You Never Forget

Bets seemed thrilled, especially since it meant that we could, sometime in the future, buy a home. Three months later a friend called me. Barry ran a loan company, one of those not quite predatory operations who were usually five percent or higher than banks.

"Hey man, still looking for a house?"

"Not really. I don't have near the down payment I need."

"How much you got?"

I told him and I could feel the grin over the phone. "Come see me. I might have something you'll be interested in."

"Something," turned out to be a four year old single wide on a half-acre of land. The owners had moved and defaulted on the loan, and I could get it for payoff. Bets and I talked about it, and while it wasn't exactly what we were looking for, we agreed we had to start somewhere and maybe a few years down the road we could find a real house.

It was one of the proudest days of my life when I carried Bets over the threshold, her giggling the whole time.

Since I had been raised on a farm, I immediately started upgrading. I started with the yard, reseeding it, setting a small space apart for a garden. Dad came over and helped me build a twelve-by-twelve building and fence in the backyard. Bets went out and bought enough tomato plants to cover the yard, and more, so we planted what we could and gave the rest away. I can still see her smile when she picked her first tomato.

Bets was doing well on her job, going from a general assistant to an inventory specialist, and our future couldn't look any brighter.

*****

I was still working thirteen-hour days, but now I was on salary so I got no overtime. Bets kind of resented it until I told her I estimated before the month was out, I'd be back to regular hours. John was doing really well, and while Jesse might not be as bright, he learned. The new guy we hired to do packaging was his cousin and was thrilled to get the job. Soon enough, production was 8% higher than it had ever been. They even sent guys from corporate to observe the operation.

It was summer and I was getting home at seven or eight every evening, six days a week. Then it happened, I got home and she was gone. She stumbled in drunk about eleven after, Holly dropped her off. I didn't say a word as she stumbled around getting ready for bed. Even after her shower I could smell the weed on her.

She was still out cold, late for work, when I got up. I left her in bed and went to work. She was very subdued when I got home that night. She'd made a good supper, some of my favorites, and never said a word. After the dishes were washed we sat down and grabbed the television remote. I snatched it out of her hands.

"So, you're not even going to talk about last night?"

"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have stayed so long, but I was having a good time."

"You shouldn't have been there to stay in the first place. You know how I feel about Holly, but off you went. Fuck the old man, I wanna have fun! He'll get over it. That about right?"

I could tell by her blush I was pretty close. "Here's the deal. We're not going to talk about it. If you fucked some random guy, it will come out sooner or later. If you did, we're done. There won't be any more chances. Understand?"

She paled a little and promised never again, but I saw the resentment in her eyes.

*****

Things were cool for a while. Holly came to see me at work, wanting a job, and to apologize. I couldn't wait to do the interview. I let her ramble on about how good a worker she'd be for a little before I stopped her. "Holly, you've been fired from three jobs in the last nine months, all for attendance. You know how strict this company is about this and I seriously doubt you would last two months."

"This is because you're still pissed about me and Bets! You asshole! She's not ninety, she needs to go out and have fun once in a while. You need to lighten up and let her breathe."

"She can draw all the breaths she wants as long as they're with me. I know my schedule has been crazy, but it's back to normal now. If she wants to do it with someone else, she's free to leave. Personal issue aside, I'm afraid we won't be offering you a position, Ms. Walton. Better luck next time."

She went straight to the plant manager and he called me in after she left. "I take it you don't like the woman?"

"I'd spit on the ground she walks on, but I'd be dehydrated in less than an hour. She and I have issues over my wife, but that's not why I didn't hire her. Look at her work history."

That was the end of that discussion.

It was October before she slipped again. My company had sent me to the home plant two states away for a training seminar. I was thrilled and nervous, but despite that, it was a productive three days. My mind was kind of numb when I got home. It was to an empty house and a note on the kitchen table. "I tried, I really did, but I met somebody. I've already moved my things, so don't try to find me. I'll always love you, just not like I should any longer."

Sadly, it didn't upset me as much as I thought. Instead of mourning, I went to bed and slept ten hours. I looked around after I'd gotten up and she had removed every trace of her presence except for a photo of us together she'd left on my nightstand. That went straight into the trash.

Weeks went by, and I think she was surprised I didn't file. My opinion was that she wanted it, she should get to pay for it. I was too old and tired to cruise, but one night I went through town and saw her and Holly, in Holly's customized van. Holly made sure she was ringing a little bell hanging from her rearview mirror when she passed. I thought it sounded stupid.

I was headed to the drive-in to get a triple burger with onion rings, their specialty. A little while later Holly ran through, alone, ringing the bell. By the time I finished, Bets came around with no sign of Holly, also ringing the bell. One of the guys beside me laughed.

"I see the horny bell is ringing."

Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked, "Those two girls are the craziest, horniest women I've ever seen. They'll cruise, hook up with a guy, and one will drive while the other gets busy in the van. Then they change guys and drivers. They call that little bell the horny bell, and it rings a lot. I've gotten a ride from both of them in the last month."

I thought about it for a little and had to admit it did hurt me more than I thought it would. It wasn't my problem anymore, so I finished my burger and went home.

*****

It didn't take long for it to spread that Bets and I were through. I wasn't unattractive, in good shape, owned a really nice car and my own home, even if it was a singlewide, so the sharks started circling. I went out with two and heard through the grapevine that Bets bitched one out pretty good. I had to wonder what difference it made to her that I could get laid as easily as she could.

The week before Thanksgiving, she hooked up with a guy and they were joined at the hip for almost a month before he dumped her. She called me at work a few days before Christmas, asking if I would come by her apartment in the next couple of days. It seemed she had gotten me a Christmas present.

Wondering what she was up to, I agreed. She collected little dove figurines, so I splurged and bought her a really nice one, trying to rub it in her face that I had money for such things.

She met me at the door, in a tight little minidress, her hair done the way I liked. Signal flares started immediately, because I knew this had to mean she wanted something. She sat me down and brought me a beer, leaning down enough to put her chest in my face and give me a good look at her boobs all the way to the nipples. Very nice boobs with incredibly sensitive nipples, if I remembered right. We talked for a minute before she gave me the present: a pretty nice watch.

When she saw the dove, she started crying, jumping into my lap and kissing me, hard. It was a spectacularly bad idea, but I hadn't been laid in a month, and despite all her other faults, she was a terrific fuck. We ended up rolling around in her bed for two hours, and every time I got soft, she did a bicycle pump imitation and get me hard again. She had a couple moves that she must have learned after we split. Since I was just in it for the pussy, I appreciated it.

When I finally surrendered, she asked if I could spend the night.

"Why? Evidently being married wasn't for you. Why should I waste my time beating a dead horse? Better to just bury it and move on."

Bets started crying, huge tears with wracking sobs. There were a lot of apologies and begging and you can call me pussy boy now, because she was getting to me. I promised her I'd think about it and we drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to the feel of her mouth on my cock. Yes indeed, she had learned a few tricks in the last seven weeks, or she had them all along and never showed them to me. Then she cried and told me she was so sorry for what she had done to me, that she still loved me and she was going to do everything in her power to get us back together.

She bounced up to take a shower, bitching because it wasn't big enough for both of us. I lay back, dozing off. The phone ringing woke me, and I lay there and listened to her end of the conversation.

"A Christmas party? Then another one on New Years at the Radisson? You already got a room? I'd love to go!"

She was quiet for a minute and then she giggled. "Yeah, I hooked him last night, but I'll tell him we should wait until the first of the year to get back together. Until then it's party, party, party!"

I got up as quietly as I could and dressed. When I came into the living room she squeaked "Gotta go. Talk to you later?"

"Who was that?"

"Holly. You know how she likes to babble on."

If it had been Holly on the other end, her voice had sure gotten deeper. Bets had a towel wrapped around her hair and her body, and as she stood it fell off. I looked at her, the long sleek legs, the great ass and magnificent rack and sighed, knowing this would be the last time I saw them.

Deciding to make it easy for her, I told her I had already made plans for Christmas and maybe we should wait a bit before we got back together. She pretended to be sad, but didn't pull it off very well.

I thought about it as I drove, her scent still on me, and realized I had just experienced another first time in my life: the first time my heart was truly broken. Up until then some irrational part of my brain really believed we would eventually get back together and live happily ever after.

*****

Christmas and New Years' came and went. I never called, and heard through the grapevine her new flame had dropped her like a rock the second of January, so I wasn't too surprised when she called me at work. I deliberately didn't answer the phone at home and let the answering machine pick up. There seemed to be a bit of desperation in her voice after the fifth message.

"Hey Bets. What's up?"

"You and me, I hope. I seemed to remember some promises when I saw you last."

"Well, I've been really busy at work. One of my setup guys and I've been working ungodly hours, so romance has kind of been on the back burner."

There was a bit of silence and I plowed on before she could talk. "Oops! Gotta go. Emergency on the line. I'll call you later."

We played phone tag for the next two weeks. One night she called and seemed really down. "You're not coming back, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I got tired of being treated like a pinball that you could bounce in and out of your life. When you blew me off at Christmas to go out and party I realized even if we got together, you'd eventually start again. This is it. Goodbye. I'm sorry it came to this and I'm willing to take a little of the blame because of my work schedule, but most of this is on you. Every time you had a choice, you made the wrong one. Goodbye, Bets. Maybe down the line you'll find a guy who lets you play around."

She was crying and trying to talk when I hung up.

There was one more chapter to this little story. On the day after Valentine's, she came in and woke me up, yanking me awake by my long hair and raising all kinds of hell.

I finally woke up enough to get her off me. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You need to give me my key back before you leave, which will be just shortly. What do you want?"

It came out that no one took her out for Valentine's Day, and I should have stepped up.

"I'm sorry you're dating such a cheap bastard that he would break up with you two days before the big night, but really, Bets, we're not together anymore, so why should I give a damn? Give him a week and he'll come back sniffing around. Now would be a good time for you to leave."

She had gotten quiet and was looking down beside the bed. There lay a red bra, about two cup sizes bigger than she wore. If she looked under the bed, she'd find the bikini panties that matched.

It was cruel but I couldn't help myself. "Yeah, I had a REALLY good Valentine's Day. Now shoo, she's gonna be back any minute and I don't want an awkward situation."

I walked her to the car, grinning as another pulled in while she was pulling out. "Who was that and why was she crying?"

"My soon to be ex-wife. It seems her Valentine's wasn't as good as ours."

Crystal knew the story and grinned, then pulled me back into the house.

*****

Why was I thinking about all this? My granddaughter was in the arms of her grandmother, crying her eyes out with a broken heart.

I looked at them and grinned. You know what's even better than your first love? Your last. I had forty years with this woman and I prayed I'd have that many more.

*****

This was based on my first marriage and that of two more couples I was around when I was young. My first wife recently passed of Covid. She straightened up and married a good man, after going through three more between me and him. She married six times, if you include one guy she married twice, before she got it right.

Rest in peace, Deb.