Starter Jacket

This is a re-post of a 2009 story that has been re-edited.

*

It was one of those neighborhood party functions. I hated them, but my wife, Karen, insists that we go. About thirty people were chatting, snacking and drinking. I was making the best of the situation, trying hard not to be a spoilsport. We were there for about thirty minutes when the problem popped up.

Bill Spatz arrived with his wife and he was wearing a brand new dark green NASCAR jacket. Damn it that was supposed to be my jacket. Karen and I considered Bill and his wife, Laura, to be good friends. I guess Karen and Bill were better friends than I thought. It all started last week.

When I came home from work Wednesday, I noticed a shipping envelope in the trash can from Summit Racing. I always liked the stuff in their catalog, but it was a little on the expensive side. It was addressed to Karen, so I assumed it was a surprise for me.

After supper, while Karen was busy with the dishes, I did a quick check on her computer. Sure enough, she had ordered a NASCAR starters jacket and a Summit racing polo shirt, the week before. Those jackets were awesome and I got my self all hyped up over the pending gift.

The neighborhood party was coming up Saturday. If I was lucky she would give me the jacket before the party. Well, that never happened. I did get a present, but it was the Summit Polo shirt. She never mentioned the jacket or made any reference to it. I wore my new shirt to the party like a good boy, while Bill Spatz got to wear the starters jacket.

As the evening wore on my paranoia grew. That jacket cost almost a hundred bucks. The only reason my wife would have bought it for him was that she was having an affair with him. Bill, one of my best friends and my wife. I was getting madder the more I thought of it. Now I knew why the two of them always got along so well.

Karen was upset when I insisted that we leave the party early, but I was not going to stay around while Bill rubbed my wife's infidelity in my face. Every time he walked past me, I wanted to grab him and beat him senseless.

"What's going on Barry? Why did you want to leave so early?"

I didn't want to answer her, but I knew that I would have to do it eventually. "I can't take the humiliation any longer. It is embarrassing and demeaning. I don't understand why you feel the need to rub it in my face."

"Barry, what are you talking about?"

"You know damn well. You gave it to him and when I see him wearing it, right in front of me, I can't help getting upset. Do you two think it is funny?"

All of a sudden Karen was quiet. I was waiting for some type of reply, but none came. It was dark in the car, but I could tell from the passing headlights that she was crying.

When we got to the house she went straight to the bedroom and closed the door. I could hear her crying and a short while later the shower started.

I went back to her computer to get some better information to confront her. The bill from Summit was still in her e-mail file. It showed eighty-nine dollars for the jacket and twelve dollars for the shirt. I notice that orders over a hundred dollars got free shipping. I checked the bank account for the last month and got a small surprise. Laura Spatz had given Karen a check for eighty-nine dollars the same day that Karen placed the order with Summit. Karen kept catalogs and sales brochures in a basket aside of her computer. Sure enough, there was a Summit Racing catalog there, addressed to Laura Spatz. Inside was an ad for the jacket and it was circled in red ink.

Things became clearer now. Laura gave Karen a check so that she could buy the Jacket for Bill. They had it delivered to our house so that he wouldn't know about it. Karen got the shirt for me to get free shipping.

I was such a fool. Now I would have to figure out a way to apologize to my wife without looking like a complete idiot. I grabbed a beer and plopped down in my recliner. What the hell was I going to do?

Karen solved the problem for me. She was standing in front of me in her bathrobe. She was freshly washed, but her eyes still gave away the fact that she had been crying.

"I am so sorry, Barry. I never mean to hurt you. I gave it to him last Christmas but stopped the affair with him about six months ago. I realized that I love you and that I made a terrible mistake. He continued to wear it, hoping that I would agree to start the relationship back up, even though I told him that it would never happen. I will talk to him tomorrow and tell him not to wear it again. I never should have bought him that damn ID bracelet. I hope you can forgive me."

Karen hung her head and slowly walked back towards the bedroom.

I sat in the recliner, unable to move.

WHAT DAMN ID BRACELET?