“But, why should you be punished for her being a slut?” Michelle asked.
“That’s just the way divorces go, Michelle,” Troy explained. “Unless I can prove she is cheating on me. But, to do that, I would have to have clear and undeniable proof and be able to convince a judge to allow me to file for divorce on the grounds of adultery.”
“Can’t you sue her boss or his company for alienation of affection or sexual harassment or something?” She asked.
“I don’t think Texas allows alienation of affection suits, honey,” Troy explained. “And, he didn’t sexually harass me, so I can’t sue them for that. Anyway, I don’t think anybody harassed your Mom. She seemed perfectly happy with how things turned out.”
“So, Mom hasn’t told you anything yet?”
“Not a word! I only found out because she was so late getting home and she didn’t tell me she would be. I got worried, so I went to look for her and found her at Paddy’s Pub, having a retirement party in her honor.”
“I wonder when she is planning to tell you,” Michelle pondered.
“I don’t know,” Troy replied. “She’ll probably wait until the last possible minute so that I won’t have a chance to do anything to interfere.”
“What kind of proof would you need?” Michelle asked.
“I don’t know, pictures, video, witnesses, maybe a confession,” Troy replied.
“Daddy,” Michelle said softly.
“Yes, baby?”
“I have an idea.”
Chapter 2
Troy’s phone rang around 10:30 PM. He and Michelle had finished talking an hour earlier, and he had been sitting in the dark, contemplating his life and what he might do. He let the phone ring a couple of times, sighed heavily, then answered.
“Yeah,” he answered coldly.
“I’m sorry, Troy,” his wife Dana slurred drunkenly. “I got your messages. I thought I told you about the party tonight. I’ve been so busy, getting it set up, I guess I forgot.”
“Party?” Troy asked, playing dumb. “I wasn’t sure if you were alive or dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry!” Dana replied. “Were you that worried?”
How can she call me baby and act so innocent, Troy wondered.
“Well, you always call or text if you’re going to be late,” He explained. “So, yeah, I was worried. I called and called, but you didn’t answer. Why not?”
“My battery died,” Dana rationalized, “and I guess I was having so much fun that I didn’t notice. I thought you knew I was ok, so I didn’t worry about letting you know. I only noticed the phone was dead when the party ended, and I was getting ready to leave. I had to put it on the charger to see your messages.”
Troy noticed the line was free from background noise and suspected she wasn’t at the bar any longer.
“So, where are you now?” he asked.
“Uhh, well, don’t be mad, but I think I drank too much to drive home safely,” she answered nervously. “So, some of us got rooms at the Marriott and are going to stay here. Everyone wants to party more at the bar and then crash after.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Troy barked. “Take an Uber; leave the car. We can pick it up tomorrow. We live ten minutes away. There’s no need to stay in a hotel.”
wpDiscuz