Four Minutes Thirty Seconds

Acknowledgement that George Andersen wrote the original February Sucks. Jim and Linda are his characters, not mine. They are bit players in my version.

This is all based on, "What if." What if Jim and Linda had arrived a half hour earlier, or later? Probably different. What if...

Marc was clearly a serial cuckolder. So. What if... one of his previous victims did something about it...

*******

I watched the predator from about ten feet away as he scanned. He pretended to be socializing but it was a clever cover for his intent. I watched him as he appraised the room and narrowed down his gaze to three places then two. He appraised both of his targets and I realized; he knows. HE FUCKING KNOWS, which is the weaker of the two. The police officer was right, Somehow, he just knows the weakest prey. As much as he was scanning, he was oblivious to me. He took his time deciding and I repositioned myself as I know in general where he is going.

He stopped, appraised and decided. His face changes from appraising to friendly. I know I was looking at the most alpha wolf within miles and he has selected his prey. He walked toward a table. A pretty blue eyed blonde in her late twenties or early thirties is sitting there in a blue dress sitting next to a guy of similar age. He's good looking. He married up, but not by much.

I intercepted him in front of the table and smiled, "HI! Remember me?"

He was so busy observing his prey that he missed me approaching from the side.

He had to refocus and said, "Wait. Uh. What? No. I'm busy here. I only sign autographs at authorized events."

I shook my head and said, "Sad, but I guess I'm just a statistic in your world. You fucked my wife eight monts ago. We were here, you asked her to dance, she accepted over my objections and you danced with her. Then you asked her to your place and you fucked her. ON MY MOTHERFUCKING ANNIVERSARY!"

People looked up.

His face changed as his seduction was clearly not going to work tonight. I looked over at the table and I had their attention. The whole restaurant is watching the drama. Blue dress woman is oblivious to the fact that, had I not added some drama to the night, she was going to betray her husband in the worst possible way.

He sighed and said with disdain, "Sorry. Won't happen again."

I shook my head, "It's just numbers. You love taking married women in front of their husband and it works. I heard two or three a week during the off season and one a week while you play. Impressive numbers."

He smiled. Add narcissism to simply being one of the worst humans on the planet.

I sneered, "Five years. Times let's say one hundred women times a year five years pro in this city since you were drafted here. You've ruined five hundred marriages."

I shook my head and said, "Let's say half reconcile though the marriage is shot really. It will never be the same. I wonder how many kids cried their eyes out because their parents divorced because of you. MINE DID!"

He stood impassively, slightly embarrassed but more likely already thinking how he had to change his future methods.

A hotel employee was approaching to shut me up so I hit the countdown timer on my watch. It started at four minutes and thirty seconds. I studied police response times and I figured that would be how long it would take for the 911 call and for police to burst through the door. It would beep at four minutes and every minute until it got to zero.

I pulled out my Glock and pointed it at Marc's head. The hotel employee backed off.

The husband of blue dress woman moved over and stood in front of his wife. I shook my head. Willing to take a bullet for her and she was going to betray him had I not changed the night. Neither knew this of course and I was not going to enlighten them.

He looked nervous but... almost cocky? It was an odd expression, almost like he had been through this before.

I said, "My kids cried their fucking eyes out when we divorced."

I saw at least four people recording this surreptitiously with their phones. One saw that I had noticed him and the phone and tried to hide it. I said, "Oh. Be my guest. Let me give the thirty second version of this. Marc here seduces women in front of their husbands. It's his 'thing'. Cuckolding men and making sure they know it. My dear wife danced with Marc and came back to me when she was done dancing."

My watch beeped. Four minutes

I continued, "When I started to tell her why that was a crappy thing to do to her husband she deliberately spilled wine on herself. She said she had to go clean up and that it would take several minutes. Several minutes turned into twenty. I went looking for my wife and started raging until a staff person told me that my wife had left with him when she went to the bathroom. Police arrived and took me in to cool me down for two hours."

Faces were shocked and Marc looked more pissed than anything. He was clearly now reformulating his future conquests. Four people recording was now twenty. Many, including the blue dress woman, looked shocked.

I looked Marc in the eye and said, "Take off your pants."

Marc was surprised. I emphasized with my gun, "Take off your fucking pants!"

Marc asked, "Why?"

I said sarcastically, "You cuckolding me has turned me into a raging homosexual and I want to see your pecker. NOW TAKE OFF YOUR FUCKING PANTS!"

Mark pushed down his suit slacks.

I said, "Underwear too."

He was now standing with his dick out.

I looked at him and shook my head, "You sure are the alpha wolf. I was in the cop car watching the clock. You cannot imagine the pain..."

I thought for a half second then said, "No. That would never happen. You cannot love anyone but yourself."

I looked at one of the guys with a phone, "Imagine you know Marc's house is fifty minutes away and it is now fifty minutes as you sit in the back of a police car and watch the clock.. You can't shut out your mind's eye. All I can think about is she is naked and he is lining his cock up and."

Pain wells up like a torrent of fire.

My watch beeps. Three minutes.

I said weakly, "He takes what was promised to me alone. Then you spend the next two hours cuffed to a chair at a police station. While your mind's eye sees another man continuing to take her. The cop told me it was primal and that almost a majority of women surveyed anonymously would do the same in front of their husbands. There is a primal urge to mate with the alpha and Marc is the ultimate alpha."

I pushed the pain down. I couldn't fail. I had saved one marriage and they had no clue.

I continued with a softer voice, "She came home. Said some bullshit about just being sex. Our marriage fell apart of course. She offered me hall passes. Offered to get a supermodel escort hall pass. Anal. Threesomes. Anything I want. I told her I had been happy just making love to her. I'm a one woman guy and as long as I was getting some from her, I was good. I love that connection and I loved looking down at her as she climaxed and told me that she loved me as I was inside her. He destroyed that."

I looked at around and asked, "Could any of you men stay married? Truly married, knowing say a year on you are looking down at her as you make love and you know damn well she is thinking of Marc?"

I looked into the same guy's phone again, "Pro tip for women. If you cuckold your husband you WILL lose your marriage. The cop said mating with the alpha is primal and I understand, but women need to understand that for 99 percent of men, his wife's fidelity is primal. A third to half may reconcile for the kids but you will never have a real marriage again."

My watch beeped. Two minutes.

I thought of my kids and pain pushed up in another torrent of fire. I pushed it down. I couldn't fail.

I look at the phone guy again, "The fights. The pain in my kid's face when we told them we were divorcing. I got badly into alcohol and lost my job. I have literally nothing now and I am about to be evicted and on the street."

I finished, "She was my first and only. I got her pregnant too young and she had my twins at eighteen. Stupid but I was in love. My twins are eight now. We married on her 18th birthday and I loved her even more every day until that night. I adored her."

I looked at him and said, "And you destroyed it."

I took off the safety.

He looked concerned but had that same odd expression.

I moved one step to the side.

Marc said, "You aren't going to kill me."

I said, "Probably won't kill you but..."

I changed the aim and shot his penis three times a bit from the side so as not to hit the abdomen. He went down and was lying on the floor as women screamed. Marc screamed louder. I changed the angle top down and shot his balls four times then shot him in the ankle twice. His dick and balls were a shredded mess.

The husband of blue dress woman again stood directly in front of her. There's irony.

She looked at him like he was a superhero. More fucking irony

My watch beeped. One minute.

I looked at husband of blue dress lady and said, "What are your names?'

He looked wary, but I was the guy with a gun so he said, "Jim and Linda Blauhauser."

I asked, "You have kids?'

He said, "Two. Why?"

I said, "Just curious."

I set the gun on the table and said, "Don't touch the gun. The cops will be here very shortly and you do not want to be anywhere near a gun when they come bursting through that door."

I said out loud, "I would suggest everyone having all your hands on the table. Cops get nervous when they hear they are going into a situation with a gun. Oh if we have a doctor in the house, you may treat him. My fight is... WAS with him alone."

My watch beeped. The cops burst in ten seconds late.

The police were confused when they saw no one with a gun, but yelling instructions. I was still standing with my arms up and said, "I'm the one you want."

As for the trial, we were making arguments about temporary insanity. The prosecutor was not buying it for a zero sentence. I can't blame him. I got five to eight years in a plea deal. I could have gotten thirty. I'm not sure why they accepted the deal. I got what I thought seemed light to me. Maybe they were worried I was going to win the insanity thing.

I served five years and eleven months. Marc came into every parole hearing starting my first eligibility at three years. He came in using a cane and I could feel his burning hatred. I said I was not dangerous to anyone but Marc. I lost. And went back for another year. Victims are heard and are considered strongly. It's a good rule 99.9 percent of the time. Yeah. I think Marc is that exception.

Coming up on six years, there was a hearing and Marc did not show for the first time. I guess he finally got bored of me. I got parole and got out a week short of six years to the day I shot him.

I remember when I got to prison, it was not good, but not as bad as I had thought. They knew. I got more than one nod. I played by everyone's rules and made it a point to upset no one.

I got out and I remembered the name of the couple and looked them up, Jim and Linda Blauhauser. I drove by using a friend's car on the anniversary of me shooting Marc. It at least appeared from the internet they were still married.

They came out of their house. She was wearing that blue dress walking toward the car. He opened the car door for her. She grabbed him and stuck her tongue down his throat and rubbed his crotch.

That was a big BIG trigger. It was infrequent these years later, but that same searing scorching pain came back briefly. I had that wonderful love with my wife. HAD.

I smiled. It was worth it. I had saved one marriage. They still had that same innocent pure love that perhaps one in ten marriages achieves. One for sure and how many that would have happened had he lasted another say five years on the team... Hundreds for sure. Marc was in his prime and amazing. How many after he left the pros? I will never know the true number but I had saved one for sure.

The parole boards always wanted me to feel sorry. I said I was. I lied. I couldn't feel sorry. I know he could have been hit by a bus the next day but statistically, I had saved hundreds of marriages.

I was in a halfway house only three days when I got a call on my state provided cell phone. I answered, "Hello?"

A man asked, "John Butler?"

I said, "Yes."

The man answered, "I'm Tony Caruthers..."

He owned a trucking company and was willing to hire me and even train me as a truck driver. Don't look the gift horse as they say.

I was in Tony's office. Tony was sitting next to one guy and there was another empty chair. He asked me only one question, "Are you going to shoot anyone else?"

I said, "No."

Tony nodded, "I saw the news. Those videos they took when you shot Marc went viral. Police chief lost his job over that. He was the sacrifice. He was protecting Marc by arresting raging husbands and holding them for several hours. It was in the emails. Everyone in the city government was protecting the star athlete, but they sacrificed him."

Tony paused, thought and said, "I'm good. We start training you Monday. You won't be rich but you will be able to afford a decent living."

Tony said, "Joe. Do you have anything to add?"

Joe said, "I own a car lot. I have a fourteen year old Civic with forty thousand miles on it. It really was driven by a little old lady on Sundays. It looks like shit because she hit the side of the garage a lot but it's a Honda with forty thousand miles on it. Basic transportation and I will sell it to you for one hundred dollars."

I smiled and shook my head, "I'm sorry. I don't have a hundred dollars. I'm in a halfway house."

Tony pushed forward a one hundred dollar bill. I pushed the hundred to Joe.

Joe said, "I own this efficiency apartment I just can't seem to fill. I will rent it to you for four hundred dollars a month this year."

It was a lie and I said, "It's worth more than that."

Joe said, "Then you won't bitch when I raise your rent next year. Say yes, stupid man."

I nodded, "Yes."

I asked, "Why? This is far far too easy. Why."

Tony said, "We share something in common. All four of us."

I said, "Huh. and who is the fourth guy? I see us three."

Tony said, "The other guy is late."

He looked at Joe and said, "Joe is my best friend since grade school. We've done pretty well. I own this trucking company and he owns a car lot and several apartment buildings. We are not poor basement dwellers yet our wives went for Marc in a big way. We have all been on the same road as you."

Joe finished, "Our wives met Marc on the same night about four years before yours. We were supposed to spend the night on the town together with our wives. Imagine your shit but add in they did a threesome."

I winced.

Tony said, "Let go of the hate. We both remarried because we like being married. I married younger by the way. Not as pretty as the first one. No dog and she loves LOVES fucking. You can restart. We are giving you a chance at a new life. You are thirty two fucking years old. LET GO of the hate or it will eat you up. Marc is dead and your ex-wife is surely the laughing stock of her neighborhood. Let go and take this life we are offering you."

I smiled and said, "What? Wait. I'm not supposed to be happy when someone dies but... what?"'

Joe chuckled, "Yeah. I smiled too. I'm not supposed to be happy when someone dies, but I will make an exception for Marc. Marc killed himself. The higher you climb. The further you fall. He did it around six months ago. Imagine going from a pro football guy and getting any girl you want to not having a dick and having a useless ankle. No career and no girls. He still had a lot of money, but loved having it all."

I asked, "What about my ex-wife being the laughing stock? I'm not legally allowed to contact my ex or my kids yet."

Tony said, "I did a little basic research knowing you would not be allowed to contact her. She remarried about four years ago. Your kids are fine and both have decent grades. I didn't do anything fancy. Just a whitepages lookup and went to the website for their school."

I asked, "Why is my ex-wife the laughing stock?"

Tony laughed and typed a few things into his laptop and turned it around. It was the google results for 'Marc LaValliere sex videos'

There were thousands of hits.

Tony said, "Seems Marc appears to have slept with the wife of someone who had inside access to Marc's estate or a hacker or I dont give a fuck. He or she knew someone who knew about internet video distribution."

Joe said, "He had his whole bedroom cammed. There was a studio in the basement. He had a guy controlling the cameras hidden in the light fixture and some places in the wall. He had three views of his bed and another cam in the shower. Somehow fifty websites got the whole download package of every damn video at the same time."

Tonly clicked the first result and I looked closely at the browser. It said, "Join now for access to all 591 Marc LaValliere wives tapes. All three angles! Bonus shower footage!"

Joe looked at me and repeated, "LET GO of the hate. We have been waiting to help you. You have friends here. All of us were betrayed by our wives for him. He is dead now."

A weight was lifted and I nodded. I damn near cried at the release.

A minute later, I asked, "So who is the other chair for?"

I heard the door open then a voice, "Sorry I'm late. I had a court hearing and have to get back soon. Can't sit down and talk.."

I looked over. My prosecutor looked at me, smiled, then left.