Brodricksburg Pt. 01

When I tried to question Carrie about what she was doing all those nights when she wasn't home she got angry.

"What do you think I do? You know that I work on all those committees and lately I have had to do some work in the evenings and I resent that you are implying that I may have done something wrong."

The tone of her response made me angry. "Well, have you done anything wrong? Why the hell is this person calling me. She seems to know more about your movements than I do?"

"I don't know. I am telling you I haven't done anything wrong and if you don't believe me, then you can go to hell," Carrie said and then stormed out of the room.

Things were only marginally better the following Friday when we went to the Heart Fund Dinner Dance. Usually Carrie and I are one of the happiest couples at these functions but that night we barely spoke to each other. Hanratty and Linda Abbott, on the other hand, were having a great time together.

I notice Carrie occasionally looking at Hanratty and Linda and I would see a satisfied look on her face. I was beginning to feel like I had lost a part of me and I didn't know how to get it back. Part of me was sure that Carrie would never cheat on me but there was a part of me that had begun to doubt her and I didn't know what to do about it.

*****

The Downward Spiral

*****

For the three weeks following the Heart Fund Dinner Dance I had received four calls from the mystery woman. She had still not given me any real evidence that Carrie was cheating but the calls kept feeding my doubt. It seemed that Carrie and I were getting into arguments almost every day, usually started when I would start asking her questions about what she was doing when she wasn't at home.

It was on a Wednesday night during the second week of June that everything came to a head. Carrie was at her school board planning meeting and I was watching television.

I don't know what I was watching but the story was about a couple where the husband suspected that his wife was cheating on him and she kept denying it. Finally he talked her into going to marriage counseling with him. During one of the sessions the wife finally broke down and admitted that she had an affair but she said that it was over and that she loved her husband and wanted to save the marriage.

I didn't bother to watch the rest of the show but I did kind of like the idea of the marriage counseling. I wondered if that would be the answer for Carrie and me. Maybe I would find out the truth and then I could deal with whatever it was. I decided that as soon as Carrie got home I would suggest the idea of getting help for our marriage and hope that she would agree.

Unfortunately, my mysterious caller had other ideas of how I should deal with my problems. She called me at nine o'clock to tell me that Carrie was not at the planning meeting.

"If she is not at the meeting, then where is she?" I asked.

"You'll have to figure that out for yourself, but I can tell you she is not alone."

I thought about calling Carrie but I knew that she would not answer her phone so I called the school board office. A woman answered the phone and I asked her if the planning committee was meeting there?

"Yes, they're here," she said. "They started at 7:30 and should be done around 9:30."

"Can you tell me if Carrie Hobbs is in the meeting?"

"Give me a minute and I'll check."

She put me on hold and returned about two minutes later.

"Mrs. Hobbs is not here tonight. I was told she called the Superintendent Kelley and told him that she wouldn't be able to make it to the meeting tonight."

I thanked her and hung up.

I felt so empty at that moment that I didn't know what to do. I got the Jack Daniel's out of the cupboard and started trying to fill the emptiness. By the time Carrie arrived home at 10:15 I was ready for war.

When Carrie came into the house I was determined to find out if she had been with another man that night and I thought I could be subtle about it.

"Hi, babe, have a good evening."

She gave me a funny look and said, "Have you been drinking?"

"Just a little. I was thinking that maybe we could make love tonight. We haven't done it in a few weeks."

"Not tonight. You're drunk and I am hot and sticky. I am going to take a shower and go to bed."

I moved closer to her. "Why are you sticky? Wasn't the meeting room at the board office air conditioned?"

"I wasn't in the planning meeting tonight. I had to work," she said.

"Who were you working on?" I asked as I put my arm around her and pulled her close.

"What did you mean by that? I was running around getting papers signed by different people."

"Come on, let's get it on right here," I said.

"Are you insinuating that I had sex with another man?"

"No, but while we are on the subject, did you?"

"You asshole. I can't believe you would ask me that."

"Come on. Drop your panties and let's do it right here," I said as I pushed my hand up her skirt.

She pushed me away before I could touch her crotch.

"Come on," I said. "I just wanted to touch your fine pussy."

"You bastard. You rotten drunken bastard. You don't want to have sex with me, you just want to see if you can find any evidence that I had sex with someone else."

She had me. "Well, if you're innocent why don't you just show me your pussy?"

"Are you really that stupid? Did you really think I would just let you examine me that way and humiliate me like that? When is this ever going to stop? I don't know why I am even going to bother to say this but I haven't done anything wrong but I guess you will never know that for sure. I am not showing you anything."

For the next four days, Carrie didn't speak to me but then on Monday evening Carrie was waiting for me when I got home from work. One look and I could tell that she had been crying.

"Sit down, we need to talk," She said.

I knew this was bad. I sat down on the sofa and waited to hear what she wanted to talk about.

"I've been thinking about this for the last few days. This isn't easy for me but I think we should separate for a while."

I felt the blood drain from my head. I tried to speak but the words wouldn't come.

"I just can't live with you when you don't trust me. I thought that as a detective you would have tried to figure out who was calling you and trying to destroy our marriage but instead you chose to try and find proof that I was cheating on you."

"Isn't there any other way we can handle this," I asked.

"Be honest now, can you promise that the next time you get a strange call that you won't accuse me of being with another man?" she asked.

I knew that answer and was tempted to lie to her but it didn't. "You're probably right but I do love you."

"I know you do and I still love you but we can't go on like this. We'll destroy the marriage for sure. I think our only hope is to separate for a while and see what happens."

I didn't respond.

"I think you should move out and find an apartment."

"Why do I have to move out? This is your idea," I said.

I thought I knew what was coming next. I expected her to say that she makes more money than me and had contributed more to the cost of owning the house than I did. I was already getting angry about her expected answer.

"I just thought it would be easier for you. But if you want the house I'll go," she said.

I wasn't prepared for that. "No, if anyone has to go it'll be me. You're right, it would be easier for me to move; I don't have as much junk to move. When do you want me to go?"

"I think the sooner the better."

"I'll start looking for a place tomorrow. How long do you think we should stay apart?"

"I don't know. As long as it takes I guess. However long that is."

I felt a flash of anger and almost said some things I would have regretted later. I want to ask her if her lover planned to move into the house as soon as I moved out but I resisted the temptation.