PURGATORY
(A bit of fantasy in this one. Maybe more than usual. Everyone who has sex in this story is at least eighteen, and some are way older than that.)
It has been almost two years since my wife's boyfriend beat me up as she watched. I had been mowing the lawn on a Saturday. The two of them showed up on the rear patio, as I finished. My wife, Kim, and a guy I'd never seen before. He was a light skinned African-American, maybe six feet, 175. He looked barely drinking age -- twenty-one. When I saw them, they seemed to be overly friendly -- from my point of view. The guy had his arm around Kim's waist. I stopped the mower, and jogged up to them. The guy took his arm from around her waist. He assumed a stance that indicated he expected trouble.
Kim and I had been married three years. She was twenty-three now and I was a year younger. We lived in a house that had belonged to my paternal grandmother, and had come directly to me when she died six years before. Kim and I moved in after our honeymoon, and had lived there ever since.
Kim is a very attractive woman, 5'6", slim, blonde with a pixie hairstyle and a nice smile. She was not smiling then, however. Nor did she look worried. If I had to put a name to her expression then it would be mildly amused.
I stopped about ten feet away from them.
"What's up, Kim? Who's this guy -- the guy with his arm around you?"
"This is Jamal. He's my boyfriend." Her expression turned into a smirk.
"No shit?" I looked at him, and he stared at me like one of those boxers at the meeting in the center of the ring before a boxing match. I admit it was intimidating. He had size on me, for sure. I'm Brian Bixler. I'm 5'10", and weigh in at 160. I have short brown hair and brown eyes.
I looked over at Kim. "Explain."
He piped up, in a peculiarly low pitched voice, "She did explain, pal. I'm with her now. You aren't."
I looked at her again. "Is that why you're here? To break up? You want a divorce?"
"Not necessary. I'm just going to have some time with Jamal. In fact, I have been having some time with him for a month. Maybe you've noticed."
"Well, whether you want one or not, that's what's going to happen. I have noticed some distance between us, lately."
"You don't want to divorce me, Brian. How will you ever find someone else as good as me? You just have to weather this thing. I'm having the time of my life with Jamal."
"Tell you what, both of you can get the fuck out of my sight, and off this property."
Jamal said, "You leave. We stay."
"It's my house. Not hers. I'll call the cops and have the both of you arrested."
Kim said, "You will not. I have your phone. I'm staying. I live here."
She waived the phone in front of me. She seemed to believe that Jamal would keep me from getting it. I grabbed it from her. It was a fast move. I always had great hand eye coordination and quickness. I started to punch in 911, when Jamal slapped me. It was a hard slap, and it was followed by another -- this time with his left hand. I was sent reeling, but I didn't drop the phone. I staggered away, looked down to dial. But he was on me before I could do that. I took several punches to the body, ribs, kidney, solar plexus. I collapsed onto the ground, clutching my gut.
Jamal reached down and took my phone. He put it on the patio and smashed it with his foot. He stood over me. Kim joined him.
She said, "It didn't have to be this way, Brian. You could have gone along with it. You can never win against Jamal."
I stared at her, saying nothing. I probably couldn't have spoken anyway. I lay back on the ground. Asshole Jamal came closer and put his foot on my chest, flexed. A victory pose. Kim giggled.
She said, "Jamal, don't lay it on so thick. Leave him some dignity."
"He's a wimp loser. He can't keep his woman and he can't defend his house."
He looked down at me, sneering. "I fight better than you, and I fuck better than you. You understand?"
I said nothing. He kicked me in the ribs.
"Do you understand, bitch?"
"Yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Still not enough, boy."
"I understand, sir."
"Good. I'm happy we got that straight." He turned and walked away, into my house.
Kim stood over me, smiling -- smirking really. "Jamal has a nice apartment. We came to get some of my stuff. I'll be spending a lot of time there. But I'm not moving out of here. You can put your stuff in the basement bedroom. He and I will have the master suite. Do you understand?"
"No. Unless you kill me, you should leave and never come back."
"What? Jamal," she shouted, "He doesn't want us around."