The Magic of the Ring

The next week started off the same. Tuesday morning, I had French Toast. On Wednesday morning, she asked me if I could try and get home early, because she was planning on making lasagna, my favorite. Now I was really scared.

It was two weeks until Christmas. I was extremely uncomfortable. Carlotta had something planned and I had no idea what it was. I knew that I was not going to like it.

When I was a boy, I hated Devil's Food cake. Everybody else in the family loved it, so my mother made it often. My favorite cake frosting was a tart, lemon cream. In an attempt to appease me, my mother started to put the lemon icing on the Devil's Food cake. I remember eating the sweet confection with relish, but always knew that underneath the goodness was that damn Devil's Food cake.

Carlotta was the cake and her persona was the lemon icing. Sooner or later, the frosting would be gone and I would be left with the Devil's Food cake. I decided by this time, that she was not going to go to the police and tell them about the ring. She had other plans that probably were not legal. I could not wait any longer.

Two days before Christmas, I cleaned out the bank accounts and cancelled the credit cards. There wasn't that much, but I figured that I would take it all. Yes that's right, I was leaving. No divorce, no legal mumbo-jumbo. I was just going to take off. The house was a rental. We were never really interested in buying our own.

We had a small tree set up with presents for each of the kids and their spouses. They were coming over some time in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I would not get to see them this year. Early Christmas morning, I put a small, jewelry box under the tree for Carlotta and quietly left the house for the last time.

I went West until I hit I-81, and then I started South. I had a friend in Pensacola who was going to put me up until I could get a place of my own. I stopped outside of Hagerstown to get some breakfast. About now, Carlotta would be opening her present. Inside, she would find my wedding band and a three carat, diamond, pinky ring.

It was too far to make the drive in one day, at least for me. Unfortunately, most of the motels were all booked up for the holidays. I finally found one just outside of Chattanooga. The next day, I was settled in comfortably with my old friend Tom and his wife.

There were plenty of furnished mobile homes to rent in the area. After I got settled in, I got a job with a company that specialized in flood and water damage repairs. They agreed to pay me under the table, if I agreed not to give them my Social Security number. It was an interesting arrangement and everybody was happy. I decided it was time to check in with my children. I didn't care about Carlotta, but the kids needed some closure. One of my fellow workers was glad to let me use his cell phone in exchange for lunch.

"Terry. It's dad. What's going on?"

"Where the hell are you? It is a mess here. Mom is going crazy."

"Crazy. How? Crazy mad or crazy sad?"

"Mad as hell. Christmas day was a disaster, but it got worse after that. When she found out that you took all of the money and cancelled the credit cards, she went ballistic."

"Well at least something good came out of this."

"What happened? Before Christmas, everything was looking good between you guys. We all thought that the two of you were going to work everything out."

"Terry, it might have looked that way, but believe me, it was never going to happen. I decided it was better to leave before it went to hell."

"We don't know how long she will be able to hold out with any money. None of us are in a good enough position to help. Sharon suggested that she should get a job and mom blew up. I don't think she has enough to pay the rent and utilities at the end of the month."

"Are you guys doing anything for her at all?"

"We are doing our best to stay away from her. Since she doesn't have you to dump on, she is using us. Sharon won't even answer the phone when she calls. Even if we could help, it is getting to the point where none of us want to."

"Well, I am sorry to have to leave you with this mess, but you guys insisted that I take her back after she cheated on me, so now you get to live with it."

"Are you sure you don't want to come home?"

"No way. I got a job and a nice place to stay. Next week, I am going to get me an HD television and a couple of six-packs. Life is good for me."

"Where the hell are you? The phone indicates El Paso."

"It's not my phone. Don't try to call me back at that number. It won't work. I'll call you again in a couple of weeks. Say hello to Greg and Sharon for me."

I was glad that things were going well at home. It was rough on the kids, but they could take it. My only problem now was deciding if I should get the 32 or the 37 inch television. Decisions, decisions.

There was a lot of work for painters in the area. The contractors were all licensed, but nobody seemed to care about the workers. It was easier to look the other way. As long as the work got done and there were no complaints, things were fine. I got my TV and also a small microwave oven. I was in heaven. I was making enough money to live off of, so I didn't have to touch any of the cash that I brought with me.

I got a throw-away cell phone and three weeks later, I called Terry.

"Dad, I am glad that you called. Mom is in jail."

"What the hell is your mother in jail for?"

"You know that ring that you showed everybody on Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You said that you got it from mom, right?"

"That's right. Why?"

"Well, mom needed cash, so she tried to pawn it. She was arrested, at the pawn shop, within ten minutes."

"Damn, that's rough. Why did they arrest her?"

"You know very well, don't you?"

I didn't answer, but I think he heard me snicker.

"Mom told the police that she got the ring from you, but they didn't believe her.

The police would have had a hard time pinning anything on Carlotta just from the ring. They didn't have a body, a murder weapon, a motive, or a witness. What the hell were they going to charge her with; having her boyfriends ring?

"Terry, I'll call you back in a week. I don't know what to do right now. Let me think on it for awhile."

I spent several hours on the computers at the public library. The Reading Eagle Newspaper had several articles relating to the investigation of the disappearance of Charles Henry Jenkins. The biggest break that they had gotten was when Carlotta tried to pawn his ring. She claimed that I gave it to her and then disappeared.

The next time I called Terry, he told me that he had assured the authorities that I was fine, and just wanted to get away from Carlotta. They had spent several days with my wife and said that they understood my reasoning, but would still like to talk to me. Terry had a number for me to call.

Later that week, I drove over to Biloxi and called the Reading Police Department. It wasn't the conversation that they wanted, but they seemed happy with the answers that I gave them. I simply told them that after I found out that my wife had cheated on me, I felt that I could no longer live with her. Leaving was the only way that I could keep any of my self-respect. I think that they just needed to fill in a few empty squares on their investigative report.

Before going home, I called Sharon. All of my calls had been to Terry, because he was the oldest and to me, seemed to be the most level-headed. She was happy to hear from me and immediately told me to give Greg a call later that night. The police did not have enough evidence to charge Carlotta, so they released her. Sharon said that Carlotta loaded up her car and went to stay with her sister in Frackville. Carlotta refused to have any more conversations with the children and told them to go rot in hell.

We spent Easter vacation together at Disney World; all except Carlotta. Sharon was about five months pregnant, but still enjoyed herself. It was something that I had denied my kids when they were younger, but they all seemed to enjoy it now. The airfares and admission tickets used up all the money that I had gotten when I flew the coop, but it was worth it. I lost my wife, but I still had my family.

Some day, I'll have to get back to the family bungalow and check out that Golden Delicious apple tree. Some day.