I guess I dropped the ball somewhere along the line. We had been married eighteen years, and things were not going well. My wife was a cold, miserable bitch, and my two kids were not much better. I tried, I really did, but nothing seemed to help. Not all of us get to be Engineers, Lawyers, or Doctors. Some of us just end up with normal blue-collar jobs, making normal blue-collar wages.
With just a high school diploma, I felt I was doing pretty well. I was a parts puller for Esterly Pneumatic. We manufactured pumps for irrigation systems and other similar applications. I knew my job and I did it well. The salary was good, but not great, though it did include family medical. We had a nice little three-bedroom house, in a good neighborhood. It still had ten years to go on the mortgage, but it was ours. We both drove fairly new, paid-for cars.
I grew up on a small farm in Schuylkill County. When I was sixteen my family moved to Reading. My parents still own the farm and use it on weekends and during the holidays. My two brothers are both in the service. I met my wife Teresa when I started Reading Senior High School. It was love at first sight. Yes, I was a bit naive.
After several entry-level jobs I ended up at Esterly and felt that I found a home. I liked the job and worked hard to prove myself. Teresa worked at one of the local malls, up until she got pregnant. I was a fanatic about budgeting, so having a baby did not create any great financial problems for us. Our daughter Karen came first and then Perry a year later. I got clipped.
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Everything was great; Norman Rockwell great, until about four years ago. Teresa got a job as a contract secretary, for one of the largest car dealers in town. After about a year she was making more money than I was and had a company car to boot. Of course, this also included her working longer hours and on weekends. The more money she made the snarkier she got. It started with snide little comments and after a while, she just began making derogatory remarks directly to my face. To make things even worse, she was doing it in front of the kids. After a short time, the kids became as rotten as she was. They avoided me every chance they got and when they were around they were not pleasant to be with. It only took a year or two for everything to go to hell.
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For some reason, I thought that if I got a dog, things would get better. I was hoping that it perk the kids up a bit. Of course it had to be a repro dog, I couldn't see spending money on some kind of fancy dog. I ended up with a Great Dane/Chow mix. He was ugly as sin but lovable.
The kids hated him. He needed a name. They weren't interested. I suggested 'Cisco' and Perry said 'Costco' would be more like it.
He tried; he really tried. Costco followed the kids everywhere. He tried to sleep with them, but they both kicked him out of their beds. They refused to walk him, feed him, or clean up after him. After about six months he just gave up and became my dog. I was happy with the dog but disappointed with the kids. Not only did they ignore him, they were actually mean to him, in so many different ways. I hated to leave him alone with them when I went to work.
As my family life deteriorated, my personality and habits also started to change. Although Teresa and I still shared a bed, I no longer instigated sex. Occasionally Teresa would be feeling a bit horny and start something. I never turned her down, but there was no enthusiasm on my part. Costco slept on the floor aside from my side of the bed.
I skipped breakfast at home in the mornings. I was soon a Waffle House regular. I just had fast food for lunch, usually. Some days a couple of guys would go out for a sit-down lunch, but not too often. I also started to work later and by the time I got home, Teresa and the kids had already eaten. She usually left me something to warm up. It only took a few months to perfect this routine.
On the weekends, I did all of the required house and yard work. There was no way that my son, Perry, would even consider helping. I stopped even asking, and there was no way that I could possibly demand him to help. Teresa would put an immediate stop to that. With the yard work done, Costco and I would leave for the farm. I always went alone. The wife and kids detested the farm. It was fall, so all the fruit trees and bushes had to be trimmed. I had no trouble finding plenty of stuff to do. Some weekends, my dad, and maybe mom, would also show up to work and just relax.
During the week I spent my evenings watching TV and surfing on my computer. The kids were always out of the house or maybe sulking about in their rooms. When Teresa was not into her Kindle, she was out with her girlfriends or shopping or whatever. I didn't care as long as she didn't embarrass me. Of course that is exactly what happened.
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It was a Monday morning when everything started to go to hell.
"Morning, John! How come we didn't see you Saturday night at the Crab Shack?" Grady Bumpus was one of the project engineers at Esterly. He handed me a pic-sheet.
"I was pruning the apple trees up at the farm. Why did you expect to see me?"
"Teresa was there and we just assumed that you were someplace around."
"Was she alone?"
"No! It looked as if she was with a few people from her work. Maybe it was a company function of sorts. It is a bit pricey."
"Yeah! That must be it. I can't afford places like that."
"Well, Teresa looked good. Didn't look like she was dressed for work."
As Grady walked away my assistant, Bernie leaned over. "Boss she goes there a lot. My sister is a waitress at the Crab Shack. Teresa goes there several times a month with her boss, Tony DeMarco."
"How long has this been going on?"
"I don't know. Couple of months I guess."
Tony DeMarco ran Berkshire Motors. He was Teresa's immediate boss. They sold Range Rovers, Audi and Jaguars. I didn't like some of the things that I was hearing, but I should have been prepared for it.
As Bernie was leaving work, I stopped him. "Can you find out if they are going anywhere else, other than the Crab Shack, I mean? Maybe your sister would know?" He just nodded.
My simple inquiry blossomed into something that I was not expecting.
It seems that my wife and DeMarco were regulars at the Purple Onion Piano Bar, The Star Bright Dance Hall, and the Airport Holiday Inn.
Now I was Mad! Before I was indifferent, but now I was mad. She wasn't even trying to hide it.
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Who could blame her? I was a lousy husband. However it was not my fault. I tried! I tried for years. Flowers, candy, gifts, dinners out, and vacations. Nothing worked. I stopped trying.
For some reason or other, things got worse at work. I was catching little comments and snickers from some of the floor guys and a couple of the engineers. I picked up the words 'cuck' and 'loser' quite a few times. Most of the guys didn't say anything, but I got a lot of odd looks and smirks that I never noticed before. Hell, maybe it was in my imagination, but I don't think so. I started letting Bernie work the job desk and I spent more time than normal doing backroom inventory checks. I was late for work a few times and then I started to leave earlier than I normally did. It was noticed.
I started sleeping on the couch in the den. That was noticed of course, by my wife. She commented on it one time and then dropped it. There was less yard work to do this time of year, so Costco and I started going up to the farm on Fridays. After a while, I started to take Fridays off at work and spent the whole weekend away. I had plenty of vacation time accumulated. Bernie appreciated the time to work the front desk.
I was becoming very bitter. I tried to do my best to be a husband and a father. It looks like I came up short. I knew it was my fault and I knew that I should have done better. Slowly the sadness was turning to hate and anger. I had not done anything wrong. I found myself becoming a victim. I changed my political affiliation.
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It was a snowy Thursday night. I was home and the kids were home, but no Teresa. The snow was pretty heavy, and even under the circumstances, I was a bit worried. Just after nine o'clock, the phone rang.
"John, It's Teresa. I just wanted to let you know that because of the weather, I won't be able to get home tonight. Just don't call the police or do anything stupid. I will be fine."
"What does that mean? Where are you and what are you doing?"
"We are at the Philadelphia Conference Center for the New Car Expo. The snow is too heavy to drive home. Especially on the Schuylkill Expressway. We are going to stay overnight at the Radisson. Don't worry the company is going to pick up the tab. I should be back tomorrow."
"Hold up a moment. Who is this 'we' you are talking about?"
"Geeze John! It's Tony of course. Who did you think I would be down here with? Now just relax. We will be back tomorrow afternoon sometime. Take care of the kids." I think she laughed when she said that. She disconnected.
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I drove a Jeep Wrangler. I had four-wheel drive, snow tires, and a tank of gas. I grabbed a 'DeMarco Motors baseball cap out of the coat closet that Teresa used to wear at the company outings and hit the road. The kids would be fine. They didn't even know that I was home, let alone, that I left. Yes, the Schuylkill Expressway was a mess, but I did make it. When I arrived I filled up the gas and picked up a FedX overnight express envelope at a jiffy store. There was plenty of parking at the Radisson underground lot.
"I have an emergency delivery for Mister Anthony DeMarco of DeMarco Motors." I waved the Fedx Envelope very quickly and made sure the desk clerk saw my company cap. He held out his hand and I just shook my head. "Has to be hand delivered." With great hesitancy, he signed and said "Three twenty two"
DeMarco opened the door and I immediately rushed forward and hit him square on the left jaw full force. The pain in my hand was incredible. Before I could do anything else he was all over me. He was six inches taller than I was and outweighed me by at least forty pounds. I remember hearing Teresa yelling at him to stop and that was about all I remembered.
