Same Old Song and Dance Ch. 01

I was just about to launch myself at Jeff again, when I was grabbed from behind. I turned angrily and saw that Andy Dalton one of the Sheriff's deputies had grabbed me.

"Terry, let's take a little ride until you calm down," he said. Then he turned to Jeff. "You, get your ass up and come along with us too." I got the distinct impression that Andy didn't like Jeff.

My luck that day was spectacular. I set new levels for Murphy's Law. So why did I expect things not to get worse? But I was wrong again and things went down another level. As Andy led us away from the crowd, towards his squad car, I heard the sound of a squeal coming from a feminine voice that I knew only too well.

"Terry," yelled Kira, breaking through the crowd to get to us. "I've been driving all over town trying to get to you. But every place I've gone, I've gotten there too late. Why didn't you call me when you got home? I didn't know that you were coming home yet. I thought you had a couple of finals left. At least, that's what your text said."

"I got home yesterday afternoon," I said, flatly. "I took a nap after that long drive and went to your house as soon as I woke up."

"My mom told me that you came over," she said, smiling. "You should have called me. I'd have come home immediately. But it doesn't matter; we have the entire summer to spend together, starting now. You and I will not be separated until you go back to school in the fall."

I looked at Andy and rolled my eyes. "Andy ... Take me to jail," I pleaded.

"Terry, I'm not taking you to jail," he said. "I was there and I heard this asshole spouting off at the mouth. I've been in your shoes. I only wish that I had the chance you had. I'd probably have done the same thing. But I am a peace officer. It's my job to keep the peace; especially with all the tourists in town for the Founder's celebration. So you two stay away from each other. And if I hear about any more trouble between you two, I'll throw you both in jail until you're thirty."

"S' over, s' far as I'm concerned," mumbled Jeff. His rapidly swelling lip and quickly closing, swollen eye were impinging on his ability to speak correctly.

"Terry, you go north, towards the finish line so you can see your dad lose to the Sheriff, and Asshole; you go south. Stay away from each other until you can act like adults," said Andy.

"Andy my dad isn't going to lose," I said.

"Yeah, kid, I know," he said quietly. "Your old man runs like a fuckin' deer. But I just wanted people to think I was loyal." He pulled me over to the side and spoke to me in a low voice.

"Terry, I heard what that bastard was saying. You know about my story. You know how that sweet talking guy from out of town came blowing in and filled Patty's head with a bunch of non-sense. She left me and our kids and ran off with him. She came back about a month later, crying her eyes out and sorry as all get out. I was strong and had my pride. I told her to go back to where she'd been and never come back again. I only heard from her two more times. The first time she was in jail down in Chicago. They locked her up for solicitation and drug charges. They wanted me to come down there to pick her up. There was no way I wanted her around my kids, so I refused. The next time I heard from her again, was when they called me to come and identify her body.

"It was the worst thing I ever had to do. Terry she looked like a different person. Her beautiful long hair was cut as short as a boy's. She was thin to the point of being emaciated. She had boob implants that were t least a couple of sizes too big for her. She also had hundreds maybe thousands of tattoos all over her body. She had our kids' names tattooed over and over up her arms from the shoulder to the wrist. She had my name tattooed all the way from her waist to her ankle down the side of one leg, just Andy with a little heart after it. It looked like she'd gotten it done every fucking day or at least every day that she could get to a tattoo shop. Then she had a huge heart done on her back that said I love Andy forever. And right above her lady parts, she had 'Andy's' tattooed there with an arrow pointing straight down.

"As I looked at her dead, naked body all the hate went away, Terry. I wished with all of my heart that I had given her one more chance. If I had taken her back when she first came back she'd probably be alive right now, and my kids would have a mother. Everyone makes mistakes, Terry. We're all humans. One mistake doesn't have to ruin your entire life. Pride doesn't keep you warm at night. Pride doesn't hug you and tell you it loves you. My kids miss their mother every day, and I miss her too. I'd give anything to have her back.

"You guys are young; you're both gonna make some mistakes; that's what growing up is all about. Take a lesson from what I did, okay?"

"I'll give it a lot of thought, Andy," I said. "And thanks. You gave me something to think about."

"Hey," said Jeff as I turned to walk away. "Like I said earlier, as far as I'm concerned it's over. I did something I probably shouldn't have done. You got back at me by busting my face up. We're even. And I know that you don't want to hear this, but think about this too. I may have done you a favor. Instead of making a mistake down the line and getting married to her, you found out what type of girl she is. I heard what Andy said too, but you weren't even gone for very long before we started." He held out his hand for me to shake. I shook his hand, and we both turned and went our separate ways.

Well, he did anyway. I turned and stepped into a hug that I wasn't expecting. Before I got my bearings, there were two lips pressed eagerly against mine. I stood there like a rock. It had to be pretty embarrassing for her. She was going to town. She was moving her head back and forth while I stood there unmoving.

Finally, after noticing that I wasn't kissing her back, even a little, she stepped back and looked at me.

"I've been following you around all over town. I kept trying to catch up with you. Why didn't you tell me you were coming home today?" she said. She'd already told me that. But like a lot of liars she thought that by repeating shit that she'd already said, it made it true. That way she could pile on even more lies and hopefully I would believe them too.

"I got home yesterday," I said. "I wanted to surprise you, but I was the one who got the surprise. I went to your house last night because I was dying to see you. Your mom told me that you were out with friends."

"Terry, I hate staying home alone. I miss you too much," she said. "So sometimes I go out with the girls and we ..." She stopped talking as I shook my head.

"Look, Kira," I said. "We're both very young. We have a lot of life ahead of us. But as much as I wish it could be otherwise, I don't think that life will be together."

Her face turned angry, and her eyes filled with tears. "You asshole," she screamed. "It hasn't even been three months since you came home for spring break. You're dumping me for some college girl aren't you? Well, you're going to regret it. Whatever she's doing for you, I can do better and ..."

"How do you feel?" I asked. She stopped ranting and looked at me.

"How the hell do you think I feel?" she shouted. "I'm 19 years old. I've been in love with you since before I knew what love was. The day after I turned 18, I gave myself to you. I feel like shit. I feel like my heart is breaking in two. I'm dizzy and I just want to go off somewhere and cry."

"Great," I said.

"So it's not enough that you're breaking my heart, you want to hear how miserable I feel," she said. "I never thought that you were that kind of person Terry."

"I'm not, Kira," I said. "There is no other woman. I have never cheated on you, not even once." Relief flooded her face. Her smile was like the sun coming out after a hard rain.

"Then Terry why did you ..."

"Because I wanted to show you how I feel right now," I said sadly. "I know about you and Jeff, and we're done."

"Terry, No," I screamed. "You're making a big mistake. There's nothing between Jeff and me. We just went to a couple of parties. We were both lonely. He's engaged to Lana. She was away at college. She goes to the same school you do. We both just needed someone to talk to. I have never so much as kissed him. I swear it."

"So he has never had his hands on your ass?" I asked.

"Of course not," she said. "If anyone said that happened, they're just lying to break us up."

"Boy, do I feel better," I said. I pulled out my phone and pressed play. Jeff's voice came through loud and clear.

She heard everything he had said about her in front of his friends.

"He ... He's lying, Terry. He just wants to seem like a big shot in front of his friends. None of that ever happened. Who do you believe ... that lying asshole or me?" she asked.

I switched to my video files and pressed play again.

Her eyes got huge as she watched herself getting out of Jeff's car.

"It really looks like his hand is on your ass," I said. "And it really sounds like you're telling him that he's going to have to wait until I'm back at school for the two of you to pick things back up."

"The video is faked," she said quietly. "Someone is working really hard to make me look bad. Where did you get it?"

"I shot it myself on this same phone," I said. "You were chasing me all over the town because I just didn't want to see you. But look on the bright side. You and Jeff can get together and fuck each other's brains out all summer. You don't have to wait for me to go back to school."

I turned to leave and she followed me. "Terry, I'm sorry. It won't ever happen again," she said. "I swear it."

"Kira, I loved you with all my heart, but I could never trust anything you say. You've looked me straight in the eye and lied to me repeatedly in the last five minutes. I have no intention of spending my life wondering where my wife is or who she's with. Maybe this is a good thing. I'll have the whole summer to get over it, and then I can go back to school and find someone that I can love AND trust. Have a nice life." I walked away, leaving her standing there with tears running down her face. I could hear her sobs as I turned the corner and headed for the finish line of the race.

* * * * * *

Donna

I was in shock. This couldn't be happening. My life was unraveling. I had no control over what was going to happen to me. I couldn't stop crying. Right after Terry had driven off I got in my car and drove home. I couldn't believe that my son had told me not ever to speak to him again. My own child, my flesh and blood, cast me out of his life.

Terry also called me a whore several times. I was still in shock that the little boy whose ouchies I bandaged and kissed had called me a whore to my face. The worst part about it was that he was right. I know that Terry's anger got the best of him. He was shocked at what he saw. He attacked Ralph Kramden like a wild man. Ralph is bigger and older than Terry, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

No one in town would attack Ralph Kramden. He and Ed Norton were the toughest two guys in town twenty-five years ago. Even the police at the time were afraid of what could happen if the two of them went to war. They both had substantial gangs supporting them.

However, I guess that was a different era. Now both of them were just two egotistical old men who still thought they were tough. Unfortunately for Ralph, my son didn't know his reputation. Terry just started beating on Ralph because he was pissed. If those men hadn't pulled Terry off of Ralph, who knows what he might've done.

I had a lot to be sorry for. I couldn't afford to have the things I'd done come out. If even part of it came out I would lose Greg. And losing Greg would be the same thing as dying.

After twenty-five years of living with him and loving him like he was a part of my very soul I was incapable of living without Greg. The man put three babies in me. I would walk through fire for him. And now our son was so angry at me that he wanted to pull my entire life down around me.

I drove home. I forgot about where I was supposed to be and where I was supposed to go. I forgot about what I was supposed to do. I ran home. A wounded animal always goes to familiar ground.

Walking through my house, I could barely stop crying. Every time I looked at a picture, it triggered memories. Those memories reminded me of what I was about to lose, and then I'd start crying again.

The ringing of my phone gave me pause. I picked up the phone expecting to hear from a very angry husband. It was our oldest daughter, though.

"Mom, where are you?" she asked. "We're at the race. Aren't you going to come down to see daddy run?"

"Yeah sweetie, I'm on my way," I said. I wiped my tears and grabbed my car keys. My hope was that Terry had calmed down to the point where I could talk to him. All I wanted was a second chance. There was no reason for Terry to ruin my life and ruin our family. He and I both loved the same person. That person was his father and my husband. Neither one of us wanted to see him hurt. Terry had to listen to common sense. If it was a case where I didn't love his father, I could understand it. But I loved Greg more than life itself. I could see no future in which Greg, and I were not together.

I got downtown a short time after the race had started. I was glad that my daughter had called me. I found her, her husband and our youngest daughter, Debbie, standing near the area where the race had started and would soon end.

Looking at my daughters together was bizarre. Sherry was taller than me, but she looked just like me at her age. Sherry at twenty four had all of my facial features, and she shared my lack of boobage.

Debbie, on the other hand, looked as if Greg had just spat her out. At thirteen years old, she was already as tall as Sherry and had the makings of a very impressive rack. Her legs were longer and shaped better than mine or Sherry's, and her butt wasn't as big as ours either. If they hadn't pulled her out of me, I'd have sworn that she was someone else's child, but I loved her with all of my heart just like the other two.

My, son in law, feeling alone among all the women asked me if I knew where Terry was. My face must've given something away, because Sherry asked me what was going on. "Nothing," I said. "I'm just a little on edge about your dad running these things at his age. We're going to be fifty in a few years. And I see all of these things on TV about men having heart attacks and ... Well maybe it's time he gave up running in these things."

They all started laughing at me.

"Mom, you're the one who's always telling dad to go out and run," said Sherry.

"I just do that when he gets out of sorts," I said. "Going out for a long slow run relaxes him. And lately I've been sending Deb out with him, just in case."

Sherry was amazed. "Debs you can run?" she asked, as she poked her younger sister in the ribs, playfully.

"Dad slows down for me," said Debbie. "But, yeah, I like to run too."

"Maybe I should start running," said Sherry. "My ass is getting fatter by the year."

"I love your ass," said Mark. "It's perfect." Sherry started smiling.

I felt guilty then because I was the one who had started Debbie going out to run with Greg. If I needed to sneak someone in the house, I'd send Greg out for a run and send Debbie with him. At thirteen, she was old enough to figure out what was going on so it was best that she not be there.

I began to realize that I was the cause of my own problems. My son had been very close to right when he called me a whore.

The problem was that from a very early age, I'd had a very high sex drive. My own mother suffered from the same problem. The difference was that she found other ways to ... vent her needs. She never cheated on my father. I have no idea how she managed to handle it, but she did.

I viewed it as Greg's fault because he was the one who unlocked it when he got my cherry. Greg was a pretty randy guy. He and I knew each other for most of our lives. We had never socialized growing up though because I was two years older than he was.

We met at the state college that both of us attended. Mark was an engineering major and a budding genius. I was flunking out of math. Several of my friends who like me, were taking easier classes, referred me to Greg for help. Within a week, we were an item. Within two weeks neither of us were virgins any more. And for me, it was as if someone had just let a lion out of her cage. I simply couldn't get enough sex.

I finished out the year at school, but my grades, like the year before were anything but stellar. As far as college was concerned, I was losing ground quickly. I was in my third year and had changed my major twice. Greg, though only finishing up his first year, had nearly as many credits as I had. And since he was taking far more difficult classes, it was even more impressive. I, with Greg's help, finally passed a college mathematics class. Greg had helped me with most of my homework, but he couldn't take the tests for me. I escaped general math with a respectable C. Greg had pre-tested out of algebra and had aced College Trig his first semester, and Calculus his second.

Being at home that summer did nothing but bring us closer together. I can't remember a single day that Greg and I didn't have sex. Most of the time we did it multiple times a day. I couldn't get enough. My periods didn't slow us down. In fact, that was when Greg discovered that I liked anal sex nearly as much as vaginal sex.

The biggest problem for us came when I told Greg that college simply wasn't for me. The two of us were so close that we told each other our deepest and most private thoughts. I told Greg that I was dropping out before I told my parents. I was offered a job as a cashier in the local Gas n Go, and decided to take it.

My parents were upset at first. However, they soon realized that I was making the best possible choice for me and for them. They couldn't keep on throwing money into the college, when it was simply doing me no good. I think that we all realized by then too, that Greg and I were going to get married. It was only a case of when, not if.

At the end of that first magical summer, we spent together Greg returned to college. He worked very hard. Even harder than before because as he told me on the phone every night, he was working for both of us and our future. I loved him so much, and I hated being away from him.

Greg was a lot of things to me. Besides being my first lover, he was my first really serious boyfriend. Let's face it; I was cute. But I have never been beautiful. Over the years, I'd had a few boyfriends, but I usually went after them. I lost them all due to other girls being prettier, or other girls putting out. Greg was the first man actually to pursue me. Even though he was a couple of years younger, he came after me aggressively.

I had no idea that we were dating until people started asking me about it. Greg was sneaky. While he was tutoring me in math, he would have me meet him in places that other students went to hang out. We'd meet at a cafe, and after explaining my homework to me and helping me to work the problems, he'd say, "I'm hungry, how about you?"

People would see us together eating and start asking me about my date. Greg was handsome, and he had a really great personality too. He always told me how nice I looked. After a while, I started really enjoying the tutoring. But the first time he kissed me when he dropped me off was one of those watershed moments in my life.

He pressed his lips against mine and closed his eyes. I was shocked at first, but quickly realized that it felt better than any kiss I had ever received from anyone in my life. It just felt right. Before I realized it I was kissing him back. I felt his tongue on my lips and opened them. I was so dizzy that I didn't remember where I was. Looking back on it, Greg really could have fucked me right there in the doorway to my dorm. I wouldn't have stopped him. In fact, I would have let him have anything he wanted.