The Humper Game Pt. 07 Ch. 08

After that, we sat and talked more. I didn't really feel that we had dealt with Jenny's problem, not adequately, but I wasn't sure what more I could say then. And we would have another day. But Ellen and I both enjoyed the chance to just see Jenny and talk without being busy and frazzled—by, say, a wedding.

But after a bit, Jenny said, "You probably had something on for tonight, too, that you've dropped for me. What is it?"

I said, "Doing the laundry, probably this afternoon, is about it. Going to bed early, if we managed it. Some pleasant dalliance, I'd be hoping." Ellen laughed, but agreed.

"And here I was thinking that it seems like you always go dancing on Saturday nights!"

"There's one dance we kind of like to go to, when we can and we're not too tired. It's the one we went to for New Year's Eve, when we'd just gotten engaged—after we took you and Sam to the station. It's not too far away, and people know us, and if Mom and Dad aren't away they sometimes come along. But it's monthly, and this is the wrong week. I'd suggest going to see Mom and Dad, but they're in, let me think, I think somewhere in north Africa. Not here, anyway."

Ellen said, "I kind of need to be careful, these days, anyway. Nausea. But if it were our usual week, I probably would make Phil take me, even if I sat out most of the dances. We could see if there's something somewhere around, though. You'd both enjoy it."

So I went looking. "Well, it's half an hour farther away, and I think I wouldn't want to stay until the end. Marriage seems to be making me stodgy and conventional—I want regular bedtimes."

Ellen laughed at me. "You've been kind of protective of sleep time ever since I've known you, Phil. And I'm glad! Jenny, I admit that by now, if we wake up in the night, we tend to just go back to sleep, and I know you remember when that wasn't true. Um, I mean Phil with any of us, but it wasn't just Phil and it wasn't just us.

"But Phil, what time does the dance start? And is admission about the usual? And exactly where is it?"

After talking a little more, we decided to go. Jenny lobbied hard, and we eventually gave up and agreed to let her take us out to dinner, on the way, and we made a reservation. A place that was nice but not fancy, and in the right direction.

And then Jenny's phone rang. She looked at it and made a face. "It's Jesse's mother. I wonder what she could want. But I'll take it, if that's OK—she's nice enough." And without further ado, she took it. Not that I would have said no, but she didn't wait for an answer. Jenny through and through.

It seemed that Jenny's habit wasn't to hold the phone to her ear, but in front of her face. She didn't have it excessively loud, but we were sitting around the table, and Ellen and I could hear plenty well. Even if the caller hadn't been upset enough to talk loudly.

"Jenny! I didn't know anything about what that son of mine was doing! I hope you believe that!"

Jenny said something reassuring to that, but I doubted she was even heard. The voice went on, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.

"You told me you were coming for the weekend, so when he said 'we' were coming over this afternoon, I assumed he meant him and you. So when he showed up with another woman I'd never met—her name's Kat, by the way—I said, 'Where's Jenny?'

"He said, 'Oh, that's been over for ages!' So I said, 'Then it's a pity you didn't tell her, or me! When I talked to her a week ago, she had her plane ticket and was looking forward to being here for this weekend!'

"I don't know what he might have said to that, but you should have seen this Kat go into action. She has claws, too, and it's a good thing she didn't use them on him, or I'd have bloodstains all over. Artificial nails, I mean. But she said, 'You told me that was all over a year and more ago! And you were stringing me along, and her too I'm sure!'

"At that point, he managed to say, 'Kat, listen a minute.' But she just said, 'No, you listen to me! The last time you lied to me about something, I warned you it had better be the last time. I don't care where you go tonight, but it won't be my house. Tomorrow afternoon, you come and get all your stuff, while I'm there to watch, because I can't trust you. Anything that's left tomorrow night is going in the dumpster, or out by the street with a sign saying it's free. And after that, I don't want to see your face ever again.'

"She headed for the door, but then she stopped and asked me for your number. She said she wanted to talk to you, and I don't think it's to complain about you or anything. I hope it's OK that I gave it to her.

"But anyway, I told Jesse, 'I didn't raise you to treat women that way, or anyone at all for that matter. Right now you can get out of here. I'll cool down eventually, but if you ever do something like that again, you're no son of mine from that day on!'"

Jenny looked like she was halfway to crying. "Nora, hold on a moment. Thank you for telling me about this. And I don't want to tell you how to manage your relationship with Jesse, but really, don't do something in anger that you'll regret afterward. I don't mean I'm not grateful that you care about me! But I'd hate to come between you and him."

"Jenny, I'll think about what I said. You're right. But I really mean it, that kind of lying and cheating he didn't learn from me, and he knows dishonesty isn't acceptable. You know I don't know you all that well, but I don't mind saying that I was thinking you'd make a fine daughter in law. I'm sorry. If I'd known he had someone else, I'd have told you. Even if I didn't like you, I'd have owed you that.

"For all I know, this Kat might have been a fine daughter in law, too. I don't know anything about her, except what I saw today of course. But I'm sorry you got put through this, and that he didn't even tell you before you'd made your arrangements and paid for your tickets.

"I don't know where he's going to be tonight. From what I saw, I don't think he'll be able to talk this Kat into taking him in. He had to call someone for a ride, too. I guarantee he won't be here, though!

"Anyway, I hope you're OK, after being lied to and dumped like that. I'm too mad, myself, to want to ask you how you're handling it, but I hope you'll call me in a week or two, maybe, and talk about it some." They managed to negotiate saying goodbye.

Jenny was looking better, and I said something about it. She said, "You're right, for a minute I was ready to fall apart, but I'm actually encouraged. Nora is pretty nice, and I knew when Jesse dumped me that he hadn't told her, not when I'd just talked to her the day before. OK, she's mad at him for being a slimeball as much as for hurting me specifically, but you heard, she cares about that, too. I wonder whether I am going to hear from this Kat woman." And as if on cue, her phone sounded again. She glanced at it, said, "Well, it seems likely, I guess," and answered.

"Hello? Is this Jenny? My name is Kathy Morrison, but I go by 'Kat.' And I'm sorry to call you like this, but I just found out, oh, it's been maybe an hour or so now, that Jesse was lying when he said you had broken up with him a year ago and more. I'm really sorry! He moved in with me two weeks ago, and if I'd known I would never have given him the time of day. I hope you'll believe me."

This conversation was much more a conversation, back and forth. They both agreed that they didn't blame each other for anything.

At one point, Kat said, "My brother's a locksmith, and he's coming here tonight to re-key all my locks. After this, and the other time he lied to me—the other time I know of!—I don't trust Jess with anything at all. My brother's also going to lend me some security cams, for tomorrow, so there's no room for dispute about whatever happens."

Jenny said, "This feels a little like gossip, but there are a couple of things you should probably know, and I'm afraid that needs some background." She went on to describe the school—its isolation and the kind of physicals we all got three times a year, when we came back from our visits home. She said a little about sex ed, and about sex after that.

"So when Jesse and I took up, I wanted us both to get tested for STDs. I really, honestly knew I was clean, because of what I've told you about. He didn't want to, he insisted that he knew he was clean, and I finally broke down and started having sex with him without any protection. Well, after two or three months, I had myself tested."

She explained a little about me, and our partnership, with Sam and Ellen, how close we all had been. "So Phil was going to be engaged to Ellen, and we all agreed that after that it was just the two of them. And I wanted one more night with Phil, and he insisted on a test. Understand, he and Sam for two weeks, and then he and Ellen from then on, had been completely faithful. And Phil is the most honest person I've ever known or even heard of, and Sam and Ellen are the same way. So I was the only one who might not be clean. And I had chlamydia, everywhere.

"Jesse tried to insist that somehow I was to blame, but he was the only one for me since school. He just wouldn't believe everything I told him. Then, he'd tried to tell me I was cheating if I went with Phil that once, too. I admit I told him it was going to happen with or without his agreement—even though in the end it didn't happen at all—but cheating it wasn't.

"And I'm forgetting to say what all that's background for. You probably should get tested, yourself. I hope it comes up clean, if you do, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised, either way.

"Anyway, not quite two years ago, Phil and Ellen got married. I was supposed to go with an escort—I was a bridesmaid—and Jesse absolutely refused to go with me. He said he was really busy at work, the job was too new and they wouldn't let him off. OK, he'd started his job fairly recently, but I'm pretty sure that was a smokescreen, he could have taken a day or two. Maybe I'm wrong, but a month later he took a whole week when one of his buddies came to town."

Kat broke in. "The wedding was right about in the middle of June? That's when I first met him, and he wanted to take a day off and take me to the beach."

"Interesting. Just more character evidence, I guess. Anyway, a couple of weeks later, we talked—on the phone, you understand. I thought we had kind of straightened everything out. I managed to go out there for a few short weekends, since, and everything seemed all right. Then everything seemed to be on track for a longer weekend, this weekend. I called Nora to say how much I was looking forward to seeing her. That's why she asked Jesse about me.

"Anyway, it hurts, of course, but I understand it's not your fault at all, and I'm glad to know that. I mean it! I'm sorry you got caught in it, too. In a way, I'm sure it hurts you a lot more, at this point. I really appreciate your calling me, in fact.

"And speaking of 'caught,' I guess I'd better get tested for STDs again, as well as you. Who knows how many other women he may have been with, and when?"

They talked a while longer, not quite crying at each other, but commiserating. This was definitely a time when shared misery seemed appropriate to me, and I would have found it hard to criticize anything they might have said about Jesse. In fact, though, they didn't spend much time at all bad-mouthing him. They did a lot more making sure they both knew all the relevant facts. By the time they were done, I had a pretty high opinion of Kat.

At the end, Jenny suddenly realized that Ellen and I had been sitting there, privy to the whole conversation. "Kat, I'm sorry, I should have told you at the beginning. I decided that I had gotten the days off, and there was no point in just staying home and crying all weekend, so I went to visit Phil and Ellen, I told you about them. And then Nora called, and she was so mad about it I barely got a word in edgewise, and then you called as soon as I got done talking to her.

"And by the way, don't blame Nora at all. She's really nice. I wish I could get to know her better, and it's a pity you won't get the chance, either.

"But anyway, the three of us were sitting and talking when she called, so they've heard it all, her call and yours. And I should have warned you right off that I wasn't alone, but you and I had things to talk about. I can say that they understand as well as I do that you were totally innocent. I should have warned you, though."

"Jenny, I'm glad you've got someone there concerned about you. Phil and Ellen, for obvious reasons I'd just as soon this not be broadcast, but it's not especially private, I guess."

I said, "Kat, I'm Phil. And circumstances make it awkward to say I'm pleased to meet you, but I heard nothing at all to make me think badly of you. Quite the contrary, when you went out of your way to make sure Jenny knew the whole story. We care a lot about Jenny, and both of these calls have been good for her. I'm sorry Jesse turned out to be what he is, for both of you. Given that he is, though, I'm not sorry you found out, much as it hurts."

Kat and Ellen said a few words to each other, and both ends disconnected.

After a moment, Jenny said, "It's things like this that make some people want to go out and get drunk. I'm glad I'm here with you, instead, and going dancing tonight sounds a lot better than that. Kat sounds really nice, and I hope she doesn't relent about making him move out tomorrow.

"In fact, I'm sorry she got hurt, but thinking about him with the two of them that mad at him is almost the only consolation I have in this whole mess. Except getting to see you two again, and that really is a big one." In fact, in the end, Kat sent Jenny a few minutes' worth from a couple of the security cams, and Jenny sent them on to us. One segment showed Jesse trying to sound penitent, and that got no traction whatever. Well, he didn't make a very good job of it, either. The other showed him picking up something, and Kat telling him it was hers and she'd be happy to call the police in to adjudicate if he tried that again. She was pretty and determined. Jesse was good-looking enough, and pretty glib, but she clearly wasn't open to sweet talk.

We enjoyed our dinner out, and the food was very good. At the dance, there were quite a few people we knew. That shouldn't have surprised me, but somehow it did. Ellen did dance only one contra, with me, and then pled nausea and sat out and watched. I danced with Jenny more than I normally would with any one partner, but she had no trouble finding other partners between times. I thought this was really good for her. She wasn't as emotionally brittle as she had been that night during sex ed week, but I wasn't sure whether that might be only because she'd had time to collect herself. I had done my best to reassure her that she was very attractive, but being sought out by and dancing with one attentive partner after another may have had more impact. A new, pretty woman, and a good dancer too—they were almost lining up to ask her, every dance. It had to be good for her bruised ego.

We left at the end of the break. Jenny was definitely feeling upbeat, and would happily have stayed to the end. Ellen had enjoyed watching, and she'd had no shortage of requests. Also, as the evening went on, almost every dance a woman or a couple came and sat with her to watch and talk, and she had really been touched. Not all of them were people we already knew.

Driving home, we explained our schedule for Sunday morning. I told her, "You can decide whether to come along. If you want to sleep in, we'll try not to wake you, but that may be a little hard." At least, in this apartment, the kitchen was a separate room, with a door that could be closed.

"Phil, I wouldn't miss going to church with you two for the world," she said. I guess my surprise must have shown somehow, even in the dark with her in the back seat, because she went on. "Phil, first off, you and Sam and Ellen, all three of you, have gone that way, and I guess that really means I need to take it seriously, and I do. But then, some things in your study last night—um, I need to think about that, too. Seriously, and a lot. Well, I suppose I could try going to church, every week I mean, when I get back home, some church somewhere. But I doubt I'd keep it up very well, and if I come up with something I want to discuss with you, it would be a lot later and by phone. I may do that anyway, but it seems pretty dumb to think about that and not start here, where we can talk afterward if I need to."

I said, "Once you put things in those terms, I should probably warn you. I hadn't thought anything of it, earlier, but—. Um. I have a pretty good idea what the sermon may be about, and it might be one you need to hear, except in context it's aimed at believers—and also it may be painful, depending on exactly what he says. And I'd better not preempt what he'll say, so I'll shut up and just say, you have the schedule. If you want to sleep late, go ahead, and if you want to go with us, go ahead. Your call."

Ellen was keeping Jenny company in the back seat, and she said, "Phil's right, but I wouldn't be as hesitant as he is to push you to come along. But he's right, it's your call. And the reason we know something about the sermon is that it's part of a series, the last item in the series, though he's been taking more than one sermon per item. If you want more information, you can look it up on line. I won't say more, except that the whole series has been good."

I said, "Ellen, there's no reason at all not to tell her, once you've said that much. I should just have explained in the first place. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound mysterious.

"He's been going through a couple of verses, which list what are described as the fruit of the Spirit. Character qualities. And the final one is self-control. We don't know exactly what he'll say about it, of course. Although, you know that story about Coolidge, right?"

"Maybe, but for sure not without more to go on than that!"

"His wife was sick, I think—something like that, anyway—so she didn't go to church. When he came home, she asked him what the pastor had said. 'He spoke about sin,' he told her. I think she knew him well enough to be a little irritated at that point. 'Well, what did he say about it?' she asked. 'He said he was against it,' Coolidge is supposed to have replied.

"You get my point? He's going to say we need self-control. I just don't know the details."

We got home, and it was quite late before we were all ready to turn in. Then again, church didn't mean getting up as early as we got up to run, so Ellen and I managed a little more than a quickie. And whatever Jenny's normal schedule, at least it was her normal time zone.

The next morning, over breakfast, Jenny asked about the earlier sermons on the text, and I tried to describe the thrust without getting bogged down in details—kind of hard to do, for a long series of sermons on a short passage. Ellen had to correct me twice on the terms being used, because I still thought in terms of the King James version, not the modern translation used in our church. This didn't really matter, except that Jenny should be expecting the terms that might be mentioned—"patience" rather than "longsuffering," for example.

We managed to be in time for Sunday School, with enough to spare beforehand to introduce Jenny to several people, including the pastor, Pastor Fox. At that point, our class was, each week, discussing the previous week's sermon. In this case, the sermon had been the third on gentleness, which my mind still listed as "meekness." The discussion was fairly lively, and I hoped it provided enough context to help Jenny be ready for that day's sermon. Several in the class were also in the Friday night study, but the class had a teacher, so I didn't feel it was my job at all to keep the discussion on track. The teacher did a good job of that, anyway.