“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why does that damned phone always ring at the worst time. I’m 39 now and too old for this crap. Why do these bloody telemarketers always pester me when I’m busy.”
Like now, when I was in the shower, sopping wet and hair full of shampoo. They seemed to have an uncanny knack for calling while I was in the middle of doing something or when I was in a big hurry with no time to talk. Last week some foreign spammer I could barely understand called while I was frantically getting myself ready for work after sleeping through my alarm.
I stuck a dripping wet arm around the shower curtain and over to the nearby vanity where my phone was impatiently ringing. I picked it up in my wet hand while shampoo was running into my eyes. I stifled the urge to scream.
“Hello” I said as I waited for the sales pitch to begin.
“Hi Greg,” came the chipper, upbeat female voice on the other end. “Long time, no talk. How are you doing these days?”
“Jenny?” I was dumbfounded. It had been ages since I’d last heard from my now 37 year old sister. Her voice was soft and soothing as ever. I used my free hand to turn off the shower taps since I knew this call might last a while. “Wow, it’s so nice to hear from you. I’m doing alright… sort of. But a lot has happened since we last talked. I’m once again single after divorcing Rhonda. And I’m working hard to keep my head above water. She really took me for a ride both financially and emotionally.”
I was waiting for Jenny to say “I told you so.” But, as always, she was much too polite to rebuke me. It was obvious that she’d hated Rhonda from the minute they’d met but my dear, sweet sis always tolerated her for my sake.
“I’m so sorry to hear that Greg. You deserve a much better life than that. May I ask what happened between you?”
“It’s a long story, but I’d be happy to share it with you sometime. In fact it might be downright therapeutic doing so. Are you free some day soon?”
Jenny replied somberly, “I’m free pretty much all the time now.” Ryan and I are no longer together either. I guess separating from spouses runs in the family.” We both chuckled as she continued. “That cheating bastard would screw a rock pile if he thought there was a snake inside. six months ago I caught my middle aged husband with a nineteen year old bimbo, barely out of high school. That was the final straw. I moved out the same day and filed for divorce. It was finalized a couple of months ago.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that Jenny.” Actually I wasn’t sorry at all. I disliked Ryan about as much as Jenny disliked Rhonda. I knew he’d hurt her someday and was glad she was rid of the asshole. However, last I’d heard he was the main breadwinner between them and I immediately feared for Jenny’s financial well being. But we could discuss all that when we got together. “Are you still living in New Britain?”
“No,” replied Jenny. “I bought a cute little home back here in Somerset since I could no longer stand living in the same city as that unfaithful prick. It’s a nice roomy home with an actual office for me to do my online travel agent job.”
I wasn’t sure where Jenny came up with the money to buy a house and also pay moving expenses from a job booking vacations but in any case I was glad to have her back in our home town instead of a two hour drive away.
“Welcome home Jenny! I’m so glad to know you’re close by again after being in that big, far off city. I’m off this weekend. If that works for you I’d enjoy getting together so we can share our tales of woe.”
“Works for me.”
“Great. How does Friday, 6:00 p.m. at the Rosewood Inn sound?”
“That sounds perfect,” replied Jenny. “Do they still have the best steak in town?”
“Yes they do and as always their wine is chilled just right. They often have live entertainment now on the weekends so we might just get lucky and see a good band while we’re there. I’ll call them and make a reservation.”
“I can’t wait,” was Jenny’s enthusiastic and bubbly response. “See you then.”
I could almost see her happy, beaming face right through the phone line as we said goodbye.
I didn’t have a lot of reasons to feel good lately but was totally elated as I finished showering. I’d always had a special place in my heart for Jenny.
After I dried off, brushed my teeth, had a shave etcetera I headed to the bedroom to get dressed. On the way I passed the full length mirror in the hall and stopped to look at myself. Ya, I was thirty nine but was in great shape from my nearly daily run. At five feet, eleven inches and a hundred and sixty five pounds I was lean and trim with a flat belly and sinewy arms and legs. My short, dark brown hair was getting a few flecks of grey and was noticeably thinner than it had been in the past, but I wasn’t quite ready for a toupee just yet. Other than that I was pretty much average in every respect including dimensions below my waistline. I’d never had any complaints though. Well, almost none. Rhonda was never happy with our sex life, but then again there wasn’t anything else she was happy with either.
During our eight year marriage we had endless fights. She was always complaining about lack of money even though we were quite sound financially. She was also perpetually unhappy that we’d never had children. After trying for several years we finally decided to find out what was wrong. It turned out that Rhonda had a problem which precluded her from ever being a mother. Her sex drive was perfectly normal, in fact it was way above normal, but her ovaries were irreparably damaged, most likely from a childhood virus she’d contracted. However, even her barren womb was somehow all my fault.
Then she started going out at night. I would come home after a hard day’s work and the house would be empty. She would come home eventually with disheveled clothing and liquor on her breath. I knew she wasn’t spending her time at the library. This unfortunately became more frequent as time went on. Eventually it was only on rare occasions that she’d be home when I got done work, and even rarer still that she’d be home before two am. if she came home at all.
When I found out she’d been having a fling with one of the senior partners at the architectural firm I worked for I completely lost control. I stormed into his office, dragged him from his chair and punched him square in the mouth. This was not a good career move even though it felt good at the time. I was immediately terminated, charged with assault, sentenced to a jail term and blacklisted from every architectural firm in the country.
It also didn’t help my cause in divorce court. The judge sided with Rhonda completely. She got the house, the new SUV, all the furnishings and nearly all of the investments I had so painstakingly made. I ended up with an old jalopy car, my clothes and enough money for a deposit on a crummy little run-down apartment.
Lots of places won’t hire people with a criminal record so I had a hell of a time finding a new job. I did eventually get hired as a forklift driver at a warehouse. This job paid peanuts compared to my last job but at least I was working. I also got a job driving a cab on the weekends to help make ends meet. After two years I finally got a better paying job at a steel mill and was able to give up the cab job. I was by no means wealthy but was actually able to save a few dollars and go out once in a while and enjoy life.