Take Me with You

When Kassie began riding with me, which was her first time on a motorcycle, she had a difficult time understanding my love affair with two wheels. She didn't understand how we could ride for hours without talking. I had Kassie read both books mentioned above. Then, as she spent more time on the back of my bike - in the solitude of her helmet, watching the world go by, seeing things you never see while sitting in the box of an automobile - she agreed with me that it became a special way of sharing without talking. When I offered to buy a pair of communication devices for our helmets, Kassie looked at me as if I lost my mind. "No way!" was all she said.

So today, the day after Kassie's strange question about divine intervention, we probably both enjoyed the solitude and opportunity to think about our life and marriage.

*****

That night, Kassie finally opened up and told me what has been troubling her these past months. We were on the deck of the hotel's outdoor pool; it was past ten and no one else was in the area. I had a can of beer and Kassie had a plastic cup filled with a cheap Merlot.

"I almost cheated on you."

I wasn't surprised, I kind of suspected something was going on since at least February; what most surprised me, and relieved me, was her use of the word 'almost'.

"There's a guy at school, you met him once, his name is Owen Miller and he's made it very clear he wants me to leave you and marry him."

I tried to keep my cool. "That makes it sounds like the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. You said 'almost cheated', what do you mean by that?"

Kassie let it all spill out. "It means I spent way too much time sharing intimate details of our life with him and allowed him to weasel his way into my mind. After I told him my fears that you'd end up like Marc, Owen used that; he knew I wanted to have children, he'd show me articles in the newspaper every time there was an accident. I let him convince me that you couldn't love me if you weren't willing to give up riding. He planted the seed in my brain that I shouldn't allow you to be the father of my children if you were just going to leave me widowed and our children fatherless."

"I can see how that would affect you; especially given how little credence I gave your fears after Marc and Judy's deaths."

"I never told you. Part of my reaction was because Judy was three months pregnant when she died. Only Marc and I knew, she wanted to get past the second trimester before telling anyone else because she lost their first when she miscarried. I don't know why I never told you; maybe because you were already mourning the loss of your close friend and I didn't see any point in making it worse. So, I just carried it around and it messed with my head more than I realized."

The news about the baby was awful, but I wanted to get back to our marriage and Kassie's affair.

"How physical did it get with Miller?"

"I had a make-out session with him."

"What? Like high school make-out? No groping?"

I could tell she hated answering my question, but she did. "No groping, just kissing."

"Don't say 'just', the fact you kissed the asshole pisses me off." I was starting to lose it.

Kassie was crying again. "I'm sorry. Yes, I kissed him, but I never touched his penis and he never got a chance to touch my breasts or my vagina."

"Why, what happened?"

"After our make-out session, he told me he reserved a room at the Sheraton for the following Saturday. By this time you and I were barely speaking and I could be gone all day without you even caring.

"We met in the lobby and got in the elevator. The doors were closing and then, they opened up again. An older couple were standing there, they apologized for hitting the up button too soon, but I smiled and told them it was all right and held the door for them. They were so cute, both smiling while they held hands. The lady looked at me and told me they were celebrating their fortieth anniversary. She looked right in my eyes and said, "You'll never know how good life can be until you've spent that many years with the one man you love and who loves you." Just then the elevator doors opened.

"The couple got off on the twenty-second floor, one floor below ours, still smiling and still holding hands. Before the doors closed, I hit the 'open' button and jumped off the elevator. Owen followed me and asked what I was doing. I told him I was avoiding the biggest mistake of my life. I went back downstairs, drove out of the parking garage and went home."

I sat there looking at my wife, unable to say a thing at that moment. Kassie filled in the silence.

"When I asked you yesterday if you believed in divine intervention, that's why. How could I have been so close to committing adultery and be so lucky to have that couple on the elevator? Sometimes I think they were angels."

"You may not have technically screwed him and committed adultery, but you definitely cheated - emotionally and definitely physically when you kissed him."

"That's what your mother said."

"My mother?"

"Yes, I've been talking to your mother ever since that day. I didn't know who to turn to, I was so messed up. We've gotten together several times over the past three weeks. She's the one who advised me to ask if I could join you on this trip. She's the one who told me I couldn't hide behind the technicality of not actually having intercourse with another man and that I needed to come clean with you. She knows me so well after all these years and your mother is the smartest person I know."

Kassie was staring into my eyes as we sat there, practically holding her breath.

"I'm going to need time to process this. I am so fucking pissed at you right now."

"What should I do? Should I get a different room to give you space? Should I fly home?"

"No, neither of those things will accomplish anything. DAMN it, Kassie! I still love you; but hearing how you allowed this sleazebag to come between us really fucking pisses me off!"

I could tell Kassie was relieved I hadn't chosen door number one or two. She still had a shot at staying married to me. But I wasn't going to let her off the hook too easily. She was within an inch of getting dumped; the only thing that allowed this marriage to hang by a thread was the fact she hadn't fucked or blown the asshole.

"We're not out of the woods yet, Kassie. Give me some time to think how we're going to fix this if it's fixable." That will shut her up for a while and give her something to think about.

We slept in the same bed, but it was a king-sized bed that allowed space to avoid her. I didn't even kiss her good-night. The next morning, I decided to spend another day at the motel, my emotions were too wound up to ride safely. We spent hours by the pool, talking but taking it easy on the booze to keep the conversation civil.

Around noon, I thought of something. "Are you two still communicating?"

"He calls, I don't answer. Then he'll text and I don't respond. I delete the texts as soon as they arrive."

"Next time he texts you, give it to me, don't delete it."

One bit of luck related to this entire episode, Owen Miller was the vice-principal of Kassie's school. If it was another teacher, I'd have little leverage against the asshole; but as a member of the administration, he was in deep shit.

I didn't have to wait long before Kassie received a text from him.

O.M.: Why aren't u answering me? I thought we had something special.

K.O. (actually me answering on her phone): Please leave me alone. Getting so close to your room at the Sheraton was the stupidest I've ever done.

O.M.: Oh c'mon. U wanted it as much as me. Don't play innocent.

K.O.: I thought you were my friend!

O.M. I am but can b so much more. U need to find out how much more. 😉😉 (winking smiling faces)

K.O.: Hard to believe any man has more than hubby.

Miller must have been drunk, there's no other explanation for what he did next. And he probably only did it because Kassie had previously told him she deleted all his texts; assuming I was still in the dark.

Miller sent a photo of his hard cock with his hand clasped around the base, making it look larger than it probably was. The dumb shit didn't realize I now had him by the balls.

K.O.: I told you to leave me alone. Do not text or contact me again.

I showed Kassie the series of texts, including the cock photo.

"This is the creep you planned to replace me with?"

Kassie just sobbed and apologized over and over. It was a long night.

Of course, he continued texting over the next few days. Each text digging himself deeper in the hole he started.

*****

We were back on the road.

I wish we could have enjoyed Glacier National Park more than we did. Both of us were trying to get back into the right spirit. I'll hand it to Kassie, she was trying hard; we had ups and downs, but I kept my cool and told her to stop walking on eggshells. For the next four days and nights, we talked and planned how we'd get past it and reconnect. We were making love again and that really helped.

The real healing began the second morning after Kassie's confession. I woke up with Kassie's naked body wrapped around me. It felt so good to have her breasts pressed against my back and her legs intertwined with mine. I turned to face her; we looked into each other's eyes and our lips touched. As we kissed, my hard cock poked Kassie's stomach. She reached down between us and squeezed my cock; without letting go, she turned on her back and pulled me on top, guiding the head between her pussy lips.

Without breaking the kiss, I moved my hips slowly, allowing the moisture building within her to lubricate my cock. Kassie's legs circled my ass, using the strength of her legs to pull me in deeper. Her hands were grasping my upper arms; I could tell she was close to an orgasm by the way her fingers squeezed and released repeatedly. I pulled my head back to watch her face.

Kassie's pussy muscles were clenching my cock and drenching it with fluid.

"Oh, cum in me, Bud!"

I reached down and grabbed her ass, pulling me deeper in an effort to touch her cervix and flood her womb as I came. We kissed again.

"Thank you" is all Kassie said, hugging me tight before getting up to use the bathroom.

"Come shower with me." she called from the bathroom.

An hour later we were riding east with smiles on our faces and Kassie's arms around my waist.

*****

We were checked into a roadside motel an hour or so outside Madison. It had been a decent day, traveling through the Wisconsin Dells. We planned to stay an extra night in the area to recover from the sixteen hundred miles since Whitefish. After showering and changing clothes, we walked across the street to the tavern the motel manager claimed had a great fish platter and cold beer. Kassie was wearing a modest sundress with flip-flops, nothing too risqué given we were in a strange town. The fish was grilled just right and they had Leinenkugel on tap; it was nice that they had something besides the ubiquitous Coors Light and Bud Light on tap.

I finished my second beer and asked Kassie if she was ready to head back to the motel when somebody started to play the jukebox. A big guy, he must have been at least six-four and two-fifty, walked over to our table. He ignored me and stared at Kassie, moving up and down her body with his eyes.

"Let's dance." He held his hand out to Kassie.

See - this is one of the reasons why infidelity can be so harmful to a marriage - it makes you doubt your spouse, the trust is either gone or at the very least, questioned. It was five seconds or less, but in that five second pause, Kassie and I staring in each other's eyes - me wondering, did Kassie want to dance with this guy? Later, Kassie told me she was waiting for me to take charge and tell him she wasn't available while I was waiting for her to say 'no'.

The big guy took advantage of those five seconds. He put his hand on Kassie's upper arm and pulled her to her feet. This action brought Kassie's response, "I don't want to dance with you." as she pulled against him and released her arm from his grip.

"The fuck you don't!" was his reply as he grabbed her again.

By this time I was up out of my chair, grabbing his other arm. "I'd appreciate if you'd let my wife alone. She said she doesn't want to dance." I thought if my request was polite, it might defuse the situation.

The big guy moved fast and what happened next was totally unexpected. He turned toward me, let go of Kassie and pulled a hunting knife from the scabbard on his hip while cursing. "Don't you fuckin' touch me."

He swung the knife as I jumped back, but the knife swept across my hand as I tried to defend my body from the knife edge. He came at me again; I backed up to the pool table and grabbed a pool cue. My right hand was bleeding, but with my good left hand I had a decent grip, swinging wildly while keeping the pool table between us.

I must have really pissed him off because he made a stupid move by feinting right and going left. The feint didn't fool me and as he came around my right side, I caught him with a good swing, taking half his ear off with the stick. This only pissed him off even more and he came at me in a rage. I shoved the butt end of the stick right in his mouth and knocked him out.

Just then the cops showed up. They had to call an ambulance for the big guy. One of his friends was trying to pick his teeth up off the floor. I guess he thought that a dentist could put them back in.

I was wrapping my hand with a piece of gauze one of the EMTs handed me while they were attending to the big guy. I barely got it wrapped when the sheriff cuffed me, reading me my rights.

"Where are you taking him?" Kassie was practically screaming.

"He'll be processed and in jail. Best bet is, he'll be in court tomorrow for a bail hearing."

"But he didn't do anything until the guy grabbed me. Then the guy pulled the knife and cut him!"

Kassie was doing her best to plead my case, but the sheriff wasn't listening. He told his deputy to get statements from the people in the bar. Before I got dragged out, I saw two or three of the big guy's friends hovering around the deputy. I found out later that they never even took Kassie's statement. In fact, they threw her out of the police station when she went down there to try again to tell them what happened.

When I tried to tell the sheriff my side, he gave me a smirk. "So tell me why I should believe some out-of-town yuppie peckerwood and not one of our town's citizens, especially when no one else in the place is disputing his friend's story?"

I wanted to say a lot of things, but when dealing with the local police it's best to avoid confrontation. Hell, for all I knew, the cop could be the giant's cousin. So, I kept it civil when answering his question.

"Because you know I'm telling the truth."

"Travis says your wife was coming on to all the guys at the bar, said you got jealous and started the fight."

This was pure bullshit since Kassie never left the table while we were there.

"Did you ask my wife if that's true?"

"Well, I've found very few women admit to being easy, especially after a fight."

Kassie and I had obviously fallen into a time warp and were back in the 50's. I decided to take a different tack.

"Do I get a phone call?"

*****

Three hours later I was still sitting in the holding cell when I heard a commotion. Someone was in the squad room bitching up a storm. In no time a deputy came in and opened my cell, letting me out. We walked into the squad room and I saw a tall man giving the sheriff hell.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You have a prisoner who needs medical attention locked up? Not to mention the fact that he shouldn't have been arrested in the first place for defending himself!"

Turns out the guy shouting is one of the Assistant State Attorneys. My Company's commander in Afghanistan, Captain Roberts, is now the United States Attorney for District of Western Kansas and he was the recipient of my one phone call - it's good to know the right people. He must have made the right calls to the right people on my behalf. The ASA was still shouting.

"Did you know this 'out-of-town yuppie peckerwood' as you called him has two purple hearts and a silver star?"

I admit to enjoying the sheriff's dressing down. The ASA looked at me. "Sorry about this. I have a car outside; let's get that hand looked after."

Without another word by anyone, we walked out and drove four miles to the emergency room. On the way, he had to ask.

"Are you special forces? I heard you busted up the guy and he had a big hunting knife."

"No, regular Army. I got lucky there was a pool cue handy and he was too stupid to stay out of its way. Pure luck."

"Well, you got some pull. Your ex-captain called my boss, gave her the rundown and said she'd hear from the Attorney General if you weren't sprung in an hour."

"Thank you and please thank your boss. Seems the sheriff had a real hard-on for me. I didn't want to spend the night in his jail."

We pulled up to the hospital and he gave me his card after writing his cell number on it. I thanked him again and we parted ways.

Turns out, my hand needed twenty stitches and the tendon to my index finger was cut and needed to be reattached. So much for riding a motorcycle since I wouldn't be able to brake or throttle. Kassie met me at the hospital. She had gone back to the motel and was making phone calls trying to find help after the sheriff threw her out of the police station.

The next morning all charges against me were dropped and I was free to leave the county. We rented a U-Haul truck, strapped the bike in the back, and headed west. So much for my coast-to-coast ride of a lifetime. Kassie and I took turns driving, we stopped the first night for a few hours rest and were home by midnight the second day, exhausted but glad to sleep in our own bed.

*****

I decided to make some waves and give that sheriff something to think about. I hired a bulldog lawyer from his county and sued the county and the sheriff. We settled for a hundred grand; the lawyer took thirty percent. We could have gotten more, but I refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. My lawyer was irate, it significantly reduced his payout.

Last I heard, the sheriff lost his next election. Too bad - and fuck you!

Kassie and I continued to work on our marriage with my folks' support instead of a professional counselor. It wasn't easy and I won't bore the reader with all the angst. It had a good chance of success because Kassie was truly sorry for her indiscretion. It helps we have wonderful friends and role models in Jake and Gwen; and of course we realized how close each of us came to losing the best thing in both of our lives.

In the meantime, it was payback time for Mr. Owen Miller.

Any thoughts I had for physical retribution ended with the bar room brawl. The damage I gave the big guy was public record. If I got caught, that beat-down would be used against me in any criminal or civil trial. My revenge would have to be legal.

We hired an employment lawyer and shared the string of texts and voice mails Kassie received from Miller. Miller countered with some bullshit about Kassie being a temptress who wouldn't leave him alone. The school district got stupid and refused Kassie's request for a transfer, so Kassie ended up quitting and working full time at the restaurant. Quitting was Kassie's decision. Even though she loved teaching, I had to agree it was the right decision for our current situation.

We decided to play hardball. I called a friend who worked at the Times.

The headline in the Seattle Times Sunday edition read, "When Does 'No' Mean 'Yes'?" The subheading read, "When a local school district administrator doesn't accept 'no'" Kassie's former school district ended up going through a major upheaval. Not only was Owen Miller fired, two administrators at the central district office were demoted. It took two years, but we eventually settled for two-hundred thousand and two years back pay.