My name is Janet Moore and my husband of five years is Dick. I know, "Moore Dick". He hears it all the time. Truth is, he's not so much Moore and Lester. Think about it. Anyway, Dick hasn't always been the perfect husband; he works late way too much and he often seems distracted, but I've known women with far worse husbands. In fact, I have several friends with husbands that have cheated on them. God, I hate a cheat! It's bad enough that they need to find themselves some strange to play with, but all those lies are just insulting! The women, my friends, trusted those creeps and every day they were working some con on the side. I swear that if I ever see the husband of a friend of mine messing around with some bimbo I'll drop a dime on him so fast that his wife will have the locks on the door changed before he gets home. I hate a damn cheat!
So like I said, my husband isn't perfect; but he is mine and I love him. Every time he tells me that he loves me I get that warm feeling inside. For better or worse, he is mine and mine alone; or so I thought. All of that ended the night that the door bell rang. Dick was upstairs packing for yet another business trip. He seemed to go on those damn trips every couple of weeks. He was in a good mood for once, not like his usual grump the night before a trip. I even caught him humming a tune while he shaved. If I didn't know him better I'd swear he was looking forward to being away.
When the door bell rang I answered the door and saw Bob and Julie Denkins standing there. I'd met them at the office Christmas party and they seemed like nice people. Truth is, I was disappointed that I'd not seen them since. I hardly ever saw any of Dick's coworkers; so it was a pleasant treat to see them standing there, although it was a bit late for a visit. Then I saw it - they weren't smiling. There was nothing resembling a smile on either of their faces. In fact, if I didn't know better I thought I saw fear on her face and anger on his. Then with a bit of an apology, Bob said, "Janet, we're sorry to bother you this late at night, but is Dick here?" I said he was and as I turned to get him Bob said, "Actually, we were hoping to talk with you both."
I had a growing sense of unease. Something wasn't right, but I invited them into the living room and headed up the stairs to get Dick. When I told him who was here he got visibly nervous. The color drained from his face and he just stood there for the longest time. "Tell them to leave. We don't have time for them tonight." Dick was angry and nothing seemed right about any of it. I mean, who visits this late at night and what's the problem finding five minutes for friends even if you are packing for a trip? I told him that they wanted to speak with us both and that seemed to upset him even further. Something really wasn't right here and I told him to calm down and come talk with them; they wouldn't be here if it wasn't important.
As I walked back into the living room I offered our guests a drink. Julie just kept fidgeting with her hands and looking at the floor while Bob tried to make an uncomfortable smile. He said, "Thanks, but we need clear heads tonight; and, Janet, I am sorry for what is about to happen. You don't deserve this."
I was becoming very uncomfortable and extremely nervous. "Can I ask you what this is about?"
Bob just said, "I think it's important that Dick be here for this."
A moment later Dick walked slowly into the room, never taking his eyes off our guests like he was walking into the lion's den; he came over and stood next to me. I'd never seen him so uncomfortable. "Do you want to tell me what this is all about?" He wasn't being at all friendly to our guests. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was almost threatening them and he never seemed to take his eyes off Julie. At the same time Julie wouldn't take her eyes off the floor or stop kneading her hands. Something was very wrong and I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"Well, Dick, I think you know why we are here. We need to speak with your wife and we thought it would be best if you were present." Bob was practically seething. Dick was making fists and I put my hands onto his arm to calm him. Bob turned to his wife. "Honey, dear, do you have anything you want to say to Janet?"
I could see that Julie was near tears. The slightest thing was going to put her over the edge and I was beginning to realize that I was the only person in the room who didn't know what was going on.
Julie was taking short, sharp breaths and spoke only faintly, "Janet, I am so very, very sorry. I've never done anything like this before in my life and I don't know how to ask your forgiveness."
Maybe it was all the tension in the room or the visible anger between Dick and Bob, but I was beginning to feel the anger rising inside me as well and I didn't know why.
"Janet, I am so ashamed. I've been having an affair with your husband for the past three months." She was sobbing so hard the words barely came out. I was in shock; I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I don't know how I let it happen or why I did it, but we started going to lunch together and then one thing led to another and then... and then one night when Bob was out of town and you were at the PTA we got a room and... we got a room and I had sex with your husband."
I vaguely heard shouting in the room, but I was in shock and all the voices seemed muffled to me. Then I realized it was Dick yelling at Julie and Bob was moving between the two of them. Julie was still looking at the floor and the men were going to come to blows if I didn't do something quick. I didn't think it through; I acted on impulse. I turned and I slapped my husband in his face as hard as I could. "You lying cheat! You shit! How could you? You tell me you're working late and you spend your time fucking HER?" Dick turned to face me with his hand on his cheek and started yelling that he'd never touched her, but I could see the desperation in his face with his eyes darting back and forth as he spoke and I knew he was lying. I buried my knee in his groin with all the force I could bring to it, and watched my husband double over in pain and collapse on the floor.
The room went suddenly silent. Julie was looking at me now and I saw real fear on her face. "You, me, in the kitchen, now!" Julie looked terrified and she had good reason to be scared. I had murder on my mind and I wasn't sure which cheating shit was going to be first. She looked to her husband for protection, but Bob offered her none. Slowly, reluctantly, she stood. "Bob, you're free to defend yourself, but I expect you to leave him be if he doesn't come after you. We don't keep guns in the house, so you needn't worry about that. Somehow, I think you can take care of yourself if you need to. Otherwise, I have questions for him and I want him able to provide some answers." Bob nodded and Julie followed me into the kitchen. Her fear was palpable, but it didn't measure up to my anger.
It occurred to me later that I had left Bob incapacitated and at the mercy of an irate husband with a cheating wife. He could have killed Dick, but at that moment I had more confidence in this man I hardly knew than I had in my own husband.
I sat Julie down at the table and stood with my back to the sink. I needed to gain my composure before we started our talk, woman to woman, wife to wife. She just sat there with her head down, looking at the table and her hands, never looking at me. She was broken. I had to stay calm, but I wanted to claw her face and make her bleed. I knew she'd offer no resistance in her condition, but I wanted answers more than revenge.
"Who started it?" That was the question I wanted answered more than any other.
