Two Brothers and the Girl

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when I turned my cellphone back on. I had text messages from my mother, my brother, my wife and my two daughters all trying to reach me out of their own selfish concern.

I believed that my daughters were in on what was going on and had agreed to go with their mother. The only one I believed was from my mother. In my frame of mind at the time, the rest didn't mean shit.

I had just finished listening to them and dropping all the messages left on the answering service, asking me to contact them so we could start resolving things. My wife in her message had said, I didn't have to do what I was doing that we could come to some sort agreement once I had thought about it and settled down. That was when the real estate lady called me.

"Mr. Tait, your wife finally showed up this morning, but she was not a happy person.," Miss Waterston said. "She was shocked to find you're letting everything in the house go with it. I showed her comps of other houses in the area and she agreed to add twenty thousand because of the value of the furniture."

"Thank you for providing me that information," I said. "I'd like it sold as soon as possible because it holds too many memories."

"Just so you know she broke down because she did not expect you to do what you're doing," She said. "I asked her, what did you expect him to do, you left him for his brother."

'Selling the house, I expected," your wife said. "But demanding to be bought out from the family company no."

I said to her," What choice did you leave him? In your eye's, was he supposed to be happy that he is his bothers cuckold and now his sissy bitch for the rest of your natural lives?"

"I never saw it as that I just wanted a way from them for good," I said. "In the divorce petition, she's trying to take the kids completely away from me."

"Apparently neither did she by the look on her face, I thought she was going to throw up. She said she had never seen that. I told her that she might be able to bullshit a lot of people, but I know how sluts like you think." Miss Waterston said. "I made an appointment with my sister, she's a dam good divorce lawyer, for you for Monday. I will text you her name and office address when I get off the phone."

I thanked her for her kindness and then hung up the phone.

I was just refreshing my coffee cup when I saw my older sister's car pull into the driveway. So, I finished making my coffee. With it, in hand, I went to the front door to let her in. Mom must have called her after going over to my brother's house. It was an eight-hour drive from their place to here.

"It must be pretty important," I said. "For you to drive halfway across the state."

Connie looked at me and said, "I can't believe what the two of them have done. Mom was completely devastated when she arrived at John's place to discover Beth and your daughters there setting up house. What are they thinking?"

"You think you're in shock you should see it from my side," I said with eyes that were tearing up. "I didn't have a clue. Do you know how long it had been going on?"

"From what mom told me after talking to Beth yesterday before John got home," My sister said. "About two years."

"Shit, how could I have been so blind," I said. "Before we talk further you should see why she says she wants the divorce by reading the paperwork. I just made a fresh pot I will get you one then we can talk."

Connie read it all through. It was quite detailed as minor arguments were expanded to make them big. Everything was exaggerated to the extreme.

"Beth wants you out of your own daughters' lives," Connie noted. "Most of what she claims is bullshit! We both know it. I'm here because mom does want you leaving the family business."

"So, Mother wants me to accept being my brother's cuckold and accept my new position as his sissy bitch until my dying day," I said. "Do I have it right?"

I was thanking the real estate lady for pointing that out to me because Connie was now in total shock. I knew by the look on her face that she understood the significance of what I was saying because it showed beyond a doubt just how little my big brother thought of me.

"Oh, my fucking god," Connie swore.

I chuckled because my big sister had never used a foul word in her life. As a good Christian, she would say banana's in anger instead of the four-letter word.

"How am I going to explain this to our mother," Connie asked. "With her Christian views, she would never see what they have really done. The stigma they are putting on you is revolting. The adultery, the breakup of your marriage and the way they are trying to take away your kids she can see, but not that."

"That's the reason I'm leaving the company," I said. "No matter what deal is made I would always feel he was laughing in my face because he had so easily turned my wife and children against me. The only reason he's taking what was mine is that he didn't have the balls like a man to build a personal family life for himself. So, he took mine to keep himself in good standing with our mom. Your husband makes business deals perhaps it would be best that you have him find someone to buy the company."

"Our brother has left you no choice. You have to write him out of your life," Connie said. "He knew what he was doing to you and that makes it deliberate. Our brother is a bastard and that is saying it as politely as I can."

Connie called her husband and I listened as she explained the whole situation.

When she got off the phone she said, "He will have a team coming in to appraise it for market value Monday morning. I now just have to go over and convince our mother it's the best solution for us all."

I went into my home office and pulled out the last five years of financial records and set the file in front of her.

"That's the last five-year corporation's statements and tax returns, your husband will need them," I said.

"What about Bijou and Bree," Connie asked?

"That boils down to what Judge Donald McDonald believes. I would have gotten Dale Britton, but he's tied up with that big right to life case right now and is not taking on any new cases. Her lawyer is painting a pretty ugly picture."

Connie and I talked for a few more minutes before she left to have a long talk with our mother.

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I didn't sleep well that night because I was used to having my wife beside me. It was then I decided that after I saw the lawyer, I would leave town for a few days. I had to separate myself from the situation to be able to look at it rationally.

Connie called me after she and mom had a long chat with the pastor after the Sunday service. The pastor said the one who has been harmed the most may never get over it. What they did to him was despicable but quite normal in today's society because love and decency had lost its moral value. To many, they have just become tools that they can use to manipulate and control others. Love is just a four-letter word unless one's long term conduct proves what it means.

My mother was apparently surprised when the pastor said your son James is not the first to have his life destroyed by a family that claims to love them and won't be the last.

"Mom agrees to put the whole business up for sale," Connie explained. "Not because of what John did but because she knows without you there, John would run it into the ground. She wants to know who she should put in your position?"

"Does she understand that I have been given no choice but to consider my brother dead in my eyes," I asked.

"Yes, and why," Connie said. "I had to explain to Mom what a cuckold meant in society's eyes and what that label applied about the person. Mom has sworn that if she ever sees Beth again, she is going to kill her."

"Tell mom she has to put Carl Robertson in as president. He was my second and knows everything I do. If she doesn't John could override him and would. It's the commercial end that makes us the big money and always will. For us to get the best price for the company it has to be done this way. Connie, she has to do it in person and demote John to Vice President and make it public by placing an announcement of the changes in the paper."

"Should we warn John in advance," Connie asked?

"No, and if Mom feels she can't do it," I said. "You will have to have her appoint you as CEO for a one year term or until the company is sold. You have to understand why I have to stay out of it. I can't afford to be involved because it would be used against me in divorce court to further Beth's claims."

Connie said she was going to check with her husband to verify that my reasoning was sound. She also said she had faxed him all the corporate information last night.

About two hours later Connie texted, "I'm the new CEO I will be doing as you suggested tomorrow morning."

I was having a brunch around two. I had made pan-fries with eggs and bacon. When Beth called me. This time I answered.

"Can we talk," Beth asked?

"We just did. If your lover or you contact me again, I will lay charges of harassment," I said. "Anything left to be done will be worked out in court."

"We have to talk about Bijou and Bree," Beth said. "And start working things out. Now that you have started calming down there's no reason for you to leave the family business."

"Oh, we will sort this out on my terms, not yours," I said coldly. "I will be going to court to get court-ordered paternity tests done to prove whether they are my brothers or mine. I think we all have the right to know just what the truth is, and no I will never return to anything that involves him."

Beth gasped in shock and said, "They are yours and you know they are."

"I believed I had a loving wife until I came home on Friday, didn't I and look how wrong I was about that," I said. "So, based on these new truths I am now learning to live with. I must assume there is likely a very good possibility that I'm really not a father either. After all, we both know John could have been screwing you for years and getting a kick out of it because I was the big sucker paying for it. After all, John is willing to fuck any willing and eager slut if it doesn't cost him anything."

Beth started bawling but I had no pity. I just hung up the phone.

Out of a hunch, I called my former executive assistant Joanne. Her husband had gone through his own nightmare of a divorce from his first wife years ago.

"Sorry to bother you," I said. "But I could really use your husband's guidance about what I'm about to face."

"Let me talk to David," she said. "So, hang on for a second."

I did and when she came back, she said, "David is on his way."

About half an hour later David showed up. I let him read the divorce petition then I walked him through everything that had happened since Friday.

"Let's be clear about this," David said. "You do not have any idea when the affair started other than what you have heard via a third party."

"That's true and that was heard from a third party," I said. "Who had heard it directly from someone, who had talked to Beth directly."

"Then in the court's eyes you will be justified because of the family situation in requesting that it be proven that they are yours before going forward with anything else," David said. "Just the way you found out who her lover is, is implying a deliberate long term deception on their part against you. Judge Donald McDonald will require biological proof before making any rulings. The Judge is a sticker on actual facts, not one's personal belief or presentation of their facts."

"Is the Judge that strict," I asked.

"Yes, it took me six months to get my divorce worked out, but I can honestly say that when it was all over none of us were happy with how he resolved it," David explained, "Because he put the need of our children first. To be honest, now I have to say that his final ruling was right."

I offered David a stiff one and we were sitting there chatting about his relationship with Joanne when we heard a truck pulling into my driveway.

I stood up and looked out the living room window to see that it was my brother John.

"Son of a bitch that asshole dares to show up here after what he has done to me," I said. "I wish I had one of my dad's twenty-two's in the house."

David said, "Sit down, I will go talk to him, and if he won't leave, I will show him my badge. I don't think he wants to deal with the Cape Girardeau police."

He opened up the front door and pulled the window down on the screen door so I could hear their conversation before stepping out.

After slamming his truck door in anger John yelled, "Where the hell is my stupid brother. I told him that we could sit down and work it out. But the asshole would not listen but now he is going to have to because I got a few things I need to straighten out with him right now. If he won't listen, I will shove my fist down his fucking throat until he does."

"No," said David, "You need to go home and cool down before you do something you will later regret."

"Fuck you asshole. Get the fuck out of my way. I left Beth in tears because he is questioning the paternity of his daughters," John said. "He needs to be straightened out on this and I'm the asshole that's going to do it."

"So, when did the affair start," David asked?

"About five years ago if it's any of your business," John replied.

"Interesting because Beth told your mother yesterday at your house, it was two years ago," David said as he pulled out his badge to show it. "I have to ask myself what is the truth, because it is apparent that both of you by your own statements are making the other appear to be nothing but a liar."

I could see John's face going white as David went on, "So after making James an unknowing cuckold by your lovers and your own conduct. Your brother James was supposed to accept it and continue on as if nothing had happened. Do I have Beth's and your thinking right? Was it your plans to then to gradually break him and turn him into your personal submissive sissy bitch? What gives you the right to believe your little brother is supposed to do what he is told to by you?"

John was stunned. He didn't know what to say. It showed me that neither one of them had sat down with each other to really figure this whole situation out.

David went on to say, "I wonder what the Judge will say when I show him the recorded video of our conversation."

"I suggest you get back in the truck and prepare Beth for the paternity tests that will come," David said. "It has to because we can now confirm that what you both explained about your relationship has no credibility and whatever you explain about it will be just more lies designed to try to defuse the situation."

I watched my brother walk back to the truck with the realization that things were turning out a lot different than they had planned. David waited till he drove away before he walked back into the house.

"What's your lawyer's name," He asked. "I will contact her on Monday and send her a copy of this cam recording."

I opened my text messages and he copied the lady's name and phone number for his information.

"Why did you bring your police cam," I asked.

"Its common practice in all domestic situations," David explained. "When Joanne told me why you wanted to talk to me, I knew just by the short time that had expired that anything could happen, so I came prepared."

"Let Joanne know that I am going to go out of town after I see the lawyer," I said. "I think its best that I say out of the area for a while because of what is coming down tomorrow."

"Is it anything the cops might be called about," David asked?

"Our older sister has been appointed the CEO of the family company this morning. Tomorrow she will be appointing Carl Robertson as president," I disclosed. "He was my second in command to me. Joanne has worked as close to him as I have, and she will likely become his executive assistant. The current President my brother will be demoted to Vice President."

"This is happening why," David asked?

"My mother does not want my brother destroying what she knows my father and I have built," I said, "Before she finds a buyer for it."

"Then I agree with your reasoning," David said. "If I were you, I would be packed to go so you could leave right after the lawyer's appointment. John will be on a rampage because he will see it as all your doing. From what I have learned about your brother he is hot-headed and reacts without thinking. Idiots like that are capable of doing anything."

After David left, I cleaned up the kitchen then hit Ace hardware and purchased new lockset for all the doors. It took about two hours to get that done. I was about to start changing the code system on the house security system when my cellphone went off. I looked at the caller's information and prepared myself. It was Beth's father.

"What's going on James," He asked? "My granddaughters have been calling me from a phone number I don't know because Beth has confiscated their cellphones and your phone is never on."

"Did you ask Beth why," I asked?

"I've tried to but all she will say it's a personal matter and that she will explain it all to us later," he said. "Katie and I have had enough we want some answers now."

"Beth moved out on Friday," I said. "She called me home from work just as the movers were finishing and served me the divorce papers. She said she had fallen in love with another man and that his name did not matter."

"Are you serious, James," My father in law asked quietly?

"Afraid so, the movers provided me with her new address because your daughter could not be honest to me," I explained. "The man she moved in with is my older brother. From what the family has been told by them their relationship has been going on from two to five years depending on which one of them you talk to. My gut is telling me it's been going on a lot longer than that. Beth does not want me to have any contact with Bijou and Bree. She, in her divorce petition is requesting that I only be allowed a one hour a month supervised visit with them."

"Why would she want to do that," He asked? "You been one of the best fathers I have ever seen."

"I think that she does not believe that I am the biological father of her children," I said. "So, my lawyer, when we head to court will be asking for DNA tests to be done to confirm just what the truth is. Just so you know I am no longer associated with the family business in any way."

"It sounds like she already has an idea who their real father might be," Beth's father said. "If she is right, we can assume she has been lying to us all her whole life. What should I tell my granddaughters when they call again?"

"What they and I have not been getting from their mother for a long time," I said. "The truth."

As soon as we said our goodbyes to each other I got back to work resetting all of the codes. I decided to go out for a bite to eat. So, I went to Golden Corral.

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It was just after eleven am when I had gotten out of the lawyer's office. She like me agreed it was a frigging mess. David had sent her the video file which she thought was dynamite because it would cause the judge to question the plaintiff's own credibility. My lawyer believed that with their own stupidity, they had put me in the driver's seat going forward.

I had just left the bank after canceling all debit and credit cards in my wife's name. She had also been removed from all bank accounts. My next stop was the real estate office to give her the access code and the new key to the house.

With that done I hit the road south. I was about an hour on the road when Joanne called.

"Just making sure you're on the road," Joanne said. "Connie just walked in and is being directed to Carl Robertson's office."