Marriage in Flames

"Tell them that the next time they draw a picture of daddy, they might want to put steel bars in front of it."

I smacked him in the arm and laughed, closing the door behind him as he left.

Colin was found guilty. The gas cans I had punctured had been found in the swamp.

Somehow, fingerprints had been found on them, Colin's fingerprints. I had worn gloves that night because it was so cold. Colin had no idea how the cans had gotten there, and no defense.

Laurie was furious that he would start a fire with her in the trailer and left him. Last I heard, she'd taken off with Seth and was once more pregnant. Seth was working in a burger joint and they were living at her father's house.

Colin ended up getting five years for fraud and arson and Laurie got a lawyer and sued him for reckless endangerment. That trial was still in the future.

Sue and John got married. He quit working for his uncle and opened his own business. Sue was still my best friend and I still helped them out occasionally, babysitting so that they could go out on dates.

I got a job working at a lawyer's office doing his billing. It paid great and the hours were steady. I got benefits and things started looking up for my family. I got a divorce from Colin. He didn't contest it at all. Being behind bars seemed to have changed his attitude towards me.

My mother always said that what goes around, comes around. I'm beginning to believe it. Yes, what I did was morally wrong. And maybe I deserved to pay for my part in Colin's imprisonment, but I couldn't be unhappy about what had happened. Every time I felt even a twinge of guilt, I remembered all the lies, all the heartbreak and sorrow he caused me. I remembered the hurt I'd felt and the damage it had done to me and to my girls. And I got over it.

I had a job. I had my children and I was working at getting my life back. I had a lot of self-esteem and relationship issues, but I was working on those. I went in and got an AIDS test and STD tests, breathing a huge sigh of relief when they came back negative. I raised my kids to the best of my abilities, hoping that when they were old enough, they'd look back and see me as a person, not as a mom, and be proud of the person they saw.

I took the girls to see Colin last weekend. It was Father's Day. They had brought him pictures they made themselves and sat on my lap, happily chattering about everything that was going on in their lives.

I couldn't help but notice that the entire time they were talking to him, he was squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Right before we left, I asked him if something was wrong.

He gave me a look, his face turning bright red. "Nothing," he said quickly. He got up and after kissing the girls, walked out of the room and back through the steel door. Just as he was about to go through, I saw another inmate come up to him and say something. I laughed out loud when I saw the inmate pat Colin on his ass. It seemed he was finally getting all the sex he could handle, whether he wanted it or not.

They say that revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, in this instance, I think, it was best served in flames.

* * *

When this story was posted before, I got a few comments on the fact that the lead male character was raped in prison. Now, we don't know for a fact that it was rape. I will tell you that part of this story is true, the names were changed to protect the innocent. But Colin didn't go to jail, he didn't lose Laurie, they have actually been married and are now divorced (secretly) and are still living together on and off.

I wish them well. I can also tell you that Kelly is doing well. She's met and married again, having a little boy this time and they are blissfully happy. She was a friend of mine from long ago and I watched her go through some of this, the rest was told by her to me for purpose of this story.

Please remember to vote and leave me a comment. Thanks so much, Danielle