Xxl

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

Disclaimers: This story has been edited by myself, using Microsoft Spell-check. You have been forewarned.

*.*.*

Three weeks After the Marcie Martin concert, Richard's attorney, Barbara Trenton had Mary Beth served with the petition for the dissolution of their marriage. Mary Beth at first laughed out loud; Richard Trahan was about to find out just how expensive a divorce would be.

"Cheaper to keep her," she hooted.

Noelle and Chrissie also laughed when Mary Beth showed them the petition. Jewel did look a little uncomfortable as the four of them crowded around Mary Beth's kitchen table.

"Worst mother fucking thing your boy ever done, know what I'm saying?" Chrissie hooted, trying to sound ghetto.

"Okay, here, talk to these people," Noelle giggled, pulling up a listing for an attorney's office.

There were seven law firms in and around the greater Benhurst area, plus quite a few independent attorneys listed. Mary Beth was stunned as office after office let her know that they were already under retainer to Richard Trahan. Therefore they were unable to take her on as a client.

"Conflict of interest? What they mean, conflict of interest," Noelle sputtered, outraged.

"It means, since Richard is already a client, they cannot take Mary Beth on," Jewel stated.

"I know, but how he a client for all of them?" Noelle shrilled.

"Easy, really," Jewel said. "All he had to do was make an appointment. Depending on what he needs, retainer can be anywhere from fifty dollars to five thousand dollars."

She looked at the petition again and shook her head. With a final sip of her coffee, Jewel sighed.

"And he got Barbara Trenton; she is absolutely one of the best," Jewel continued. "I ever divorce Buddy? Not that I ever would; we're soul mates, but I ever did? I'd be in Barbara Trenton's office before the door hit Buddy in his ass."

"We going sue him," Noelle blustered. "That's got be illegal, huh?"

"How you know all this?" Mary Beth asked Jewel.

Jewel again looked uncomfortable. Seeing no way out of it, she cleared her throat.

"I'm IT for Johnson, Nowak, Curry, Wilcox, Brazie and Associates," Jewel admitted.

"So you can get her..." Noelle demanded.

"You already called them. Richard put Jeremy Wilcox on retainer," Jewel said.

"Just tell Wilcox what game Richard's playing," Chrissie demanded.

"And? Legally, Jeremy's hands are tied," Jewel sighed.

"Well, where Buddy work?" Noelle asked.

"Curtis Construction," Jewel said.

Finally, Noelle found an attorney in Raquel Falls, a neighboring town. Sam Feldman was seventy nine years old, past the age of retirement, but said he loved his job.

"Plus that?" he chuckled drily. "I retire? My Edna's got a list a mile long of stuff wants me do."

Mary Beth made an appointment to see him the next afternoon. Jewel left the house before the others could ask her opinion of the doddering Sam Feldman.

The next afternoon, Sam flirted clumsily with Mary Beth. Then he looked over the petition for dissolution of the marriage.

"Irreconcilable differences, but says he's got proof of infidelity," Sam asked.

"Oh that is such bullshit," Mary Beth snapped, infuriated. "His is the one and only dick I've ever seen."

"Hmm," Sam mused, not saying his opinion of women that used vulgarities.

"Mrs. Trahan?" Sam's administrative assistant quietly said, entering the office. "You, this credit card's been cancelled."

"Oh my fucking God, he didn't! Tell me the God damned ass hole didn't!" Mary Beth screamed.

Just as he had done the first time he left, Richard paid the mortgage on their first house, the one where Andy and Jackie resided, paid the insurance on the two homes, paid the utilities on the two homes, paid the insurance on the two cars.

Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, Mary Beth found something else that had been cancelled. Sam quietly agreed that Mary Beth could use his office telephone to call her father.

Fortunately for Mary Beth, she reached Sandra. After Richard had informed Albert and Sandra that he planned to divorce their daughter and the reason why he planned to divorce her, Albert was in no mood to help Mary Beth.

"A, with another woman?" Albert had asked, actually looking physically ill.

"Oh, it's probably nothing. I mean, I kiss my friend Louise hello and goodbye all the time," Sandra had stated.

"Yes ma'am," Richard sighed. "But you probably do it without taking off all your clothes."

"Their clothes?" Albert had stammered.

Sandra gave the administrative assistant her credit card number and authorized the two thousand dollars. She also agreed to have Mary Beth's phone turned back on.

Jackie and Andy actually found it somewhat amusing when Mary Beth informed them that Richard had left her. Until Mary Beth informed the two that Richard had cut off her credit cards.

"You still got a debit card, right?" Jackie worriedly asked. "I mean, you can still get cash, right?"

Mary Beth went to an ATM and found out that her account had twenty five dollars and five cents in it. Mary Beth did not see the significance. Richard left twenty five dollars and five cents because they were coming up on their twenty fifth anniversary, and she had given Richard five children.

Mary Beth then tried Richard's cell phone, to demand her fifty percent of the account, which the court would tell him she was entitled to. She got the mechanical announcement that his number had been changed or was no longer in service.

The school secretary transferred Mary Beth's call to Richard's voice mail. Even though she knew Richard would simply delete the message, Mary Beth still left her demand of fifty percent of the account.

She went into the home office, to pull up the account on-line, so she would know how much her fifty percent was. The computer was gone. The hard copies were gone from the desk drawer Richard always kept the bank statements in.

"When the fuck," Mary Beth asked out loud, looking around. "When the fuck did he...?"

She was now beginning to see the things that were missing throughout the home. Since they were his things, since she had no interest in his things, she'd not noticed the blank space on the fireplace mantle where his coaching awards had stood. She'd not seen that most of the books were gone from the tall bookshelf. She'd not noticed that his three rifles were not on their rack; that the rack was not there either.

She did notice that the wall needed to be repainted; she could see the mark where the rack used to be. She also saw the dust more clearly on the mantle, on the bookshelves.

She went to their bedroom. Her side of the walk-in closet was undisturbed. Her racks of shoes stood, displaying her forty three pairs of shoes, including the two pairs she'd bought when she'd bought Richard those wingtip oxfords from Burke's.

Richard's side was nearly bare. Mary Beth looked at the few items that remained, but noticed nothing significant about them. She noticed nothing that would tell her why Richard had left the bright yellow windbreaker, four ties, including a beautiful blue silk tie with darker blue and lighter blue butterflies. He'd left a pair of sandals, and a pair of slippers and a few shirts. But most of the hangers were empty.

The same was true of his two drawers in the chest of drawers. Most of the items were gone. He'd left a pair of boxers, with a Christmas motif on them, a few tee shirts, a few pairs of socks.

And on top of the chest of drawers, on top of the thin patina of dust was Richard's wedding ring.

His nightstand was also empty. Mary Beth stared at the blank space where his alarm clock had stood, noticing the thin layer of dust.

She yanked open the drawer and discovered the box of condoms, with one solitary condom remaining. There was a tube of lubricant, unopened.

Toby leapt onto the bed and meowed when he did not see Richard's pillows, his favorite place to nap. Mary Beth looked sadly at the beast.

"Daddy's not here, baby," Mary Beth said, beginning to feel the weariness. "Daddy's not here. And he took your pillows too."

Suddenly, Noelle and Chrissie were 'too busy' to come over. They were 'too busy' to 'go grab a bite to eat.' Both were 'too tapped out' to loan Mary Beth any cash.

Sam Feldman arranged for an emergency meeting with Barbara Trenton and Richard Trahan, to see about setting up temporary payments, until their case could go before a mediator. Just to be difficult, Sam demanded that the meeting take place at ten o'clock, knowing that Richard was a teacher and would have to leave his class to attend the meeting.

Seeing Richard, smiling and laughing with the harsh faced Barbara Trenton, looking happy and relaxed had Mary Beth seeing red. Before Sam could remind his client to let him do the talking, Mary Beth was in the small conference room, screaming at Richard.

Richard's smile during her tirade enraged Mary Beth and she actually tried to claw his face. Just as he had done with his son Ritchie when Ritchie attacked him in the front yard, Richard restrained Mary Beth.

A security officer assisted in removing Mary Beth from Barbara's office. Sam informed Mary Beth that he would no longer represent her. And, no, the two thousand dollar retainer was non-refundable.

Albert Rossini stoically assisted in finding Frank Castro, an attorney. Frank had just recently been reinstated to practice law after an embezzlement charge had him disbarred for three years. Frank Castro reviewed the information, had Sam Feldman's office send him their files and shook his head.

"Ms. Trahan, next meeting will most likely be in front of a mediator," he said. "If the mediator cannot resolve any issues? Then we'll go in front of a judge. And I guarantee you, attack Mr. Trahan again? You won't do so great in front of a judge, you understand?"

And Noelle and Chrissie were too busy to come over. They were too busy to relax in the hot tub. They were too busy to help Mary Beth drink all of Richard's alcohol that he'd left behind. And they were still too tapped out to help her financially.

Jewel, and Buddy were also too busy. Seeing their Toyota Prius sitting in front of their house, Mary Beth wondered what on earth they were too busy doing.

A phone call came in from a blocked number. Mary Beth answered after a moment.

"Grass needs cutting," Richard said. "I'm having Al Montoyez and his son come over. Try not to attack them, okay?"

"Fuck you; think this is so God damned funny, huh, mother fucker?" Mary Beth screamed.

Richard also had Al and Al's son Michael go to the other house. His phone call to Jackie, letting his daughter know of the lawn care also resulted in a screaming tirade. Apparently, Jackie had a litany of complaints, things in and around the house that needed addressing.

A few weeks later, Jackie called Mary Beth. At the time of her daughter's phone call, Mary Beth was looking at the meager pantry, noticing that the specialty cat food Toby and Darren and Samantha had grown fond of was nearly empty. Richard had insisted that no cat would ever allow itself to starve; if she put regular, inexpensive cat food out, sooner or later they would eat it.

"Mom, you know who Daddy's little girlfriend is?" Jackie gleefully asked.

"Little, his what?" Mary Beth asked.

"Yeah, we're at Benny's Burger Bar; just seen Dad helping some huge whale into his truck," Jackie giggled. "I mean, damn! This girl is fa-aa-at!"

"He's out, having himself a good old time, while I'm... Jackie, follow him; want to know where he's staying," Mary Beth ordered.

"Mom, they're already gone," Jackie said.

So Mary Beth devised a plan. She'd park down the street from the school when it was time for Richard to leave. Then she'd follow him.

The first afternoon, Richard was busy with football try-outs. Mary Beth was sweltering in the car, but she was too low on gas to sit and run the air conditioning. She'd had the foresight to bring a few bottles of water with her. Sitting and sweating, watching Richard's truck, drinking bottled water, suddenly Mary Beth's bladder threatened to burst.

When she returned from using the Burger King's bathroom, Richard's truck was gone. She drove around rapidly, nearly clipping a young man on his bicycle. But Richard's truck was gone.

The next day, car filled thanks to Sandra's charge card, Mary Beth sat, air conditioning blowing high. Her bladder nearly burst though, when the police officer rapped smartly on her window.

Someone had reported a suspicious vehicle parked, watching the school. A neighbor, seeing the same strange car two days in a row assumed that the driver was a pervert, after one of the students.

And while the officer was calling in Mary Beth's license number, making sure she wasn't on any watch lists, Richard got into his pickup truck and drove away. The police officer actually put his hand onto the butt of his service revolver as Mary Beth flew into a screaming tirade.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rittmuller," Richard laughed as he saw the police car parked behind Mary Beth's Lexus.

Mrs. Rittmuller was a twice widowed woman whose home was directly across the street from St. Pilus's administration office. The eighty seven year old woman saw the school as hers, and saw each child that attended the school as hers. It had been Mrs. Rittmuller that broke up the meth ring that tried to infiltrate the school. It had been Mrs. Rittmuller that had tattled on Bobby Fasterling when he was trying to drag one of the cheerleaders behind the outdoor storage shed.

"Piece of paper can't hit the ground she doesn't know about it," Richard said as he waved to the woman's living room window.

Even though Mrs. Rittmuller was Lutheran, she had bequeathed her home to St. Pious High School in her will. She also attended their home games, if it wasn't raining or snowing. Rain or snow, she'd sit in her living room and watch the scoreboard.

Mary Beth did not park the third day. She zipped past the school and screamed in outrage again. Richard's truck was not there.

She failed to notice the baby blue Toyota Camry that sat in Richard Trahan's parking spot.

Noelle and Chrissie were too busy to assist in staking out Richard Trahan. Jewel and Buddy were likewise too busy to trail Richard Trahan. Jackie and Andy had better things to do than to trail their father around Benhurst, Colorado.

"Uh, hey Mom, why don't you just ask him?" Peter said when his mother tried to ferret any information out of him.

"Would if I had his phone number," Mary Beth snapped. "Wouldn't happen to have it, would you?"

"Of course. After all, he is my dad," Peter said.

"Then what is it?" Mary Beth demanded. "Jackie and Andy say they don't know it."

"Get it from him, Mom," Peter said. "There anything else? Yes, college is hard, but got a three point eight. Do I need any money? Of course. Scholarship isn't paying for my social life, not that I have much time for one. No, there's no one special in my life, yeah, plan to be home for Thanksgiving. Love you too mother, great talking to you."

Mary Beth actually growled when her son hung up on her. Checking her pantry, she sighed and scooped some more of the dry cat food into the bowl.

"Yes, I know, Sweetie," Mary Beth apologized when Toby let out a plaintive meow. "But Daddy's not giving Mommy any money. Can't buy any good food until he does."

Her cell phone rang. Mary Beth sighed when she saw her mother's number. She needed more money and did feel somewhat guilty for having to ask her mother and father for money.

"Honey, who was that cute little girl Richard was with last night?" Sandra asked.

"How would I know?" Mary Beth asked, exasperated as Toby walked away from the food dish. "Where'd you see Richard?"

"Went to Rio Del Sol; your dad just had to have their Burrito El Carbone. Like he doesn't already have enough trouble with his heartburn, huh?" Sandra said.

"You guys went to Rio Del Sol?" Mary Beth whined.

"Anyway, didn't even see them, your dad got up go tinkle, really wish he'd go see about that, swear he goes to the bathroom, comes back, then needs go again minute later, but he was in the bathroom and saw Richard and this adorable little girl, can't be any older than nineteen, I swear," Sandra said. "They were sitting right by the window, guess that's why didn't see them, lately? Glare's just horrible. Going see Dr. Percy next week about that, but then I saw them get up and leave. She really is cute. I mean, she's a little heavy, big boned your dad would have said, but..."

"Jackie said she's big as a whale," Mary Beth said snidely.

"Oh, Jackie's got rocks in her head too. She going back to college? Or is she just sitting around doing nothing? She's going be what, twenty five next birthday, should at least be working. Speaking of that, you look into that receptionist job at Curtis? Didn't you say your next door neighbor works for them?" Sandra continued.

"Yeah," Mary Beth lied. "Haven't heard back from them yet. This girl? What'd she look like?"

"Like I said, a little heavy. Earl would have said, never met a doughnut she didn't like, a little short, about my height, blonde hair cut in that really cute style, you know, kind of short but not real short; doe'n't look like she's trying be a man like that little friend of yours, you still running around with that Chrissie girl? Oh, and that, never mind. So you don't know who she is hmm?" Sandra asked.

"God Mother, have you ever tried to stay on just one topic at a time?" Mary Beth asked, mind frazzled at trying to follow her mother's train of thought.

"Okay, smarty pants. Here's one topic. You need to get a job. Mediation's not for another three weeks and I'm going broke supporting you. I raised you, paid for your college, got you out of my house, time for Mary Beth to grow up, be an adult and support Mary Beth for once. How was that?" Sandra snapped.

"That was beautiful, Mother," Mary Beth snapped.

Calls to Noelle and Chrissie now went to voice mail. Jewel did answer Mary Beth's calls, but always found reasons to end the calls quickly. Andy never answered his cell phone, even after Mary Beth reminded him, in voice mail, that it was her that paid for his cell phone. Jackie was hit and miss, sometimes she would answer, other times she wouldn't.

"Mother you are driving me, you're driving everyone crazy," Jackie finally said. "God! What happened? You didn't always used to be such a whiney, perpetual victim here, did you?"

Finally, the day of the mediation rolled around. Mary Beth got up, selected a conservative dress, found some cute pumps and tried the outfit on.

"What the..." Mary Beth whined when the zipper on the dress refused to go up.

She then selected a conservative skirt and silk blouse. She could not make the button and button hole meet. She found a skirt with an elastic band. The blouse had also shrunk slightly so she selected a loose knit top. Which meant she had to find another pair of shoes.

Driving to the mediation, Mary Beth saw that she was nearly out of gas. According to the digital indicator, she had roughly twelve miles left on her tank.

She parked four blocks away from the courthouse, rather than pay the four bucks for garage parking. A sudden chill air let her know that Thanksgiving was a few weeks away. Peter had said he'd be home for Thanksgiving. Mary Beth hoped that her parents planned to cook Thanksgiving dinner.

Entering the large marble building, Mary Beth paused a moment to catch her breath. The four block walk had left her winded. The elevator took forever, but she finally arrived on the third floor.

Frank Castro met Mary Beth in the hall. In hushed tones, he urged Mary Beth to answer any questions put to her as honestly as possible. If she did not know something, simply say that she didn't know. Don't make up an answer, don't try to guess what kind of answers the mediator was looking for.