For the next few days I fretted about how I was going to get out of the house on Saturday night. I decided I would stage an argument. I had done that before. Early in our marriage we had seldom argued, but once my husband lost his job and I became to sole breadwinner, our arguments became more frequent.
Often I would storm out of the house, get in the car and drive around. Sometimes I would stop by and visit my girlfriends from work, especially the single ones. A year ago I stopped by Marcia's place on a Friday night and caught her just as she was leaving. She said she was going out dancing and asked me if I wanted to join her.
I agreed and followed her in my car to a seedy bar on the wrong side of town. The place was crowded. It was mostly a white crowd, but there were also a number of blacks. A few of the guys knew Marcia and some came up to talk. Drinks were ordered, but I stuck to cola. Marcia was soon up dancing, and so was I. It had been years since I had danced. I loved it. I couldn't get enough.
After about two hours, Marcia took me aside and said she was leaving. She pointed to one of the guys. I got the picture. Not really wanting to, I gathered my things, said my good-byes and also left. Luckily, when I got back home, my husband was already asleep. I realized that my clothes smelled of smoke so I hid them and went to bed.
About a month later I had another fight with my husband. This time I immediately went to Marcia's place. She wasn't there, but it didn't matter. I knew where I was headed. Again I had a great time at the bar. The guys seemed glad to see me. This time, though, my husband was still awake when I returned. He immediately noticed the smell of smoke on my clothes. "Where have you been?" he asked. "I went out dancing," I answered, storming past him and going straight to bed.
I was determined not to make that mistake again, so I began stashing a sexier set of clothes and some make-up in a bag in the garage. That way when we fought, I could storm out of the garage, grab the bag, and then dress the way I wanted to at the bar. Before returning home, I would stop on a quiet side street and change my clothes. That way I could avoid bringing the telltale odor of smoke back into the house.