The Key

"But it did mean you don't respect me. I asked you over and over, begged you not to do it and you just smiled and said "see you in the morning Frank." You eliminated me from an intimacy that you and I have shared together for over ten years. The vows that meant so little to you mean everything to me. The union of our bodies created three beautiful children who love both of us. Together we were a family. We belonged exclusively to each other, and now you've willingly given the part of you that mated with me to create those children to another man and for what, for a good time; for a little special sexual kick for one night? You say it was just one night and I need to accept it and get over it, I say it was nothing less than a complete and utter abandonment of me, your family, your sacred vow of loyalty and faithfulness and any respect you ever had for me. You wanted to fuck another man and you did it. Congratulations, you got your way, but what you really did Sharon was throw everything you supposedly valued and held dear into the gutter. Part of me still loves you, but I will never be part of your life again."

"Damn it Frank why are you so stubborn. Why can't you understand that it was just something I needed and get over it. I'm yours forever, nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed Sharon, you're not exclusively mine anymore. I don't know why you can't understand that it was something I begged you not to do. I cannot forgive and forget, you willingly betrayed me and I will carry that wound with me the rest of my life. I've found a lawyer and I'm filing for divorce tomorrow on the grounds of adultery. I'm naming your lover Glen and every other person at your little get together I can identify as party to the divorce and just imagine what the backlash will be when your adulteress friends find out you are responsible for the breakup of their little club and possibly the destruction of their reputations. Go to hell Sharon and take all your little fuck buddies with you."

###

The moment I walked into Maddie Simmons Esquire's office I felt like I'd found the right attorney to help me get through the mess my life had become. She was no nonsense, straight to the point. She wanted to know what was causing me to seek divorce and what results I wanted to get from the action.

I told her I fully expected to forfeit half my worldly goods to Sharon that I would try to make a deal, giving her our home in exchange for a little less cash. I also realized, even filing for adultery that I probably wouldn't get full custody of my kids, but I wanted unlimited access to them and I did not want to pay her alimony.

I played all the audio evidence I had of Sharon's betrayal where she freely admitted over and over again that she and Glen had fucked the night away. Ms. Simmons shook her head over and over again, simply not believing that my wife was so naïve that she couldn't believe I was upset over her little affair and even more, that she would willingly admit to her actions in a voicemail that could be used against her in court.

"We will likely need to get a voice recognition expert to verify the fact that it is your wife's voice" she told me, but unless we get a really bad judge, the recordings should be usable in court.

We spent the rest of the hour talking about what I hoped to accomplish against this Glen guy and the others at the wife swapping party. She was doubtful we could get any monetary judgement against them, but could likely find a way to bring their little activities to public light and embarrass them sufficiently to cause them considerable pain. I told her that would be plenty good enough for me. I gave her a retainer and asked her to have Sharon served as soon as possible. She said it wouldn't take long and she'd let me know before it happened.

Tuesday afternoon I picked up my kids from my mom and ferried them back to Susan at the house. When she opened the door she gave the three of them a big hug and kiss and then she reached out for me, but I backed away from her causing her to tear up and ask me to please stay. I told her I couldn't, but I thought it would be good for the kids to be back home with her and that I would pick them up on Friday, to spend the weekend with me. Sharon looked like she was having a hard time and I felt for her, but she'd brought it on herself and the bad time she was having was no worse than what I was going through because of her.

On Wednesday I went back to work. I knew I couldn't neglect my job; I needed it now more than ever, not just for the money, but for the mental distraction. I felt like if I continued to wallow in the pain and self-pity of Sharon's betrayal I'd end up losing my mind, something I couldn't allow to happen for my kid's sake.

On Thursday I met again with Doug and Max, this time for dinner at The Half Shell Oyster House where I had a great fondness for their charbroiled hand shucked oysters and dirty martinis. Over dinner and drinks I brought them up to date on my kids and the divorce. Doug had investigated possible ways to shelter some of my money and I gave him permission to go for it. It wouldn't be much, but it would help in the long run. We put our heads together and came up with a relatively simple way to cause some nasty ripples in the wife swap club without putting ourselves in libelous jeopardy.

Max had a good friend that was a reporter for the Biloxi Sun-Herald newspaper. He felt sure that if I gave him the location of the Vanderlink's home and the approximate times the wife swap group met, he could find out the names of at least some of the participants and write an editorial to the effect that, wife swapping was more of a big thing in Biloxi than most people realized and simply by getting a few photos of a meeting with the couples coming and going and hinting about owners of certain businesses that might be involved without really naming names, enough of a stink could be raised by the religious majority to put a world of hurt on the whole group. I gave Max what little information I had and he said he'd get started on it. With that bit of cheer we shook hands and parted till next time.

###

My weekend with the kids was wonderful. We went shopping for new clothes, went to a Disney movie at the Grand 18 in Diberville and spent a full day on the beach, swimming and playing Frisbee. My kids were the most important thing in my life and I vowed I would never give them up.

Monday morning I got a call from Max, his friend at the Sun-Herald loved the story idea and was working on ways to get photos of the couples that went into the Vanderlink's and the new combinations that left together. Their faces would all have to be blurred, but people aren't stupid and in a town this size it wouldn't take long for the moral majority to put the pieces together. If it all came together it would end up being a front page story late this week. I had my fingers crossed.

I continued to get calls from Sharon, begging me to come home, promising she'd do anything and everything to make me forget what she'd done, but she still, never once said she was sorry or admitted she'd made a mistake.

On Wednesday I heard first from my attorney that Sharon would be served at our home Friday morning, then from Doug that he'd found a way to shelter about a third of my money by placing it in my kids names. Finally Max called to tell me that his friend at the newspaper had been digging around and found that the swinging wife swappers were set to get together again Friday night at the Vanderlink's and he planned on setting across the street in an unmarked van, taking photos of everyone who came and went. He wanted one more chance to interview me about what went on inside the party and if everything went according to plan the article should hit the paper next week. I felt better than I had in a long time.

Friday came and I waited for the call I knew would be coming from Sharon after she received the divorce papers and sure enough I wasn't surprised. My attorney called me at 2:30 to let me know she'd been served and not more than ten minutes later my phone rang again and the number let me know that it was my soon to be ex-wife. I smiled to myself, "wonder what she wants?" I thought about letting it go to voicemail but changed my mind.

"Hi Sharon, what's up?"

"What the hell have you done Frank?" Her voice was not friendly.

"Filed for divorce from you Sharon just like I told you I was going to do."

"And I told you there would be no divorce. And you filed for adultery? One night with another man does not constitute adultery Frank."

"Beg to differ with you on that one Sharon. Vaginal penetration by a penis, other than the one belonging to the spouse of record, defines adultery in the state of Mississippi. And your vagina was definitely penetrated several times by good old Glen's penis."

She began to cry. "Why are you being so mean to me Frank? I love you. All Glen did was fuck me a few times. It was a fling, that's all."

"Oh I'm sorry Sharon, my bad. I was under the apparent misunderstanding that fucking someone other than your husband was considered adultery. How did I ever make that awful mistake? Drop it Sharon, it's over. I warned you over and over and begged you not to do it, but you did it anyway, and now you have to pay the price. Furthermore I believe you are soon going to discover that your troubles aren't over yet. Goodbye Sharon, have a miserable life." And I terminated the call.

The biggest problem I had was that I still loved Sharon. Probably always would, but there was no way I could ever trust her again and there was no way I was going to stay married to a cheating slut.

###

I knew I should stay away from the Vanderlink's Friday night, but I couldn't resist the urge to drive by one time just to see what was happening. I also wanted to see if Sharon's car was there even though I felt pretty sure she would skip the party, at least this one time. There was no sign of her car, of course she could have gone with someone else and yes, I knew they only allowed couples to attend, but they'd made an exception for her once and who's to say they wouldn't do it again. I did see a van parked across the street from the house and I figured the reporter was in there somewhere. I wished him the best of luck in nailing their collective asses.

It didn't take long to get results. The next afternoon I got a call from Max's reporter friend asking me to provide a little inside information which I was happy to do. He told me he'd snapped over a hundred photos and recognized over a dozen of the city's finest citizen couples and how, strangely, they didn't seem to be the same couples when they were leaving the residence two hours later. Max had given him a picture of my wife so he'd be able to recognize her and he assured me that she was not one of the participants entering or leaving the Vanderlink's home.

He asked me to describe what I'd seen and experienced the one time I'd been inside the home during one of the key parties and I did my best to describe the way the keys were placed into the large bowl and though I never did see the actual part where the men picked a random key and left with the woman it belonged to, I did get a solid understanding of what was going to happen from my wife's description and through overhearing other couple talking about their experiences at past parties. Before we hung up he asked me if he could allude to the fact that he knew first hand of at least one marriage that had ended because of the parties, leaving children to suffer through their parents' divorce. I told him as long as no names were mentioned to go for it.

The article came out in the paper's Sunday addition and the proverbial shit splattered in every direction off the proverbial fan. Not only was the article front page news with a large photo of couples coming and going, their faces blurred, but continued for 4 more pages with at least a dozen additional photos. And though every attempt was made to disguise facial features, it was ridiculously easy to identify many of the participants because of the cars they drove and the clothes they wore. I mean, come on, these were, for the most part, the cream of Biloxi society. By Monday the story and the parties were the talk of the town. At least half a dozen ministers were being interviewed on radio and television about the evil that had crept into their Christian community and civic leaders were decrying the lost morality of the jewel of the south.

Suits and counter suits were filed to no avail, prominent businesses lost customers and more than a few couples found themselves in divorce court. To me it was all hilarious, a well-deserved retribution for the hell I'd suffered because of the loss of my wife and the breakup of my family. And even if some people figured out that I'd been cuckolded I couldn't care less. I'd managed to get my revenge and really that's all that mattered.

###

Sharon tried for months to get me to come back to her, but there was no way. The divorce went through and I got shared custody with my kids. The months I have them Sharon gets them on weekends and the opposite when she has them. It's not the greatest arrangement in the world, but we're making it work. Oh yes, since Sharon didn't fight me on anything concerning the divorce I let her off the hook and didn't share the audio of her adulteress confessions with her folks or friends. As for the couples who were involved in the key parties, several of them divorced and moved out of town, maybe run out of town is a better way of putting it. And as far as Sharon and I are concerned, she's starting to date again. I'm still not sure she totally grasps why I found her actions so totally unacceptable, but that's her problem and I wish any future husband she might end up with a lot of luck. I've dated several very nice young women, but haven't found the one to spend the rest of my life with. A couple have suggested they move in with me, but I'm still kind of gun shy when it comes to letting a woman have a key.