Tony Must Be Punished

Hello readers.

This is an alternate ending to Taboo Teller's story: "Do for lust, Won't do for Luv." I wasn't satisfied with the way TT left Tony walk away from the affair without some form of retribution from Manty. So the following is how I saw the revenge take place.

My sincere thanks to Kanga40 for her concise editorial review. The story now reads much better because of her efforts and her knowledge of the English language. She even pointed out the fact I was having a love affair with the word "that".

Any and all comments about this story would be greatly appreciated by the writer.

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The Evening of the Discovery:

Manty was sitting alone in a corner booth of the fancy restaurant on Congress Street. He was on his third Jack Daniel's, two before he ate and this last one for desert. His mind had been going wild with all kinds of ugly and hateful thoughts about his unfaithful wife. He Manty wanted so much to tear Darlina's heart out like she had done so mercilessly to his heart with her deceit and betrayal. Ugly thoughts of how he would humiliate and debase her for her wanton actions. These thoughts had taken center stage in his mind for the past two hours.

Now, as the liquor and the fantastic meal began to mellow Manty out a bit, a small but persistent voice in the back of his mind kept calling to him. This was his voice of reason calling, some might call it his conscience. It was the voice inside his mind that help him analyze problems and to come to a rational decision as to what course of action he should take. This voice was in opposition to the loud screaming voices calling for Darlina's humiliation.

Calmly it asked him. "Do you still love her?" "Do you still want to be married to her?" "Can you forgive her?"

As much as Manty wanted to avoid giving himself final answers to these questions, that nagging steady voice would not give up. "Do you still love her?" "Do you still want to be married to her?" "Can you forgive her?" (I like this sort of repetition – it is great for emphasis!)

A hard swallow of his drink, a shake of his head, then he answered himself. "Yes, I still love her!" "Yes, I do want to stay married to her!" "Yes, I can you forgive her!" Those answers seemed to generate a calming effect in his mind. The angry voices seemed to subside, then go mute.

His voice of reason now had its answer, so it went on to press the issue. "OK, for all of the above. If your answers are correct, then why do you want to punish and humiliate her? The crime is out in the open, you both have to face it. Will punishing and humiliating her make your future marriage stronger or will those degrading actions finally cause her to reject you as the man she loves?" Manty sat there and knew deep in his heart that he would never be able to harshly punish Darlina and feel good about himself later. Two wrongs don't make a right.

"You may still feel like a cuckold, Manty, but that feeling should not destroy your true manhood." The voice of reason was now in control of his run-away emotions and thoughts. It had always been there to aid and support him in making the most important long term decisions in his life. That voice was now trying to help him make some of the hardest and most decisive decisions of his life.

"Think about it, Manty. If you exact your pound of flesh from her to soothe your damaged ego, what effect will those actions have on reconstructing your marriage? Will they make her more penitent? Will she be sorrier after the punishment, or will the punishment build up a resentment up inside her against you? Think about the long term effects that you wish to create." The voice was not being judgmental with him. It was just a calm questioning voice that wanted him to be sure of the 'cause and effect' reactions that might create more problems than they solve.

Manty ordered his fourth drink. This time it was just a glass of orange juice. Good mental alertness was something he needed right now. Monumental decisions of the nature he was wrestling with needed a very clear head. The major decision that Manty had to make as soon as possible, was the one about his marriage. Putting the kids aside, putting all other feeling aside, did he still want to remain married to Darlina? An agonizing question to have to come to grips with on this day of infamy for him.

Looking at his watch, Manty realized it was only a little over six hours ago he was standing outside a bedroom window watching his beloved wife having the most intimate sex with her lover. Her lover of over a year. That wound was still bleeding in his mind, yet he knew he must push aside his emotions and try to rationally deal with the future of his marriage.

"Can you forgive her? Can you trust her again?" The voice asked the questions again, but this time it add the trust question. The very hard trust question. Without waiting for an answer, the voice simple said, "A 'no' to either one of these questions means that your marriage is over. You might as well file for divorce in the morning."

Manty shook his head as if he trying to block out those damned questions. He didn't want to have to answer them. He wasn't sure that he really knew what his answer to them would be. But, that little voice wasn't going away that easy. Again the questions, "Can you forgive her? Can you trust her again?" Manty would have to answer them or the voice would drive him crazy till he did.

"Damn it! Damn it! I still love her, I don't hate her. She wounded me severely but wounds can heal if you want them to and if you let them heal. Yes!!! I can forgive her, at least this time. Yes. I think that I can force myself to trust her again. Without trust, our marriage is over anyway. Yes. I want to stay married to her." Manty said these things to himself almost like stating a contract or a commitment. In spite of everything to the contrary, he was not yet ready to trash his wife and his marriage.

"So, what's next?" It was his turn to throw a question back to that nagging voice in his head. There was a long silence. No answer from the voice.

Then as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, his mind once again exploded in an angry thought. "That damn bastard, Tony! Here I am thinking of ways to make things right in my life again, and that bastard will just ride off into the sunset! No fucking way, Jose! That bastard must be punished. TONY MUST BE PUNISHED!!!" He had a new target to vent his anger and hatred against, Tony became the focus of all of his rage.

Darlina had told him that Tony was also married. Did his wife know about his womanizing? Did he lie to her and keep his affair secret from her? What would his wife do if she knew about her husband's infidelity?

Now all kinds of new thoughts were spewing forth from Manty's vengeful mind. TONY MUST BE PUNISHED! Manty wasn't about to go off and buy a .32 cal. pistol and put bullet holes in the bastard's head. The consequences of would be worse than the satisfaction of seeing Tony lying dead at his feet. What Manty needed to do for revenge must be perfectly legal. His retaliation must be hard and be something that would cost Tony everything he had.

As more thoughts poured into his angry mind, the voice simply called out to him. "Don't forget about Darlina."

Wham! Another brilliant thought flashed into his mind. Darlina had told Manty that she loved him and not Tony. Tony was just a great fuck for her. She loved Manty, or so she said. Would Darlina go along with a plan to betray her lover and cause him a lot of pain and anguish? In order to redeem herself, would she sacrifice her lover so that Manty would get his revenge and settle the score in his mind?

"Why don't you go home and ask her?" The voice piped up with another question.

Manty was stoked now. He had his enemy, he had a vague plan in his head as to how to retaliate against his enemy. It would be up to Darlina to either prove her love and devotion to him by agreeing to help punish her lover, or it would be Manty's final reason to show her the door.

Manty paid his tab and walked out of the restaurant a much changed man. He now had a purpose despite all this mess. If he exacted his revenge against Tony, then all the other questions about his marriage and trust in his wife just might be answered. It would be up to Darlina now, the hard questions would be hers to answer not his.

Darlina was startled as Manty walked in the front door. She knew the state of mind he was in as he left over an hour ago. She expected that he would be out all night just to show her that he was now in charge of his life alone.

"What are you doing home so early, honey?" She asked him in a guarded voice. A thought raced through her head that he might just have come back to tell her they were through, the marriage was over.

"We need to have another talk, my dear." Manty said in a calm voice. He didn't want to sound confrontational with her. "Let's sit down at the table and go over this situation one more time."

Darlina quickly got to her feet and followed him into the breakfast area. He moved to one end of the table and motioned for her to sit at the other end.

"Would you like a glass of water?" He asked as he went to the refrig to get a glass of water for himself.

"Yes. If you don't mind." She answered. He set the glasses on the table and sat down across from her.

"Let's start this discussion all over again." He said as he gave her a soft smile. "I have been thinking about all the things that went on since you came home this afternoon. I thought about my actions and the words that I said to you. It appears that my emotions were in charge of my thinking then. So, we need to revisit all those things that we said to each other."

Darlina was confused, but somewhat relieved that Manty did not announce that he was through with her. But, what was there to revisit? Did he just want to rub her nose in her dirty infidelity all over again? She just sat there. This was his show and she didn't know what her script lines were.

"I want you to answer me the most serious question of the night. Do you love me more than you love Tony? Your answer must convince me that you are telling me the truth." His eyes locked on to hers as he waited for her answer.

"The answer is an emphatic yes! I do love you more than I do Tony. In fact, I told you that I never loved him at all. He was just a fantastic sexual escapade for me. I love you, Manty! I love only you! If my words don't convince you, then tell me what I have to do to prove that I love you." Darlina's voice almost cracked under the strain of her emotions. Her eyes never left his eyes as every muscle in her body tensed up hoping the he would believe her.

"OK, my dear. I believe you. Now the next question. Do you want our marriage to survive? Does being married to me mean more to you than any other thing in your life?" His voice now had the tone of a lawyer cross-examining a witness in court.

"Oh god! yes, Manty. You are my husband, the only man I ever wanted to be my husband! I love you and our marriage. I want to remain your wife, the mother of our children. Again, please tell me what I have to do to prove all of that to you." Darlina was now becoming more excited by the direction that Manty's questions were heading. There seemed to be a light at the end of the dark tunnel she had been in since Manty told her he knew about her affair.

"All right, my dear. I believe you on both counts." Manty looked hard at her as he took a deep breath. "I still love you very much and I too want our marriage to continue. And to answer your question of what must you do to prove your love and devotion to our marriage, there is only one thing I am asking from you now. One thing that you must do for me in order to cement any trust in the things you say to me."

"Please darling, tell me what it is so that I can show you that my words are true and that you can trust the things I tell you from now on." Darlina interrupted in a strong pleading voice. She had been given a ray of hope and she didn't want that light to go away.

"Before I tell you what the one thing I want from you is, I want to cover a couple of other things first. I want you to forget about all of those nasty conditions I placed on you before I left the house. The only condition that I want you to fully understand will never be removed is the one about you never having another man in your life. Either as a lover, a one night stand or just some cock for you get your jollies off with. If you ever stray again, or if you ever give me a reason to suspect that you have been unfaithful again, we are through forever. There will be no future forgiveness for you. Do you understand me, Darlina?" A stern voice this time. No room for doubt, no second chance.

"I promise you, darling, I will never have another man in my life ever again. You may have some doubts in your mind as to the truthfulness of my words, but there is no doubt in my mind. Never again." Her face was a stoic mask of seriousness. She wanted her words and her body language to convince him that she would never again be unfaithful to him.

"It may be hard for you to comprehend this right now, my dear. But in all sincerity, I forgive you. And as much as humanly possible, I will try to build back my trust in you. I want you for my wife and my lover. Punishing you would only damage the marriage that I want us to rebuild. I will let your own conscience provide whatever punishment it feels is necessary for your penance." As Manty was speaking, she jumped out of her chair and was coming around the table toward him.

"Stop right there!" He shouted at her. His hard tone of voice stopped her dead in her tracks. "Please sit back down. This conversation is not over. I told you that there was one thing that you would have to do to prove to me that all your words of love and commitment were true."

She backed up and sat back down in her chair. His harsh voice had told her something that she didn't detect in his previous conversation. The 'something' Manty wanted wasn't going to be easy, her mind told her.

"After I left the house, I did some very deep thinking about you and me. The hurt and humiliation that your actions have caused me is a thousand times greater than any anger you might have had for my standing you up for the dinner and play. The betrayal of the trust I had in you and the damage your affair did to our marriage will take a lot of effort to restore. All of the anger I had inside of me because of the affair was being directed at you alone. Then I realized that there was someone else who needed to be punished. Someone who I didn't love, someone I in fact hate .... Tony.

"Once I wrapped my mind around him as a major villain in this sordid mess, I knew very simply that Tony must be punished. If Tony were truly punished and made to suffer as I am suffering now, then maybe, just maybe, I could regain some of that manliness that was stripped away by him making me a cuckold. I hate that man. That fact you must come to live with, my dear. I want to destroy him and make him crawl in the mud and dirt." Manty's eyes were burning with an internal rage. There was no doubt in Darlina's mind that Manty had found the object to focus his vengeance on. With a small sigh of relief, she was glad Manty had shifted anger from her on to her now ex-lover.

"This is the one thing that you must do to prove to me that all your words about love and commitment are to believed. You will become a major factor in the punishment that I intend to heap upon that wife fucking son-of-a-bitch. It will be up to you to betray your former lover and lead him into the trap that I will have set for him. You will be there to watch his humiliation and his downfall." Manty's words were so emphatic that they shocked Darlina. She wanted to respond to him but her mind could not form a coherent sentence. She just sat there waiting for Manty to continue.

"I haven't put all the flesh to my plan just yet. But, in a day or so, I should have most of the details in place. What I need to know from you, my dear, is whether or not you will do whatever I ask of you to punish your lover? Will you be able to betray him to his face and watch him suffer as I have done?" Manty paused as he watched Darlina squirm in her chair.

She had wanted to put Tony in the past. She wanted to try and forget about him and the fabulous sex sessions she had with him. But, now her husband was telling her she must betray her ex-lover and drive a stake into his heart. Blood drained slowly from her face and a tight knot twisted her stomach.

"I must advise you, my dear, that this one thing is not a request that you can refuse. Its non-negotiable and non-reversible. If you truly love me and want our marriage to succeed, then there is only one answer you can give me. Without the correct answer, there is no 'us' anymore."

Bang...bang!!! Those words slammed into her brain like bullets from a gun. In a round about way, Manty had brought her to a final decision about their marriage and their future that she would not be able to elude. A make-it or break-it answer.

Manty saw the fear and angst in her eyes and on her face. He knew that it was easy for her to say, 'I Love You and not Him', but proving those words were true would mean that she would have to exact the punishment he wanted for her ex-lover. She would have to be the instrument used in bringing her ex-lover to the altar of humiliation and pain.

"I don't want your answer this minute, my dear. Because either way you answer it, you will be setting yourself up for a very hard road to travel. I do not view this request as a direct punishment for you. Although I'm sure that your own conscience will find some way to cause you some anguish." He paused and took a long drink of water as the silence in the room seemed to roar out loud.

"I want you to spend tonight thinking about your answer. You offered to do anything to prove that your words were truthful and that I should believe you. This is your one chance to prove it to me."

Manty took a deep breath and got up from the table. He walked into the den and over to the bar where he poured himself a tall Jack Daniel's. Sitting down in his lounge chair, he pressed the 'on' button on the stereo remote. Soft sounds of smooth jazz filled the room. He closed his eyes and reclined in his chair.

Darlina was still sitting at the table, frozen in her chair as if she were encased in ice. Her mind was now trying to comprehend what it was that Manty wanted her to do to punish her ex-lover. He hadn't told her specifically what his plan was, but he did tell her she would have to betray Tony to his face. She would be some kind of Judas leading the victim to his punishment. She didn't hate Tony like Manty did. Although she may not really love Tony, she did have all kinds of warm affectionate feelings toward him. She didn't want to hurt him or see him hurt. True, he was really just a fabulous sex partner for her, nothing more. Somewhere in the back of her mind she always knew that the affair with Tony would come to and end. But, she felt that the affair would end before her marriage would end. Now that idea was going to be put to a severe test.

Other than the sweet sounds of the stereo coming from the den, the house was quiet as a tomb. Manty had retreated from her, leaving her to sort out her true feeling about her ex-lover and what her answer would be. This was not a time that provoked tears from her. Instead it was a time for serious reflection on her part.

"Why was it so important for Manty to punish Tony? Why not just punish me and let that be enough revenge for him?" Those questions had a meaningless ring to them. She knew damn well why Manty had to punish Tony. It was one of those 'man to man' things. It was the re-establishing of the alpha male in her life. Punishing her and letting her ex-lover go free would hounded Manty the rest of his life. TONY MUST BE PUNISHED! Finally, she managed to stand up by the table. Her legs were still felt numb and rubbery. Taking slow steps, she regained her strength and walked from the breakfast area past the den.