Algebra

I just wrote three checks for $100,000 each, two to my wife's favorite charities and one to mine -- Wounded Warrior Project. We donate every year. Not normally this much, but there is enough money in the bank and it is going to come back to fuck her in the ass.

My name is Kurt Van Hall. Up until 6 weeks ago I was clueless to the true ways of the woman I loved. Yes 'loved', that was gone now and I was going to make her regret all the deceptions.

I should have known something wasn't right after the July 4^th get together with our friends. It must have been then that she decided to get her own independence. That night SHE initiated sex. That NEVER happens. She fucked me like she hadn't in over 17 years. She was so wet and energetic. I realize now it was probably a guilty fuck and I was getting sloppy seconds. I didn't realize it then. I knew she had had a couple of drinks, but nothing in excess. I was just enjoying my "new" wife. I had hoped it would continue, but later that week when I tried to initiate sex again she shut me down.

By Labor Day it was me with blue balls and her complaining that, "that's all you ever want to do."

Earlier I said I was clueless -- there were clues, plenty of them. I just didn't see them at the time.

The Halloween party was my Sherlock Holmes moment. We were at a friend's house. Melanie, my wife, wanted to dress up in a slutty outfit. I didn't like the thought of it but we were all friends. It might be worth a laugh. My wife could pull it off too. At 5' 3", 120 lbs, and Auburn hair, she filled out her fishnet stockings, short black skirt, CFM pumps, bustier and mask.

No, this wasn't the Sherlock Homes moment either. At the party I lost track of my wife.

She had been getting quite a lot of attention with her outfit. I hadn't seen her for about a half an hour and was wondering where she had gotten to. Then I saw her. She came into the room where I was at. This was the Sherlock Holmes moment. She had that look. Most men know what I mean, that "just got fucked" look of serenity on her face. Then it was "Elementary, Watson." 4^th of July, guilt fuck, sloppy seconds, extra volunteering hours at her "job" at the non-profit animal shelter, the distant looks on her face, the irritability, and the blue balls -- no sex for me since August.

WOW! How could I have missed it? Clueless -- no "just naïve and trusting" I said to myself, trying to justify and make myself feel better.

Who was it! I looked around and didn't see anyone looking like they were hiding from me or even any smirks. I would have to do some investigating before I outright accused my wife.

Melanie and I come from different worlds, well almost. She is from the West Coast. I am from Iowa. We met our junior year of college, Cornell College, no not Cornell University, Cornell College, a liberal arts college in Iowa. Close to home for me.

I grew up about 30 minutes away in a conservative community of mostly Dutch descendants. I don't know why there are a lot of Dutch in Iowa. Dutch people living in their coastal country in Europe with dikes, canals, channels, and lowland marshes moving to America and settling in Iowa, - flat, middle of the country, cornfields, cows, chickens and churches. I don't get it, but that is where I'm from and it made me who I am.

Melanie grew up in California, not the more conservative (relatively) Northern California. No, she came from Southern California, about as liberal as they come.

So, you may ask, how did she end up at Cornell College. Well it is a liberal arts school, but that "liberal" is all relative. In actuality her parents met there and moved to California for their careers. They felt that getting a dose of Midwest values at their alma mater would be good for her. So Melanie Scott applied, was accepted and enrolled in Cornell College.

We met, of all places, at the library. I was studying for an engineering class (majoring in mechanical engineering) and I heard an exasperated voice ask the librarian, "Do you have a Algebra for Dummies book. I'm retaking this class and I still don't get it."

Math has always come easy for me so as soon as I heard the word 'algebra' I looked up to see who was speaking. There at the desk was the most beautiful girl -- no, woman, - I had ever seen. Auburn hair, cute butt, nice C-cup breasts (on her frame they looked huge), she was short but I knew great things come in small packages.

The woman behind the desk checked her computer and said, "Sorry miss, it's checked out."

"I'm going to fail the test. I can't fail it. What am I going to do?" said the redhead.

"Maybe you should go back to your dorm room and study, go through the practice questions." The lady said

"My roommate and her boyfriend are there. I'll never get any studying done." The girl said.

"Well you're welcome to study here but we close in 25 minutes."

The redhead dropped her book on a table and sat down with a big heavy sigh. I got up from my table and walked over to her. I stood there taking in the sight. I was tongue tied. She looked at me and said, "What do you want?!"

I stammered but got out, "I can help you." She looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. "How?" She asked.

"I'm really good at math."

"Well I don't think that anyone would believe that you were me, even if you put on a dress, so you couldn't take the test for me."

"I could help you study." I said.

"I don't think my brain can absorb it. I've tried, I'm dumb at math." She said resignedly.

"I'd like to try." I said

"Why would you want to help me?" She asked.

"I want to help a damsel in distress." I said. Yeah, now I was getting smooth. "I'm Kurt by the way."

She chuckled, "Well the damsel is named Melanie." She said. "How much would you charge me?" She asked, thinking I was a tutor.

"That depends on how well you do on your test." I stated.

"Okay," she said thinking, then said, "I'll buy you pizza if I pass."

"It can't be Dominoes, if you pass you have to take me to Gus & Tony's." That's a historic pizzeria in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

"Alright," she said. "It will be worth it."

I decided to push my luck. "What will it be worth if you get a C on the test?"

"Then I'll give you a kiss after dinner."

What about a B?" I asked, hoping for maybe an actual date.

"If you can help me get a B I'll let the girls out of the corral." She said as she cupped her hands on her breasts.

My eyes must have gotten huge because she laughed at me and then said, "If I get an A you can have your way with me." She had no faith in her ability to learn and my ability to teach.

Well with that incentive I told her we had better go someplace quiet to study. So we hopped into my car and headed off to Denny's. We grabbed a booth, I ordered some nachos and told the waitress that we would be there for a number of hours but I'd make sure to leave her a good tip.

Melanie was not kidding, she did not understand math, let alone algebra. She couldn't grasp the fact that letters represented unknown numbers. So I started out with elementary math questions. 3 + 4 = ____. She understood that "7" she said.

"Okay," I said, "see that space represented by a line?" "Yep" she said. "Well in algebra we use letters to represent the spaces."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because different spaces could have different values so we need something to differentiate them. Let me show you."

3 + 4 = a I wrote down. "Think of the a as the space we had before, so in this case what is a?"

"a equals 7" she said.

"Okay." 3+b = 7 I wrote down. "What is the b?" "4" she said. "So we have used two different letters to signify two different values. "Here is another one" 3 x b = 6 I wrote down. "What is b in this equation?" "b is 2" she said.

So in algebra we use letters and numbers and instead of using x for multiplication we put them next to each other. So 3 x b = 6 would be 3b = 6, what is the b?"

"2, because 3 times 2 equals 6"

"Okay, now division" 6/b = 3 "What is b?"

"Still 2 because 6 divided by 2 equals 3."

"Now you're getting the hang of it." I said.

We sat there until almost 3 in the morning and a number of times I saw the light go on, she was getting it.

Her class was at 10 so I brought her to her dorm and told her not to worry and she should get a full 6 hours of sleep.

"Don't try to cram before the test in the morning. It will only give you anxiety and confuse you."

She thanked me and gave me a peck on the cheek. Then she said with a mischievous look in her eye. "I hope I get an A." Then she turned around and left.

"Was she saying what I thought she was saying?" I thought to myself. "I can't wait to find out how she does."

Well I didn't get to "have my way" with her nor did the girls get let out, but I did get pizza and a kiss. Actually more than one kiss and the girls felt like they were excited, from what I could tell through her sweater that is.

Things progressed and she finally did get an A on a test. Soon we were an item.

Summer break was coming and I had to get an internship. I wanted to find some place in Southern California so we could continue dating. No luck, but I did find an internship at the NUMMI plant in the San Francisco Bay area. It would be a 6 or more hour drive depending on the traffic so I would only get to see her on the weekends.

I got to meet her parents. I think they liked me. They said that I had settled their girl down.

We definitely made the most of our time together. I got wore out every weekend. She was wild in bed.

In the fall we headed back to college. I studied a lot. I was motivated to get great grades so I could get a great job so I could marry Melanie.

Melanie was working on her BA in Human Resources. We both studied hard and we played hard. It was a great year.

We talked about our hopes, dreams, and goals. My hope was to be married (to her) and have a bunch of kids.

Melanie was into zero population growth philosophy however. She told me 2 kids, preferably one girl and one boy to replace ourselves.

So I changed my hope to 1 girl and 1 boy.

Dreams -- I wanted a nice sized house 3 Bedrooms, 1 ½ baths, about 1500 sq ft. She wanted 4 bedrooms 3 baths with 3000 sq ft. "So we can have guests over and they have some place to sleep."

"Well, I guess I'll have to really push for a good paying job." I thought to myself.

Goals -- I know this sounds weird but I wanted to visit every state capital building and all the European capitals also. Traveling, I wanted to hike through Europe.

She wanted to be able to volunteer at her favorite non-profits, the ASPCA and Planned Parenthood. I couldn't understand that. (This is coming from my Iowa conservative values) The one organization wanted to save baby animals and the other helped to terminate baby humans. That seemed hypocritical to me. We had a few "discussions" about that till I just didn't talk about it anymore.

In the late winter of my senior year I was offered a job at a manufacturing plant that supplies to the Big 3. Actually they supplied to all the automotive manufacturers. My experience interning at NUMMI really paid off. This meant, however that we would have to move to Michigan, in the Detroit area.

I drove back from my 4^th interview with the news that I was offered a job. Driving 9 hours back I thought about a lot of things. First and foremost was asking Melanie to marry me. I was sure she would say yes. Second was how to help her find a job in the same area. Third was where to live. Detroit has a lot of suburbs. I thought that it would be best to rent an apartment until we knew the area then start looking for a starter home. I had it all pictured in my mind. Getting married, buying a house, having kids, baseball, soccer, ballet, everything for my wife and kids. Then as the kids left for college we would start traveling.

As I drove back I made a stop in Chicago. I had my $5000 signing bonus in my pocket. I was going to buy an engagement ring. I found a family owned jewelry shop and purchased a $4000 engagement ring and wedding band set. I was so happy.

I got back to Mt. Vernon and called Melanie. I said I wanted to take her out to dinner. I proposed during the dessert. She said yes with tears in her eyes. Then I told her about the job offer. She was glad I got the job, but Michigan?? Really?? Isn't it cold like 10 months of the year? And Detroit??

"Honey," I said, "It's no colder than Iowa in the winter. There is just so much to do there. You'll love it."

Well, wedding planned, (not a lot of time to do that). We got married in California. May 23^rd, took a honeymoon to the Niagara Falls, then set up our first apartment. June 1^st I started my job -- no my career.

Melanie had obtained a job working for a temp agency. She was working for the agency doing the hiring and all the other human resource stuff. It was great experience but she really wanted a job working for a big company that hired their own employees.

Well, life has a way of surprising us sometimes. We were going to wait for a few years to have kids but eight months after we got married found us looking at an EPT and wondering how our life would change now that a baby was on the way.

We started looking for a house right away. We bought a Cape Cod style house -- 3 bedrooms 1 bath, not too big but good enough to start our family in.

Nine months went fast and we were blessed with a baby girl, Kaylee Jane, I call her KJ but Melanie always calls her Kaylee. She was perfect. Strawberry blonde hair (a combination of my blonde and Melanie's auburn), blue eyes, (I know they said that they would change but they never did), 10 fingers, 10 toes. She had me wrapped around her finger as soon as she wrapped her fingers around mine.

After the baby, things changed. Of course, you say. Well I knew that there would be changes, but I didn't expect one of them.

Melanie showed no interest in sex, even months after the birth. I had to coax her every time. I couldn't believe it. My wife, who was wild in bed, had no interest in it anymore. We talked about it and had several heated "discussions" but I rarely got her to give in. I wanted to try for that second baby, hopefully a boy.

I asked our family physician about it and she said it may be a by-product of post partem depression. She didn't seem depressed though. She doted over KJ almost as much as I did. We were happy other than in the bedroom.

I asked her to see someone. She went, begrudgingly, to a therapist and she said it was a form of PTSD. Melanie, in her mind, had a terrible birthing experience. The therapist hoped it would (with more therapy of course) be able to be fixed.

I wanted a boy so bad I begged her for sex. After a couple years I started plotting her cycle, I would figure out the best time for her to get pregnant and put on a full court press for sex on those days. Well the sex happened some of the time, but no baby.

I loved Melanie and after a few more years I put all my thoughts of having a boy in the back of my mind. I would enjoy my wife and our lovely daughter. In fact, if I was truly honest, I put a lot of my time, love and devotion into KJ.

Melanie decided to stay home to raise her and never returned to a real job, just volunteering.

Now, ... seventeen years after KJ was born, new big house, great job, things in the household seemed alright. I couldn't understand what was going on.

At the party I waited 10 minutes to see if I could figure out who it was that she had just screwed, but still nothing. I now just wanted to get away from there.

"Melanie," I said, "I feel another one of my migraines coming on. I want to get home and in bed before it hits the worst." Of course I was pretending. She seemed disappointed. "Are you sure it is a migraine and not just a touch of the flu?" She asked.

"I get these enough to know Mel." I snapped at her. That was not something I normally did.

"Okay, we'll leave now. Let me tell Susan and Jim." She had a worried look on her face.

On the drive home I was quiet and held my eyes shut. I'm sure she felt it was to keep out the light from the headlights but actually I just didn't want to look at her, if I did I would cry. Melanie started to speak to me but before she uttered two words I snapped. "I just need you to be quiet, and take the back streets so there are fewer lights." I was playing it up good. This would be my "worst" migraine I have ever had.

We made it home and I hurried to our bedroom, stripped, and climbed into bed with the lights off.

Melanie came in and started shuffling around. I snapped again. "Be quiet! You're killing me." She backed out of the bedroom and quietly shut the door.

Alright, now I needed to think. How was I going to find out who it was. Would I have to hire a Private Investigator? Just then I heard her phone ring. I crept to the door and cracked it open. She was downstairs and I could just overhear her conversation. "No, I can't come back. Kurt is hurting. This is the worst migraine he's ever had. ... I'd like to come back but I can't leave him. Would you leave Mary if she was home sick? ... You probably would just to get another piece of this ass." Mary!!! There were two Mary's in our group of friends. I had to find out which husband it was. Then I heard it. "I know Jack, I wanted more time with you also and I wanted to give Kurt sloppy seconds like after the first time. I could never do that tonight though. He can hardly move.

Jack Anderson!!! Figures. Another California Liberal. He and Mary moved here about 7 years ago with their daughter Jasmine. Jasmine was a year older than KJ but they were still friends. She was going to Wayne State University and was staying at home to save the dorm costs.

Jack Anderson!! I can't believe it. He was a salesman for a company that supplied our dies for my company's production. We were their biggest customer. I'll make him pay! Threefold!!

I crept back to my room. I know the old saying is "Revenge is a dish best served cold", but I can't agree with that. I ascribe to the fast food way of revenge. "Hot and Now!", and preferably before they even know it's coming.

I had to work out a plan, that is what I do as an engineer, I plan. I see a problem and I plan steps to correct it.

First things first. I would need to insure that I had as little contact with Melanie as I could. I didn't know how I could cover my anger with her right now.

Tomorrow is Saturday. That is one of Melanie's days to volunteer at the animal shelter. I had to wake in the morning not 100% but good enough to where she wouldn't feel she had to stay home with me. KJ, now a senior in high school, could always take care of me if I needed anything.

About an hour later Melanie came in and turned on the light. I screamed in agony. She shut it back off quickly. Then she whispered, "I'm going to stay in one of the guest bedrooms tonight. I hope you feel better." I groaned affirmatively in response.

In the morning Melanie checked in on me but I feigned sleep. She grabbed her clothes for the day and left the bedroom.

After I heard her tell KJ to keep an eye on me she left for "work".

I got up and took a shower and got dressed. As I walked downstairs to the kitchen I saw KJ making breakfast, pancakes, eggs and bacon.

"Hey dad, mom said you had a really bad migraine last night. I didn't expect you to be up until noon. Would you like me to make you some breakfast?"

"That would be great KJ. You're the best daughter a guy could have."

She smiled and looked at me with love in her eyes. She was my world now. I had to handle this situation with the least impact on her. It was her senior year after all. Next year she'd be off at college.