Scoliosis Effect

"OK John. Who are the guys on the list that your son-in-law gave you?"

I slid the piece of paper across the desk to her. "Two of them are old family friends and the third guy, I don't know."

"What do you want to do?"

"Would it piss you off, if I said I didn't want to do anything?"

"Yeah. I don't expect you to go out on a vendetta or anything, but I do expect you to get off your dead ass and do something. After thirteen years, I finally got you to notice me, and I don't intend to back-slide. If you don't come up with something, I will."

Dinner that night was stressful. I could tell that Mildred was bothered about something, but she was not sharing it. We struggled through the meal with very little conversation. Actually, it was better than the normal talks we had. She had no smart-ass remarks to make, when I excused myself to go down to the bar. This time, I actually went to the bar and I got really sloshed.

Things were back to normal at work the next morning, until Rodney came in. He dropped the mail on Joyce's desk, and then came into my office and handed me a brochure. The look I gave him promoted an answer.

"I gave one to Joyce, too. Since you guys both like to travel, I thought you might be interested in this." He was smiling again as he left the office.

Well, I took my turn smiling when I looked at the pamphlet. It was for a four week, tractor-trailer driver's course that gets you a Commercial Drivers License. Joyce walked in snickering to herself with the course information in hand.

"Where does Rodney come up with this crap?"

"That's not fair, John. I don't think it is crap. In fact, I think it looks interesting."

"You are out of your mind. I can't see either one of us doing this, let alone, both of us."

"I do. In fact, I think I look pretty good in jeans."

"You do, but what does that have to do with this?"

"Well, I can't wear a skirt and drive a big rig, can I?"

The conversation continued for almost an hour until she finally wore me down. Joyce and I both took the afternoon off, and two hours later we were enrolled in the Lehigh Institute Drivers School. Both of us had plenty of vacation time and sick leave accumulated, to finish the course and still keep our jobs, if it didn't work out.

Things at home that evening were less than pleasant. Wilber had left Julie for unknown pastures. I was proud of the boy. For some reason, Mildred thought I had something to do with his leaving. I never denied it or confirmed it. I left for the local bar, and ended up at Joyce's place. Mildred was in bed when I got home.

We were busy at work for the next few days. Joyce had to get a temp up to speed to cover the next month, and I had to reschedule and reassign my work, to make sure it got done. Joyce made me an appointment with a divorce lawyer, and physically took me there. I don't know what grounds the lawyer ended up using for the divorce, but she wanted the names of the guys that Wilber gave me. I told Mildred, I would be working out of the office the next few weeks. She didn't care one way or the other.

Living close to the school made it an easy, daily, drive. There was a bad storm one night, so Joyce and I got to share our first motel room, rather than drive home. The four weeks went too fast. I was a better driver than Joyce, but couldn't touch her when it came to backing up and parking. We both ended up with our CDL and a few nice offers of employment. That night we took Rodney to dinner at the Outback.

The more time I spent with Joyce the more time I wanted to spend with her. I had no idea that companionship could be so pleasant. I kicked myself for not making a move like this earlier.

That night at dinner, I asked Mildred how the scoliosis study was going. I admit I was baiting her a little when I did it. The reaction wasn't exactly as I expected. Instead of getting mad and attacking me, she quietly got up, and left the room. An hour later, she told me she had to go see a sick friend. As she was going out the door, I decided to go see a friend also.

I can't say it was a smooth transition, but a week later, Joyce and I were driving for one of the largest freight haulers out of Carlisle PA. Yes, I sneaked out like a thief in the night. I never confronted my wife about anything. I quietly packed and disappeared. The divorce papers were delivered the next day. I moved all my stuff into Joyce's house, and Rodney was more than willing to house sit and forward the mail, in return for free rent. I get to spend all day with Joyce, and so far, we haven't got on each other's nerves. I am sure we will have disagreements down the line, but for now, everything is fine. We are not planning on any kids, but if we do, I hope they don't have scoliosis.

Wilber disappeared, never to be seen again. Julie was forced, by circumstances to move in with her mother. The last I heard, things were not going well. Joyce and I stopped to see Jason in Colorado a few months later. We got along better than ever. I think he was glad to see that I finally took some action. He and Joyce hit it off with no problem. To make things right, Jason promised to tell Mildred and Julie the truth about the DNA tests, when he went home for Christmas.