morning and at night. I will leave it on the table.”
I smiled. “Just in case, where are you going and who are you going with?”
She hesitated. “I am going with my Ya-Ya friends. We are going to Vegas. I will be back Sunday afternoon.” I knew who her Ya-Ya friends were, and they would watch out for her. Most were married, and I wasn’t aware of any of them that messed around or did drugs. I breathed a sigh of relief and hung up the phone.
Friday, I had a bag packed and picked up my kids and took them to my old house. I could smell the marijuana in the house, so I opened all the windows and turned the ceiling fans on. I went all through the drawers in the master bedroom and bathroom, but I couldn’t find anything incriminating. I cooked dinner for the kids and we watched a kid’s movie. I put them to bed at nine, and sat up with nothing to do. I called Julie, but got her voicemail. I didn’t leave a message, I just hung up. I called Sharon. She was short with me. I got the impression that she was finished with me. We didn’t talk long and then hung up, on somewhat friendly terms.
I sat in my old recliner and on a wild hair, I called Marilyn.
When she answered, I asked, “You winning?”
She was talking to someone next to her, it sounded like a man, then she got back to me. “Nope, losing my ass!”
I smiled. “Don’t stand at the window naked and don’t lose too much of your ass. I happen to like it.”
She got serious. “You really like my ass?”
I said, “Yeah, I really do, it is very special.”
She said, “You keep buttering me up and I will come home and stay with you.”
I said, “By the way, let me talk to Shirl?”
Marilyn sighed. “Shirl isn’t here.”
I smiled a weak smile. “Let me talk with Elaine?”
She really hesitated. “She isn’t here either.”
I lost my smile altogether. “Who did you go with, Marilyn?”
She said, “Okay, Brandon, I went with Gilbert, Eli, and Salva.”
My anger rose a notch. “Why did you lie to me?”
She said, “You would have stopped me from going.”
I said, “Honey, you are making a very big mistake. The three of them will use you, then throw you away. You should come home right now.”
She said, “You don’t understand. We are all just friends. I have my own room and there is nothing going on between any of us. I promise you, I am being good.”
I asked, “Have you done any drugs?”
She hesitated. “We did some coke when we got here.”
I took a deep breath. “Honey, I am so sorry. You should come home right now. You are making a terrible mistake.”
She took her own deep breath. “You are wrong, Brandon. I will be fine. See you Sunday afternoon. Goodbye.” She hung up on me.
Saturday morning, I took the kids to the park, but all that I could think of was Marilyn with the three drug-head guys. I knew that they would all sleep with her.
I had to get my mind off her. I played with the kids, but it wasn’t fun.
Saturday night, I had put the kids to bed. I was in bed too. I was nearly asleep when my phone rang. I didn’t answer it; I didn’t care who it was; I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
I was sound asleep when my phone rang again. It woke me up and I answered without thinking. I looked at the clock and it was two in the morning.
I answered, “This had better be good!”
Marilyn said, “Baby, I am at the airport. Will you come get me?”
I asked, “What happened?”
She said, “I will tell you all about it when you pick me up, just, please, come get me.”
I loaded the kids up in the car. We headed out for Love Field.
Marilyn was standing out at baggage claim with her suitcase and a bag. She was wearing a short mini skirt and a blouse that was torn. I immediately got worried. Had she gotten hurt? I helped her put her things in the trunk and then opened the passenger door for her. She got in and sat there and cried.
I let her cry for a few minutes, handed her napkins from my console and asked her tenderly, “What happened?”
She started off slowly. “You were right. They got me up in a room and got me high on coke, and then they tried to strip me down and do me—you know what I mean. I screamed and got away from them, and here I am. Will you take care of me?”
I smiled. “Sure. Do you need to go to a hospital?”
She shook her head. “No, they didn’t really hurt me.”
I said, “Good. Maybe you learned a good lesson.”
She looked up at me. Meekly she said, “Will you stay with me tonight? Please. I am scared.”
I nodded. “Just tonight though. I have to go home tomorrow.”
She nodded. “Can we go to church together?”
I smiled. “Sure, I would like that.”
She smiled. “I will cook lunch, then we could go to the park.”
I nodded again. “Okay, that sounds like fun.”
When we got home, I carried both kids to their beds and helped Marilyn carry her things in. She was a little unsteady on her legs.
She went in and took a shower. When she came out she had on a small nightie. I could see bruises on her arms and thighs that I had not seen earlier. It made me very angry. We went to bed together, but just went to sleep.
The next morning she was making breakfast when I went into the kitchen. She turned around and squarely faced me. In the bright light I could see that she had a very swollen black eye.
She said, “I just wanted you to see what they did to me.”
I was soft and tender. “Did they rape you?”
She hesitated. “They couldn’t get my panties off. I fought them off.”
I got hard. “You should file a police report. They assaulted you.”
She said, “It was my fault. Just like you said, I shouldn’t have been with them.”
I got angry. “It isn’t your fault. You are the victim here.”
She said, “I will go to the police if you go with me.”
We ate breakfast, then got everyone dressed and went to church. I didn’t look at Sharon, and she didn’t look at me. Marilyn said, “Bimbo doesn’t seem to like you anymore.”
I smiled and we sat through church. It seemed that every woman there had to ask Marilyn about her black eye.
After church we went home and had lunch, then went to the police station and filed the report. It was obvious that the police suspected something else and weren’t going to do anything about it.
When we were finished there, we took the kids to the park. Marilyn and I walked around the park and talked. I felt so very close to her, I wanted to defend her. Hell, I wanted to beat those three guys up.
We were at the duck pond when my phone rang. I looked at it and put it back in my pocket.
Marilyn said, “You can talk to her if you want to. I will go over there and sit on a bench. Come get me when you’re through.” She went over to the bench and sat down.
I hit the call-back button and Julie asked, “Want to come over tonight? I need to see you!”
I smiled. “Yeah, but I will be late, probably around eight o’clock.”
I hung up and went back over to Marilyn. She asked, “Was that Bimbo?”
I shook my head. “No, just a friend.”
She pulled her blonde hair in front of her face. “Is she pretty?”
I smiled. “Not as pretty as you are.”
I took Marilyn and the kids home about five and went and had a cheap hamburger. I went home, showered, and got ready to go to Julie’s.
At eight o’clock she buzzed me in the front gate and I drove slowly to her house. She was wearing a bikini and looked wonderful. She had all the right curves in all the right places. I couldn’t see a mar on her anywhere. She had a wonderful tan.
We played and then got in the hot tub. Since I didn’t have a suit, Julie took her biki
ni off.
She said, “Were you serious about us getting married? My divorce is final in two weeks. When is yours?”
I nodded. “I am having a problem with my ‘ex.’ My next hearing is Thursday, and I expect her to fight it. She doesn’t want the divorce now.
Julie said, “I have a cure for that. I go with you to the hearing and I guarantee you she will let you go. I know how to work women.”
We talked for ten minutes about my divorce, then I changed the subject. “Tell me about your job!”
She said, “My husband is the President and CEO of the company. He made me Vice-President when we got married. Now he realizes that I will take part of the company if he doesn’t buy me out. I figure to get about twenty million, the house, and all my stock in the company.”
We got out of the hot tub, dried off, put our clothes back on and went inside. Julie fixed us dessert and coffee. I thanked her profusely for having me over and she said, ““Brandon, if you want to stay, you can.”
I shook my head. “I have to go to work in a few hours; I need to get home and get my stuff ready.” I didn’t have anything to get ready, I just wanted to say no, but I felt like I bit off my nose to spite my face. I was hoping that it might make Julie believe that I didn’t have ulterior motives. Whatever she might think that they might be.
I had just gotten home when Marilyn called me. “Baby they are here. I am scared.”
I hung up and called 9-1-1 and reported the incident. I drove over to the house as fast as I could, and the police had the three men in handcuffs. I had the desire to go punch each one of them out, but I didn’t.
I went inside the house and told the officers that I was Marilyn’s husband. The detective said that they could arrest the men for stalking. I was all for it.
Marilyn