Rat's Law

'Jeez, Mom! I can't believe you did that to Dad!'

We were standing in the front yard of our house. I was thinking of how long I would be living here and how long my Mom and Dad would remain married. Me, well, i'm Kathy. My mom is Karen and my dad is Bob. Up until now, we had the ideal family, or i should say, i thought we did. About six weeks ago, Mom started to get bitchy. I thought it was maybe, menopause? Dad asked me about it once or twice and, to be honest, that seemed to be a good enough reason. Plus, Mom did not refute it and kept saying she had made a doctor's appointment but could not get in for months down the line. Personally, i think that that was a delaying tactic on her part. As it turns out, my forty-five year old dad showed my forty-three year old mom some pictures that were sent to him anonymously and now he is living in a hotel and we are here outside arguing.

It all comes down to my Mom, yes, my MOM is having an affair with some dude that lives about three miles away. His name is Lance. Cripes, I mean Lance, of all names. Can you believe it? I want to die, I am so embarrassed! It is a good thing that i only have six weeks until my high school graduation. And I am so sorry for my Dad. He did nothing that I can see to deserve this. And look what he gets out of this. He cannot stand to be in our house. He said it was not longer a home. I have to stay here because I cannot be with him in a tiny hotel room. Gawd, this sucks! Annnnnd, to make things even worse, here is my slut Mother trying to sneak out to, Lord knows, see her lover again. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS???

'MOM! I will not let you have the car keys!'

I was backing away slowly toward our side fence trying to think of a way to keep her home. I was thinking of throwing the keys in some shrubbery but i wanted to try to make her understand how this was hurting all of us.

So here we are. I am slowly backing away from my mother, and she is trying to walk in a determined posture towards me with her hand out saying, 'Kathy, give me those keys, right now.'

Mom is now right up to me. I am getting a little teary eyed. I know she will just grab them and go and i am not able to stop her.

'Please, Mom, please don't do this.'

My mom, Karen, grabs my hand, but then surprises me, and slowly opens my fist. She gently takes the keys from it and bends down and kisses my forehead. I am crying now.

'Kathy, I have to do this. I will be back later.'

So, here we are. I am an eighteen year old feeling and, Lord knows, looking like a twelve year old. Tears are gliding down my cheeks and my mother turns with a smile on her face and now more slowly, steps toward the car. It isn't so easy to walk in four inch pumps and a tight red skirt on the lawn but she carries it off. If i wasn't feeling so low i would appreciate her and be proud of how good my mother looks. I mean, look at her.

Just look at her. She is five foot ten inches and the pumps really boost her height. The skirt is tight but just right. The blouse and bra really show off her assets. And her makeup is perfect. My Mom is beautiful and I am sorry, to see her and describe her this way but I cannot help it. I am slowly walking and sniffling behind her. I feel I am losing my mother.

When it all changes...

Here we are walking across the lawn toward the driveway when a little blue sedan pulls up behind our car.

Out steps this waif like lady that has to be five foot tall. I mean, she looks like a pixie. She is older, maybe thirty-ish? She is dressed in jeans and a tee shirt and wearing trainers. She walks over to me. Yes, ME, and reaches out and shakes my hands and says, 'Hi, you must be Kathy. I am Terri. That is to say, Lance's wife.'

My mom just stares at her. She gets that look in her eyes like she cannot believe the gaul that Terri would actually have to come and talk to us on our property. Kind of like seeing a big dog turd on the lawn. Terri turns to me again and takes a cellphone out of her pocket and asks, 'Can you please hold this for me like this and be careful not to drop it?'

Her request is so sincere that i just nod my head and hold the camera as she had placed it in my hands.

Turning to my mother, Terri says, 'You must be the bitch slut whore that is fucking my husband?'

Karen replies, 'You obviously can get your ass off of our property. We do not need to be insulted.'

Terri comes back with, 'Tough to insult someone that is as low as you are.'

Now, my mother has always considered herself to be classy. So, you can call her a bitch, a slut, or a whore, but them are fightin' words to call her 'low'. The result was a round house slap to the side of Terri's face that echoed off the neighborhood. Terri had blood trickling out of the side of her mouth. She just smiled at Karen and said, ' You hit like a girl.'

You ever see a boxer throw a punch. Well, that is what Terri did. Mom was looking down at Terri with a smug look on her face when Terri launched a jab right to Mom's nose. There was full extension as Terri stepped into it, rotating her hips and coming off her back foot. For someone so small, she really reached into Karen's face. Yeah, her nose broke. Hell, it was like someone turned on a faucet. Her hands went up to protect her face. Terri just didn't stop there. She gave a one-two punch into both breasts of Karen.

Karen's guard dropped to her breasts. Terri gave a second one-two punch to each eye.

Karen raised her arms to stop the assault on her head. Terri's last punch was again, one of those full body upper cut right to below Karen's rib cage. I later found out that that was to the solar plexus. My mom was on the ground in a ball vainly try to get a breath. Terri bent down and semi-whispered in Karen's ear. 'You hit me once, and by Rat's Law, i came back six times. Get this straight. This was just for hitting me. I will be back when you heal up and we will discuss your fucking my husband. There is still payment due for that.'

'Oh, and by the way, Lance has left town. My four brothers had a short talk to him and he did not contest our divorce. Don't ask me where he went. I cared once but not anymore.'

She stepped over to me and said, 'Thank you for taking care of my phone. It was very nice to meet you and maybe we could meet again under better circumstances!'

Terri got into her car, slowly backed out and waved to me. I was bending over my mother. Her face was a mess. She was sobbing and I was able to get her up and into the house. I knew that Dad would not come over unless Mom was dying. So the end of the tale is that I put on ice packs and bags of frozen vegetables on Karen's eyes, nose and breast through the weekend. By Monday, I had to take my mother into an Ear Nose and Throat clinic and they reset her nose but were really pissed that we did not get her in sooner. Mom looked like a raccoon. She moved like she was eighty years old and just sat staring off into space. I think she finally realized that her actions had consequences. Two months later, I had graduated. My parents divorce was final.

With makeup, my mother found a job as a clerk and we move into a small apartment. I won't be there long as at the end of the summer i will be going into the Air Force. Dad is in another small apartment and I hope he is going to be okay. I get to see him when he or I don't have to work and can schedule it. So that is about once a week. I have heard from a friend that they have seen him in company of a slight pixie type lady and sometimes four big guys having a good time. I will talk to Karen. It maybe time for her to move to greener pastures for I am positive that Terri will come back, in say six months, to have another talk to her about her affair. Terri seems to be a person that keeps her word and six seems to be a number that should be remembered.