I imagine that Devin thought it was a little strange when I invited him over to watch a movie together. It wasn't "bizarre strange." We'd talked before about the fact that we both liked bloody action films but often missed them because our wives weren't interested and it just wasn't the same sitting alone to watch a movie.
I'd engineered it so that Marcie and Kendra would be out together. That was easy. There was a "chick flick" they'd both expressed an interest in seeing and, of course, Devin and I had as little interest in that as they would have in watching a Die Hard film with us. So, the whole plan kind of made sense: they could go see whatever the modern equivalent of Waiting to Inhale was and Devin and I could see our "boy stuff," as the girls called it.
It all made sense, but it's not like Devin and I had spent any time together alone. Maybe it would feel really strange to him to do something with me now that he'd been shagging Marcie for so long. Still, the whole arrangement made so much sense to everyone else that I suspect he thought not accepting would just raise questions.
Saturday night, around 7, a while after the girls had gone ('cause they were having dinner before their movie), Devin knocked at the door. He'd walked over to our house because Kendra had driven Marcie to the theater. I invited him into the family room and got us each a beer.
We settled in with our beer and munchies to watch our movie. It was a strange experience for me because throughout the movie, all I could think about was the revenge that I would get with the screening of the "second feature." I felt like Montressor, about to spring his trap on Fortunato. My trap didn't involve a cellar or Amontillado but, if it worked, Devin would be as surely entombed as Fortunato, even if only metaphorically.
The "thousand injuries" I had borne from Devin would be redressed. I remembered Montressor's words: "A wrong is unredressed when ... the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." I was savoring the thought of making myself felt as an avenger to Devin.
The movie ended about 9āplenty of time for my plan. The girls' film didn't even start until 8:45 and it was showing on the other side of town. They wouldn't be back until nearly midnight.
Devin was making motions as if he were ready to leave. That wasn't going to happenānot yet.
"Oh, wait," I said, innocently, but insistently. "I have another film I want to show you."
"I don't know. ... I should get going." He had nothing he had to do; he just wanted to get out of there.
"It's a short," I reassured him, "won't be more than 10 or 15 minutes and I think you'll find it riveting."
Devin sat back in his seat, unhappy. I switched the input on the TV and started the video. I wasn't looking at the TV. For me, the show was going to be on Devin's face. The recording began with just a shot of the inside of our front door. I'm not sure Devin recognized it. But, when he saw Marcie bounce to the door to answer the doorbell, his eyes widened with recognition. I could see in his face the exact moment when he saw his image on the TV, stepping inside and kissing Marcie passionately. His jaw dropped and the blood drained from his face.
"Oh, God!" was all he could manage to utter at first. After a moment: "Oh, God, man. Oh, God, I'm really sorry."
I'll bet he was ... *now*. He was probably panicked. What would I do? He had no way of knowing. Maybe I was going to kill him. Maybe I was going to bludgeon him to a pulp. He was scared.
"I'm really sorry," he repeated, not having anything cleverer to say. "I didn't mean to ..." And then when he realized how ridiculous that was, "I mean, I never planned ... I wasn't trying to ..." There he sputtered to a stop. He realized that nothing he could say to exonerate or exculpate himself made any sense.
The recording was running all this time.
"Shut it off!" he said, apparently pleased to have something to say.
"What's the matter? Is this a painful memory? It doesn't look like you were in pain."
Devin couldn't look at the video, or at me. He was staring down at the floor.
"I just ... I mean it just happened. I shouldn't have let it happen and I should have cut it off. But I didn't. I'm sorry ... I'm sorry." He was trying his best now. I believed him that he was truly repentant. Of course, it was the repentance of a caught man. There was no indication that he'd felt any remorse or guilt until this moment.
"I believe you're sorry," I said and I saw him almost relax. Maybe I wasn't going to kill him, he was concluding. I'd have none of this lowering of fear and anxiety. I decided to play my trump card.
"It's not just me you owe an apology, you know." I paused. "What's Kendra going to do when she finds out?"
Devin's expression made it clear that he knew exactly what Kendra would do. His face was even more ashen than before. I could see panic in his eyes. Maybe the thought that I would kill him would be a relief at this moment. At least he wouldn't have to live with the consequences of what he'd done.
"No ... oh my God, no! ... You can't tell her. She can't know about this." Now words were coming a mile a minuteāanything to try to deflect the train wreck he saw coming. "No, don't tell her. Jesus! Don't tell her. I'll break it off with Marcie."
And then when he realized how ridiculous it sounded to suggest that this was some sort bargaining chip or even an appropriate penance, he went on. "I mean ... of course I'll break it off with Marcie. That should never have happened. But don't tell Kendra. I'll do anything you want. I mean it ... anything. You just can't tell Kendra."
Then he was out of words. He'd made is plea as passionately as possible. He knew that his fate was in my hands. This was the moment I'd hoped forāthe moment anticipation of which I'd savored in my imagination. And I had plans for what to do with his fate. Showing the video to Kendra was one option, of course, but once I'd done that, everything was out of my control.
I'd formulated a different planāone that involved continued domination over Devin. I was going to make him hurt, to humiliate him. And I had ideas about how to fuck up his relationship with Kendra, not to the point where she would dump him. I wanted ongoing control over him so that I could determine when and how much he suffered. Somehow asserting my ongoing dominance seemed the only way to re-establish my self-esteem.