Introduction
By way of an introduction this story is largely fiction, but is still rooted in some fact, so let's say it's fictiony. I have an uncle, now deceased. He and his wife had a big bunch of kids. Let's put things in perspective; you could have a bunch of kids, a big bunch, or a whole big bunch. He had his own gas station and a mind of his own. He didn't take any shit off any man, but was he ever the doting husband and loyal son. There's an interesting totally true story about him, his brothers, and the Ku Klux Klan. I'll tell it one day when I write a later story. I remember eating dinner a lot at their house when I was growing up. Their mom gave a hell of a lot orders, but it was dad who always said grace, if you know what I mean. He was the one who taught me how to ride. He ate a whole quart of raw oysters once and got sick as a dog. They were Chincoteague oysters so they were extra sweet and a lot more tender than what most people get nowadays. It's like you couldn't eat just one.
I hope you like this story. It's my third entry into the Loving Wives genre. I want to thank everyone who has made comments and suggestions about Tommy and Sandy and Painful Payback. I'm trying to do better, and I'm taking your comments seriously. My next two tales will be totally fiction, but I have another I'll do later based on a cousin I grew up with. I still haven't asked my oldest daughter to edit any of these yet so I hope you'll be courteous when you find a mistake. Don't just shit on me. On Tommy and Sandy I really screwed up on the dates didn't I? I don't know how I missed that miner versus minor thing; just stupidity I guess. You don't have to agree with that. Well here goes nothing. I hope you enjoy it.
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November 7th circa 3:30 p.m.:
I stirred my hot tea for about fiftieth time. I thought about dropping in another lump of sugar thinking that might make it a little less tasteless. I pondered the other three quarters of the club sandwich I'd ordered but couldn't eat, "I tell you Bev I just don't know what to do."
Beverly Camel is my older sister. Ever since I could remember whenever I had a problem, she was the one I could always, and I mean always, turn to.
Now let's see I must go on, "Bev everything started out so good. I always get home from my job first. I fix a nice supper. I always try to fix one of Bill's favorites. We eat, wash the dishes together, and then we slip into the bedroom for some great sex. Later we'll lay in bed watch some TV, and maybe do it again.
I watched as Beverly listened attentively and nodded her head reflectively. I knew I was doing the right thing. Beverly was the smarter one, the thinker. She had such a creative mind. I could tell she was figuring things out, "Like I said Bev everything was great until about four weeks ago. Then Bill started coming home and acting differently; now he gobbles up dinner as fast as he can, and then he bails out."
Annie went on, "He used to be so mannerly; now he's different. Like when I fix spaghetti; he used to eat it with a big spoon. You know, twirl it around in the spoon and eat it the way they do on those TV shows. But the other night when I fixed spaghetti; you know what he did? He scooped it up and slapped it on a piece of bread, then he folded the bread over and ate it like a sandwich. I swear Bev he deliberately smacked his lips and ate with his mouth all open just to embarrass me."
She couldn't stop, "I feel awful. Now after he eats he just jumps in his old Camaro, tells me he's out for the evening, and he drives off. I don't know what to do. I miss my old Bill."
Bev nodded and listened.
I saw the concerned look in my sister's eyes, "I tell you Bev. We've hardly been married a year. You don't think he's found another woman? I just don't know where he goes. Gee Bev we've been talking about a house and kids!"
Beverly listened. Annie was her little sister, the baby of the family. There was an older brother Gary, and of course mom and dad. Beverly took her sister's hand, "Let's keep this to ourselves right now. Christ, if we tell Gary he'll be out looking for Bill. If he finds him and Bill's up to something you know he'll beat the shit out of him. We can't say anything to mom and either. Mom's not well, and you know dad. He doesn't like Bill all that much as it is. Dad wanted you to go to college; but in his own words, 'you had to marry the greasy auto jock'. Jesus, I'd hate to think it if dad turned out to be right."
Then Beverly rolled her eyes and added, "Damn, if dad found out Bill was disappearing like that after dinner every night you know he'd load the shotgun and that'd be all she wrote."
Annie frowned, "I didn't say he went out every night. Sometimes he stays home. He likes to watch Dancing with the Stars and he has his favorite mysteries. You know NCIS. A lot of times he brings home technical manuals. He's really serious about staying ahead with the tech. stuff. But when he's home now, I just don't know, it's just different. Now in bed it's always just a slam bam thank you ma'am, and then off to the TV. He acts like he doesn't even care if I do anything anymore! I used to really get off; now it's more like shaking hands. Gosh Bev I really like making love, and until lately Bill was such a considerate lover. He always made sure I had my... um, my...you know. Oh, I could just cry."
Beverly squeezed her sister's hand, "You don't know where he goes?"
"I thought about following him a couple times," answered Annie, "but what if he saw me, or worse what if I saw him with, well. I don't think I could handle it. Bev I love him so much. I just don't know what to do."
One Month Earlier, September 5th:
Bill was sitting around the picnic table outside the garage having lunch with three of the guys.
There was Fred. He was twenty-two, unmarried, and just getting over a gut wrenching break up with his high school sweetheart. They'd been a pretty much exclusive item since their junior year, but then he caught her with one of the boys who went to the local university. She'd more or less dumped him; she'd traded up you might say. Fred did the tire work; he did the simple things like tire pressure, valve stems, balancing, and repairing flats.
Then there's Buck. At thirty-six Buck was the oldest, divorced, and a confirmed woman hater. He'd caught his wife in bed with the boss at his last place of employment. He'd pulled the guy off his wife and beat the shit out him right there in their bedroom. He'd paid a hefty fine and spent a few days in jail for it. Of course, after that his wife left; took their two kids with her too. Buck operated the alignment machine when he wasn't running errands for Mary their forty something office secretary.
Last of the group was Barry. Barry was twenty-seven, married, and paying on a mortgage and two cars. When he left the garage in the afternoon he went to his other full time job working the second shift at the paper mill. He seldom saw his wife and new baby, but he suspected she was up to something with one of the neighbors. He wanted to do something, maybe find out, but he was so damned tired all the time he just couldn't pull it together, just no energy.
That left Bill. He and Annie had been married just ten months. Annie was the world to Bill; she was a pretty little thing, short brown hair, dark brown eyes, kind of mousy really, but he loved the living shit out of her.
Annie's dad was an administrator who worked out of the central offices for the county public schools. He'd gotten his little girl a decent job as a secretary at the nearby middle school. Bill liked the money she brought in; it helped with the bills, and maybe they'd be able to save a little to buy a house in a year or two.
Annie's dad didn't like Bill; in fact he never liked him. He thought Annie could have done better. He believed Annie only married him as a way to show him, her dad that is; that he couldn't tell her what to do. The idea his daughter actually had fallen in love with and married an auto mechanic never crossed his mind.
Though Bill was still 'the kid' in the garage, he was their best mechanic. He knew his job, and could fix just about anything. Bill thought he was smart in other ways too. He imagined if he got a little help; he could start his own garage. He already had a pretty reliable clientele.
Fred ripped off another big piece of the sub he'd bought. All the guys except Bill ordered out to the Subway or bought something at MacDonald's every day. Mostly they got the Subway cold cut; sometimes Fred got a hot sub. Today he was working on a steak sub, "Bill you can't trust em. I tell you, if you aren't on your toes they'll lie to you and cheat on you the first chance they get."
"I don't know Fred," replied Bill, "Annie's a good girl. I trust her."
Buck was picking the onions out of his sub when he said, "I wished I'd handled things differently with my ex. I know what I did wrong. I gave in too much, and I let her have her way about everything. I mean a man's got to be a man. He's got to keep his foot on his wife's neck or she'll run out on him."
Bill took a bite of his homemade bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich Annie had fixed for him and put in his metal lunchbox that morning. The bread must have been a little stale, because she'd toasted it. He didn't like crumbly bread so if it was a day or two old she usually put it in the toaster. Sometimes she'd cut the crusts off if she thought it wasn't just right. He checked the inside of his lunch pail to see if she remembered his pudding. There were two napkins crumpled in the corner of the lunchbox; a small plastic spoon was wrapped inside them. Annie preferred to make her own pudding instead of buying the stuff they sold at the supermarket. She always stuffed a huge gob of the stuff in a Tupperware container for him. She said her 'homemade' tasted better and was better for him because it didn't have all those preservatives in it. He saw she had his iced tea in another Tupperware container. He'd already drunk all the flavored coffee she'd fixed and poured in his thermos. Annie made good coffee, and she'd bought his favorite flavoring, that unsweetened almond flavor he liked so much. It made his coffee taste extra good early in the morning.
Bill listened to the guys, "I don't think I have to worry about Annie."
