Warts & All Ch. 01

At that moment Sally and her mom came back into the den and we started talking about school and Sally's upcoming graduation. Jack and I never spoke about it again but from that moment on Jack treated me like the son he never had.

After that things started happening pretty fast. Sally graduated with honors. She got a well paying job as an assistant buyer for a retail chain store not far away. She spent as much time with me as she could in my apartment. But her mom and dad put their foot down about her moving in with me full-time.

I graduated on time and had a job lined up with General Motors as a draftsman before I even had my diploma. We got married two months later. With both of us working we were able to afford a small cape-cod on a big enough lot to add on to the house if it became necessary.

Within a year our son, Jason was born. Named after my best friend, he was a wonder. Two years later we had Jessie. At that point we thought we were through. But after some waffling we had Allison three years after Jessie. It was special having a son but it was the girls who had me wrapped around their little fingers.

Sally had cut back to part-time and transferred to retail when Jason was born. She wanted to stay employed at least part-time between kids and eventually return to full-time work when all the kids were in school. Right now she fluctuated between twelve and twenty hours a week. It worked out since she qualified for a big employee discount and keeping the kids in clothes was expensive.

My job had steadily evolved since I had started. Early on I had gotten involved in translating part designs into programs for creating numerical control tapes for automated manufacturing. And by the time Allie was born we were seeing the first Computer Aided Design systems starting to be developed and the company had elected me as part of a group to be trained in the very first implementation.

Life was good. Money was adequate enabling us to afford two cars and a modest but beautiful home. We had added on a bedroom, bath and a finished rec room between the kids being born. We had three beautiful and healthy children. We did lots of things together as a family. At least one family vacation every year for the five of us and twice a year Sally and I would parcel out the kids to the grandparents for a long weekend somewhere just for us.

I had always thought our marriage was solid. Our sex life was frequent and varied. Sally was always a willing and enthusiastic partner. She seemed to usually have orgasms and I never thought she was faking it. In fact she was frequently multi-orgasmic which always inspired me in our lovemaking. And both of us were comfortable about initiating sex.

And we weren't shy about professing our love to each other. We cuddled, held hands and touched each other frequently. I would look at her and then at other guys wives and would think how lucky I was and I often told her so. I always thought we were still just as much in love and as hot for each other now as we were ten years ago. Now I wasn't so sure. I could feel my life turning to shit.

Sleep eluded me most of the night and I probably only got a couple of hours. I skipped going to the 'Y' the next morning and staggered into the office and closed my door and stared at the wall.

I knew I had to come up with a plan, a course of action. Somehow I needed to find out what was happening. I could ask Sally directly what was going on. She had never lied to me before as far as I knew. But if she was already hiding something, would she tell me the truth now? And how would I know? I knew what I had overheard. I knew what I had seen in her eyes.

I started doodling on a pad and made some notes on where to go from here. Some steps to take to find out what was happening. But when it came to coming up with what I would do if it turned out to be the worst case scenario I was lost. I loved Sally. I loved my kids. The thought of being without them scared the hell out of me. But even scarier was the thought that maybe Sally didn't really love me.

For the next few days I was a like a zombie at work and at home. I couldn't think about anything else. Sally didn't even notice until Jase said something about dad not acting right. I just passed it off as a work project being on my mind.

On Tuesday I got back to my routine and I went to play racquetball before work like I usually did. John was there and of course Craig. The thought occurred to me that I had never seen John without Craig or vice versa. I knew then if John was involved in something Craig would be too.

When I walked in to the locker room, they were down at the end of one aisle changing and talking quietly to one another. When they glanced up and saw me, John laughed and Craig started smirking like he was the only one in on a joke. I now realized that his smirk was a common expression on his face. I stiffened and started to get angry.

For the first time I started thinking about the two of them as my adversaries. John was about an inch taller and maybe ten pounds heavier than me, Craig a little shorter and stockier. I usually beat them at racquetball mostly because I had been at it longer and I was in a little better condition.

I controlled myself and about six of us played some pick-up matches. John and Craig were cordial and we exchanged some small talk before we all cleaned up and went to work for the day.

On Wednesday I decided to try to verify John and Craig's whereabouts on Saturday. I called John's house from work and spoke to his wife. I told her I was one of the guys from his racquetball league and was calling to see if John was available to play on Saturday. She said that as far as she knew he was going to a business conference in Detroit in the afternoon, returning Sunday.

My heart sunk when I heard that. On a hunch I called Craig's house and got the same answer from his wife. Slowly I hung up the phone and sat and stared out the window. It was true, it had to be true. The four of them were hooking up down there. But the question remained, how far had it gone? Regardless it was too far. I was angry. I started hearing a little voice in my head saying 'Do something!'

Friday night after work I stopped at Mom and Dad's. Dad had retired this past year and they were planning on spending the winter in Florida. But in the meantime they spent a lot of time fixing up the house getting it ready to sell in case they found something down there they liked. And they also loved taking their grandkids whenever they got a chance.

I told them I needed to talk to them and we sat at the kitchen table with some ice tea as I tried to think of a way to break it to them.

Finally, I sighed and said, "I don't know how to say this so I will just come out with it. I think Sally is cheating on me."

As I said it the tears starting running down my face and I practically sobbed. It was the first time I had articulated the unthinkable out loud.

Mom and Dad recoiled in shock. "No no, it can't be. Not Sally. Sally wouldn't do that to you. She couldn't do that to you." Mom whispered.

"Son, why do think that?" Dad said quietly.

I went over the things I had overheard and the things I had found out. Mom sat there quietly crying and shaking her head. Dad reached out and drew her to him and held her tight.

"What do you need from us Phil?" Dad asked.

"I have to know for sure. I have to be where they are tomorrow night. I know it's a lot to ask but can you take the kids for me tomorrow and keep them until Sunday?" I pleaded.

Dad nodded. "Of course we will Phil. But I pray to God it's all a misunderstanding."

I nodded, "Yeah, me too. But it's hard to see how it could be."

Shaking my head I got up and left.

When I got home Sally was bouncing around, finishing up dinner. She turned around as I walked into the kitchen and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

"The kids are in the rec room and dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes." She said happily.

I could tell her mind was already on her weekend, she was practically flying. It was like she was on speed or something. As I thought about that it also occurred to me we hadn't had sex since the previous Saturday.

We had missed our usually mid-week romp, probably because I had been in a piss-poor frame of mind all week and I had actually taken sleeping pills a couple of times to help me get through the nights. But Sally had never brought it up either. I wondered what she would say to the idea.

Hesitantly I said, "Honey, I just realized we haven't made love since last weekend. And you are going to be gone this weekend. How about we get the kids to bed early and make some time for ourselves tonight?"

Sally pulled her arms back from around my neck and stepped back a bit. Once again I could see that veil fall across her eyes and her smile became forced.

"Gee, Phil I'd love too. But I started my period today a little early." She said hesitantly.

Expressionlessly I said, "Oh? Sure, sure, I understand."

She reached up and stroked my cheek and said seriously, "As soon as my period is over I'll make it up to you, I swear. Okay?"

It was all I could do not to jerk away from her hand. "Yeah, it's a date then." I mumbled.

She hugged me and happily went back to fixing dinner.

I turned and walked slowly up the stairs to change. Sally's periods were regular as clockwork as long as she was on the pill. It was clear to me now. She was saving herself for her date tomorrow. If I hadn't known where I stood before, I knew now. The anger got stronger and that voice saying 'Do something!' was a little louder.

Getting through dinner without showing all the emotions I was feeling was difficult. The kids chattered away like they usually did and Sally was oblivious. Could this be the last time we would all sit down to dinner as a family? I turned my head away as the tears welled up in my eyes at that thought.

The next day we followed our usual Saturday routine. The older kids cleaned their rooms after breakfast. Allie would pretend to help. When they finished they could watch cartoons. I puttered around in the garage until it was almost Sally's time to leave then I went back into the house.

Sally was just coming down the stairs with her suitcase and was yelling at the kids to be good while she was gone. Allie was right behind her yelling, "buy me something, mommy, buy me something!"

Sally stopped at the bottom of the stairs, dropped her suitcase and picked Allie up and gave her a hug and a kiss. "I will sweetie, be good for daddy."

Sally handed Allie over to me and gave me a kiss and said, "Got to go, supposed to pick up Debbie in twenty minutes."

I nodded. "Don't forget to call me as soon as you get to the hotel. Which one is it again?"

She laughed and said. "I always do. It's the Red Roof Inn in Rochester Hills. Bye." And she was out the door.

I stood on the porch holding Allie and watched her drive away without looking back. As soon as she was out of sight I slowly went back inside and yelled for Jase and Jessie. I had at least two hours before Sally would be calling to tell me she arrived safely. More than enough time to do what I had to do.

The two of them came tumbling down the stairs chattering away wanting to know what I wanted. I told them we were all going over to grandma and grandpa's to spend the night so they needed to pack a bag with pajamas, a change of clothes and their favorite toys. With only a little fuss and without answering the inevitable questions, I got them turned around and back up to their rooms. I helped Allie get her stuff together and got everyone out of the house and in the car.

Mom and Dad were waiting at the door when we pulled up. I got everyone and everything unloaded and settled into the house. As I was heading out, Dad looked troubled, "Good luck, Phil. I hope you're wrong."

I sighed, "I know Dad, me too. Thanks for doing this. I'll call you in the morning."

I headed home by the way of the airport. I stopped at Avis and changed cars. I didn't want my car to be recognized where I was going.

A couple of hours later I was still sitting in the kitchen staring at the clock. My mind kept playing over the events of the week with repetitive slowness. When the phone finally rang just after one o'clock I just stared stupidly at it before coming to my senses and picking it up.

"Is that you Phil?" I heard Sally say.

"Yeah, it's me."

"You didn't even say hello, is everything okay?"

"Everything's great, just great. Everything all set on your end?" I said a little sarcastically.

"I don't know what you mean by all set but we got here okay. We stopped for lunch on the way down. We are in room one sixty-eight and the number is 555-645-0168."

We exchanged small talk for a few minutes, then she said "Debbie's waving at me, got to go, we are spending the afternoon at the Meadow Brook Village Mall. See you tomorrow."

And the phone clicked as she hung up without waiting for me to say good-bye. I thought to myself, 'she didn't even say I love you.' And she hadn't said it this morning when she left either.

I dialed the number I had previously looked up for the Red Roof Inn and asked for reservations. I asked them if Sally Robinson had checked in yet. They said yes she had and would I like to be connected with her room? I told them no, it wasn't necessary I would be seeing her later.

I hung up then dialed the number again. This time I asked if there was a John Harrison registered. They said there was but he hadn't checked in yet. I said I would call back later and hung up.

I sat there staring at the phone, trying to suppress the anger that was threatening to turn into a killing madness. It was a scary feeling I hadn't felt in many years.

I got up and slowly walked down into my workshop and unlocked the door to my gun cabinet. I stood there and stared at my Dad's old sixteen gauge double-barrel shotgun, my Winchester Model 73 thirty aught six rifle and my old pellet gun from when I was a kid.

Dad had given me his old shotgun when he and mom planned to move before retirement last year. The Winchester I had bought while I was in High School when I had hunted deer for a couple of years. I hadn't been able to stand the thought of hunting again after Vietnam.

I stood there lost in thought. I knew if I took a gun with me I might never see my kids again. I bent over and opened up the bottom drawer and took out an old beat up shoebox lodged in the corner.

I carried the box upstairs and dumped it out on the kitchen table. I rooted around in the pile of stuff until I found what I was looking for. I pulled the Marine Ka-Bar knife I had bought in Bangkok, out of its sheath and felt the edge, still sharp. Most of the haft was stained a dark rusty color. I slide it back in and bent over and pulled up my pants leg, strapped it to my calf and covered it back up.

I collected a few things I might need. Driving gloves, water bottle, a couple of candy bars. It was after two when I slid behind the wheel of the car to start the ninety mile trip to Rochester Hills.

I eased into the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn and slowly drove down the length of the building until I came to room one sixty-eight. I didn't see Sally's car so I backed into a parking spot a couple of rows back from the room, turned off the car and waited. I didn't want to but I kept thinking and reminiscing about Sally and the kids.

It was after five when a new red pick-up I recognized pulled up into a parking spot right in front of Sally's room. John and Craig got out. They looked pretty happy, laughing and talking. They pulled a couple of suitcases and a cooler out of the back and went into the room next door.

About forty-five minutes later they came out and got back into the truck. I followed them for several miles until they turned into the parking lot of a bar called 'Tappers Pub'. I stopped on the street and watched them go in. Then I slowly drove around the lot and almost instantly spotted Sally's car.

I parked on the street where I could see both the front door and John's red pickup. I thought about going in but the bar seemed kind of small and I was afraid of being spotted. I sat there listening to an old country music station and an endless string of 'she-done-me-wrong' songs. It fit my mood.

It was after nine when the four of them finally came out of the bar. Laughing, joking and holding hands. Instead of trying to follow them, I decided to beat them back to the hotel. At this time of night I didn't think they would go anywhere else. And being parked where I was I could easily get on the road before they did.

I was parked back across from their rooms with my windows rolled down a good ten minutes before both the pickup and Sally's car pulled into the lot. The four of them got out and they stood around in front of the room one talking.

I was close enough I could see them clearly by the light over the door but far enough away that I couldn't hear what they were saying except for an occasional burst of laughter. They seemed to be having a good natured disagreement about something.

After a few minutes John made a big production of pulling a coin out of his pocket and flipping it into the air and catching it then holding his hand in front of everyone to reveal which side was up. There were both cheers and groans from some of the observers before Craig pulled an unresisting Sally to him and gave her a big long kiss.

Smiling, Debbie grabbed John's arm and pulled him toward the other room. Arm in the arm the two couples laughingly went into the separate rooms turning to point and wave at each other.

I sat there stunned. Who was doing who? What kind of game was this? As my mind wrestled with my anguish, with the knowledge of what was probably going on in room one sixty-eight the voice I had heard all week in the back of my mind started building to a shout, 'do something, anything!'

Do what? It was obvious this wasn't the first time. They were too comfortable with each other. I couldn't roll back what Sally had already done. Ten years. Ten years of marriage and building a family. She had shit all over it and me. What good would it do now? I thought I knew the answer to that. At the least I would sleep better knowing I tried.

Then John came out of Debbie's room dressed only in boxer shorts and tee shirt. He was holding a beer. I glanced at my watch and suddenly realized I had been staring at their door for over an hour. John looked up and down the front of the building to make sure no one could see him, then strode over to Sally's room and knocked twice on the door.

A couple of minutes later Craig came out wearing jeans, no shirt and no shoes. He closed the door behind him. The two of them stood there for a few minutes talking while John sipped his beer. Then the two of them high-five'd each other and this time John went into Sally's room and Craig went into Debbie's room.

It suddenly dawned on me what had just happened. I went nuts! Suddenly the voice was screaming in my head, 'DO SOMETHING, ASSHOLE!' I felt the rush of the killing madness come over me. I could no longer stop myself. I reached over to the other seat and found my driving gloves and pulled them on.

I deliberately got out of the car and quickly walked over to room one-sixty-eight. I put my left thumb over the peephole and knocked twice with my right hand. As the door started to open and as John was saying, 'What the fuck, Craig ..." my fist was already traveling forward and connected square on John's nose with all my anger and frustration behind it.

John's head snapped back and he went back two steps and went down square on his ass hard. He sat there in only his boxer shorts, eyes closed and his hands over his face, blooding pouring between his fingers. He was moaning and rocking back and forth. I glanced around the room at the messed up bed and the bathroom door ajar. I could hear the shower running.