the time to find someone better. He reminded Greg of his promise.

"They're all going to pay Greg," he said. "So keep your promise and don't talk about this with anyone."

"I gave my word," said Greg. "And MY word still means something." The sheriff nodded his head and left.

"Honey, can we talk," I asked.

"No, Donna we can't," he said. "I don't think we'll ever talk again, unless it's about your visitation with Debbie." He looked as if he was going to both cry and vomit at the same time. He was really down on himself, and I would have done anything to cheer him up.

"But Greg," I whined.

"Donna just stay the fuck away from me," he spat.

"Greg, I'd like to talk to you, if you have the time," said Tara. I smiled because I was sure that Tara was going to go to bat for me.

* * * * * *

Greg

I don't remember ever feeling this bad in my life. It seemed as if everything I had hoped for and worked towards was a lie. It was like I'd been building a house on a foundation of sand and the sand had shifted. My house had fallen down around me, so all I could do was to pick up the pieces, salvage what I could and move on.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said, drawing me out of those thoughts. I looked at those crystalline eyes and saw so many things hidden in their depths. I saw obvious intelligence. I saw compassion. I saw curiosity and concern. But more than anything else I saw worry.

"I'm not sure my thoughts are worth that much," I said. It was true. I didn't have actual thoughts. There was so much going through my mind, but it was mostly disjointed feelings, partial thoughts, glimpses of the past, and anger about hopes for a future that would clearly never come to pass.

The one thing I could actually articulate was pain. It was an emotional pain so severe that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but then since my worst enemy was the woman who had sworn to love me and be faithful to me ... Okay I changed my mind. That bitch could have all of it.

"Okay, I'll start then," she said. Her voice was breaking even as she spoke. I had never heard Tara's voice sound anything but cheerful, so it was surprising.

"Greg, I am sooooo sorry," she said. "I only hope that someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me. The only excuse I can offer is going to sound really stupid, but it's the honest to God truth. I really didn't know. I know that doesn't make what I did any better but ... I never ..."

She was almost in tears. As bad as I felt. I could see that Tara for some reason felt at least equally bad.

"Tara, I've had a rough day," I said. "I'm probably a bit slow on the uptake because my thoughts and emotions are in a state of flux. So could you possibly tell me what you're apologizing for? I mean if you were out there screwing half of the town with Donna, that's not my business. You're a single woman and you're not married to me so you have no reason to apologize ..."

The look of outright horror on her face told me everything I needed to know. I was completely wrong about what I'd suggested. Not that I'd ever thought that Tara would do something like that, but after finding out that I'd been married to the town slut for over twenty years, nothing would surprise me anymore. Still the thought of Tara even saying fuck, let alone doing it made me smile. Tara was so innocent seeming that the thought of her with her legs spread just didn't seem realistic.

Sure, her legs were beautiful, as was the rest of her. But Tara just seemed to be too oure for normal human needs. Of course that made no sense. She was a living, breathing human being. She shit, pissed and farted, just like the rest of us. She had been married three times. So at least three men had been in that pure angelic pussy, but thinking about it just seemed wrong.

But then, maybe that was just me, clinging again to an outmoded form of morality. I was still stupid enough to believe that people who loved each other, only had sex with each other. And I'd been thick enough to believe for more than twenty God Damned years that my wife felt the same way.

Why didn't I know? How the hell had she fooled me for all of those years?

"No Greg," she said riveting my concentration back on our conversation. "I ... I... Would never! I couldn't ever do ... I mean I'm physically capable of ... No ... I don't think ... Well you know what I mean. I didn't do what you said."

"Then what are you apaologizing for, Sweetheart," I asked, noticing that her eyes got huge when I called her sweetheart.

"Well ... Uhm, it took me a while to figure it out," she said. "But some of those times ... When she was ... She used me!"