Once again thanks to Alex for allowing me to continue his story, and many thanks to Harryr for his editing.
Prologue:
Victor Brown was gone, and Gary Owen was left to carry on; yet the reality was still the same. The man who'd destroyed all he could of his old life, the man who'd changed his name, the man who'd moved to a tropical paradise was still the same unhappy human being who'd been lied to and betrayed by the one person he'd loved more than other. Every single day; regardless of time and place, be it a seasonally frigid winter, hot and dry Texas summer, or now the forever balmy Grand Cayman the man once known as Victor Brown could never forget, he could never stop loving, he could never overcome his anger, and he could certainly never forgive. This left him a wretched tormented soul; so he drank by day and tended bar by night.
Poor Victor; his existence was one continuous horrible unending nightmare. Oh he could laugh and gaily go about pretending to be the carefree bachelor by day, but late at night, during those long... dark... silent morning hours he was still as miserable as he'd been in Houston. At each beautiful ocean sunrise he awakened, his body blanketed in sweat, eyes red and stained by countless tears, and his heart again savagely ravaged in a million pieces.
He was doomed to lie there, in the dark, alone, and unhappy; he was destined like Prometheus to be bound and be mercilessly ripped and torn to shreds each and every day. The dream was always the same. She'd be standing there in the corner of their first apartment; the ghost of the woman he'd married and loved for thirty years. She was there, arms outstretched, smiling demurely, lovingly, wearing the long white negligee she'd gotten for their wedding night.
The dream never changed; there they were, young, happy, bathed in the warm tender glow of their new love. Then, just as his beautiful brown haired wife reached out to embrace and kiss him, the other man, that fiendish Harry Wolman, stepped between. He'd yank his sweetheart away. He'd throw her to her knees at his feet. He'd masturbate till he ejaculated; his penis always abnormally large, larger by far than Victor's own, and from his outlandishly enormous prick, he'd spew his white sticky smelly semen all over his adoring wife's face. Then always, as the filthy goo covered his sweetheart's nose, lips, and eyes, her warm affectionate smile metamorphosed into a harsh and ugly sneer. She would laughingly mock, "At last, a real man, a real man's dick!"
Victor would awaken and burst into tears, 'Why? How could you? Vanessa how could you hate me so? How could you destroy our happy home? How could you so selfishly wipe out everything we had?'
Then the morning sun would burst through. The dark shadows would disperse. Victor would awaken. He'd wipe the sleep from his eyes. It was just a dream, just a repeat the same dream; the same identical dream over and over, every night, night after night.
He'd get up, shower, shave, slip on his khaki shorts, pull on a comfortable shirt, slide his feet into a pair of relaxed fit sandals, and pour himself another glass of his standard morning breakfast, a tall glass half filled with Jim Beam Bourbon or Jack Daniels Whiskey.
Thusly girded he'd step out to greet another perfect morning. If he was lucky his mind would be so clouded by alcohol that by midday all thought of the past and the inevitability of his next night's slumber would be pushed away.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stepping back to Texas; the day Victor Brown left town.
Vanessa was worried. Victor was still upstairs. She told herself, 'I've got to keep a constant eye on everything he does. He's thrown away or sold nearly everything we've ever valued. I see what he's doing. He's planning his own suicide. Oh Victor; how can I make you understand? I'm sorry. I was wrong, I was stupid. You've got to forgive me. You've got to let me help you go on. I love you. You're my one and only true love.'
Wringing her hands she continued to browbeat herself,'I wished he'd just come downstairs and beat me. He could beat me every day for the rest of our lives. Tie me to the bed, fuck me night and day. Make me your slave. I'll do anything. I never dreamed I'd be caught. I never imagined you'd find out. I had no idea how hard it could be for you, for me. Please come downstairs. Victor I love you. You've got to forgive me! We can get through this if we stick together.'
Just then the phone rang, 'Should I answer it or should I let Victor answer it? I'll wait. He should answer. If I answer he might start thinking something...'
Upstairs Victor picked up the phone, "Carson? You're ready?" He set the phone on the bed and called downstairs to his soon to be ex-wife. Harshly he yells, "Vanessa!"
She called back upstairs, "Yes darling?"
"It's for you!"
Vanessa picked up the receiver. She heard Victor as he put the upstairs phone back on the hook, she speaks into the mouthpiece, "Yes, this is Vanessa Brown."
Over the line she hears a vaguely familiar voice, "Ms. Brown. This Is Ultimate Image Hair Salon and Stylists. A gentleman, a Mr. Victor Brown has scheduled a hair appointment, a massage, and a fitting for you for 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. Will you be able to make it?"
Vanessa is surprised and amazed, 'Has Victor scheduled a day at the beauty parlor for me? Is this the start of something? Has he reconsidered?' She replies over the phone, "Yes I'll be there. What time? You said 1:00 p.m."
The person over the phone responds, "You'll be busy most of the afternoon. Please try to get here by one o'clock."
Vanessa bursts with joy, 'Yes, Victor's reconsidered!' She puts down the phone and dashes upstairs. Victor is standing beside the bed. She runs to him and clasps him in her arms, "Oh Victor. I love you."
Victor makes no move, "You should leave right away. You'll be quite a while."
Without further comment Vanessa grabs her purse and a lightweight jacket. She leans back, grabs his face in her hands and kisses him, "Oh Victor I love you so much!" She flings herself down the stairs. Her husband has begun to reconsider. We're going to make it!
As Vanessa pulls down the drive in her beige BMW, Victor watches from an upstairs window. He laughs bitterly to himself, 'This gives me all afternoon to remove the pictures and the last of the memorabilia. I now have the time to get to my lawyer and carry out the last steps in my final demise.'
Vanessa drives to the beauty parlor. This is no ordinary beauty parlor; this is the Ultimate Image! They not only style hair, they do nails, skin tones, facials, and massages. They have a separate room, a full scale boutique with all sorts of clothing. She's sure when she's finished with the beauty treatment Victor will have provided several choices of wearing apparel. This had happened once before for their Silver Wedding Anniversary. Yes Victor is coming around! Who knows he might even forgive her? She cries out, "Oh thank you God, thank you for giving me back my life!"
All afternoon Vanessa is treated like a fairy princess. They do her hair, her nails, and her skin. She's given a full body massage, everything! She's whisked over to the boutique where she has the choice of several dresses. Her coordinator explains they have till six o'clock to get her ready. She's to be taken by limousine to Swayne's, the most expensive and most widely respected restaurant in all Houston. There she is to await the arrival of her date. Her date! Her husband!
At 5:45 she's fully prepared; she's attired in a $1,200.00 gold cocktail dress with all the ancillaries, new purse, new shoes, stockings, new gold watch, expensive new dinner ring, everything. Victor has outdone himself. She's the happiest she's been in years. They're starting over. Oh she'll be the best wife. She'll make it up to him. He'll see; every day she'll wash, no she'll kiss his feet! He'll learn to love her all over again!
Vanessa arrives right on time. She's escorted to a table near the center of the main dining room. The hostess says she's to await her date there. The hostess explains he'll be along shortly. Vanessa is so excited! She waits expectantly.
At 6:30 Vanessa asks her hostess if she's heard anything. The hostess tells her not to worry. At 7:00 Victor still hasn't arrived. By 8:00 Vanessa has become suspicious. All around her diners have come and gone; many have cast curious looks her way, perhaps they're wondering what she's supposed to be doing. She hasn't ordered. All she's had is water. At 9:00 she realizes the hostess who seated her has gone home. She asks one of the replacement waiters if they've heard anything. His response is a disquietingly oblique smile. He doesn't know what she's talking about.
At last at 10:00 someone arrives with a note. She opens and reads it, "Regrets, your date has been called away." That was it? There was no date. There was no last minute reconciliation. It's all been a cruel joke. Vanessa picks up her purse and goes to the lobby to summon a taxi to take her home. She cries all the way back to their house.
When she gets home the house is dark. She unlocks the front door, she steps inside and flicks on the living room light. The first thing she notices is the family portrait over the mantle; Victor's image has been cut away. Vanessa walks to the mantle and notices other pictures around the living room, there's the picture of the four of them when the children were small, only now Victor's portion is gone. It's the same with all the portraits and photos; her husband has exorcized himself from everything. She staggers to the sofa; she sits down and bursts into tears.
The trip to Ultimate Image and the date at Swayne's had all been a cruel subterfuge, a hoax to get her out of the house so he could carry out this last act of sabotage. Now she knows; he's gone. It's over. Her infidelity has destroyed her marriage, her life, everything. No not everything; there's the children, she still has her babies. Maybe with their help she...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vanessa ponders her choices.
I didn't know what to do so I decided to wait. I couldn't conceive of Victor actually leaving. No my guess was he took off for the lake. We have a cabin up there. He loved the quiet of the lake. I'll wait; I know he'll be back. He might hate me now, but I know him; he'll be back. He loves me. He's a fixer, he'll find a way.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Letter to the Children:
James and Karen knew something terrible was happening with their parents, but neither was prepared to investigate. James was busy at work. Karen wasn't the type; she'd wait, she knew her daddy. He was really angry, but her dad was the best, he'd get it together. No matter what mom had done, he'd find a way to fix it. He was always the one who took care of things.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
James got the mail pouch first.
I brought this mail packet in, and saw it was addressed to me from dad. Since I had a big contract coming up I figured I'd look at the thing over the weekend. I put it up on the shelf.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++