All characters are over 18. There are some gay slurs used in this story; if you find these terms offensive, this might not be the story for you.
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The Metropolitan Motel (if you could currently call it that, as its name changed five times in just the past fifteen years or so as the place used up as many owners) was a shithole. The structure itself was crooked and the stucco exterior was cracked like the sidewalk out front. This close to the lake, it was a wonder that investors hadn't bought the old building up for future development. As always, the neon sign burned in the office window: VACANCY. Out front was an illuminated signpost that would have looked new in 1960, but was painfully dated now, peeling and neglected.
I liked the place more or less. Since I'd left my wife, I'd stayed here at the weekly rate and if it wasn't luxurious, at least it was affordable. This was week three. I missed my son and daughter very much, and looked forward to a visitation with them soon, but I wasn't suffering from the absence of my lawfully-wed wife, that useless tit, Jessica.
With her, there was always drama and mischief. Whether she was ordering "rent-to-own" high-end appliances and furniture behind my back or rear-ending my car in our own driveway, there was always something bad happening. She ran up our credit when I wasn't looking and now I was on the hook for paying off her frivolous expenses, a position which had me hovering close to bankruptcy. Adding insult to injury, it turned out I was paying for her "girl weekends" which were actually boy weekends, if you know what I mean; Jessica had taken on a bit on the side: she was fucking her boss. That was the last straw. I packed everything I had in the house, put it in a storage lock-up and moved myself into the Metropolitan.
I worried about my legal and financial problems in the company of a favourite, time-honoured comrade named Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.
It was Saturday afternoon and I was off for the weekend. Truth be told, I was a little pickled in booze and self-pity before three in the afternoon, when an unexpected visitor came calling. The knock at my door was a surprise; not very many people knew I was here: basically, Jessica and the lawyer I hired to sort out our separation and visitation agreement. Being Saturday, it was unlikely that the lawyer was stopping by. I dreaded another bitch session from Jess; she'd already stopped by twice in two weeks alternately trying to convince me to come home (she was having trouble managing with the kids alone) or explaining why everything was my fault.
Fuck that. I wasn't going to try to stand in the doorway and reason with the crazy bitch. She could knock until she was blue in the face; I didn't have to answer and I wouldn't.
"Dean, are you in there?"
A man's voice. I was at a loss at first. It was definitely not the lawyer; the voice was too husky and cracked, but with just a hint of the whine Jessica used when talking. Of course. It had to be her father.
Wallace was about sixty. He'd been married to Jessica's mother, Gayle, for thirty-seven years before she died. That was one of the kindest things she ever did for her husband. For nearly forty years, she led the man around by his dick, ordering him about like an unloved dog, and cheating on him with door-to-door salesmen, postmen, insurance agents, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. She mothered three daughters and two sons and I'd say there's room for doubt that Wallace fathered any of them, but he took them in as his own and loved them as much as any father ever dared. He was a weak-willed man, but we had always gotten along alright.
I opened the door, relieved to see that Wallace was alone. In my current condition, I wasn't sure I could have stood the shrill shriek of his daughter. I recognized him easily even though he wore a cloth mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I had seen him just a few weeks before wearing the same mask when he came to visit Jessica and I at the house.
"Come on in, Wallace," I said.
He nodded gratefully and scooted in. He licked his lips when he saw the open alcohol on the. Given his life, it was no surprise the old boy liked a drink. I poured him one and apologized for not having ice. He didn't seem to mind, downing his drink in a single shot. I frowned. I was a sipper; we'd get through a lot of my alcohol at his drinking pace.
Wallace talked about everything except what he came to say. As drink followed drink, we discussed the news, the American election, the COVID-19 crisis and we reviewed what little was new in the world of sports and entertainment. By the time, he'd put down a sixth strong drink, I decided to pin him down.
"What brings you here, Wallace? You didn't come to talk about the headlines."
"No. It's, uh, Jessica. She wants you back."
I gave a harsh bark of laughter.
"That's what she decided, did she? Well, I'm not going back. She may be good in the sack, but I'm the only one who ought to know it. She spread the love around a little too much for my liking."
Wallace seized an opportunity. "Oh, she's not... with him anymore. Her boss."
"Oh?" I was genuinely curious. "What happened?"
"She dumped him," Wallace said quickly, and I intuited that he was lying. I gave him a serious stare and he broke. "Well, actually, I guess he dumped her."
"Right. Now she wants the bank of hubby back."
Wallace was sweating. The conversation made him uncomfortable. He took his coat off and hung it up on a hook by the door. Here he was, doing his best by his daughter, and it was looking like an uphill battle.
"The kids need you," Wallace said.
"She can turn over full custody to me and I'll take care of them," I replied. "Otherwise, we'll see what kind of liberal access I can get in family court. I won't let my kids down."
"She's... she's changed while you've been gone. She was working long hoursβ"