Rain Must Fall

I saw a Mercedes blocking my side of the garage, but didn't care. I was just stopping home to grab my phone. It's amazing how tied to their phones people have become nowadays.

I had notes I made for my ten o'clock meeting on it and I wanted to make sure I was ready. I would normally never be home at 9:15 otherwise.

My wife on the other hand is a stay-at-home mom. I texted her to see if she was busy and she said she was at the library. Her bringing me the phone was out, so I made the fifteen-minute drive home.

I wondered whose Benz it was as I walked in the front door. With Sienna was at the library, there shouldn't have been a guest. I guess I'm a fool because as I walked to my bedroom to grab my cell, I found my wife getting fucked doggy style on the guest bedroom's bed.

I froze briefly but calmed and quietly grabbed my phone and was going to take a picture for the divorce, but changed my mind as the rage-filled me.

I grabbed lover boy by his hair and pulled him off of my cheating whore wife. He screamed obscenities as I pushed him to the floor. After giving him a kick in the nuts and another in his hands that went to cover his nuts, I spat at my wife and walked out of the room. At least the fucker was wearing a condom.

I was deaf to her screaming at me to stop. She begged me to wait, but I was hearing none of it.

The Mercedes was gleaming in my driveway as I opened my trunk. I quickly looked around to see if I had anything useful and found the heavy metal jack arm.

"That'll do," I said to no one and proceeded to smash all of the windows, headlights, taillights, and each door of the offending vehicle. I calmly walked back to my trunk, tossed in the bar, and wiped the sweat from my brow.

By that point, my neighbor Heather came out to see what was going on. I waved as I pulled out of my driveway, not hearing my wife screaming at me to stop and let her explain.

We were married for two years but dated all through college. Our son, Sebastian Jr., was thirteen months old, and it suddenly hit me I'd be paying child support forever.

I couldn't believe my world was crashing and then my phone started ringing.

I pulled into my office's parking lot and mentally prepared myself for the meeting. I was meeting with the owner and my direct boss about the idea of employees working remotely. It would save the company hundreds of thousands in rent every year, but they were averse to it because they were old and not very forward-thinking. I was going to change their minds.

I ignored the calls from my wife and not surprisingly her sister and emailed the notes to myself. I left the phone on the seat and went to make my pitch.

***

I sat in my cubicle and sighed a breath of relief. My cube mate Beth looked over and asked, "How'd it go?"

I smiled, "The meeting? Great. I believe by Christmas we'll be remote. My life? In the fucking sewer."

"What happened?"

"I walked in on my wife screwing some asshole when I went home. My marriage is over."

I thought I saw a smile flash across her lips, briefly.

"Jesus, I'm sorry Baz."

"Yeah. Me too."

M desk phone rang and I saw it was my wife. I figured she would keep bugging me so I answered.

"Please don't bother me at work, Sienna."

"Baz! Please, baby. You've made a mistake."

"Yeah, slut. My mistake was marrying you."

Beth laughed and made a shooting the gun gesture at the phone. I frowned.

"No! For God's sake, listen to me. That wasn't me at home. I was at the library. That was Scarlett."

I laughed. "Why would Scarlett use our house?"

"Steve works from home."

Steve was her husband of six months. Could it be true? Could that have been Scarlett and not Sienna?

I dropped my chin into my chest and said, "Prove it."

"What?" She shrieked.

"Prove it. Prove it was Scarlett."

I replayed the entire scene in my mind. I tried to visualize every image, every nuance I could remember--nothing was helping.

"How can I do that, baby? Please! You have to believe me. I love you, Baz. Don't give up on us."

"Give up on us? You did that spreading your legs, slut."

I slammed the phone on the cradle.

"You okay?" Beth asked.

"No. She says it was her sister."

Beth laughed. "You saw them, right?"

I nodded, "Then what's the problem?"

I looked at her and said, "They are identical twins."

***

I was a zombie the rest of the day. I wasn't sure if I should go home, find a hotel, or what, but I expected an ambush when I got home. Sienna and her sister were so close to their mother, I expected all three to be there to gang up on me.

I pulled into my garage at the normal time and saw Scarlett and Verity were there. Verity was my mother-in-law and could be a triplet of her daughters. Except for the extra twenty years of experience on her face, she was a dead ringer for her daughters.

I walked into my ambush and as they all started cackling at the same time, I held up my hand to stop them.

"Shut up, all of you!"

I walked over to little Baz's playpen and lifted him out of his prison.

"What's up, little man?" I asked as if he could answer me.

I tickled him and couldn't help but be cheered up by his giggles. I worried about losing him and Sienna replacing me after the divorce. He was so young, would he even think of me as his daddy, or would he look at my replacement as his father. It broke my heart

A tear slid down my cheek as I sat on my couch. Little Baz wiggled away and slid down my legs to crawl away quickly. The three women were all watching me expectedly and each looked like an asp ready to strike.

"Okay," I started, "where's Steve?"

"Why would Steve be here?" Scarlett asked. I knew it was Scarlett because she has a mole on the back of her hand. No, I didn't notice her hands that morning. That would've been too simple. I was an ass for leaving without letting her explain as she begged. There wouldn't have been an issue if I'd have just stayed.

"Well, if it was you that was fucking that asshole in my guest room, doesn't he deserve to know?"

"I'm not telling Steve. I was hoping you would keep this between us," she whimpered.

I laughed. "You expect me to believe that it was you instead of Sienna, but won't tell Steve? I don't believe you."

Verity chimed in, "Baz, let's not ruin any marriages over this."

"Oh, you have some gall, Verity. I'll tell you what is going to happen. My marriage is over and the only thing that can bring it back is Scarlett confessing her affair to Steve."

The women gasped and Sienna started bawling.

"Steve, that's too extreme," Verity said defending her daughters.

"Hang on a minute," I said. "I need to get out of these clothes. I'll be back shortly."

When I got to my bedroom, I called my father-in-law, Dale.

"Hey, Baz. What's up?"

"Dale, you need to get to my house right away. I'm in a shit storm here and need your help."

"What's going on? Is everyone okay?"

"Just get here as fast as you can."

I ended the call and decided to stall a bit. I took a quick shower and dressed comfortably in shorts and a tank top. It had been about ten minutes, so Dale should be there shortly.

I made my way downstairs, looked at the three women whispering conspiratorially, and grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge.

Just in time, Dale walked in the door without knocking, as usual for him.

I tossed him a beer and the ladies started in on me again.

Sienna started, "Why did you call my dad. He doesn't need to be involved."

"Bullshit!" I snapped. "I need reinforcements. You're lucky I got Steve's voicemail."

Scarlett gasped. I never called Steve. I never liked the guy and didn't want to see him.

"What's going on, Baz?" Dale asked.

"Well, I caught my wife fucking some dickhead in my bed today and they are trying to convince me it was Scarlett, not her."

He shouted, "What?"

I nodded and continued as he glared at the ladies.

"The problem is, Scarlett refuses to tell Steve. She can save my marriage by blowing hers up, but she won't. That tells me that it wasn't her, but Sienna."

"I agree," he said. He looked at me and asked, "What is my wife's opinion?"

I frowned. "Verity seems to be on the side of not telling Steve and just moving on. She seems to believe that her daughters should be allowed their affair with no repercussions."

Verity said, "I'm just trying to save their marriages. I don't support the cheating!"

Dale said, "If I even think you knew about it, or see you supporting it in any way, I'll toss your ass on the street. Baz, get Steve over here. He needs to know his wife is a slut and he can make his own decision on whether to stay married to her."

Sienna's face shot over to her sister and begged with her eyes.

Scarlett looked at me and stood. She shook her head and said, "I'm sorry. I refuse to tell my husband it was me. I'll take my chances."

"You fucking bitch!" Sienna shouted. "You're going to ruin my marriage for a chance to save yours? Get the fuck out of my house! And you better realize I'll tell Steve everything."

Scarlett laughed. "You think he'll believe you? You'll do anything to try and save your marriage. Even lie to ruin mine."

Verity stood and said, "Girls, stop! The only thing that will save your marriages is the truth."

Scarlett smirked at me and walked out the door.

"I didn't see that play coming," I said.

Dale looked at me questioningly.

"She's playing it as she said/she said. If they both accuse the other, no one will know for sure who it was. She figured both Steve and I would think our wife may have done it, but without definitive proof, there was a chance we wouldn't get divorced."

"What a fucking mess," Dale answered.

"Yeah, but look at it this way, Dale. It happened in my house. That means it was either my wife, or my wife knew about it and supported a cheater, even encouraged her sister by letting her use my house. If Sienna doesn't see a problem with her sister cheating, how can I ever trust that she won't cheat herself? They are identical twins, after all."

"No!" Sienna screamed and ran to our bedroom.

I knew that them being identical didn't mean they would both be cheaters, but I thought it was a good knife to stick into her.

Verity turned to go to Sienna and Dale stopped her. "If you support either of them in this, I'll take that to mean you support their cheating and you'll be out on your ass. Understand?"

She meekly nodded and hugged Dale. I picked up Baz out of his bouncer and kissed him, hoping it could somehow work out.

***

I fed Baz some dinner and set him in his playpen while I tried to figure out what I was going to do. Sienna hadn't come down and I figured she was doing the same as I.

I sat with my eyes closed going over the sights in that bedroom over and over again, I couldn't remember anything that would prove it was Scarlett and not Sienna.

I was broken from my thoughts by the ringing of my cell.

"Hi, Beth."

"How are you, Baz?"

"No different. There's been no movement forward or back. I'm trying desperately to figure out how I can know for sure which of them it was, but I'm stuck in limbo."

"I'm so sorry, Baz. You don't deserve this. If you need anything, I'm here for you, okay?"

"Okay, Beth. Thanks. See you in the morning."

I ended the call and thought how nice it was for Beth to check on me. We'd been friends since we started work on the same day two years ago. Her cube was next to mine and with the way the open office set up was, our computers faced towards each other and we practically looked at each other all day.

She was a pretty girl, a little more girl next door than Sienna, but had a dirty mind and would use a lot of innuendoes and double entendre throughout the day.

While Sienna was tall and lithe, Beth was short and curvy with long red hair that she was constantly flicking back all day long.

"Baz?" Sienna said from the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"I swear on our son's life it was Scarlett. You have to believe me. Believe in my love for you."

"How? How can I believe you? If it wasn't you, why the hell would you let your sister do that in our house? You've really fucked up, Sienna. I don't see a way out of this for us."

She sat on the stairs and sobbed. I knew I had to do one thing for sure, so I called Steve.

"Hey, Baz."

"Hey, Steve. Did Scarlett fill you in on the drama from today?"

"No. She went out to a friend's house. I haven't seen her since breakfast."

"Well, sorry to tell you this, but I caught one of our wives fucking some scumbag on my guest bed this morning. Originally, they said it was Scarlett, but when I said I was telling you, Scarlett backed down from that. They left it at blaming each other trying to save their own hides."

"You've got to be kidding me," he shouted.

"Nope. I don't know which it was nor whom to believe. It's a mess over here."

"Dude, was Scarlett's car there?"

I sighed, "I don't know for sure. I didn't open the garage. I only saw the asshole's Mercedes. And no, I never saw him before."

"Thanks for telling me, Baz. I'll find her and see what she tells me. I'll let you know."

"Thanks."

Sienna was still crying on the stairs. "You didn't have to tell him."

"You just don't get it, do you, slut? You don't get to play games with marriages and not suffer the consequences. If it was her, she needs to suffer. I don't understand how you thought you could say it was her, and I'd never tell Steve. That was never gonna happen."

"We know you don't like Steve."

"All the more reason I think you're playing me. I can't believe you've done this to us. We have a fucking child!"

Little Baz started crying because of my yelling, and Sienna went to soothe him. It made me want to cry, but I refused to shed a tear for her.

She was such a great mom. She admitted when we first started dating that she didn't care if she ever worked. She wanted to be a mom and have three kids.

She wasn't the type to cheat on me. It was so out of character for her. She was devoted to me and little Baz and never showed any hint of unhappiness.

I suppose it was the same for Scarlett, although she was more outgoing than Sienna. If you'd have asked me I'd have never believed she could cheat on Steve either.

Damn!

***

The next morning, I called my dad.

"What's up, Sebastian? How's my grandson?"

"Good, dad. Listen, I need your help."

"Everything okay?"

"No, I need to hire a private investigator."

I went on to explain what happened. My parents had money and could afford to help me pay for the PI. Besides that, Sienna handled the bills. I didn't want her to see the charge.

My dad did me one better and had the PI look into Scarlett also. In his opinion, the cost was worth it to try to save my marriage.

"Sebastian," he said, "No matter what we do or don't find out, your son has to come first in every decision you make. You know that, right?"

I sighed, "Yeah. He's the only thing stopping me from divorcing her right now."

"Good, son. You might have to eat a little pride and ego on this. I know it's a hard choice, but that's part of being a man. No matter what anyone tells you, the kid is most important."

"I know, dad."

I ended the call feeling worse than when I started it.

***

What makes a man? What makes a father? Is a man someone who walks away from his wife, his family, because he was wronged? I wasn't sure that could be considered a man. Would a man put his ego and pride ahead of what is best for his child?

There's no question little Baz would be better off with two parents. But would he be better off if I stayed and couldn't love Sienna the way I used to love her? That's hard, but I dare say no he wouldn't.

But then, if I left her she'd just find someone to replace me and how would that be for my son's relationship with me? Were my ego and pride worth the pain of being a part-time dad?

It's too easy to go scorched Earth and burn her to the ground, but what's the cost of that? Would I spend years being dicked over on visitation? Would that be worth it?

I can't see anything good coming from splitting up tearing each other's throats out.

***

I sat at my desk and saw Beth was already on our morning call. I noticed she was wearing makeup and was showing a nice bit of cleavage. I wondered what lucky guy was the recipient of her making herself up. I figured she had a date after work.

I joined the call and saw my cell show a text from Steve.

"She said it was not her at your house. I'm not sure I believe her and I'm pissed she lied if it wasn't. Good luck."

Yeah. Good luck. He was in the same boat I was. What do we believe?

Beth sent me an instant message asking, "Everything okay?"

I looked at her and shook my head no.

She frowned and we went back to our call.

Once it was over, she asked, "Wanna grab some lunch today? My treat to try to cheer you up."

"I'm not gonna be good company, Beth. Thanks for the offer though."

"Oh, no. I'm not going to let you wallow in misery. You don't deserve that."

"I didn't think I deserved a cheating slut of a wife, but here I am."

She shook her head and snarled, "Any woman that would cheat on you is an idiot and doesn't deserve you."

"Thanks, Beth."

The investigator asked me to fill out some forms, a couple of questionnaires, and also send him some pictures. I spent my lunch doing that, so I got away with not going to lunch with Beth.

I let Steve know about the PI and he was thrilled. He filled out the parts of Scarlett's questionnaire I didn't have answers for, her daily routines and such, and I got it all back to the investigator to begin immediately.

I hoped that he could tell me quickly if it was Scarlett and not Sienna. I knew I'd go crazy every day I didn't hear something. They said it might take a couple of weeks to get anything.

***

I was curious as to why I didn't hear anything about trashing the guy's car. I expected to get a call from an insurance company at a minimum, or at worst the police.

I got home and saw that Sienna went to her water class with little Baz, so I texted the PI it was all clear to install the cameras. He was in and out in less than a half-hour and I made some dinner for myself.

When Sienna came home, I asked her, "Who was the guy?"

"What guy?"

"The guy you were fucking! Don't play dumb."

"I told you it wasn't me. I have no idea who Scarlett was seeing."

I called Scarlett and put it on speaker.

"Hi, Baz."

"Who was the guy?"

"The guy you caught in your guest room? I have no idea."

"One of you is lying and I'm going to find out who he is and then I'm gonna beat the shit out of him."

I was hoping one of them would slip up and give me some info, no matter how little. It didn't matter. The PI knew about the damage to the car and had feelers out at the body shops in town. I'd find out soon enough.

***

A week went by with no word from the PI, no change in my confusion, and no change in Sienna's doing everything she could to show me she loved me.

Beth was clingy and asked me to go to lunch every day. I realized what she was doing and put an end to it. She could wait until I was divorced to stake a claim on me. I wasn't a cheater.

One morning, I stopped at Starbucks and got the shock of my life.

I was in the drive-thru line that was around the store, and someone walked in front of my car to go into the store. It was the asshole. I'd never forgotten that face. I pulled out of line and parked. I stood behind my car and waited.

A few minutes later, he walked out and didn't notice me until he was ten feet away.

"Hi, asshole," I said. "Remember me."

"Look, man. I want no trouble. She didn't tell me she was married."

I walked up to him and said, "Answer one question and I'll let you go unharmed. You'll never see me again."