and now you want me to fix it instantly. I went and talked to him. Now you have to do your part. Tell him NO!” I wanted to ask her if she had forgotten how to say no, but I wisely kept my mouth closed.
She slumped in her seat. “Baby, he whispered in my ear today that he was going to ‘nail’ me. You know what that means. No one heard him but me. It is just his word against mine. He makes it sound like it was consensual, but he tricked and bullied me into having sex with him.”
We picked up the kids and took them home. Marilyn was stressed but cooked dinner. After dinner, the kids and I watched a kid’s movie while Marilyn packed her suitcase. I went in and made sure that she didn’t take any suggestive clothes. Marilyn wasn’t above wearing mini skirts when she shouldn’t. She had nice legs and she knew it. Fact was, I knew Marilyn was a very desirable woman; I had many times caught men ogling over her.
I sat on the bed with her and she began to cry. I said, “Honey, you do what I said and everything will be all right.” I hugged her and pushed her down on the bed. Then two little kids climbed on us and our romantic moment was over.
Tuesday morning, Marilyn took the kids to daycare and school and then headed for the airport. I drove my car and made it to work in record time. I was excited, and it was just going to be a game of bowling. At noon, Marilyn called me to tell me that she had gotten to Chicago safely and had gotten her room. She was in a room by herself. Apparently everyone else had to double up. It didn’t escape me what Marilyn being in a single room meant. I told her to call me if there was a problem.
That afternoon, I picked up the kids and took them home. I fixed them dinner and then went and got Lori, the babysitter. I told her that I would be home by eleven and I was off for the Bowling Plaza. I didn’t have to wait long until Sharon arrived. She was wearing shorts and a tank top. She looked as hot as she could be.
We got our shoes, the lane, and then went and picked out our balls. I showed Sharon how to throw a ball and how to slide on your left foot. She tried it and threw a gutter ball; in fact she threw five gutter balls in a row before she got one all the way down the alley. I kept score but didn’t pay attention to it. I was too busy watching Sharon’s form.
It was in the middle of the second game when my phone rang. I looked at it and put it back in my pocket. Almost immediately it rang again, same number.
I walked off and answered it. “Yes, honey, what is it?”
Salva said, “Mr. Thompson, your wife slipped me her phone and told me to call you. Bert has taken a group bar-hopping and your wife is with them. I can tell you, she is scared to death.”
I said, “Thanks, Salva.” I realized that I didn’t know his real or full name. “She will be fine. She knows what to do and what not to do. I trust her. She will be fine.”
Salva stunned me. “I don’t think so, Brandon. I am afraid that he will give her another knockout pill like he did last time. That is how he gets the women to submit to him. He brags about it to us guys, and so far, no one has told on him.”
I thought for a minute. “Salva, if you find that he does something, call the police.”
I hung up and went back to Sharon.
We finished our second game. She had scored thirty-eight. We took our balls and shoes back and turned them in, then went to the lounge and had several mixed drinks. With a few drinks in her, Sharon became quite the comic. She had a ton of jokes and she seemed able to remember every joke that she had ever heard. I ran out of jokes quickly and just let her talk.
I looked at my watch. It was a quarter after eleven. I said, “Hey, I got to go now. Will you be all right?”
She nodded. “Mind if I follow you home?”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Are you sure?” I had a pretty good idea what she meant.
She nodded again. “Yeah, is that okay?”
I smiled. “It sure is. Come on. You just have to stay in your car until I take the babysitter home.”
She nodded for a third time. “Brandon, I follow directions well.”
I took off with Sharon following me. At home, I apologized profusely to Lori and gave her an extra twenty dollars. She seemed happy and I took her home. When I got back, Sharon was standing on my porch singing. I looked around and none of my neighbors seemed to have noticed. I felt lucky! She had a wonderful voice, but wasn’t singing too loudly.
Sharon was twenty-four and surprisingly had never been married. I often wondered, why not? Sharon was a country girl who had grown up in the city. Her mother was extremely ill and Sharon had helped raise her younger sisters. She was quite a woman. Sharon had graduated from the University of Texas with honors; she was actually a very smart woman. Beauty and brains, quite a combination. Something that Marilyn was lacking in, at least in the brains department. In a real beauty contest, I wasn’t certain which woman would win. They both had looks to spare.
We went in and I fixed us both a drink. I made mine a little weaker than I did Sharon’s.
We sat down on the sofa and she said, “Okay, Brandon, now tell me what is really going on with you and Marilyn.” I told her the truth about everything, including the trip and what I thought was going to happen on it. I also told her that I wanted a divorce.
We were on our second drink when my phone rang. It was Marilyn. I answered, “Yes!”
Marilyn was crying. “Baby, he tried to slip me a pill. I caught him and he brought me back to the hotel. He went back out with the other people. He will probably do the same thing to one of the other women.”
I said, “Okay, you are safe. You go to your room, and go to bed, alone! Do I make myself clear?” I knew that Salva was there. I wanted it clear that Salva wasn’t to be in the room either.
I could almost see her nod her head, and she spoke softly: “Yes, sir, but will you take care of Bert when we get back?”
I smiled. “I sure will, honey, you can count on it.”
I hung up and went back to Sharon. She had finished her second drink. She said, “Okay, well, I guess it is time for me to go home.” She stood up on wobbly legs.
I was angry but not out of the game yet. “Sharon, I am sorry, you are too drunk to drive. Give me your keys and you can sleep in the spare bedroom.” Then the real world came crashing down.
She sat down and looked around; she started laughing. “Wow, I made a mess of things. Your wife is going to find out about this and you will get the divorce that you want.”
I took Sharon by both hands. “We need to get to bed; you have to be out early. We can’t let anyone know that you spent the night here; it will ruin your reputation.”
She laughed—no, giggled. “I guess you are right, Brandon. I am a big girl, we can sleep together if you want to.” She was really tempting me. I wondered why.
I wanted to really bad, but I said, “Sharon, you have to trust me, you sleep in the spare bedroom and I will get you up about six and get you out of here. I don’t want to take advantage of you.” It was after one in the morning. Neither of us would get much sleep.
She giggled again and I led her to the spare bedroom, turned on the light, ushered her in and shut the door. I could hear her softly snoring about five minutes later.
I went to bed and set my alarm for ten to six.
It seemed like I had barely lain down when it went off. I jumped up ran down the hall and knocked on the spare bedroom door. I didn’t hear any movement in the room, so I opened the door and turned the light on. There Sharon lay, naked on the bed. What a sight!
She jumped up and tried to cover herself, but there was nothing to cover with. She was lying on the bed covers.
I closed the door and went back down the hall to my room. I had a big smile on my face.
I got dressed and went back to the spare bedroom. It was six o’clock and Sharon was dressed and ready to go. I took her to the front door, gave her back her car keys and she left quickly and quietly.
As usual, I got the kids u
p, fed them and took them to school and daycare. I drove to work with a big smile on my face.
It was nearly ten when my phone rang. I was expecting one person, but it was another. I asked Sharon to go to dinner with me tonight. She accepted, and I had to call Lori and found out that she was available to baby-sit again. She seemed happy; I figured that she wanted another twenty-dollar tip.
I took off early from work that afternoon, picked the kids up, fed them and let them play in the backyard. Lori was there at six and I was ready to go.
I picked Sharon up at her apartment and drove to a fancy seafood restaurant. She had fried shrimp and I had fried oysters. We split them and were having a grand time. Then my phone rang.
Marilyn said, “I just wanted you to know that I wiggled my way out of going with Bert tonight. I am going to hang around the bar and my room.”
I smiled at Sharon. “Honey, forget the bar, you just stay in your room. Use room service for whatever you want or need. You take care of yourself now. I love you!”
She was ecstatic: she had heard what she wanted to hear. I knew that she would be fine. Maybe she wasn’t going to fail this time. I was happy for several totally different reasons.
When I hung up, Sharon said, “That was sweet. Someday I want a husband to say that to me.”
I smiled. “Say what?”
She smiled. “That he loves me and is worried about me.”
I had had three drinks and was feeling brave. “What if