This is another amateurish effort. I was pleased that some readers enjoyed my first story posted here recently. I thought I’d give February Sucks a try, everybody else has. I did my own editing with the help of Word; any and all mistakes are mine. If I keep this up I’ll have to look for an editor.
Like many, I highly enjoyed GeorgeAnderson’s original tale, “February Sucks.” I haven’t repeated too much of his original story, this picks up as Linda gets home the next day. I couldn’t find the other version written by someone else where I also took inspiration. If you recognize some of the below, please let me know.
I have another FS almost ready to go, from a completely different perspective…
Saturday – home, Linda
“Jim, Jim, I’m home”, it was just after noon.
“I’m in the kitchen, dear”, that was my mother’s voice. Oh no, where was Jim. Why wasn’t my husband here to greet me?
I walked into the kitchen to see my mother taking scones out of the oven. The kitchen showed clearly that she had been baking and hadn’t cleaned up yet. Not for the first time Linda wondered how her mother managed to be so capable missing the little finger on her left hand. It didn’t slow her down, and in fact Linda had never known her mother to let it affect her in any way. She never talked about how she lost the finger; she had been that way all of Linda’s life.
She turned to me and said, “Go get a shower and change out of those clothes. The scones and the coffee should be ready when you come down. We can have a snack and a nice chat.” I started to protest, and she said “Nope, no talking until you’ve had a chance to clean up.”
Now I was really nervous, I was expecting to have to deal with my husband, finding my mother in my house puttering around in the kitchen as if nothing was wrong was beyond strange.
Scrubbing myself in the shower from this morning’s activities made me doubt what had happened. Had I really left Jim in the club and left with Marc? What was I thinking? Had it been worth it? In the cold light of day, knowing I would be facing my mother I wasn’t so sure any more. It had been the opportunity of a lifetime, I hadn’t really been thinking beyond my own need for a fantasy night.
I came downstairs dressed in yoga pants and a comfy sweatshirt.
“In the living room dear”, I heard my mother calling to me. She had brought out the scones with a pot of coffee and two cups on a nice tray that was now sitting on the coffee table.
“Here, have a cup and a scone. I even got out that jam you like.”
This was all too surreal; I couldn’t quite understand what was happening.
“While you have your first cup, there’s something you need to see. I’ve already seen it once.” And with that she hit play and the large screen TV lit up to a scene from last night.
“Hey cuck”, Marc’s voice said. And then he mimicked “Hi Jim I am having a wonderful time see you tomorrow!” The first scene was showing Linda naked on her knees sucking LaValliere’s cock with cum running down her chin. The next scene showed Linda bent over the bed with his cock in her cunt and a close up showing cum running down her legs then he pulled out of her cunt and shoved it up her ass; something she had never allowed Jim to do. At the end LaValliere’s face came on the screen and he said.
”How do you like that you useless little cuck? Tomorrow after she showers, I am going to fuck her again and send her home so you can have sloppy seconds or perhaps just lick her out and taste the cum of a real man. I must say she is trying very hard to please me but quite frankly she’s not much of a fuck and her body really starting to sag with age. Still any cunt is better than no cunt at all and I did so enjoy taking her away from you and proving that I am the alpha-male and you are just a poor beta cuck. Good luck with sloppy seconds, TTFN.”
Then a third scene from this morning Linda fully dressed being taken from behind. When Lavalliere finished he held up Brooks Panties wiped his cock on them and said
”I’m going to keep these as a souvenir”
“NOOOOOOOO!!!” a scream escaped Linda as her whole world collapsed, her mother knew! How had she gotten this video? Where was Jim? What was she going to do now? How, when had Marc recorded these without her knowing?
She must have swooned because the next thing she knew her mother was dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth. The coldness revived her and she sat up.
“Well you certainly have made real mess of things Linda. You left your husband on a very special night to go off and be Lavalliere’s whore for a night. And from his comments you weren’t even very good. I wonder if it was all worth it.”
Linda’s whole world was collapsing and her mother was as calm as if she was talking about the weather.
“Mother, you don’t understand. I was shocked when Marc asked me to dance. I didn’t try to attract his attention; I had been sure he would ask someone else. I’d never have another chance to say I danced with Marc Lavalliere, so I gave him my hand. I was too nervous to say anything. I didn’t even tell him my name until we were out on the floor and he asked. I knew I’d said I would only dance with Jim, but I thought I would dance a couple of dances with Marc and that would be it. I’d come back to Jim, and he would understand. It sounds like a cliché, or a stupid star-struck teenager, but from that moment I forgot about everything but him. He didn’t say anything, but I knew then that he wanted much more than a dance from me. At almost the same instant, I knew I would give it to him. I didn’t really decide, I didn’t think about it, I just knew. During the second slow dance, he asked me if I was ready. He didn’t have to explain what he meant. I nodded; I couldn’t talk. He said there’s a back door by the restrooms. He told me to tell everybody that I had to go and he’d meet me there.”
“And so what we saw on the video was the end result of your sneaking out with Marc. You left your husband behind, fooling him into thinking you’d just gone to the bathroom, but instead you sneaked out the back door and fucked this guy you just met – all night long. And now you’re back home thinking that everything will be OK and Jim will just agree to move forward. Agree to overlook your little adventure. Do I have that about right Linda?”
“You make it sound so tawdry, it wasn’t like that. Marc was a total gentleman the whole night.”
“No Linda, he wasn’t a gentleman. Marc sent these videos from your phone to Jim to taunt him, to belittle and cuckold him. And from the looks on your face as you enjoyed Marc’s attentions, you played your part to the hilt.”
“I never meant to hurt Jim; this was a chance of a lifetime. To spend the night with a superstar athlete, to be treated really special.”
“Linda, the video clearly shows you being nothing but a whore, even Marc said you were nothing special. Clearly he gets off on humiliating the husbands of wives he corrupts.”
“Mom, how did you get these videos?”
“Jim forwarded them to your father with a text telling him that he was going to divorce you and take the kids away from you now that he had evidence of you being an unfit mother.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” another wail escaped Linda. “He can’t divorce me; he can’t take Emma and Tommy from me! It was just one night after ten years; if he really loved me he would let me have that one special night!” Linda was starting to hyperventilate again.
“Well you just might get your wish. There probably won’t be a divorce. Jim will not be taking the kids away from you. But there will be price to pay. I don’t think you have fully realized the damage you’ve caused by your selfish actions.”
Linda was sobbing now, “I just wanted to feel special, and I wanted something just for me.”
“And for that you abandoned your marriage vows, cuckolded your husband, and humiliated him in the most public way possible. I wonder how fast the story is spreading about what you did to Jim in front of 10 of your friends. Everybody in town must know by now.”
“Mother Jim means the world to me!”
“Bullshit, Linda. Actions speak louder than words, and from the moment Marc spoke to you, up to and including right now, your actions say Jim means nothing to you. You still don’t get it do you? You’re not sorry for what you did; you’re just sorry you got caught. Sorry that your parents saw you the video of you being a whore for Marc. Sorry that you marriage might be broken. But you’re not sorry you did it. Why I bet you’ll be bragging about this for years with your friends. You got Marc Lavalliere for a whole night!”
“But enough about that right now. Go put some jeans and shoes on; we’re going to the ranch. That’s where your family is; Jim and the kids are with your father.”
“What’s going on? Why are Jim and the kids with dad at the ranch?”
“We can talk on the drive up. Come on, let’s get going.”
Friday – evening, Jim
I had walked back to the hotel by myself. Alone, I rode the elevator, trying not to remember what Linda and I had gotten up to in other hotel elevators. Alone, I entered what was supposed to have been our room. Alone, I faced the wreckage of our special night.
I looked around the room. Thinking about what we had planned for this room, I knew I couldn’t sleep there. Home, in our bed? No, that was even worse. Another hotel? That was stupid; I had already bought a hotel room. Maybe one of the kids’ rooms. That might work. I repacked Linda’s suitcase and my own.
Then my phone pinged with Linda’s tone, but what I saw made me run into the bathroom to throw up. Marc had sent me a video from Linda’s phone. I got myself cleaned up and headed out; I really needed to get out of there.
I was awakened around 1am by another ping from Linda’s phone. Lavalliere had sent another video. Such a deep sadness overcame me. I sat on the bed and planned what I needed to do. I had no idea when my cheating wife would come home; she was obviously far too busy to text or call. I figured she wouldn’t show up before noon, which would give me plenty of time to pack what I would need for a week or so and be gone before she arrived. On Monday, I would find a lawyer and get the divorce started.
Even though it was late I decided to let Linda’s parents know what was happening. Best they hear it from me before the news got back to them. Linda had abandoned me in a public place in front of all their friends, so the story was sure to spread like wildfire. Linda had spent the night with Marc Lavalliere!
To make sure they knew just how serious he was about the divorce, Jim sent the text to just his father in law, including the two vids. Jim didn’t want somehow to be made out to be the bad guy. That decision made, he lay back down and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Only to be awakened again an hour later to someone banging on the front door. Who could that be at this hour; glancing at the clock Jim saw that it was a little after 2am. Maybe it was Linda! She had decided to come home sooner after realizing what she’d done. Racing downstairs Jim flung open the door to see both his in-laws standing on the porch.
His mother in law grabbed him into a bear hug “Oh my god Jim, we’re so sorry this is happening to you.”
Behind her dad was standing ramrod straight and had a grim look on his face. “Son we’re here to support you and help you get through this to the other side.”
“Jim, where are the kids?”
“Mom, they’re at Mrs. Parsons, the neighbor. We had arranged for them to stay overnight so Linda and I could have our special time away.” At that I broke down and sobbed into Helen’s shoulder. Dad patted my back and said something comforting.
“Helen, go get the kids, I’ll get Jim ready to go.”
“Go, go where dad?”
“We’re going to the ranch, and right now. You and the kids, and Linda when she gets back need to be there for us to work on this problem she’s created.”
“Dad, I really don’t think there’s any fixing this. She cheated on me in the most despicable way I could imagine. You saw the videos, she’s Marc’s whore now, and I don’t want her back.”
Charles’ expression hardened even more. “There will be enough time to make long term decisions later. Right now I need you to get dressed. Pack a bag with your work clothes; I’ll need your help today and tomorrow with some heavy work.”
With that Helen left to pick up the kids and I went to my bedroom to get dressed and packed as Charles had instructed. I was on auto pilot, somehow relieved to not having to think or make decisions.
When I came back downstairs Helen was just coming in with Emma and Tommy, kinda sleepy but excited that their grandparents were here and they were going on an adventure to the ranch. She took them to their rooms to get them dressed and pack their own overnight bags.
Charles said, “Son there’s going to be some heavy lifting today. The work we need to do will take everything you’ve got to give. But there will be food, and family, and neighbors and friends to help. You’re not alone in this. Let’s get these little ones into the back seat and stow the bags in the bed of the truck. I’ll drive; you can nap while we travel.”
“Helen, make sure your phone is charged while you wait for Linda to get home. Hopefully she won’t get back to late in the day so you can drive her car to the ranch and meet us.”
As soon as they got under way in Charles big truck, the kids fell asleep and Jim did too. He never felt any of the two hour ride to the ranch and only woke up when they were driving up the access road up to the house. He only got a glimpse of the lone mulberry tree at the right side of the gate as the headlights swept past.
The lights were on in the big house and Uncle Ted was standing on the porch with a mug of coffee. He and his wife lived on a cottage at the ranch since he’d retired; they acted as sort of caretakers. Plus they thoroughly enjoyed the rolling hills, the trees, and the hunting and fishing were great. They had retired to the family ranch and never looked back.
“I called Ted as soon as I knew we would be coming here. He’s got the house all lit up and warm for our arrival. You grab Emma and I’ll get Tommy. We can dump them into the kid’s room; they probably won’t even wake up.”
As Jim walked past with the sleeping child, Ted said “Jim, we’re here for you. We’ll get through this.” He gave Jim a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Jim wondered how much Ted knew, it didn’t help his mood to know that yet another person knew of his humiliation.
Once the kids were tucked in Jim came out to the kitchen where Ted and his father-in-law were.
“Jim, you need to get some rest. Hell, we all do. This is some serious shit we’re dealing with and we’re going to need all our strength and wits about us.”
Jim looked at the two older gentlemen, still hale and hearty. Both ex-Marines: Jim had heard his father in law tell stories, but as with his own stint in the Army, modern living and family life didn’t really leave much time for digging up what they had done in the service.
“Jim, let’s turn in. Get what sleep we can before daybreak. In fact, I think you should sleep until you wake, let your body and mind heal a bit from what you’ve been through. With some rest and the sun pouring in, we’ll be in better shape to make our plans.”
Jim trudged down the hall to the second bedroom, the one he and Linda always took when they visited. He didn’t do much more than shed his shoes and pants, and crawling under the covers slept like the dead.
Saturday – morning, ranch
“Morning Uncle Ted, howz the coffee?”
“Black and hot, you should prolly put some sugar in it, you’re going to need the extra energy.”
Just then Aunt Sue came into the kitchen from the pantry with some ingredients. “Eggs and bacon, and some fresh biscuits coming right up. A man needs a full belly if he’s going to be digging.” She grinned hugely at her joke, but Jim didn’t get it.
“Ted, dad said last night I was going to need all my strength today and tomorrow. What is this big job he, and now Aunt Sue, are referring to.”
“Mulberry tree”, said Charles from the kitchen doorway. “Ted, did you call Luis?” Ted just nodded over his cup.
Charles came and sat down at the table after grabbing his cup. “You’ve been through a horrible shock; your world has been turned upside down. You need some physical labor to help your body purge all the emotion and toxins built up in your system. And your mind needs to be occupied on a repetitive task, one that you only need half your brain to do. So the other half can come to terms with your new reality.”
“Dad, you some like some kind of counselor. You can’t imagine the pain I’m in right now. The humiliation alone is killing me.”
Charles and Ted exchanged a quick glance and “Be that as it may, counselor or not, I’ve seen enough fallout from trauma to think I understand what you need right now. Like I said last night, you’re not alone. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way. Now let’s quit jawing and get to eating.”
After breakfast Charles took Jim out to the barn to get the supplies they would need. As he had said, they loaded the back of Charles’ truck with all kinds of digging tools. Then they drove the truck to just outside the gate and parked it off the road about 15 feet, as if they were going to keep going perpendicular to the access road.
“Dad, I still don’t know what we’re going to be doing. You said mulberry tree, but there’s already one over there on the other side of the road.”
“Yup, and we’re going to plant another one this weekend. You and me. We might get a little help later on, but for now you and I need to dig the hole for the new tree.” Charles got out a can of white marker paint and backing up to the fence paced off a short distance, glancing over to the existing mulberry tree to gauge its center. Jim thought that Charles would want the two trees to evenly flank the gate. Then Charles turned away from the road and walked ten paces or so and glanced back at the tree again. Once satisfied he put a spot of paint down, and then retrieved a hammer, stake, and string from the supplies. Tying off a loop over the stake, he made another loop to go over the business end of the spray can. Using this setup he was able to spray a six foot circle in the dirt next to the road.
“Now comes the easy part, I’ll go get the tractor.”
Throughout all this Jim was fascinated by the easy way that Charles was going about his business. But his thoughts were only on what he’d seen in the videos. How could he ever touch Linda again after seeing her like that with Marc? His heart literally hurt.
Soon enough Charles came back driving the farm tractor over to the circle, and flipping it around positioned the 10″ auger over the hole and after engaging its drive, slowly lowered it into the ground inside the circle. And so it went, for the next hour or so, Charles screwed the auger into the ground and up again, moving around the circle until he’d completely perforated the dirt. Jim hadn’t been idle; he had been giving Charles directions on where to place the auger next. And clearing roots that the auger dug up and inevitably got tangled.
Charles drove the tractor up to the side of the barn, and together they wrestled the auger attachment off. They then wrestled some more with the backhoe attachment. Back at the painted circle Charles began digging up the now loose soil and dropping it to the side of the road on the side away from the gate. This part of the job went relatively quickly and a large mound of dirt accumulated next to the road. After about an hour they had a six foot circle almost seven feet deep.
Just then a large truck was coming up the road and when it got even with the hole it stopped, Luis Salazar Gardening was painted on the door.
“Hey Charles, got your tree. Where do you want it?”
“Morning Luis, please put it just downwards from the hole.”
Luis and his helper took over the tractor and used it to hoist the tree off their flatbed truck and onto the ground. They made it look easy.
“Thank you Luis for delivering this so quickly. Please let me know what I owe you and I’ll stop by your office later in the week with a check.”
“Of course Charles, I didn’t even go into the office this morning. Trey and I went straight into the yard to get the truck and this tree for you. I’ll text you the amount on Monday when we get back into the office.”
After a few more pleasantries, Charles and Jim were left alone again. Now they had a twelve food tree lying on its side, the root bowl covered in canvas looked to be about 4 feet in diameter.
“Let’s take a break Jim. I love how quiet it is out here. If you stop and listen all you can hear are some insect sounds and the occasional bird call. You can really hear yourself breathe, hear your heart beat.”
Jim allowed himself, forced himself actually, to relax his chest and take some deep cleansing breaths. It did seem that this morning’s exertions had lessened the pain. But his mind kept going back to dark thoughts. He wanted revenge, he wanted payback. Lavalliere would pay.
Charles was speaking again, “Helen’s father and me planted that tree over there on my first leave from the marines. I was very close to the old man. Like you, my parents were gone by the time I enlisted, and they never met Helen. My mother would have liked her I’m sure. We married just after I enlisted, Helen didn’t want to wait until I got my stripes. We were high school sweethearts, and I enlisted when we graduated. Got my diploma, marriage certificate, and shipped out to boot camp all within a month.”
“Let’s go up to the house and grab some lunch, it must be close to noon.”
While they were washing up at the faucet outside the kitchen, Charles’ phone pinged. Glancing at it he said, “Linda got home, she’s in the shower. Mom says she looks OK, but they’ll have a chat before heading up here to join us.”
“Dad, I don’t know if I can face her right now. I’m still too angry at what she’s done. And after seeing those videos of her with Marc, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to touch her ever again.”
“Jim, I won’t try to tell you what to feel, or how to process this. But I will tell you that you’ll get over this betrayal. In my life I’ve seen a lot of bad things happen to good people, in and out of the service. Hell you don’t kill the enemy and not be affected by the experience. It changes you, but you have to compartmentalize it and move forward. You don’t bury it so much as put it in a place you can visit occasionally to remind you of what must be done. Most men never have to do that, never get tested in battle, or how you have been tested these last 24 hours.
“But those of us that have appreciate the good in life a bit better. We look at our lives, our families, our children, with a different depth of feeling. It’s as if having waded in hell the sunshine is that much more precious.
“You’re being tested son; the hardest thing you can deal with is the betrayal by somebody you love. And having it be your wife, that one person who you’ve given your heart to, who you’d take a bullet for – there isn’t a harder test.
“Now I’m not excusing what Linda did, I’m almost as angry as you are with her right now. But consider this; was this literally a one night stand? Did she conspire to cheat on you over time, or did she take advantage of an opportunity to be with a celebrity? Women process these kinds of things differently than men. She probably came home today thinking a hot shower and she’d be ready to get on with the rest of your lives. What was that line from the movie Once Upon a Time in the West? Was it Claudia Cardinale? Oh yea, ‘all I’ll need will be a tub of boiling water and I’ll be exactly what I was before’.
“I don’t think that way and I pretty sure you don’t either. You wouldn’t be agonizing over whether to divorce her and never look back otherwise. But she is your wife, ten years and two beautiful children are not thrown away lightly.”
“But why didn’t that stop her dad? Why didn’t those ten years and the kids prevent her from doing what she did?” Jim was anguished and in so much pain.
“I don’t know, and I don’t know if she’ll ever be able to explain it to you in a way you or I could understand. But here’s what I do know, you have to protect your family – your wife and your kids. There has been an assault from outside the walls of your castle that has dealt a mortal wound to all that you’ve built. That must be dealt with first. I want you to try and focus your thinking on that. Linda might have been weak, and let herself be led astray, but there was another actor in this play. This guy Lavalliere must have worked some magic on her, maybe he’s the world’s greatest seducer, or maybe he drugged her. No matter, if he hadn’t been there and targeted Linda, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Jim finished washing his hands as he thought about what Charles had just said. Jim had been so busy feeling hurt and betrayed that he forgot what his role, what his purpose in life was. What was his part of this? Like Helen always said (and Linda too now that he thought about it) ‘there are two sides to every pancake’. Did he bear some responsibility? Could he have prevented Friday night’s events? Maybe he should have objected and prevented even that first dance. And if necessary come to blows with Lavalliere and his bodyguards. Had he let his guard down, had all this happened because he wasn’t paying attention and acted accordingly?
Just as they were about to enter the house for lunch a car pulled up. Out stepped two men who were clearly Charles age, and soon they were pounding each other on the back Jim realized they were good friends.
“Jim I’d like you to meet Steve Swartz and Jim Jeffries. I took the liberty of asking them to join us today.”
Strong handshakes followed and they all trooped into the kitchen.
“Steve, JJ, did you bring your gear?”
“Yup, trunk is full of just about anything we’ll need,” said Steve.
Then JJ piped up, “All I need is my laptop, although I did bring my vest and a change of clothes for later.”
As Charles was making sandwiches for them, Jim went to the refrigerator for beverages. “Would anybody like a beer?”
“No alcohol today, waters all around.” Charles said in a stern voice.
Once they were seated and a few bites had gone down Steve asked “Captain, did you call Gary and Ken?”
“Yes, Gary will be here around six. Ken will be landing at the municipal airport in town around 7:30. So we’ve got plenty of time to prep. We’ll sit down after supper then bring GG and KK up to speed when they get in.”
A light went off in Jim’s head. “Dad you’re Charles Castro, JJ here, then Steve Swartz, Gary G something, and Ken K something. You guys are like some Jeopardy clue about alliterative names.”
“Gary’s last name is Graton, and Ken’s is Kantor. We were called the ‘Alphabets’ in the service.”
“But you had better not bet against us!” Both Steve and JJ said in unison. Good natured chuckles all around and they settled into small talk for the rest of the lunch.
Finishing their lunch Charles said, “Steve, Jim, let’s go see if Ted needs any help with anything.”
JJ piped up, “Good, that will give me plenty of time to do my background work. The guys back at the office should be well into their tasks and we should have their intel by dinner time. This is costing a bunch in overtime.” The last was said with a smile, showing that he didn’t mind the extra expense.
Jim was still puzzled as to what exactly was going on. It seemed like an ever wider circle of people had been brought into his life by his father, but he didn’t have an overall picture of what the point of it all was.
Charles words earlier were still bouncing around in his head. It didn’t help much, but his feeling sorry for himself had lessened. And if he was honest, his anger towards Linda had cooled a bit too. He was still a long way from forgiving her, but he was beginning to think that maybe a little forgiveness would help him find a way to move forward.
Saturday – car ride
“You know Linda that your dad and I got married right out of high school. Your father had enlisted in the Marine’s and I was deathly afraid that he would get hurt or worse. I was not going to let him go until we’d shared a bed as husband and wife.”
“Mother! Too much information.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to hear a whole bunch more in that category before we’re done.”
“As I was saying, we graduated from high school, Charles enlisted, and we got married – all in about a month. He shipped out for boot camp and I wasn’t going to be able to see him for four months. I made sure he’d be thinking about what was waiting for him back home when he got that first leave. I probably wore two layers of skin off his cock before he left.”
“Mother! I really don’t need this right now. I’ve never heard you talk like that before. Oh my god!”
“Forty years ago, seems like it was only yesterday. Anyway, we hadn’t done anything up until that point; we were each other’s firsts. Sure we had gotten our hands under each other clothes, but I hadn’t seen him naked until our wedding night. I had been a flirty thing in those days, I was definitely your dad’s girl, but that didn’t stop me from teasing the boys a bit. And then there was Lester Holmes, captain of the football team. Handsome, tall, and muscular – all the girls wanted him. I guess I did a bit too, because he got more than his fair share of teasing from me.
“But now I was a married woman, a 19 year old married woman! I had a job at the bank in town and Lester would make a point of coming in to chat with me a couple of times a week. When I looked back later I could see clearly what he was trying to do, but at the time I was too naïve, not experienced enough to recognize his game plan.
“Then he moved up the pressure a bit and I let him take me out to lunch. Just friends you know, he was working at his dad’s store before he was going off to college in the fall. We got to be comfortable around each other, like any other high school friends would. But we started talking about more intimate things; I shared how much I was afraid for Charles being in the Marines. Lester was a good listener, and never said a bad word about your dad. He was playing the long game you see. He told me what he wanted to study in school and what he wanted to do after he graduated. We shared our hopes and plans.
“Towards the end of summer there was a dance and we agreed to go together, as just friends. We had a great time; lots of other young people we knew were there. Lester was a pretty good dancer, he asked several other girls there to dance. And he was a total gentleman with me. He never held me too close or anything that wouldn’t pass the husband test.
“Then September rolled around and Lester was off to college. I remember we had a very nice last lunch and he promised to keep in touch. Now I was lonely again, your dad had been writing me weekly so I had him in my thoughts. And I had had Lester actually present to help keep me occupied. The two men in my life were now gone and I was alone.
“But it also meant that Charles would soon be home, his months of basic training were almost up and he wrote that he’d be home around the first of October. I was beside myself with happiness; my husband would soon be home even if it was only for a short time before his deployment. I made a plan that while he was home he would be getting me pregnant, which is how we got your older sister Tracy.”
“But what does all this have to do with my current problems!? I don’t see how your strolling down memory lane is going to help me make things right with Jim. Oh god mother, what am I going to do!?” Linda’s anguish was thick in the car.
“I’m getting to that, have some patience. Anyway, October meant the Harvest Dance. Your dad would be home and we could go together. I heard from Lester too, he said he’d be in town for the dance. Things were going great for him at school he said and he could afford to come home for the weekend of the dance.
“What I didn’t know until later was that Lester hated your dad for two reasons. First, your dad had gotten me – apparently Lester had carried a crush for me all through high school and thought that he could steal me away from your dad. And he misinterpreted my flirting as a green light to give it a try. When your dad and I got married that made Lester jealous of your dad and he had determined to get me anyway.
“The second reason that Lester hated your father was because Charles had enlisted in the Marines. It seems Lester had an inflated opinion of his manhood, and his father’s insistence that Lester go to college instead of enlisting prevented him from proving just what kind of man he was.
“And that was why he had been keeping me company during the summer. He had been hoping to steal me away from your father while Charles was away. He figured he would sweet talk me, get into my good graces and I’d run away with him. I’ll admit he had wormed his way into my affections, but I never would have gone with him. I was married to your father, I was his for life.
“So the Harvest Dance was to be the coming weekend and your father called to say he was going to be delayed for some reason. He said he’d only be late by a day or so, and that I shouldn’t worry. I wasn’t worried, he was coming home and a couple of days wouldn’t matter too much. I decided to go to the dance anyway, what harm would it do?
“I bumped into Lester when he’d gotten in from college and we agreed to meet at the dance, like we had done before. I mentioned your father’s delay and he was sympathetic. Unfortunately for me, that played right into his plans.
“Everybody was at the dance and again Lester played the perfect gentlemen. He danced with other girls but always kept coming back to where I was sitting. I felt like the bell of the ball! I did think about being married, but it was for tomorrow. That night was going to be my last as kinda single. Your father would be back in a few days and we could start a family. I definitely had way too much punch.
“Towards the end of the evening he brought me another punch and the band struck up a slow song. Thinking nothing about it I got up to dance with Lester for this slow song. And that turned into two slow numbers and then three. I was feeling the heat coming off Lester’s body as he held me close and my head started to swoon. I told him I needed some air so he escorted me outside. But the fresh air didn’t seem to be helping.
“Lester suggested that maybe we could find a spot to sit down and we found a bench out back of the hall. I don’t know how it happened but before I knew it we were kissing. And not long after that Lester had his hand on my breast. It seemed like I was on fire.
“I don’t remember much about what happened next except for flashes. Lester’s hand up my skirt, then my panties gone, then him entering me as I lay back on the bench. Then Lester being yanked off of me, and then your father and Lester fighting. Basic training had really hardened you father, Lester never stood a chance.
“My next memory is of your father carrying me over his shoulder and dumping me in a car. Getting to my parent’s house and your father yelling and arguing with my father, your Grampa Jack. That’s all I really remember of that horrible night.
“Oh my god mother, you never told me. I never knew! You’ve kept this to yourself all these years. You and dad are the most loving couple; you’ve set such a great example for Tracy and me. Mother! Is Tracy Lester’s?”
“No honey, Tracy is your fathers. We made her later that same week. Let me finish the story.” Helen dabbed at her eyes, she had promised herself that she wouldn’t show weakness that she would tell her daughter the story so she could learn from it. Learn from it as she had, the hard way.
“The next morning I woke up to find your father and Grampa Jack at the kitchen table looking pretty grim. Grampa Jack turned to Charles and told him he needed to take me to the doctor to get checked over for any damage, and to get a blood test in case Lester had given me anything.
“That car ride to the doctor’s office was the worst thing I’d ever had to endure; your father didn’t say a word the whole time; even when he came around to open the car door for me. He ushered me into the office and I went into the back by myself. Luckily our family doctor had an old nurse who’d been around since Moses, and she was the one who took care of me. She didn’t find that I had been harmed, and later the blood test came back clean.
“Charles drove me home to my father’s house and he and Grandpa Jack went for a walk. They were gone all afternoon and didn’t come back until supper. Let me tell you that was the quietest dinner ever. After the dishes were put away, Grams said that we should stay in the kitchen and talk, and that they were going to retire for the night and see us for breakfast.
“I had expected your father’s homecoming to be us upstairs making a baby. Instead I was sitting at the table having to explain how I had been caught like some street whore fucking a guy on a park bench.” Now the tears did come, Helen had held it in as long as she could. She sobbed quietly for about ten minutes until she regained her composure.
Linda meanwhile was trying to keep her attention on the road ahead. That her mother and she were sharing a parallel hellish Saturday together was almost too much to bear.
“I threw myself at your father’s feet; I grabbed him around the legs like a drowning man to a log. I begged him to forgive me, that I hadn’t planned for anything to happen with Lester, that he must have slipped something into my punch. I really was babbling at that point, I think I must have been hysterical.
“Your father had tears streaming down his face as he asked me how I had gotten into a position where I could be taken advantage of. Did I not see Lester for what he was, what he was trying to do over the summer? He asked me if I had been blinded by Lester’s good guy act and let him get too close.
“I begged him not to leave me; I was actually on my knees at that point. I promised him I’d be the best wife he could ever imagine, I would spend the rest of my life showing him how faithful I could be. He would never have occasion to doubt me.
“Your father is a good man, maybe better that I deserve. He told me about then that we should get some sleep and talk more in the morning. He said he’d sleep on the couch that night; he needed some time to think.
“The next morning Grams woke me early and told me I should get ready for Church. And so I got cleaned up and when I got downstairs I found your father dressed in his uniform, shaved and ready to go. So to Church we went, Grampa Jack, Grams, Charles and me – one big happy family. After the service Grampa Jack hung back to talk to a couple of the other men he knew and then we all went out to breakfast.
“Grampa Jack said that maybe we could all use some fresh air, to get away from town for a bit. Grams and I packed a lunch and we headed to the ranch. As we drove up to the big house we could see that Grampa Jack had been getting ready to plant a tree next to the entrance gate. I guess my little adventure had ruined his project for that weekend.
“Your father and I took a walk across the fields and just talked. I don’t even remember what it was we talked about. I do remember thinking that this is where I belonged, with my Charles. Nothing else mattered, no one else mattered. Just being with him was all I would ever need. I must have tried to tell him that. By the end of the walk we were holding hands. Just as we came back to the house he pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my shoulder. He whispered in my ear ‘I can’t lose you, I can’t live without you.’ When he pulled back I could see he’d been crying into my shoulder. My man needed me; he needed me to be there for him. To provide him the comfort and support he needed.
“The rest of the week was tentative for us; your father didn’t sleep on the couch after that. He worked hard that week with Grampa Jack around the ranch. You could see that the exertion was giving him an outlet for his troubles.
“Thursday nite was when we made Tracy – I know it was. We had been sleeping in the same bed, but he hadn’t made a move to touch me. But something must have clicked for him because during the day Thursday it seemed like the clouds over his head had cleared. He even smiled a bit. And that night he took me back, he reclaimed what was his. I know Grams and Grampa Jack must have heard me, I was possessed. I took everything he had and then went back for more. We had bonded on our wedding night, but this was different. I was so primal; we were proclaiming to the entire universe that we were one.
“The rest of his leave, I guess another four or five days we spent at the ranch. And every night we made a lot of noise.
“The last day before Charles had to get back to base he took me out to that new tree next to the gate and with his big military knife carved a heart into the tree with our initials. You can still see it if you know where to look.
“So yes I know exactly how you’re feeling right now. You fucked up royally; you’ve done the worst thing a wife can possibly do to her husband. You let another man get close and take what was supposed to only be for your husband.
“Mother, it’s not the same. From the sounds of it you didn’t go willingly, I on the other hand fooled my husband and snuck out the back door. My sin is much worse that what you did.”
“No, I don’t think so. I can’t think like a man but from what I’ve observed over the years men don’t look at sex the way we women do. For us I think we can separate sex and love, or at least tell ourselves that we can. You were going to come back home today and expect that Jim would take you back after your fling. You said it yourself; you came in the door thinking you hadn’t changed, that it was the same old Linda.
“But in Jim’s eyes, everything had changed. To look at you nobody could tell that you’d betrayed your husband. But in his eyes you were not the same, you pulled the rug out from his whole world. Men bond differently than women do, at least a good man does. He might be the greatest warrior, a captain of industry, but when he comes home he knows he can relax, let his guard down. And a good woman makes his home a haven from the outside world. So a man let’s his wife into his most vulnerable place, he gives her his heart.
“The two of us let the enemy in the gate. Something will have to be done about that.”
Saturday – after lunch
The older men made no move to leave the kitchen table after their lunch was done. Jim thought that now he would be clued in to what Charles had in mind.
“Men, an enemy has breached the gate. He got away Scott free and thumbed his nose at my family. It’s up to me and Jim to put things right. That Lavalliere guy has stolen his last wife. JJ what has your team learned.”
“Well, from the preliminary investigation we can say that our little buddy Marc pulls this stunt once or twice a month. There have been several divorces, a suicide, and other fallout from his activities. Nobody has been able to get him into court to sue him; he’s well insulated by the League and his ‘charity work’. That’s all we need to know for now, add the most recent conquest of Linda, sorry Jim, and he’s got quite a lot to answer for. I’m going to tell my team to stand down, unless you want more detail CC.”
“No that’s enough background on this bad dog. We need to get our hands on him and so we need information about his location. I’m assuming since he has a game tomorrow he’ll be lying low at home. About that JJ, what can you tell us about where he lives?”
“Largish house in a fancy neighborhood. Houses on the 5 to 10 years old range, so rather modern. Since he’s a big deal guy I would expect alarms and bodyguards.”
“JJ can you bring up an aerial view of his property. Steve, what’s your take on the layout?”
“Hmmm, shielded from the road out front, large yard with a pool. Nice circular driveway paved with gravel, good. Hah! I knew it, look here. There’s only one electrical feed from the power pole at the road, terminating in what looks like a utility shed at the front corner of the property, nicely hidden by shrubs. Can’t have that ugly little shed offending any guest’s eyeballs.”
Charles, then said, “I guess we’ve got almost too many men for this mission. But having backups makes me feel better about success. OK, here’s the tentative plan. Let’s assume two bodyguards who sleep on the premises, we don’t know if their bedrooms are on the first floor or upstairs; no matter.
“We go in somewhere between 2-3am. Everybody will be loaded, but let’s assume we’re just going to use Tasers if we can avoid bullets. Gary and Ken will back you two up on neutralizing the guards. Jim and I will target Lavalliere. We will assume the front gate is alarmed too, so the utility closet will be first, Steve that’s yours. Then we roll into the drive, make our entry and the three teams move inside. Any questions?”
Jim couldn’t believe what he was hearing, they were expecting to just waltz into Lavalliere’s house and abduct him like some TV movie. “You guys are serious!? There could be a million things that could go wrong. Just getting there from here is a two hour drive each way. What if we get stopped? Once we’re in the house what’s to say that the bodyguards don’t start shooting? I want to get Lavalliere so bad I can taste it, but this seems foolhardy.”
There was a tense silence for a couple of beats then the three older men started laughing, big hearty guffaws. Jim couldn’t help but join in. They’d obviously been pulling his leg. And then just as abruptly they all stopped leaving Jim the only one still chuckling.
Charles said, “Too much planning and overthinking won’t help. There are too many unknowns to try to plan something like this to the minute. We’ll just have to go in and trust our instincts and experience.
“Jim does make a good point about being stopped. We’ll put a butchered goat in the back of the truck under a tarp. That’s our cover story, we’re going to a BBQ in town and we are bringing the meat. That story will cover us on the way back too. Nobody will notice ol’ Marc under the goat if we should get stopped. The artillery will have to be stowed under the bed strapped to the frame of the truck. We can all wear colorful shirts over our dark gear. I’ll go ask Ted to get the goat dressed and ready before dark. JJ you and Steve get started securing the gear under the truck. Jim and I are going to take a little walk.”
Jim was in turmoil, these guys were serious. They were going to kidnap Lavalliere and bring him back to the ranch. What were they going to do with him once they got back?
Charles headed out the front door and down the driveway, walking back to the gate and the hole waiting for the tree. He walked over to the old mulberry tree and put his hand on the faded heart with Helen and his initials. The Wednesday night all those years ago came back to him in full detail.
Turning to Jim Charles said, “Lester Holmes has been fertilizing this tree for almost 40 years now. Let me tell you how that happened.” Charles then went on to tell Jim pretty much the same story Helen was at the same time telling Linda in the car as they drove to the ranch.
“Then came Wednesday evening and Grampa Jack said to me what I just said to you. A bad dog needs to be put down. Lester had been hiding out in the apartment over his daddy’s store. He figured the beating I gave him when I pulled him off Helen was the end of it. He was very surprised indeed when Grampa Jack and I knocked on his door that night. One punch to his jaw and in his weakened state he crumpled like a paper bag. We brought him back here and had a nice conversation with him. Later he went into the hole Grampa Jack had prepared for the mulberry tree Grams had asked him to plant. Then we dropped the new tree into the hole over him and filled it in with dirt. Even though he’d been gutted, I know he was still alive when he went into the hole. Later, everybody thought he’d run off in shame for what he’d done. He tried to steal the most precious thing in the world to me and paid the price. I have slept fine all these years later.
“And son, that’s exactly what we’re going to do with Lavalliere. He’s going into the hole we dug today. He’s going to fertilize that new mulberry tree. The rest of the guys won’t know anything about that. They’ll take off once we’re back here with our cargo. Only you and I will know what became of that bad dog. I think Ted suspects about Lester, but he’s never said a word. Helen certainly doesn’t know.”
Jim said with a trembling voice, “We’re really going to do that? I know I feel like killing Lavalliere but you talk as if it’s the easiest, most natural thing in the world. Damn Charles, I’m seeing you in a whole new light. The idea of taking vengeance into our own hands, I’m having a bit of trouble coming to terms with it. Doesn’t that make us just as bad as him?”
Charles was thoughtful for a moment and then said, “The idea that vengeance against evil makes you just as bad as the evil you’re fighting feels very much like something the bad guys would say to make sure we don’t shove their heads into a noose. In any case, a bad dog needs to be put down for the good of all. I’m sure all those wronged husbands and families would agree. And certainly preventing this from ever happening to anybody else tips the scales.”
These thoughts kept going round and round in Jim’s head the rest of the afternoon until it got to be 3 o’clock when Linda’s car came up the road.
Saturday – 2:30pm, car ride
“Mother, I’m glad you were finally able to share your story with me, but how does that help me with the mess I’ve made?” Linda, her eyes blazing and her face contorted. “Hell, I don’t know what’s true about me anymore! I’m a good person. I’ve always thought so and Jim has told me so I don’t know how many times. Does a good person leave her husband sitting alone to go fuck another man? No. Does she buy a special dress for her husband, then wear it to go fuck somebody else? Hell, no. Good people keep their promises, don’t they? What does that make me, then?” She took a couple of breaths to settle herself and went on.
“I knew when we married that I wasn’t the prettiest girl Jim had dated, or the best lover, or the smartest. But one thing I brought you was my fidelity. If I gave him nothing else, I could give him that. I would go to my grave a faithful wife. But now that’s gone, and it’s gone forever! Never, ever again! And worst of all, it’s my own fault! You think that’s easy to deal with?” She shouted before dissolving into tears.
“Well Linda, it really all boils down to what you’re willing to do to keep your marriage. To you it seemed all you had to do was just mouth the words that you were contrite and Jim was just supposed to forgive you and welcome you back with open arms. Men don’t work that way, they view actions as speaking louder than mere words. In my case, I have demonstrated to your father every single day for the last 40 years how sorry I am for what I did. He may forget about it sometimes, but I never do. It’s my penance, I think about what I almost threw away by my naiveté with Lester. I never, ever let my guard down again.
“I think you need to do two things. The first is to make Jim understand how sorry you are for what you’ve done, how sorry you are for cuckolding him, and how sorry you are for publicly humiliating him. You have to convince him that you take responsibility for your mistake, that you did the wrong thing. That you were wrong in assuming you could have a single night in ten years away from your marriage.
“And the second is to demonstrate to him starting immediately by your actions how you’re never going to let anything like this happen again. Further, if you ever talk about it, you better not be bragging that you spent the night with a celebrity. You had better speak of it in shameful terms forever more. If you’re going to keep your husband you need to change how you think about your night with Lavalliere from a fantasy to the nightmare that it really is.”
“Mother, Jim might never have been a sex god, but he was always attentive to me, eager to learn what pleased me, and he did it all out of love. I was more than content with that, I was profoundly happy. It might be stretching to call Marc a sex god, but he’s as close as I’ll ever experience. Nothing that I did with him makes me any less content or happy with Jim. Jim still wins, every time. I choose Jim, not Marc; I love Jim, not Marc. I’ll repeat that as often as Jim needs to hear it. Don’t you think that will reassure him?”
Helen shrugged. “You can say that now, because Marc was only a temptation on that one night. If he, or someone like him, became available again, how can Jim know you wouldn’t choose him over your husband again, like you did so easily that night?”
“I don’t know.” Linda’s face was troubled and sad.
“Honey, that is exactly the problem. You need to internalize the answer to be an emphatic NO. And not just in conversation, but by your actions. You are different now in Jim’s eyes, in fact tainted. You’re going to have a long road to convince him to trust you again.”
Saturday – 3pm, ranch
“Linda.” Jim looked pretty pissed as she got out of the car in front of the ranch house.
“Hi Jim, where are the kids?”
“Uncle Ted is keeping them busy running around down by the pond and generally distracting them.”
Linda started to cry, “Jim I’m so sorry, I such an idiot. I don’t know how I’m going to make it up to you, but I want to try. Please tell me you’re going to give me a chance to make things right.”
Turning to his mother-in-law, “Hi Helen, Charles is in the kitchen with some friends of his. Linda and I are going to take a walk around the property.” And with that he turned start walking away, Linda hurried to catch up.
“Lavalliere sent videos to my phone of your fun last night. I got to see it all in living color. Based on his comments, he didn’t seem to think it was as magical as you did.”
Linda realized she was on very thin ice; Jim’s whole body language was closed and angry. Her mother had been right, she need to get into damage control mode and fast.
“I saw those videos too; mother had them ready for me to see this morning when I got home. I looked like a cheap whore in them. Marc must have grabbed my phone without me noticing. And those awful things that Marc said to you in the videos, while pretended to be a gentleman with me. But all he wanted was some married pussy and to humiliate the husband. I was such a stupid fool to fall for his line of bullshit.”
Jim could hear that Linda was trying to be sincere, but he had his doubts. After all she’d left him to make off with Lavalliere in the most humiliating way last night.
“So tell me Linda, how do you think we can fix this? Can it really be fixed at all? I feel like I don’t know you, what you did was such a massive betrayal of trust and loyalty that I can imagine. I thought you loved me, but last night made me doubt the very foundations of our marriage. I honestly don’t know how I’m ever going to get those images of Lavalliere’s spunk running down your chin out of my head.”
Linda was steadily crying now, her mother’s admonishment to change her view of her night with Marc to one of shame needed no further help, she was feeling genuinely ashamed of herself. She could see the pain in Jim’s eyes behind all that anger. How could she have done him so wrong, Jim would take a bullet for her.
“Jim, honey, I need to apologize to you and keep apologizing to you until you believe I truly am sorry for what I did. I’m ashamed that I humiliated you, I’m ashamed that I did so publicly, and I’m extremely ashamed of what I did with Marc last night. All those things are so unlike me that I really don’t know why I did them – I guess I went a little crazy. Maybe I need some help, you know, like a marriage counselor or something. Would you be willing to help me with that?” Linda had to be honest with herself, she really was feeling that way, she wasn’t just acting for her audience of one.
Jim knew Linda well, he’d come to be sensitive to her moods and behavior over the years. He could tell she was telling the truth, but what if this happened again. How could he ever trust her not to fall for the next celebrity? “Linda you’ve done more than run off for a one night stand to be Lavalliere’s whore for a night. You’ve seriously eroded my trust in you. I thought I could count on you to have my back. But on our most special night, you run off with a big shot. How do I know you won’t do that again? How can I ever trust you again? What if you come home late from work, or have to go out of town? I’m going to be wondering who you’re with and what you’re doing. That sounds like an awful lot of pain and anguish for me. I’m not sure I want to live like that.”
Those words stung Linda deeply. Even so, she was thinking that Jim needed to stop obsessing and get over it. She was back and nothing had really changed. But then her mother’s words came back to haunt her – she was “tainted” now. And what she had said came back to her too – she was no longer “faithful”. Her actions had trashed Jim’s faith and trust in her. She really was internalizing the shameful things she had done. She would have to own that and try to make amends.
“Honey, you have to believe me; if there was anything I could do to erase last night I would do it in a heartbeat. But I don’t have a time machine; I can’t undo what I’ve done. I can only try to make it up to you, to ensure you can learn to trust me again. I’m so sorry!” With that Linda sank to her knees in the dirt path, sobbing, letting her grief overtake her.
Jim watched her for a bit, thinking that she needed to cry it out, to get herself under control. He couldn’t help himself; he still loved her too much – so he reached for her, to comfort her, but as he touched her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me, I’m unclean. I don’t deserve your compassion. I’m a dirty whore!” Linda grabbed two handfuls of dirt and smeared her face with them. The dirt mixed with the tears on her cheeks and turned into mud. She fell forward prone right in the middle of the path, her face buried in her arms. She was sobbing hard now, the depth of last night’s betrayal finally hitting home. How was she ever going to fix the mess she’d made?
Jim was now concerned for Linda, this outburst and then rubbing dirt on her face seemed out of control, unhinged even. Maybe she had gone a bit crazy. He sighed internally, “in sickness and in health”. And Charles words popped into his head, he needed to step up and take care of business. He might never understand why Linda had done what she’d done; she might never be able to explain it, maybe not even with counseling. But he had a role to fulfil, protecting what was his; supporting his woman in her time of need. He would have to leave his own healing for later.
So he scooped Linda up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Jim thought with some humor, with Linda’s tears and all the dirt on her face he was going to have to get that shirt washed, it was the only one he had besides his ‘work clothes’.
“Let’s get you back to the house and cleaned up. Maybe a stiff drink and a nap are what you really need right now.”
Saturday – evening, ranch
Linda woke up and came downstairs in the early evening.
“Honey, we’ll have dinner in an hour or so. Jim is getting the kids settled over at Ted and Sue’s cabin; they think this weekend is a big adventure. Can I get you anything, a highball or some wine?”
“Maybe a glass of red wine will help steady me. Mother, I’m such a fuck up.”
Helen said nothing, just set the glass in front of Linda and gave her shoulders a hug. A few minutes later Jim came into the kitchen and Charles not far behind him. He’d been out in the barn with Steve and JJ.
Charles was looking rather stern, “Steve and JJ are going to have supper with Ted and Sue. They are giving us some privacy.”
“Mother, dad, Jim, I want you all to know how very sorry I am for my actions. I have brought shame to my husband and my whole family. I will devote the rest of my life to erasing the stain I’ve made to my reputation. I will do anything and everything within my power to atone for what I’ve done.”
Charles and Jim exchanged a look and nodded to each other. Helen saw that and was comforted. She knew something was afoot with the men, Steve and JJ weren’t here just for the fresh air. “Well supper isn’t going to fix itself, why don’t you boys make sure your hands are clean and stay out from underfoot. Linda honey, give me a hand.”
It was a strange quiet supper, nobody really said anything important. Helen and Linda had fixed some home cooking, something to stick to their ribs. Afterwards Jim and Charles did the washing up while Linda cleared the table.
“Jim, Charles – Linda and I are going to retire. You boys keep yourselves busy, don’t stay up too late.”
“No worries Helen, Steve and JJ are coming back over here in a bit and we’re probably going to play cards. A couple of other guys might stop by a bit later. We’ll try to keep it down to not disturb you.”
Helen went with Linda to her bedroom and told Linda to get a hot shower to help relax her. With the two glasses of wine and filling supper, maybe she’d be able to get some rest.
When Linda had gotten into a t-shirt to sleep in Helen sat on the bed and hugged her daughter. Helen rocked her back and forth like a hurt child as Linda cried into her mother’s bosom. Linda was beyond thinking, sobbing pitifully with great gasps as she struggle to breathe. They sat like that for about an hour when Helen felt Linda go limp, she’d finally fallen asleep. So she tucked her in and lay down with her on the bed. She thought she’d stay for a bit and then retire to her own bed. Hopefully tomorrow would dawn with some hope.
Sunday – 2:30am
Seventeen minutes, that’s all the time it took. From the moment that Steve cut the power to the property to the minute they drove away with Lavalliere in the bed of the truck, only 17 minutes had elapsed.
Gary and Ken had arrived together around 8pm and had been quickly brought up to speed. All six of them had played cards until the wee hours. They all just had a soft drink or water, and then later coffee.
They had caught a lucky break when they found that the big sliding glass door leading to the back deck and pool area was unlocked. The two bodyguards never knew what hit them; they were both sound asleep in their rooms when they were Tasered. Trussing them up with cable ties took no time at all, and Lavalliere was taken just as easy in his upstairs bedroom. It took Jim and Charles to carry Lavalliere downstairs out to the truck and throw him into the bed.
Now they were driving back and would be at the ranch in no time. There was no traffic to speak of, and they rode on in silence.
Sunday – 4:30am
“Linda, honey wake up.”
“Mom, what is it? What time is it?”
“It’s about 4:30 on Sunday morning. Get up, hurry. Put on a robe and come with me.”
Linda slid out of bed put on her slippers and grabbed her robe, tying it closed as her mother led her to the master bedroom. Her mother motioned her over to the big window which overlooked the front of the property.
“Mother, can we turn on the light so I can see where I’m going.”
“No, I don’t want to be seen right now. Look out the window.”
Linda did as she was told and could see that the tractor was down by the front gate with its headlights on, and her dad’s pickup truck with the tailgate down and a lantern illuminating the scene. It took Linda few moments to realize what she was seeing, but when she did she gasped.
Marc Lavalliere was hanging by his hands from the backhoe bucket high overhead. His hands seemed to be tied together and then the rope tied to the bucket. He was suspended over the big hole where the tree was going to be planted. He was shirtless but was wearing sweatpants.
“Oh my god mother, what’s going on? We have to get down there and find out what they’re doing.”
“No Linda. You’re going to stay right here with me and we’re going to just watch. I think Jim is about to deliver justice to that scum.”
The two women couldn’t hear what was being said, but they could see that Lavalliere had his feet tied together too. And his mouth was tied with a rag so he couldn’t speak. Jim was standing right in front of Lavalliere and Charles was standing over next to the tractor.
Linda could see that Jim was waving his hands around and clearly saying something to Marc. Then Jim reached for the sweatpants Marc was wearing and yanked the waistband down to his ankles. Marc was naked under the sweatpants. His big cock swinging about as he struggled.
Jim walked over to the truck and retrieved a big hunting knife from next to the lantern on the tailgate. Linda could see that Jim was taunting Marc with the knife. She wondered what Jim might be saying to him, making him sweat for cuckolding him. She thought he was really trying to put a scare into Marc.
Suddenly Jim reached out and grabbed Marc’s cock and with a swipe from the knife cut it off! He held it up so Marc could see it and then threw it into the hole.
“OH MY GOD! Mother Jim has cut Marc; he’s going to kill him!!”
“You stay put daughter and don’t take your eyes off what’s going on.” Helen grabbed Linda by the shoulders to keep her from moving from the window or turning away.
Marc was clearly in agony, twisting under the rope and trying to scream through the gag. Jim waited a few moments and then he plunged the big knife straight into Marc just below his heart. Then Jim put both hands on the hilt and pulled the knife powerfully downwards. Jim had just opened Marc’s whole front from sternum to pubic bone. Guts and blood spilled onto the knife hilt and Jim’s hands.
Linda was horrified, she couldn’t look away. Here breath came in short gasps and her heart was beating a mile a minute.
Marc continued to struggle, he was somehow still alive! Jim motioned to Charles and he pulled one of the levers on the tractor controls and slowly lowered the bucket. When the rope holding Marc’s hands came level with Jim, he reached out with the knife and cut it. This dropped Marc into the hole. Jim and Charles both went to the edge of the hole and looked down.
They didn’t seem to be saying anything for a few moments, then got to work. They moved the tractor over to the new tree and rigged ropes around the root bowl. As the bucket was raised the tree righted itself and they maneuvered it over the hole. Jim was guiding Charles to place the tree squarely in the center of the hole. Once the new tree was down they cut the ropes and Charles turned the tractor around and using the front scoop proceeded to drop dirt around the roots. Jim used a shovel to spread it around evenly.
Just when the root ball was half covered Uncle Ted came into view with a wheelbarrow. When he got to the hole he and Jim started unloading its contents into the hole with the new dirt. It appeared to be the hide and leftovers from some animal that had been butchered. Jim made a point of plunging the big knife into the animal parts. Once the wheelbarrow was empty, Ted turned around and made his way back to the barn with it. Ted hadn’t said a word.
Charles resumed filling the hole with dirt, and Jim again spread it around evenly. They worked quickly and were just finished putting a ridge around the hole, when Helen said, “They’ll be a little bit longer finishing up and putting the tools away. It’s about 5am now. Go get dressed and meet me in the kitchen.”
Linda was in shock, she’d just witnessed her husband and her father, literally butcher a man in cold blood. She was running on autopilot as she got dressed, pulling on some jeans and a sweatshirt. She stopped at the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face then made her way down to the kitchen. Her mother had just come down ahead of her and was filling the carafe to get the coffee started.
Linda started weeping, the shock of what she just saw plus the tension she’d been under since Saturday morning overcame her. She sat at the kitchen table and wept into her arms. Helen gave here a few minutes and then, “Your father would probably say that a bad dog has been put down. I don’t have any more sympathy for Lavalliere than I do for Lester. They both got what they deserved. You don’t touch another man’s wife. Punishment has been served.”
Linda’s voice was just a hoarse whisper, “Mother, Jim just killed Marc. He cut him open like he would an animal. I never thought Jim was capable of such violence. He murdered a man just now.”
“Linda, as you process what you just saw in the coming days, weeks, and years, I hope you understand that it couldn’t have been any other way. Lavalliere was not a man, he was a menace. He harmed your family and Jim acted to protect what was his, and your father helped him because Jim’s family is Charles’s family too. Together they eliminated the threat. Those two men reverted to their most primitive selves. Their bloodlust had to be quenched. They didn’t just kill Lavalliere, they destroyed him. They made him watch as they cut his dick off, gutted him, and dropped him into a hole still alive. He probably lasted quite a few minutes while they lowered that tree onto him. He had plenty of time to understand his punishment, and then his soul made its way to hell where it belongs.”
“Mother, what did you mean just now when you said you didn’t have any more sympathy for Marc than you did for Lester?”
“Linda, what you just saw was a repeat of what your father and Grampa Jack did to Lester. He’s been at the bottom of the old mulberry tree these 40 years. Now get your ass in gear and help me make breakfast for the men. They will be very hungry when they finally finish up.”
“WHAT! HOW! Mother, what the hell do you mean!!
“I didn’t tell you the whole truth about what happened between Charles and me. Grampa Jack and Charles brought Lester here to the ranch on the Wednesday night I told you about. They trussed him up just like you saw with Lavalliere. And Charles did to Lester exactly what you saw Jim do tonight. I’ve never told Charles that I spied on them that Wednesday night. I saw the whole thing. The next day, Thursday, when your father’s mood had changed I knew he had taken care of the situation in a way that gave him peace, and a sense of justice. The rest of that week happened just like I told you.
“When your father went back to the Marines after his leave was up I went out to the mulberry tree to make my peace with Lester. I saw the initials that your father had carved and realized that I hadn’t been punished for my role. Lester was in the ground for what he had done, but I had gotten away without a scratch. But there are two sides to every pancake; I had led Lester on with my flirtatious ways. I didn’t mean anything by it, but I did give Lester the impression that he had a shot. If I had shut him down immediately, if I had not gotten close to him that summer, Lester might still be alive.
“I needed to atone for my part of the whole mess. Somewhere in my mind I recalled reading about the Yakuza criminal gangs in Japan, probably in History class. Anyway, they have an honor system where if you had brought shame to your clan you had to atone. And one of those ways was to cut off one of your fingers. I just happened to have my pruning shears in my apron that morning. I bet if we dug around the base of the old mulberry tree under where our initials are, we’d find my finger bone.”
“Every day since that time I have carried the reminder of how badly I screwed up. I had played a role in the drama. I can never forget, because a part of me was gone. Every time I reach for something with my left hand I remember to be a good wife to Charles. Every time I use my hand I remember that I had done your father wrong.” Helen began to cry at that point and so Linda embraced her mother and they both cried together.
Jim and Charles didn’t finish up until almost 6am. When they’d washed up at the basin outside they took off their work boots and left them outside the door. They came into the kitchen to find eggs and bacon, biscuits and hot coffee waiting for them. Both men looked weary but calm. Not much was said except please and thank you as they served themselves from the stove.
Finally Charles said, “We have a little bit of time before we need to get to church this morning. Jim I think we should ride in your car after we get cleaned up and dressed. Service starts at eight; we should leave here around 7:30.”
“Charles, I didn’t bring Sunday clothes with me. I just have the clothes I wore for the drive up here. I’m glad you told me to bring these work clothes, they’re all dirty from the work this morning.”
“Yeah about the clothes – let’s both strip outside the door and leave the clothes out there. We’ll take care of them after church.” With that the two men went outside and a few moments later came back in just their underwear, they had stripped everything off down to their socks.
Jim said, “I hope there’s enough hot water for the four of us to get showers.” He smiled at Linda, “come on Linda, let’s go upstairs and get cleaned up.”
Once in their bedroom Jim quickly stripped and got the shower running. Linda didn’t wait for her turn; she walked right into the shower with Jim as soon as the water was warm. Linda immediately hugged Jim from behind, holding on to him as hard as she could. Then she was wracked with sobs, she cried into his shoulder with the hot water cascading down on them both.
“Hush now, Jim said, “it’s all over now. Today is a new day, we have some work to get us back to where we belong, but we’ll get there.”
“Jim, I’ve ruined everything. I’ve been so selfish, only thinking of myself. I never gave a thought to how you would feel, how my family would be affected, not even the kids. I’ve been such a bad person – I’m so very, very sorry.”
“You’ll be even sorrier if we run out of hot water, let’s get the soap and I’ll do your back then you can do mine.” And get soapy they did, which had the usual effect on them both. They turned off the water after they rinsed, but never even got to the towels. They stumbled together onto the bed and fucked.
This was not love making; Jim was between Linda’s legs pounding away like a beast. He mashed her breasts with his hands and bruised them with his kisses and bites. Linda’s lips and neck got equal treatment. For her part Linda couldn’t get enough of Jim inside her, she found out later that her inner thighs were chafed with how roughly she was thrusting up to meet his every stroke. She lost her sense of self in their coupling and so did Jim. They melded together body and soul. Neither of them lasted very long at all, in only a few minutes Jim was grunting his orgasm and Linda joined him with hers. They came down slowly, regaining their senses locked together. Jim collapsed on top of Linda and nuzzled her neck. Linda’s legs were still locked around Jim’s waist and her arms were around his back, still trying to get as close to him as possible.
And then the emotions overcame them both as Jim wept his own tears as his face was buried in Linda’s neck. His whole body convulsed with his sobs, threatening to knock him off and out of Linda. But she held on even tighter, her own tears running down her face as she held on for dear life. She heard herself repeating over and over, “I love you, I love you, I love you” like a mantra.
A bit later, after another rinse in the shower, they came back downstairs as presentable as they could be. They found Helen and Charles in the family room, waiting for them. Even a blind man could see what Linda and Jim had been up to. Besides, the walls were thin in the old house.
“Let’s go see what the padre has to say to us sinners this morning,” said Charles trying to lighten the mood.
Sunday – 11am
When they pulled up in front of the house after church, they saw Uncle Ted by the barn poking a little fire with a shovel. No one asked what became of the pile of clothes that had been by the door to the kitchen.
Monday – morning
Jim woke to find Linda propped up on one elbow looking at him. “I love you.” Jim pulled her towards him and she rested her head on his shoulder, bringing her arm over his chest and her leg over his. Linda nestled in as close as she could get, even grinding her crotch into his thigh a bit. “I love you too,” Jim said.
“Jim can you do something for me this morning before breakfast?”
“Sure what?”
“I don’t want to talk much about this weekend, but I would really appreciate it if you’d carve our initials into the new tree.”
Jim looked a bit confused but figured it was a ritual that meant something to her. Something to mark their troubles with a positive thing. “Of course, let’s get dressed and do it now.”
After getting dressed they walked hand in hand down to the gate and the trees. Linda led Jim to the old mulberry first and ran her hand over the heart with her parent’s initials. “I want one just like this on the new tree.”
Together they walked over to the new tree and ironically Jim had his hunting knife. He carefully carved a heart, and then their first names instead of just initials inside heart.
“Here, give me the knife Jim, I want to add a little something of my own.” She placed her hand under the heart as if to steady herself for whatever she was going to carve next but instead reared the knife back and with a forceful swing brought the blade down on her hand, cutting off her pinky.
“Fuck!!” They both exclaimed at the same time.
Jim yelled, “Linda what have you done!?”
And in the same instant Linda yelled, “That hurts worse than I thought!” She dropped the knife and pulled a rag out of her back pocket wrapping her hand in it. At the same time she forcefully ground her severed finger into the dirt with her shoe.
Jim grabbed her bleeding hand and said, “Let’s get you to the hospital, I’ll get the finger and they can sow it back on. What did you think you were doing!?”
“No Jim, leave the finger in the dirt; it belongs there.” Linda was breathing hard; her whole hand was on fire and throbbing. She managed to gasp, “I need to pay for my betrayal, pay in a way I will never, ever forget. I hurt you in a way that has left a mark in your heart, in a place that doesn’t show. You’ve been so brave and strong, but I know you are wounded. I need to be wounded too, but in a more visible way. This is my punishment for forgetting that I’m your wife, your partner, the mother of your children. It guarantees that I will never forget again; and anybody that sees my hand will know too. Now help me up to the house, I don’t want to go to a doctor. Let’s find out how good mothers sewing skills are.”
EPILOG
The papers and TV news carried the mystery of Lavalliere’s disappearance for days. The two body guards were no help, they’d been taken in their sleep. All they could say for sure was that the men who tasered them hadn’t said a single word. They had been like ninja’s dressed all in black. There were no clues other than the disconnected power at the service entrance, no fingerprints on anything. The front drive to Lavalliere’s house was gravel so there weren’t even tire tracks to trace. There was never any ransom, nor extortion note; Marc Lavalliere seemed to have just disappeared from the face of the earth.