Community Property

"Thanks Dad," I said. I drove in to work and returned several phone calls that I had missed. There was one from Amanda that I waited until last to take care of. I called my lawyer before I called her and found out that the divorce papers were ready to be served. Everything was falling into place the way I wanted it to. The lady from the real estate company was certain that the house would sell before the week was up. She'd scheduled a couple of people to look at it this morning. Both of them had seen the outside the day before yesterday and were only waiting to see what the inside looks like before making an offer. I called Amanda after that.

I waited for the phone to be answered.

"Hello," said a very feminine sounding voice.

Forgive me mother for I have sinned," I said.

"Very funny, Liam, but I'm not a mother superior, I'm only a nun," said Amanda.

"Forgive me sister for I have sinned," I laughed.

"Liam, there's something I have to tell you, before I lose courage," she said. "Are we still going to have lunch today before I leave tomorrow?"

"Of course, to the lunch," I said. "But I had no idea you were leaving tomorrow."

"Well that's why I waited so long to have lunch with you," she said. "I'll see you later."

I looked over the papers on my desk to decide what I should start working on. My boss came in and found me going over the papers. "Liam, you're going to miss this little office after your promotion aren't you?" he asked.

"Not really sir," I said. "An office is just a place to work in. I can work anywhere."

"Hm..." he said. "That's a really interesting statement. Liam, there's something else I want you to consider. It means a lot of changes, but since you don't have any kids, maybe you and Julie might like to consider it. Our office in Chicago is undergoing some management changes. We really need someone like you there. Of course, you don't have to take it, but we'd really like to see you continue to move up the ladder. You have a great work ethic and that kind of thing tends to rub off on the people around you. The Chicago office needs some of that. If you were to consider it, we'd be able to offer you a substantial relocation bonus as well as the bump in salary."

He smiled and left my office. The smile on my face was far bigger than it had been. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. A new start in a new place seemed perfect to me. As soon as I could file the divorce papers and finish off my revenge, I'd be there. It was like a sign of some sort. A chance to start over with none of the baggage from the past to hold me down was a Godsend. As much as I loved our town, everyone knew everyone's business. So I'd been fairly certain that even when I was done with them, everyone in town would be asking me how I felt about Julie cheating on me with my best friends. Every woman I dated would be leery about dating me because they'd be fairly sure that I'd driven Julie crazy. There was no doubt in my mind that I'd be heading for Chicago and soon.

The phone ringing brought me back from my happy place. I picked up the phone and realized after hearing the dial tone that it had been my cell phone not the office phone.

My iPhone's screen showed my father in law's number.

"Liam, you might want to come back here. The police are threatening to re-arrest Julie," he said.

"I'm on my way," I said.

I wove through the streets until I got to the freeway and then I gave my pony her legs. In a matter of seconds I was doing nearly a hundred miles per hour and slicing past cars like they were standing still.

The exit I needed to take came up far too quickly and ended my fun. I drove the last two blocks at a more sedate pace and pulled into the hospital's parking lot.

Once I got to Julies room, the entire room was in an uproar. Everyone looked at me as I entered the room.

"Mr. Bennett, maybe you can talk some sense into your wife," said the detective who'd taken her original case. "We've found out that it's not just alcohol in her system. She has some unlicensed narcotics as well. Either she tells us who she got them from or we're going to charge her with that as well as the hit and run. She may never see daylight again at this rate."

"Officer," I began.

"Detective," he corrected.

"Whatever," I amended. "If you guys were so great at detecting shit, why didn't you find her and stop her when I first reported her missing. None of this would have happened. My wife is facing serious jail time and a bunch of other problems while we're arguing semantics over your fucking job description."

He stepped back. He could tell by the sound of my voice that I was pissed, but actually I was just acting again. My mom and dad in law were impressed by my supposed defense of their daughter. The cops knew thatI was serious. I was setting them all up for my next move.

"To me a detective is a guy who looks at patterns and solves crimes. Great detectives can sometimes prevent crimes. A detective isn't some fat assed donut eating slob who waits until the crime is over and tries to pressure sick women into confessing to things they're not guilty of. As a detective, I don't think you could find your foot in your fucking shoe."

"Calm down, Mr. Bennett," he said angrily. "I'm trying to do just what you said. I don't want to have to charge your wife with anything and I see that she needs help. She's been under the nearly lethal effects of a nasty combination of drugs. I just want to find out where she got the pills so I can keep them off the street so other people don't suffer the way your wife is, can you understand that? Your wife is not a drug dealer but if she won't tell me where she got the pills, I have to treat her as if she's a part of it because she's protecting the person or people who gave them to her."

"So if you find out where she got the pills you won't charge her with the drug charges?" I asked.

He nodded. "That isn't good enough," I said. "I want your word in writing and in front of all of these witnesses that if you find out where she got the pills you will not charge her."

"You have my word in front of the witnesses," he said angrily.

"Then leave my wife alone," I said. "I can tell you where she got the pills."

He looked at me strangely. "You gave them to her?" he asked.

"What a fucking detective," I spat. "Here take a look at this." I pulled out my iPhone and showed him the video I'd shot. I skipped past the sex scene and played the conversation where Jeff gave Julie the sleeping pills and told her to drug me so they could fuck her.

As the video ended the room was as quiet as a tomb. The sound of an ant farting would have reverberated through the room like thunder. Everyone looked at me with a mixture of shock, horror and sympathy.

I could tell that the cops were thinking I was crazy. I was some poor stupid bastard who apparently loved his wife so much that he was trying to help her even though several of his friends were fucking her behind his back.

Julie broke the silence first. "Liam, it isn't really true," she whined. "I do love you, I swear it. It might not have started out that way. Maybe at first I was just using you because I'd lost my way but..."

"Julie, how could you?" asked her mother.

"I can't believe I raised such a skank," said her father. "Let's go Honey, I'm not staying for any more of this shit."

"Mr. Bennett," said the detective quietly. "I'm going to need your phone. I also need for you to identify the people in the video especially the man who gave your wife the drugs."

"He's Dr. Jeffery Martin MD, my supposed lifelong best friend," I said. I handed him my iPhone. He nodded his head at me as Julie continued sobbing in the background. Suddenly I noticed that the room was nearly empty as if everyone just needed to get the fuck out of there. The nurses who'd been there had all left. Julie's parents were gone and even the detectives other than the man I'd spoken to had left the room, either to laugh at me or to find somewhere else to be.

"Mrs. Bennett there will be an officer stationed outside of your room for the next few hours. You are still out on bail for your other charges so even if you are released, don't leave town. My condolences Mr. Bennett," he said. It sounded as if he genuinely felt sorry for me.

When he left the room, only Julie and I were still there. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Liam," she began. "How long have you known?"

"Not long," I lied. "Some voice over the phone that sounded like Scooby Doo, charged me two thousand dollars for that video."

"That bastard," she spat. "I paid him twenty thousand dollars not to show it to you."

"No wonder all of our money is gone," I said. "Julie, between bailing you out, your lawyer's fees, and the money we blew on videos of you fucking all of my friends, we have no money left in the bank. Our bank balance is about twelve dollars. I'll probably have to take out a loan on the house to pay your lawyer. You've ruined us."

"Liam, we're still young. We can save the money up all over again and I'll never do anything like this again," she said. "I give you my word I'll never drink again."

"Julie, you said one thing that was wrong," I said quietly.

"No I didn't," she said. "I know that I told you when I got out yesterday that I wouldn't drink anymore. But I couldn't just quit cold turkey. This time I really mean it Liam."

"I wasn't talking about the drinking," I said. "I meant the rest of it. I was willing to stand by you when I thought you were just a drunk. But I won't be married to a slut. I'm filing for divorce. "

"No Liam," she screamed. "You can't." All of the machines that were monitoring her vitals started showing that her levels of heart rate, oxygen usage and blood pressure were going through the roof. A nurse peeked in to see what was going on.

"Watch me," I said coldly.

"Liam, please give me a chance to explain all of this," she said.

"What chance did you ever give me?" I snapped. "Did you come to me before we got married and say Liam, I don't really love you and I'm fucking all of your friends? Did you say Liam, I want to marry you so you can support me and bust your ass providing for me so I don't have to work myself? I don't remember that conversation." She started crying, but it wasn't going to work. Her tears no longer had any effect on me. The heat of my rage simply burned away her tears the way a forest fire just burns and renders a spring shower useless.

"Did you ever say Liam, I've been fucking around on you since before we ever met and I've continued to do it throughout our time together and have no intention of giving it up so if you want to marry me you'll have to deal with it?"

"It's not like that," she cried.

"I'm only asking because if you did ask any of that shit, I don't remember it," I said coldly.

I started for the door. I didn't turn back to look at her even once. It was all I could do not to laugh as I left the room. Mentally, I chalked up another point against her and another against Jeff on the chalkboard in my mind. I wanted to put all of that away and concentrate on my lunch with Amanda. After that, I'd take care of my revenge against Greg and put all of this shit behind me before I moved to Chicago.

I got to Texas Roadhouse just before Amanda did. I had barely sat down when she came into the restaurant. Amanda didn't have huge tits like Jeff's wife Paula did, but there was just something about her. She wasn't the type of woman to draw attention to herself. But she was just beautiful. Even in the out of date and very severe attire that the nuns were allowed to wear when they were out of their habits, the eyes of most of the men in the room were drawn to her. And when she spotted me and smiled at me and it became obvious that her smile was just for me; most of the other men were jealous.

She sat down across from me and looked deeply into my eyes. Our waiter came over immediately. I couldn't believe the little bastard. He was carrying a tray of food that was meant for another table. I'd been sitting there for a few minutes and he'd completely ignored me but as soon as Amanda shows up, the asshole made a beeline for the table. I mentally reminded myself to drop a couple of dollars off of his tip, even though I'd probably have done the same thing if I was him.

As soon as he took our orders, Amanda was back staring into my eyes.

"Okay spill it," I said.

"Spill what?" she asked. "Can't I just be happy to see an old friend?"

"Mandy, even when I saw you at the park, and every time we've chatted on the phone since then I've had the impression that there was something you wanted to talk about," I said.

"Liam, you always could read me," she smiled.

"No Mandy, I couldn't," I smiled.

"Yes you could," she countered. "You always knew before anyone when I was happy about something or sad. And you always seemed to know just what to do about it. I've heard from most of my friends that men have heads like blocks of cement. Your wife is really lucky."

"Mandy, if I was half as intuitive as you're giving me credit for, I would have sensed that the girl I fell in love with was going to leave me for the church. I'd have known enough to know that you were going to take advantage of my virtue and I'd fall even further in love with you and then you'd break my heart when you left college for the convent," I said bitterly. The concern on her face appeared from nowhere.

One minute she was beaming and smiling at me and the next she knew what I'd gone through.

She raised one delicate hand to her mouth. "Oh, Liam, I never knew," she said. "Most of my life before I met you, I'd teetered back and forth between two dreams. On one hand I wanted to serve the Lord like my aunt did. On the other, I wanted to be a teacher and work with small children."

"I had lots of questions about things like love and sex and dating, but they just never seemed to fit into my plans. My plan included going to college for two years and getting my associates degree and completing college in the seminary. I did still have those questions about love and sex and wanted to experience it before I committed myself to the Lord. My Aunt told me not to worry about it, just to use protection and go for it. She told me that I was a pretty young woman and it wouldn't be hard to find a man who'd do the job. She also told me that men weren't like us. Most guys would just have sex with me and walk away, no strings attached."

"The problem, Liam, was me. I'm not the kind of girl to just go after some random guy that I had no feelings for. I had always liked you and we'd been very close. Most of the people who knew us thought that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Liam, I did have really strong feelings for you so I thought that you'd be the perfect man to be the only one to ever..."

She looked at the horror written on my face. Maybe it was what I'd been through over the past couple of weeks but I was closer to slapping the shit out of my dream girl than I'd ever imagined I could be. I dropped back into my chair and waited for the lightning from above to strike me just for thinking about it.

"So..." I said once I got my temper under control. "There I was thinking that we were in love, when I was only a couple of pre-convent booty calls..."

"Amanda, I..."

"No Liam," she said.

"Amanda, I was devastated," I said. "And as far as just walking away after no strings attached sex...I was depressed for almost two years. I didn't date, I didn't even go out. I barely finished school. Even my grades slipped. I wanted strings Amanda. I wanted strings so fucking badly..." I slammed my fist down on the table.

"I'd have given anything to be tied to you," I hissed. I had to take a long sip of water after that.

"Liam, you don't understand," she said quietly.

This whole lunch was just going terrible wrong. "If one more fucking person tells me that I don't understand today..." I said draining my water and calling the waiter over.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Bring me..." I began and then my brain took over. Getting drunk wouldn't help me but I did need something stronger than water. "Bring me a Dos Equis Amber," I said. He nodded and left quickly.

"Maybe this was a mistake," she said. As I looked at her two lines of moisture trailed down her perfect cheeks. Her normally angelic composure faded and she was no longer the perfect nun. She was no longer the beautiful unavailable stoic woman. She was just the girl I grew up with. She was just my friend Mandy again. And as I always had, I moved around the table and hugged her.

"Liam, I've messed everything up," she cried softly. "I really did love you back then. I just didn't know it. I was just a stupid little girl. I was like those boys who grow up thinking they want to be a race car driver all of their lives and then once they get behind the wheel of a car find out that they really can't drive that well. I finished college but I never, ever got you and what happened between us out of my mind. By the time I graduated and was supposed to take my position among the sisters I came back home to reflect before taking my vows. I didn't really come back to reflect, I came back to see if there was a chance for us. Maybe I just wanted to see you and see if what we had was only in my mind."

"You never did that," I snapped. "If you had..."

"Liam, when I got back here you'd just gotten married," she said. "I knew that it was a sign that things between us just weren't meant to be. I figured that you'd simply moved on as my Aunt said you would. I went back to the convent and into my career. I enjoyed teaching or I thought I did. But for the past few years, I've had to make some really ugly discoveries. I became a nun for all of the wrong reasons. I became a nun because I wanted to be like my Aunt. I love working with children but I really don't support a lot of the things going on inside of the church right now. Then recently I made the biggest discovery of all. I like working with children but I think that what I really want is my own."

I just looked at her with my mouth open.

"This is just going totally wrong," she said. "Maybe we should do this some other time. I guess I'm just having a crisis of faith. If I even have any faith. Maybe I never had any fucking faith in the first place..." Tears were running down her face quickly now. She suddenly just got up and left the restaurant.

And as usual with my luck the food arrived only a few minutes after she left.

The incredibly stupid waiter started setting hot plates of food onto the table while I cradled my head in my hands wondering what had just happened.

"Is this for me?" asked a soft voice with a southern accent. I raised my head and looked into the biggest titties in the state. It was Paula and she was cheating. No woman who is that well-endowed should be allowed to wear a blouse that low cut.

All of the blood that had been coursing through my brain throughout my extremely emotion charged conversation with Amanda drained into my nether regions.

"Why not," I said, letting my head drop back onto the table.

"Good let's eat and then let's go back to your house," she said.

"Why do we need to go to my house?" I asked.

"So you can start fucking me," she said angrily.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Liam, do you know where I've been for the past hour?" she asked between bites of Amanda's steak.

"I've been running back and forth between the jailhouse and the courthouse while my marriage has fallen into the outhouse. I got called down to the jail because while Jeff was running around trying to arrange to share office space with another doctor in the area, he was arrested. I thought that maybe he was speeding or something. He's been really pissed ever since the clinic burned down and we found out that we're going to be in debt basically forever. We have to pay off the mortgage on a building that no longer exists. We have to pay for a bunch of expensive medical equipment that no longer exists. And until we do that, none of the banks will even consider giving us a loan to rebuild the clinic or buy any new equipment."