She went pale and Cheryl ran over to look at them and saw most of them before Carol could jerk them away. Then she looked at Wilson.
“He’s lying,” said Wilson, “he changed them.” She looked back and forth between Wilson and me. Not knowing who to trust or believe.
I continued talking. “Then the two of them drugged you so Wilson could take advantage of you. I have proof of that.” I waved the video at her. “It’s all right here for your viewing pleasure. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t one of both of them taking advantage of you after they drugged you again.”
At that point her eyes went wide and she went pale. Then she charged at him. “You son of a bitch. You motherfucking son of a bitch.” She was flailing at him. Some punches landing and some not, but she kept throwing them. “You lowlife goat fucking pig, I’ll kill you.”
As she was beating on him, Cheryl had backed up and stood against the wall while Wilson was backing toward the door. “He’s lying. He’s lying.” He almost screamed as he tried to fend off her blows. He made it to the door and quickly escaped.
Carol, exhausted, plopped on the sofa and cried. Cheryl slowly made her way to me and hesitantly touched my arm. I looked at her and she was crying. “I’m so sorry, daddy.” She hadn’t called me daddy since she was five. I took her in my arms.
Cheryl and I stood like that and watched her mother cry. Finally, Cheryl moved out of my hug, patted me on the arm, sat beside her mother, and hugged her. I went to the kitchen, got a glass of water and gave it to Carol. Then I sat opposite the sofa and watched them.
I had my daughter back and that was all that mattered. The fact that Carol now knew I never cheated was a plus, but I no longer cared what she thought.
She sipped her water and looked at me. “What happens now?” she asked.
“My recommendation to you is to find an attorney and see if you can prosecute Wilson and Jacobson. You have the pictures and one video and if your reaction to my comment about both of them taking advantage of you is any indication, you know that at least one more video exists. And you probably know where it is.
She nodded. Then said, “What about us?”
“There is no us, Carol. “Us” died when you believed those two and never gave me a chance to defend myself.”
“Oh, Sam, I am so sorry.”
“Me, too, Carol. Not only did you betray me, but you stole my daughter and kept her from me for over five years. We can’t get those years back and I’ll never forgive you for that.”
Cheryl came and sat on the arm of the chair I was sitting in and put her arm around me. Carol got up and went to the bathroom. I looked at my daughter. That was a nice thought: My daughter. Anyway, I looked at my daughter. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” she said. “There are all kinds of things going around in my head.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me and we can talk about them?”
“I don’t know if I should leave Mom.”
“I understand. How about tomorrow?”
She smiled and nodded.
Carol came out. I stood. “I should be going. Cheryl and I are going to dinner tomorrow evening.”
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