Don't Mess with Texas

This is just 750 words on the subject of divorce. There is no dialog in this story. It's mostly just happening inside the mind of one character. I will admit that there are aspects of this story that don't sit well with me. I'll just say that I'm not preaching and I'm not making a political statement. It's just a story.

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As if the past six months haven't been bad enough, this is just the icing on the shit cake. Well isn't that just fucking great! Oh dear, look at that! She's crying. Too fucking bad! And she's with that slut Carol. I knew she was trouble from the first time I met her. She's loud, opinionated, and ignorant. Why do the ignorant ones always have so much to say?

Carol thinks that all men are liars and cheats, and the only way to deal with them is to get out ahead and then lie and cheat as much as they do. Ordinarily, I'd just ignore her, but somehow she got her hooks into my wife and started filling her head with all that nasty shit.

Earlier this year I overheard her and my wife talking. Carol was trying to poison her by running me down, but Diane, to her credit, was denying Carol's claims and saying that I was a good husband. I actually heard that vile creature tell my wife, "There are two kinds of men in the world - those that have been caught cheating and those who are better at it." That was about eight months ago.

Did I mention Carol has been married three times and is currently unattached? Her first husband cheated on her. I felt sorry for her when I heard that, but it didn't take long before I decided that maybe he had the right idea. The next two divorces were on her. It turned out that some people may be better at cheating, but she isn't one of them. Her guilt doesn't keep her from blaming them, though.

Six months ago I started noticing a change in my wife. Her bad moods lasted more than a few days a month. She complained more and started looking for things to complain about. Then the nasty comments started and the intimacy dropped off. Hell, intimacy didn't just drop off, it was pushed off a cliff and fell to its death. When she started going out at night with Carol "just to talk" I knew we were headed for a train wreck. Then she started dressing better on her nights out.

Look, I'm not stupid. I know the signs. The problem is other than chaining her in the basement, I can't stop her. I tried to talk with her about where our lives were going, and she seemed to listen at first. That didn't last very long. It was soon clear that the only person she was listening to was Carol.

I suppose there are some men who would just pack their bags, load the truck, and go. They'd have her served with divorce papers at work and tell the world she's a slut. That's not me. First of all, I had no evidence that she's cheating on me. That doesn't mean I think she isn't, but the courts and I want proof. Second, I've spent my whole life as odd man out and I've learned to work within the system I despise in order to get what I need. I don't know any other way. That probably sounds like self-pity, but it isn't. I'm a realist. I see things as they are and try to work with them. You see, I have two things going against me. One is I'm a Jew and my people have been persecuted for centuries. Second, I live in Texas. Do I need to explain that? Texas is currently being remade into a conservative Christian state while I am a liberal Jew. In its rush to build good Christian values, Texas has not only outlawed abortion, but they've placed a bounty on it. If you know someone who has gone out of state to have an abortion, you can report them and get paid for it.

Now here I sit watching my wife and her good friend Carol walking out of an abortion clinic in Roswell. I guess I have my proof now. Six years of my life gone to hell all because my gullible, weak-willed wife listened to her toxic friend. I wonder whose child it was? With the frequency we've had sex in the past few months, I doubt it was mine.

I pick up my cell phone, snap a few quick photographs, and I make the call. "Hello? Is this the Dallas police department? This is Eli Goldberg. I'd like to report an abortion... Yes, it just occurred... Her name is Diane Goldberg... Yes, she's my wife."

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I like to think that this was the wakeup call for the wife, but it comes too late. She now sees where listening to Carol got her, but the harm is done.

While I believe those hot lines do exist in Texas, I think I took some license in claiming there is a bounty.

I've read a number of stories here that made strong conservative political comments. I thought there might be room for something closer to the political center. This is not intended to be in support of or opposition to current abortion laws. It is not intended to offend anyone of any religious persuasion. It is just a story about listening to the wrong people, losing sight of what is important, and the price we pay when we do.