Algebra

We chit chatted about school, boys, sports, etc. Then I asked her "Have you made up your mind on which college you want to go to next fall?"

I'm not sure yet dad. I know I want to go into engineering, but I don't want to upset you."

"How would that upset me?" I asked, proud of my daughter following in my footsteps.

"Well I think I want to go to Cornell."

"WOW, our alma mater, that's great."

"No dad, Cornell University."

I have to admit I was a little disappointed to hear that. The OTHER Cornell. It was a top tier engineering school though. I guess I could get used to it.

"That is great. They are one of the best. I would be proud to have a daughter graduate from either Cornell. Have you gotten the application in yet?"

"I sent it out four weeks ago. I would really like to hear something before Christmas so I can start making plans."

"Well I'll see if I can use any of my contacts to help you out anyway I can."

"That would be great dad."

After breakfast I told KJ that I was going to head in to work. I had a few things I needed to take care of.

So I hit the office to make my plans. First things first though, my daughter! I looked at the bios of all the engineers at our plant and our companies other plants. None of them here at this plant were from Cornell University but 2 from one of the other plants were, including a department head I knew from corporate meetings and training. "I'll call him first thing Monday morning." I said to myself.

Now for revenge on my wife, possibly my soon to be ex-wife, and Jack Anderson. He would be the easier one.

I spoke to a couple guys on the production line, (yes they work on Saturdays). A couple of them I knew were from the wrong side of the tracks. Some even had criminal records. I asked a few of them who I'd need to talk to get a nasty girl "for a prank" I said.

"Talk to Andy. He'll set you up, but if it is for you I'd make sure you use a rubber."

"Bingo, that is exactly what I'm looking for." I thought to myself.

Andy didn't work on Saturdays, so I would have to wait till Monday on that too.

I needed to make a list for Monday.

1. Talk to Ben in New Jersey for KJ.

2. Talk to Andy

3. Talk to Human Resources -- cash out 401K?

4. Call divorce lawyer for information in case we couldn't reconcile.

I knew a few divorced men. Their ordeals were horrible. If they thought that they got screwed while they were married it was a total screw job in the divorce. I was determined that would not happen to me if it came to that.

Today, however, I could get some more done. I headed to the bank and withdrew all but $10,000. I went to another bank and started a checking account in my name only. Also I got a credit card in my name only. I then called my credit card company and paid off the card and reduced the limit to $1,000. Then I called a private investigator. I wanted to meet with him to discuss my options. I needed to find out Jack's routine. We made an appointment for Monday.

Then I went to Radio Shack and bought motion sensitive cameras and voice activated recorders.

It was about noon so I called Melanie to see when she would be home.

"Hi honey. Sorry about last night. Sorry I snapped at you." I told her, having to almost grit my teeth to not let her know anything was wrong.

"How are you feeling? Do you need me to come home?"

"No, I'm feeling a lot better. I'm going to run some errands then work in the yard to try to get the leaves all raked up."

"That's good to hear. We're slam busy so I probably won't be home until dinnertime." She said. I wondered if I should believe her or go check up on her. It didn't matter, in fact, this would probably work out best. I'd have hours to do what I needed to do.

So, home I went. It took me about 3 hours to wire the house. Luckily KJ was out with friends all day. Teenagers don't tend to spend much time at home.

I tested the system. I had it all programmed to record on a new laptop I bought and hid it in the basement. No one goes down there anyways, not even for laundry. Melanie had to have that on the second floor at a remodel expense of over 20 grand, all to make my bride happy.

Now I had to get outside and start raking the leaves so I would be at least half done when she comes home.

About 5 o'clock she poked her head out the sliding glass door and told me she was home and asking me, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay enough to rake leaves. I should be able to get them all bagged up by around 7:00."

"I'll come out and help you," She said, "just let me change."

Five minutes later she came out of the garage, rake in hand, and we raked up the leaves. I didn't say much, tried to not let her know that I knew. If I tried talking too much I'm sure she would sense something was wrong.

We finished around 6:30 and she said she was going to start dinner.

I went up to take a shower and change into a pair of sweats and a Cornell College sweatshirt. I wondered what kind of reaction that would get? Would she remember the good times?

I came downstairs as she was setting the table. "Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes or so." She said.

"Good, that should be just enough time for me to get the bags of leaves out to the curb for pickup Monday."

I opened the slider and stepped into the back yard. I opened the gate to the side yard and hauled the bags one at a time to the curb. 15 bags already and the trees weren't even half empty of leaves yet.

I walked back in, stopped at the half bath in the mud room and washed my hands. Then I sat down to eat, chicken breasts on rice with, of course, California medley for the vegetables.

Wow, it is amazing how little things could now set me off. I smiled and ate quietly. She was talking about what happened at the shelter that day. Busy, busy, busy, she said. I only half listened and made a few "uh huh" and "mmm.." sounds.

After dinner we watched T.V. for about an hour before I said, "I'm going to go to bed early to try to get rid of the rest of this migraine. It doesn't hurt very much but the extra rest should knock it out."

So at 8:30 I was in bed. I think I was asleep by 8:45. I had gotten very little sleep last night so I was exhausted.

Sunday I got up to get ready for church. KJ met me at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go. I asked Melanie if she was going and she said "not this week". Funny, she had only gone a couple times since July 4^th. Another clue I missed. I never pushed it with her though, she was always sporadic on church attendance.

At church the sermon was on forgiveness. "Could I forgive Melanie?" I thought. "Why had she done this?" I know some women see 40 as a huge thing. Was she trying to recapture her youth before she turned 40 in a few months?

At the end of the service I just sat there. One of my friends came up to me and said, "So, how was your Halloween?"

I turned to my friend. "It was the Devil's Night." I said. "It was one of the worst nights of my life."

KJ said, "He came home with one of the worst migraines he's ever had."

"That wasn't it." I thought. "That was pretend so I could avoid your mother." I couldn't tell KJ that though.

"I'm sorry to hear that Kurt. I'll pray for you."

"Pray for the whole family." I said. Then I walked away.

When we got home lunch was on the table. Roast beef with all the fixings. I'll hand it to Melanie, she had become a great cook. When we had gotten married it was hit or miss. How can you mess up Manwich. I don't know if they still have a Chunky Style Manwich or not but she had made me that and I put it on a bun and ate it. I didn't say a disparaging word. About an hour after dinner she realized when she looked in the refrigerator that she hadn't cooked up the hamburger.

We laughed about it and I told her "everything she did made me happy." That was then this is now.

After lunch I decided to tell Melanie that I was going to go out in the woods to check on my deer blind. "Oh, I didn't know you were going hunting this year. You haven't for the last few."

"Yeah, I think I'll go out at least once." For those that don't live in Michigan, November 15^th is opening day for rifle deer hunting. It isn't a state holiday but it may as well be. Half the plants shut down for the first few days of the season. That would give me a good excuse to be gone for at least one day.

Sunday night was back to normal. I didn't initiate sex, so we didn't have it. That was alright with me. I wouldn't put my dick in there now for all the tea in China. (What an odd expression. I know that would be a lot and worth a lot but where would you store it?)

Monday, this would be a busy day. First things first, I got into work at 7:00 and called Ben in New Jersey. I had to leave a message. I guess department heads didn't come in until 9:00 in Jersey. Second, I emailed Human Resources to set up a time to sit down with them. Third, I walked the floor to see if Andy had a few minutes to talk to me. I found him waiting for stock so I asked if we could speak.

"Sure Kurt, what do you want?"

"Well it's personal and I'd rather not talk about it on the floor. Do you think you would have some time today, or if not, then after work?"

"Sure, once I get the line up and running it practically runs itself. I can ask one of the guys to cover for me."

"Great, meet me in my office when you can. I'll be waiting."

In about half an hour Andy walked in. "What can I do for you bossman?"

"Andy, you know I'm not your bossman."

"You should be, you're the only one that knows what the fuck is going on around here."

I smiled, then frowned. I did know everything going on around here, but I didn't know shit about what was going on at home. Clueless. Well I used to be.

"Andy, I need to talk to you about something personal and I need to know that it will not get out into the plant, or anywhere actually. I need complete secrecy on this."

"Well unless it is somethin' to do with me helpin' you plan a terrorist attack or somethin' I'm all in and won't say a word to no one. I'll even be your alibi if you want me to."

"It isn't that bad, at least for most people it won't be."

"I'm hearin' ya. Keep talkin'," he said.

"I want to get a hooker for.."

He cut me off saying, "Whoa, I didn't think you were that kind?"

"It's not for me, Andy. I need to do a little payback to an ex-friend of mine."

"Why would ya want to get him a hooker if he's an ex-friend? Is he blackmailin' ya?"

"No, let's call it revenge and leave it at that."

"So what are you gonna do, get pictures and blackmail him?"

"No, I may get pictures but it won't be to blackmail him. I am looking for a particular type of hooker, one that can look like your average housewife."

"Oh I get it, you wanna get him in trouble with his old lady."

"That will probably happen, but what I really want is for him to get chlamydia. Would that be possible to find someone that could do that in two weeks, on the 14^th of November?"

"Wow, that's cruel, but I like it. Remind me never to piss you off."

"Do you think you could do it?"

"Yeah, I think I can. The biggest problem would be getting the hooker to be willing to carry the disease for a week or so."

"I can pay $1,000, would that do it?"

"I don't know, she'd be out of service for at least 2 weeks."

"Okay, how about $2,000, that' a grand a week and 500 for you as a finder's fee."

"You got it bossman."

"I'll let you know all the details as we get closer. You line up the girl."

Andy left and I sat back and smiled. Now for the next part of my plan.

As the engineer that handles most of the production equipment I get a lot of people asking my opinion on different aspects of the plant. I keep all the business cards of the salesmen, engineers, millwrights, etc. I just had to find the right one.

I started going through the stack and pulled out XYZ DIE Inc. We hadn't bought but a few pieces from them over the years but that might change drastically soon. I called the number on the card and asked for an appointment to sit down with the salesman and diemaker. They jumped at the chance. They could be here this afternoon.

I was leaning back in my chair thinking of how my plans would unfold when my boss, the CEO, popped his head in and said good morning. "Oh hi Brad, I was just going to see if I could get an appointment to talk with you this morning but I figured I'd have to wait until Jill got in to schedule it."

"I've got time right now if that works for you."

"Sure, that would be great. Thanks Brad."

"Hey, I heard you came in for a few hours on Saturday. Was there a problem I should know about?"

"Well, that is kind of what I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's personal and has very little to do with work."

"Kurt, you have been here for almost 20 years. We're like family, you know that you can talk to me about anything."

So I told him the whole story. I asked him to keep it between us and he assured me it would be.

"I still can't believe Melanie would do that, but I guess you never know. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes open in my own marriage too. So how can I help?"

"The bastard ex-friend is the salesman for ABC Dies, in fact I got his foot in the door here 7 years ago. I'd like to pursue another Diemaker and then if they can do what we need them to do, at or below the same cost, I'd like to tell ABC that we no longer need them. I don't make those decisions though."

"I can do that," Brad said. "Who are you going to call to replace them?"

"I've already got an appointment for this afternoon with XYZ DIE. We already buy some of our dies from them and they perform well."

"What will I tell ABC when I inform them?"

"Tell them that we are unhappy with the service we are getting from their salesman and that XYZ has promised lower prices and faster turnaround. Of course that is providing the meeting today goes as planned."

"Let me know this afternoon how things go."

"Thanks Brad, it's great to be part of a family."

As he left I smiled, plans were coming together.

Next I called a divorce attorney and made an appointment for Tuesday. I checked my email and I had an email from Human Resources. I could stop by any time before 11:00. I decided to go right then. You never know what will happen in a manufacturing plant. I could get a call in 5 minutes and be busy putting out fires for the rest of the morning.

Sherry, the HR director invited me in and asked what she could do for me. I told her I had some personal issues and that I would need to cash out my 401k. "You're going to take a huge hit unless you roll it into another retirement account."

"I know that, but I can't help that. What do I need to do?"

She had me fill out all the necessary paperwork and again tried to dissuade me. Before I left I asked her how much vacation/personal time I had left. She looked it up and said I had 4 weeks plus 10 personal days. Wow, that was 6 weeks. That would help me in my plans.

I would be getting the disbursement direct deposited into my new checking account within 10 business days.

That afternoon the meeting with XYZ went well. They were bending over backwards to get our business. I had asked Brad, Mr. Smith -- the production manager, and a couple of the production techs to be in the meeting. They all had great questions, especially the techs. The XYZ salesman and diemaker were able to handle all of them and gave us all confidence that we were making a great move.

I talked to Brad after the meeting and asked him to hold off talking to ABC until next Monday. He agreed. That would give XYZ time to get things in the works.

After work I met with the Private Investigator. I needed him to follow Jack and find out as much about him as possible especially his daily routine.

Tuesday I met with the lawyer. I found out that it could take months and we are a no fault state so getting evidence of adultery was unnecessary, also that I would get screwed financially in a divorce. "Great!" I thought, "I have to beg to get screwed while we were married and when I went for a divorce it would happen automatically." I told him I would think about it to see if I could come to terms with her past indiscretions. If we could somehow reconcile I would be better off financially. If, however, Melanie continued her cheating, then I would want to move on this by the end of the year. He also informed me that two, of the three judges that we could get to hear our divorce case were bleeding heart liberals and almost always sided with the woman when it comes to support. They usually gave the woman at least 60% of the household income and assets. I had already figured that out and would be doing something about that.

If it went the way the lawyer pictured it I would be working to let her live in our house and give her money to run around with. That would not happen!!!

I had to think. Could Melanie and I get past this? I loved her, maybe this was a one time thing. I just didn't know if I could get past this. I guess if she came to me before Thanksgiving and confessed I could possibly get over it in time. I'd give her every opportunity to tell me, but I would also give her opportunity to cheat.

The rest of the week went as normal, well as normal as I could act like it. I didn't initiate and so no sex, which was now my plan since Halloween.

Friday Andy came into my office and asked if we could talk. I said, "Now is a great time, just waiting for the weekend."

"I got the right girl. She's 35 years old, looks like someone's mother, and agreed to get the STD so she will be ready by next Friday.

"How is she going to do that?"

"Already done, that way she will be infectious yet not show any signs."

"How long till there are signs?" I asked.

"Usually 2 -- 3 weeks."

"Perfect" I said, "Thanksgiving weekend is judgement day." I said to myself.

I called the P.I. and got Jack's routine. He usually stops after work at a hotel restaurant with a bar. Has one drink, flirts with the waitresses, then he goes home. Perfect!!!

It is great when a plan comes together and this one was.

The weekend was full of more leaf raking, (why can't they all fall at once?). 15 more bags to the curb and still more leaves on the trees. I think some of my neighbors are exporting them to my yard just to see me get frustrated. Oh well, it kept me out of the house and Melanie didn't come and help me this time. Thank God for small blessings.

Sunday morning -- church, KJ and me, again no Melanie. KJ said something to me after church. "Dad, is everything okay?"

"Sure, why do you ask?"

"I know you dad, you're not acting like normal."

I hated to lie to my daughter but I couldn't have her telling her mom or clueing her in on any of this so I told her. "Just a lot of things going on at work. Don't tell your mom anything. You know how she'll worry. I don't want that, especially going into the holidays."

"Okay dad, I hope it is nothing too serious, but you know we'll get through it whatever it is." I smiled at her, knowing that was true. My daughter would get through it just fine. "We've raised a great daughter." I thought.

After church we went home and Melanie had lunch ready. We ate as normal and then Melanie asked KJ if she wanted to go shopping that afternoon to "Get some ideas for Christmas", she said.

"Sure mom, that sounds great. Dad, do you want to come?"

"Nah, I'll let the two of you have some mother/daughter bonding time."

After lunch they left and I decided to check my laptop downstairs. I hadn't checked it yet. I guess I didn't want to know, really.

There was a lot of nothing for the most part. I did hear one half of a conversation Melanie had with Jack.