Windmills in Spain

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"Why didn't you say something to me?" They both just shrugged.

"A couple weeks later, Tracey Mercer's parents saw Sarah, mom, and two guys at TGI Friday's in Allentown.. They told Tracey about it, when they got home."

I sat there dumbfounded. Thank goodness nana called us for supper. We didn't discuss the problem during dinner and I excused myself before desert came. Fortunately, the twins decided to drop the subject for the rest of the night. I was relieved.

I just started to look through Ken's laptop when his cell phone rang. It was a text message.

" DK SRY 4 SNAFU. LY J" (Dear Ken, sorry for the problems. Love Janet)

I am not the world's greatest at text messaging: in fact I am pretty bad, but I had no trouble reading this one. It came from Sarah's cell phone, which meant that Sarah and Janet were together. I couldn't resist the temptation.

"TA J" (Thanks a lot. John)

Now she knew that I had Ken's cell phone.

I spent the next couple of hours looking through files and folders on Ken's computer. There were no e-mails between Janet and Ken, but there were a few between Ken and some old friends in Lancaster that were interesting. I was astonished by what I read, and definitely did not like it. Janet and I had been together almost our whole life, and now I found out that I never really knew her. She seemed to have bonded better with Ken in less than a year than she did with me in almost twenty. While I was replacing the printer cartridge, I noticed that I was crying. That is not something that I normally do. She hurt me with her cheating and now I felt salt in the wounds. Maybe it was from my tears.

I printed out several e-mails and a dozen pictures. I would have done more photos, but I ran out of the expensive paper. There were no pornographic pictures or even anything racy. They were all fit for mixed company. Beth stuck her nose in the door and asked if she could call her mother. I didn't feel that I could refuse.

My mother was with the twins while they talked to Janet and overheard everything. She wasn't eavesdropping, but it appeared that the girls weren't trying to hide anything. Mom told me later that they did not cut Janet any slack, and blamed the entire problem on her. The conversation lasted less than five minutes.

The e-mails were extremely interesting. Ken had applied for and was hired as an engineer for an alternative power project in Spain. His starting date was in six weeks. Apparently, he had not given notice at Gilbert that he was leaving. I am sure that Sarah knew, but nobody else there mentioned it. He had all the papers ready for the trip, except I had his passport. I am sure he could get a replacement, but he better hurry if he wanted to make his start date. I guess he could always go to the police and report that I pilfered it, but I didn't think he would do that. He hadn't made any plane reservations yet.

One of the e-mail's to a close friend explained a lot of things. Janet was planning on getting a divorce after she joined Ken in Spain. She realized that I would never allow her to take the girls out of the country, so she was going to have me declared an unfit father. The letter didn't go into a lot of detail as to how she was going to accomplish this, but indicated that it would be severe enough to deny me visitation rights with the twins, or custody. Now, that was downright mean. Ken was the one writing this letter so it was all hearsay. I would have liked to have something original from Janet describing it, but I had to make do with what I had. I printed out several copies of this letter.

Mom was falling asleep watching Leno, so I sent her up to our bedroom. The girls were already in bed. I fell asleep on the couch with four empty beer bottles on the coffee table.

I woke up to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon. Mom always put out a good breakfast. The girls were finishing their cereal when I made it to the table. I had to endure a few good-natured digs before I could get started on my eggs. The conversation was light, until it was time for the bus.

"Girls, I am afraid that your mother is going to try and separate us. She is planning on having me identified as an unfit parent so that she can have you all to herself. I have no problem with shared custody, if that will make the two of you happy, but I will not give up my right to see you and be with you. I don't want you to have to choose sides, but I want you to know what is going on. Be careful and don't listen to any lies."

"Dad, we are smarter than you think. Don't worry about anything. We love mom, but we are not going to let her screw you or us." Brittany was smiling and Beth gave me a thumbs-up as they walked out the door.

Mom filled my cup and sat down with one of her own. "Relax, John. Everybody is on your side."

After showering and shaving, I put on some clothing that was a little better than I normally wear. I felt a little odd when I left the house because I had three cell phones with me. I made a mental note to get a charger for the cell phone that I got from Ken. I probably wouldn't need it, but it I'd rather be prepared.

I signed in at the Family Services Office and waited for a caseworker to call me. I was embarrassed when I finally got called, because I happened to know the lady that came out to help me.

"John Terrell. I haven't seen you in over ten years. What have you been up to?"

Jody Mitchell was easy to remember. In high school she was one of the Goth girls. The Goths had their own little group and stuck together. They were ostracized by most of the other kids, especially the jocks, including me. She looked normal now, but all I will always remember her by is pink streaked hair, black lipstick, and dark eye makeup. The funny thing about the Goths, is that you could never tell if they were into drugs, sexual deviations, or witchcraft. As far as Jody was concerned, it was probably none of those, but you always believed the most outrageous. The nameplate of her desk read "J. Mitchell." so I assumed she never married. Twelve years ago, I could understand that, but today she looked ...

"John. What can I do for you?" My train of through was broken by her question.

I found myself stammering a little. "You look great, Jody."

She laughed at my awkwardness. "Do you mean compared to what I used to look like?"

Now I was embarrassed. "I guess, but I didn't mean to imply anything."

"Relax, John. I was half way through college when I realized I was smart enough to face the world as who I was, without the fake façade. I have been, what you would call, "normal," for almost ten years."

"I'm a lot more comfortable with "normal" than before. Damn it, but that sounds patronizing. I have a hard time keeping my foot out of my mouth. You will have to excuse me."

"Forget it. Now, why are you here?"

"Before we start, I need to ask you a question. Do you have a file or report on me? Anything at all?"

Her fingers danced across the keys like a piano player. "Nothing here, John. You did marry Janet Wilcox, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Nothing under her name either. It looks like the two of you are feeding your kids and not beating them. You do have kids, right?"

"Yeah. We have twelve year old twin girls, Bethany and Brittany."

"Okay. Now, can we get down to the problem that brought you here?"

"Jody, this is a little far-fetched and I know it might seem hard to believe, but my wife is planning on leaving me and wants to takes the girls with her."

" It's not hard to believe, John. We see it all the time."

"Doesn't she have to have cause to do something like that?"

"Usually when the mother comes to us she has documentation or something to prove the accusation."

"You just checked, and there is nothing there now. Right?"

"That's right, John, but how do I know you are not setting me up, because you did something and she hasn't got around to reporting it yet. Maybe she is getting medical information or police reports before she comes to our office. Just because we aren't showing anything in our computer, doesn't mean you didn't do anything."

"What you are saying is that I can't win."

"No, I am not saying that. Why do you think she is going to do something like this?"

I had no intention of showing anyone the e-mail that Ken had sent, but now I felt that I had no choice. I had to ask myself, why I made the copies if I wasn't intending on giving them to anybody. I slid one across the desk to Jody. "Where did you get this?"

"I took it off a computer that I obtained illegally. I know it can't be used for any legal reason, but it is some sort of proof of what is going on. The word conspiracy comes to mind, but I don't know the legal definition of it. I wanted to talk to you, or somebody in this office, because I didn't know what to do. I don't know how to protect myself, and my daughters, from something like this, and I can't afford a lawyer."

Jody Mitchell relaxed back into her chair. I watched her and did not blink. She rocked back and forth a few times and leaned towards me. "Can you come back tomorrow morning?"

"Yes."

"Fine. I will see you then. Can I keep this copy of the e-mail?"

I nodded 'yes,' and turned to walk out the door. "It was nice to see you, John."

I smiled and she smiled back. I forgot the Goth girl and saw the new Jody.

I didn't know any lawyers and I didn't know any people who knew lawyers, so I had to pick one out of the telephone book. I knew that she was planning on divorcing me, but under the circumstances things could change. I didn't want to take that chance. I wasn't sure what our financial picture would look like in the next few days or weeks, so I got the lawyer to quote me a price for the whole package up front, and I paid it in cash. I told him to do it the quickest, and easiest way he knew. If she wanted the house, she could have it. With the property depreciation, it was worth less than the mortgage. The other thing I insisted on was joint custody of the twins, at a minimum. I would take full custody, if he could swing it. I would pay child support, but no alimony.

On the way to lunch, I got a call from Billy. He needed a place to stay and of course I offered to put him up. We met at Taco Bell for the gourmet lunch combo. He had a silly grin on his face when I walked up.

"I know you can't be that happy. What happened?"

"A friend of mine, who works at Community General Hospital, gave me a little update on Calvin. Sarah went over there to visit with him. While she was there, Calvin's wife walked in with her two kids. Sarah had no idea that she was being played. It got so messy, that the hospital security people had to escort Sarah out. I went by Gilbert to talk to her, and she was no longer there: she had quit. I guess she must be at home right now, but I am not sure."

"Why wasn't his wife living up here with him?

"I don't know."

"Why wasn't he going home to his wife and kids on the weekends?"

"Don't know that either. To be honest with you, I don't give a shit."

Billy took a week off from work, so he could get things straightened out. I didn't know where he was going to sleep since my mom was staying at the house also, but we decided we would figure something out. He was going to swing by his place to try and pick up some clothing and his personal stuff, just in case Sarah was not there. He decided he didn't want to talk to her after all. I was headed for my insurance agent, but I never made it, because the cell phone rang again.

"John, It's Cameron Wilcox. Can you come over to the house for a while, so we can try and sort things out? Janet is a wreck and her mother isn't helping."

"Who is going to be there?"

"The three of us, and Janet's sister, Carla."

"I am not sure what you hope to accomplish, but I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

It was a somber group. I took my folder of goodies in with me, and I declined the coffee. "Who wants to start?"

"John, Janet seems to think that you are over reacting a little. She claims that you were raging mad, and forced her to say things that were not true in order to calm you down. She claims that she did nothing wrong and you have no right to throw her out."

I got the distinct impression that my dear wife had related a very sanitized version of what happened to her parents. I can understand why she would not want to admit her infidelity to them, but resented the fact that she shifted the blame to me. "What do you want me to do Cameron, prove that she is a liar or admit that I made a mistake?"

"I would just like to see a few facts so we can understand things a little better."

"What did she tell you about her boy friend?"

"She claims that she didn't have a boy friend. She just had a few drinks with some friends that Sarah worked with, and that you misinterpreted it."

"Cameron, in the last month she had over eighty telephone conversations with this casual friend. How many times did she call you and her mother in the last month?"

They both looked over at Janet. She looked at her feet instead of at them.

"Does that sound like a casual friend that she meets occasionally for drinks?"

No one was speaking as I took out Ken's cell phone. "Carla, can you read text messages? This is one that was sent to her casual friend right after I threw her out. Why don't you read it to everyone."

"Dear Ken, sorry for the problems. Love Janet." Carla handed the phone back to me.

"Does that sound like a casual friend?"

Janet had her hands in front of her face. Cameron was slowly shaking his head.

"A couple of weeks ago, Janet and her friend Sarah told everyone they were going shopping at the King of Prussia mall. The twins begged to go along, but their mother said "no'. Here are a few pictures that were taken on that trip." I handed Cameron six photos, which he looked at and passed to Martha and Carla.

"That doesn't look like King of Prussia. That looks like Knoebel's Grove. Damn it, Janet what is going on?"

Martha had been quiet up to that point. "Janet, in every picture you are hanging on to this man's arm for dear life. That is not what you do with friends. It appears that the fellow in these pictures, Ken, I assume, is far more than a friend. What were you trying to pull here?"

The tears were flowing slowly and quietly. This was not what she was hoping for. She wasn't expecting the pictures.

"Here are a few more of the same. I think two of them are from the Olive Garden and one looks like Red Lobster. I have several more. Fortunately, my loving wife has her clothing on in all of them."

"I think we have seen enough, John. I am sorry that we had to call you over here for this." Cameron seemed upset over the way he was deceived.

As I got up, Janet was leaving the room, bawling like a baby. We never got to discuss the stains on her underwear. I guess at that point it was not necessary.

Cameron walked me to the door. "John, I am sorry that we can't undo what has been done, but I guarantee you that it will not be ignored." He shook my hand as I left.

Mom and Billy had a roll-a-way bed set up in the den when I got home. It wasn't actually a den, just a small extra room that I kept the computer in. Billy had a pile of extra clothes that he got from his house, stacked up in the corner. Sarah wasn't at home when he stopped by.

The most interesting thing waiting for me when I got home was the mail. Actually, it wasn't waiting for me, it was for Janet: a nice official envelope from the passport department. I knew that I was not supposed to open it, but I couldn't help myself. It was of course a passport, but more exactly it was a family passport. The picture was of Janet and the two girls. I remembered when the girls told me that they had a picture taken, but I never imagined it was for this purpose. Of course there was no passport for me in the envelope.

I immediately called Cameron and told him to tell Janet that it had arrived. If she wanted her passport, all she had to do was send Ken to the house to pick it up. I would only give it to Ken. Normally, I would have been at work when the mail arrived. I never would have known she got it. Cameron informed me that they asked Janet to find someplace else to stay. They had no idea where she was going to go. It appeared that they were slightly pissed at their daughter. He did promise to tell her about the passport.

The supper conversation was interesting and it mostly involved the girls.

"A lady from Family Services came to see us at school today." Bethany said with a coy little smile.

"Would you like to expand on that a little? Did she speak to you together, or separately?"

"Both of us at one time. Her name was Jody. She said the two of you went to high school together."

"We went to the same high school, at the same time, but we weren't together."

I got a frown from Brit for being a smart ass. "Pay attention, dad,"

"What did she want to talk to you about?"

"You. All she talked about was you. Beth and I both agreed that she liked you."

"You got that from a short conversation?"

"She talked to us for over an hour. We missed gym and part of geography."

They were both talking at the same time and I was having trouble keeping up. Dinner was interrupted by a phone call from Carla. She wanted to talk.

I met Janet's sister at McDonald's. We took a corner table with two very hot coffees.

"John, Janet asked me to try and explain what was going on. She couldn't do it herself."

"This might sound stupid, but if I have any questions, how will you answer them?"

"I don't think I can. All I can do is talk and have you listen. I am sure I will get some of it screwed up anyhow, because most of it sounded like gibberish when she told it to me."

"You are setting me up so that you can tell me that you have no answers: just excuses and justifications."

"I always knew you were smart, John."

"Let's get it over with. I have other things to do."

"First, she blames it all on Sarah. Sarah started cheating on Billy and made it sound exciting and romantic. Janet said she never had experienced exciting and romantic. All she ever had was you: loving and dependable. When Ken Sanders started at Gilbert, Sarah convinced Janet's to joint them for drinks and a few meals out. While they were together, Sarah and Calvin would often disappear for a little love making, and leave Janet and Ken alone. Eventually, they started messing around also, and before long, it was a full-blown affair. Once it started, she couldn't or didn't want to stop it. Ken had impressed her with his stories of what he did and what he was going to do, She wanted to go with him and share it all. When he asked her to go to Spain she jumped on it. The big problem was, not leaving you, but leaving the girls. She knew that you would never let her take them overseas, so she was going to figure out a way to make you look like a bad father. She knows now that it was a mistake. After talking to the girls, she realized that they were closer to you than they were to her. She decided that she would not attempt to take the twins, if you agreed to a divorce, with no strings attached."

" That's it?"

"Pretty much so. Yep."

"Okay. Tell her to go ahead and file the papers. I won't contest it, if it is all as you described it."

"Oh, John. One more thing: Janet would like her passport. Do you have it with you?"

Everything started to become clear now. I had no idea how she was planning on doing it, but I suspected that she had not given up hope of taking the girls with her. They would kick and scratch all the way, unless she had something up her sleeve. The family passport was a deal killer.

"Carla, my coffee is cold. I am going to go home and take a hot shower. Don't call me again."

"John. What the hell is wrong? What did I do to piss you off?"

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