There are things you do first in any emergency. When somebody falls down with a cardiac arrest, you pump on his chest to oxygenate the brain until somebody can help defibrillate the heart and hopefully restore a normal rhythm. You stop the bleeding before worrying about a broken bone. I was sitting out on my patio trying figure out what I needed to do first now. I really had no idea. This was a first for me. I had been totally blind-sided. As a certified critical care nurse I had the developed a talent for observation. I intuitively picked up on subtle signs that a patient was having problems long before they began to slide down the tubes. Then I would take appropriate steps. That ability had saved lives.
But I never saw the signs and symptoms my marriage of almost eighteen years was in mortal danger. The only decision I had made so far was that I had no intention to attempt to resuscitate it. On the contrary. I fully intended to pull the plug. And I wanted to make the demise as painful as possible. Well, after a few second thoughts, I revised my intention. I wanted it to be painful for my soon to be ex-wife, but there were innocent parties involved. I did not want them hurt when I went after the cheating bitch and her lover.
I took another sip of my beer and looked out over my back yard as I contemplated my potential moves. Except for a couple oak and three pecan trees, I had cultivated a smooth cut grass lawn that extended all the way from my patio deck to the bayou. We had enough problems with snakes here in Louisiana without providing extra habitat near the house. My only concession to shrubbery were the azaelas out front. The house behind me was large with four bedrooms, and three baths. It had a traditional southern style covered porch across the whole front. Beyond that there was nothing traditional about it. The inside had all the best modern amenities available at the time it was built. The plumbing and electrical systems were top notch. No corners had been cut in its construction. The state of the art kitchen had been never been remodeled but the appliances had been replaced over the years. Solar panels now covered the roof.
There was no way I could have afforded that house nor the prime eight acres surrounding it on a nurse's salary. It had been a gift from my father and grandfather when I announced my engagement to Bonnie. The land had been in my family for generations. My grandfather and father built the home itself, or rather the construction company they owned did. Fontenot and Sons Construction was well known in our area and was now being run by one of my cousins. My father and his brother were pretty much retired now. Pawpaw had passed two years ago. He was a little disappointed I refused to join the family business but respected my decision to go back to nursing school after first getting a degree in business administration and attempting to work in an office for a few years. I had wanted nothing to do with the building trade as a career after working in the heat and humidity during my high school years and college breaks.
I had never been that concerned with making money for its own sake. I only needed enough to take care of my family. Of course that included being able to afford some fairly lavish toys. I had a very nice boat to travel the waterways for our frequent fishing and camping trips and a pickup truck to pull it overland. I bought whatever fishing gear I wanted. I had rifles and shotguns like all normal Cajuns. And I took the family on vacations whenever I could finagle time off from my job as the assistant head nurse of the critical care unit of our local hospital. I always kept my kids outfitted for their own activities as well. Outside of taking care of my patients, family was the only really important thing in my life. And now my family's happiness was in jeopardy.
I looked over the two hundred yards separating me from the house next door to see a woman walk out the back door. Except for the furniture and color scheme, her home was a replica of my own, right down to the same acreage. My grandfather had built my sister's house as soon as he finished mine. We shared a dock and boathouse on the bayou. I raised my hand to catch her attention and she headed my way. We needed to have a serious talk.
"Starting a little early today, Rob? It is only two o'clock." she asked, indicating the beer in my hand. "A whole cooler?" she asked, looking at the at the Coleman next to the lawn chair I was sitting in.
"I'm off work for the rest of the week and I'm in the mood." I said, quietly. She knew I worked four twelve hours shifts and then took at least three days off per week. Sometimes I would take my down time back to back so I could take a short trip without using vacation. I liked the overtime. It paid for a few extra frills. "I don't want to waste time running back and forth to the house for my next beer." I reached into my cooler and offered her one. She popped the top and sat down.
"So, what's so important we had to talk right now? I about shit my pants when you asked me to take off from work and come home. Especially when you said I was NOT to call anyone before talking to you." Susan offered. "If you had not said nobody was hurt or dead and it was no emergency, I would have gone ape-shit. You don't seem all that concerned, though. I know you didn't call me home just because you wanted a drinking buddy."
Cutting to the chase, I said, "I found out a couple hours ago that Bonnie's cheating on me. I got an email." I tried to say it like I was just discussing the weather. But my voice faltered.
"Are you sure? I mean it would be a cruel ass joke but are you sure somebody is not just messing with you?" she asked, incredulous. I nodded and told her the email had a video file attached and there was no doubt. "Who sent the email?"
"I don't know." I answered. "It just said. 'You need to know your wife is screwing around. Here is proof. Will send more later.' The person's name was 'Pissedoff999'. I never heard of him or her."
