Banquet Three

BANQUET THREE

(This story is a continuation of a two story series. A Scene at a Banquet and Banquet Two. It really is not a stand-alone. But, I'll give that a try.)

Mel and Will were dropping off their son Mark for his freshman year at State U. It was over a four hour drive from their home. They had a rented van packed up with various stuff Mark thought he needed.

Mark was just about to turn eighteen. He'd been at home all the while since his parents' relationship was sorely tested by his mother's infidelity. Mark's older sister, Sherrie, had gone to her small liberal arts college the week before. She was starting her junior year. She had her own car and a shared apartment. And, while she did come home for holidays, she had not been home summers much. She had a job in Pennsylvania for those two summers. So, she hadn't been much help for Mark regarding the family crisis.

Throughout Mark's junior year in high school the situation had been tense. His dad lived in his basement apartment. For the longest time the couple were basically dead to each other. Neither one of them seemed to want to interact with the other.

Mark sort of got used to it. And then it got better. The parents started having sex again. His dad moved back into the main bedroom. Dinners weren't so fraught with tension. All in all, for several months, almost a year, things were much better, if not what they had been before his mom cheated.

But now.....now he was happy to be out of the house. For the last ten months, things gradually deteriorated at home. And at this point, while his parents still had sex and slept together, they never joked around or even seemed interested in each other.

There was a false joviality on the long ride to the university. Mark went along with it. But the ride also had long gaps where silence reigned.

The three got to the dorm room and Will helped carry the heavy cases into the building. Things perked up when they tried out various arrangements of furniture and the closet. They settled on an arrangement and met Mark's roommate, Bryan, and his folks. The two young men seemed to get along. Both computer nerds. But Bryan was a heartthrob. Big and blond. His parents also fit that description. Mark was just an ordinary fellow. Still, the youngsters got on.

Mark turned down his parent's offer of an early dinner. They had a hotel room near campus, and it had a nice restaurant. But Mark simply couldn't stand the thought of more empty talk. So, he stayed at the dorm, waving goodbye to the P's. He felt sad. He also felt relieved. He was determined to have a productive year and enjoy himself.

MEL AND WILL

The spouses had a nice dinner. It really was a decent restaurant. Will was almost paralyzed by the pending empty nest. He'd been the stay-at-home parent. Still, the food and wine were excellent, and he ate. As did Mel.

But they didn't talk much. And they skipped desert.

When they got to the room and unpacked, each showered. Will was first. He was sitting around in his boxers when Mel sashayed over to him and sat on his lap, naked.

She smiled at him and said, "I wanna fuck. Take our minds off all of it."

Will gave a small chuckle. "What we do best."

So, they screwed. Two very satisfying sessions forty minutes apart.

A coda.

They woke in the morning and shared the driving on the way back. Not much said. As they neared the D.C. beltway, Mel said, "That's it, huh?"

Will nodded. He said, "We just don't....we're not ever gonna be okay. We can wait until after Christmas to tell them."

Mel said, "You killed Robert."

Will smiled. He did not reply. But he smiled, as he did each time he thought about it.

After a while she said, "It took me a while to really comprehend that you could do that. Even though you said you would. Even though I knew you could do it and walk. Shit, I told the guy that. Shit! Shit! SHIT!" She was tearing up.

Will said, "I find - without making any comment on the accuracy of your supposed insight - I find that most people have a difficult time believing in evil."

She gasped. "You're not evil, Will. I know you're not."

He said, "I'm sure you've given the matter some serious thought, right? So, if things were as you surmise, why would I have done such a thing? If it wasn't me just being evil."

He pulled the car into the driveway just then. They carried their bags in without further conversation. Will made sandwiches for lunch and they ate in the kitchen.

That afternoon they each went their own way, working from home. Will used the basement apartment he'd made to get away from Mel. He had made it into an office.

He made a pizza and salad for dinner. It was delicious.

Mel said, "Shit. I'll never find anyone who'll cook for me like you do."

He said, "Well, I enjoy cooking. Maybe I'll write a cookbook. Then I'll give you a copy and you can make your own."

He paused. He said, "Well, sell you a copy. Maybe a Christmas gift."

They went to bed. They never touched each other in the king-sized bed.

The next morning, at breakfast, Mell was chewing Chex when she gasped. 'To try to save the marriage. You did it to try to save the marriage." She stared at Will.

He said, "Well, if I did it, and if it was for that reason, it didn't work out in the end."

She continued. "If he was alive, anywhere in the world, you could never relax with me. So you did him, just like you said you would."

Will said, "I said that to try to stop you. A feeble effort. I feel remiss. I could have done more."

She stared at him.

"I could have come to Pittsburgh and horned in on the dinner. Then what would you have done?"

She shrugged. "Not sure. To be honest."

He said, "If I did go horn in, and you walked away with him, he'd never have made it to the door. You'd have been raising the kids all by yourself."

"So, you didn't go. You thought about it?"

He looked at her. He said, "I believe that our marriage was fundamentally altered the first time you interacted with that guy. Even if you would have come home and not fucked him. Even if I'd horned in. We were....our love was adulterated with a slow poison."

After a longish pause she said, "It's like those Greek tragedies."

He nodded. He asked, "Are you going to fight the divorce?"

"No. As soon as I started to believe you killed him.....well, I tried."

"But it pissed you off? It's not like it...."

"It made me scared. A little chill each time I considered it. It was cunning and cruel. What if you got mad at me?"

"So you withdrew, gradually. Not friends anymore."

"I tried."

"Wouldn't have mattered in the end. Dead or alive he was always gonna be the highlight of your life as a woman. It ate away at me. And, you know, that you could actually do that to us. All for a fuckfest. Well, here we are. You'll be served tomorrow at work."

She cried.

He didn't.

AN EVENING WITH ROBERT

Robert had basically forgotten about Mel as he walked away from his favorite local restaurant that Sunday evening toward his condo. It was cold and there was a wind. He had decided to walk anyway. He liked the walk through the trees and brush. He especially liked it in the darkness, because it kept him alert. Shit could happen.

And, lo and behold, it did. He felt an arm around his neck and then....nothing.

Will saw that Robert was actually headed toward his little hiding place along the path. It had taken him some time to scout out this place - this path. He saw Robert walk right past him. Will was dressed all in black camo. He had the syringe ready.

When Robert was ten feet past him, Will slipped out onto the path, glanced both ways, then wrapped his arm around Robert's neck and jabbed the syringe into the muscle. Robert bucked for only a few seconds. The he collapsed. Will dragged him just off the path and put him into a black body bag. He picked up the bundle and made his way down the short hill to the service road of a small glass factory. No one was anywhere near.

Will stuck Robert into the back of the pick-up he had there and pulled the bed cover over him. He hopped into the driver's seat and drove sedately away, headed south.

Ninety minutes later Will pulled off a dirt road in a southern Pennsylvania county. He'd taken the back roads to his destination. It had been carefully scouted.

There was an abandoned mine shaft about fifty yards off the road. Will carried his bundle to the entrance and inside. There he resecured the wooden barrier and turned on his light. He unzipped the body bag and turned the light onto Robert's face. He splashed a little water onto the face.

Robert opened his eyes. He felt groggy and very bad. He thought maybe he was in the hospital, because of the bright light in his eyes.

But then the light was turned away a bit and Robert saw a man. There was a mask.

Robert said, "I have money." Well, that was what he intended to say. It was not understandable to Will.

Will let Robert come up more toward consciousness. Robert's hands were zip tied behind him. He was no threat. Will had some time. He waited.

Robert struggled around a bit but couldn't really move much.

He said, "What do you want? I have money."

Will could understand that now. He pulled the mask down.

He said, "It'll all eventually escheat to the state. Too bad. All that effort."

Robert stared up at Will. He recognized him. Mel's cuck. He pissed himself.

Will saw the panic come to Robert. Abject terror. He smiled down at him.

Will said, "She warned you. Told you I'd kill you if you fucked her. You're a dumbass."

Robert said, "You'll never get away with it. I'm a big shot. People will look for me."

Will smiled. He said, "This shaft is seventy-five feet down to the water. They won't find you. Anyway, you have no family. No one cares. Tell me, was she worth this?"

"No. I apologize. I'm an asshole, I know. But...."

"Time to die."

Robert screamed, "No...."

But Will turned Robert away, over the shaft and cut his throat with a large knife. Then, as Robert gurgled and spurted, Will pushed him over the edge into the shaft. He heard a couple of bumps and a distant splash. Nothing else.

He tossed the knife and his gloves down into the shaft. The he pulled the plywood over the hole, sealed and locked the mine entrance, walked to his truck and drove away. It took him an hour to get to his cabin. He washed his clothes and slept.

WILL

As the divorce was close to becoming final, Will gave some thought to what Mel had said about why he killed Robert. To try to save the marriage by eliminating the threat.

Let her think what she thought. Almost a gesture of love for her. And maybe that did cross his mind.

But he knew the real reason he'd done it. That reason was exactly what made a smile creep across his face every time he had occasion to recall that evening with Robert.

End.