All Novel Sweet
157
The next day I unloaded the trailer at the landfill and went and got my shot. Then I drove out to another neighbor where I cut down deadwood trees all day long using a chainsaw. I was assured that next week they would rent out a log splitter and I could split the wood into cords of firewood and then we would discuss the price of removing all the stumps.
I was a tired puppy when I finally got back to my trailer. True to form under the theory that there was no rest for the wicked I was scheduled for court the next day. Donning a set of presentable clothes, I went outside the next morning only to be surprised by my grandparents. They insisted on escorting me back to the city in a show of solidarity.
Well, they got their money’s worth as the battle royale commenced. Once again I was threatened with jail if I didn’t stop contacting Stella. After issuing numerous assurances that I had learned my lesson, the court set a hearing date for child visitation and custody, property settlement, and the divorce.
The admonishment not to cause trouble went right over my grandmother’s head as she made a beeline to Stella after we left court.
“Stella Perry, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done! It was bad enough you cheated on John, but, now you are trying to get him locked up? And why did you tell those lies about him hurting you and the kids. You know good and well that he loved you and his kids with every breath and he would never harm any of you! It is a crime and a sin to keep John away from his children!”
To give her credit, Stella blushed from embarrassment as my little grandmother went face to face with her. Stella and her beau, Ted Jefferson waited uncomfortably for the elevator to arrive to carry them to the lobby away from my angry grandmother. As Grandma continued in on Stella, it got so humiliating that Stella and Ted finally retreated down the stairway to make their getaway. The crowd that had gathered gave my grandmother a small round of applause for the entertainment value.
As we entered the elevator, I studied the court dates the judge had proscribed. Of the three court hearing dates, the only priority I had was to see my children. Because of Stella’s allegations, the state’s child protection office had got involved. Now I had to worry about some misguided social worker having the power to keep my children away from me. I was only allowed periodic visits under the supervision of a social worker with my eight year-old daughter, Carol and my ten year old son, Steven at a neutral site until the matter was resolved.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
The joy I felt seeing my children running toward on each visit was only matched by the anguish I felt as they were tearfully led away by the social worker as they pitifully cried, “Daddy! Daddy!” when they left. I would blindly stagger to my truck and spend the next couple of hours sobbing uncontrollably inside the cab.
How could Stella have done this to us? I looked back on how blessed I had been to marry her. She had been the love and light of my life for more than ten years. She had graced me with the greatest children in the world. And while we weren’t rich; we weren’t exactly poor. We both had jobs and had the ordinary struggles to maintain a budget. But, all in all, I was happy and complacent with life.
But there was a wolf at the door.
Ted Jefferson, a well to do businessman had somehow been attracted to Stella. And he ruthlessly and systematically set out his goal to seduce her. I had no idea how long it took. All I was aware of was a slow gradual cooling off from the love and ardor I shared with Stella. I was beginning to be perplexed by her ever increasing reluctance to make love to me.
When we first married we had plans to have three children, yet, now whenever I brought it up it was one excuse after another. Eventually I gave up the subject and decided to be satisfied with my two beautiful children. Which was fine by me as we started gearing up for all the activities that adolescents partake in.
Football, baseball, and I even gritted my teeth for soccer. Piano, ballet, and swimming. Whatever drew their attention I encouraged as I felt that a number of activities would lead to a well-rounded child. As they got older, then they could focus on the few they truly enjoyed and excelled at. Stella and I had prepared a calendar to help with the logistics of making all their appointments. Over time I began to notice a trend of me being the primary chauffeur while Stella begged off due to “business meetings.”
The meetings began to occur more often and for longer durations. Whenever I complained to Stella, she would lash out at me saying I wanted to keep her barefooted, pregnant, and in the kitchen. So I learned to suck it up and bite my tongue as we negotiated through these perilous times in our marriage.
Any possibility I held out for makeup sex when we went to bed was quickly shot down as Stella began the habit of reading in bed. Any attempt to get her to physically respond to me was shot down. I would turn over facing away from her, frustrated and confused. But it was more than that. I also missed the time we used to talk to one another in bed in the dark still of the night. Those were times I cherished just as much as when we made love. I began to miss my best friend.
Hostilities were brewing on another front. I began to hear harping about how poor we were and how she and the children were having to do without. I was stunned by the ludicrous accusations. I kept pointing out all I did for them and asked Stella what specifically was missing from her life.
Six months later, I found out that the answer to that particular question was Ted Jefferson. I know what you are thinking. I had all the signs in front of my face. All the telltale indications of an affair. But you know what, I loved and trusted Stella and, honest to God, I had no idea until we had “the day.”
Boy, what a day that was. Carol and Steven had soccer practice scheduled for that Saturday morning. I was sitting in the bleachers of the soccer complex yelling encouragement to both Carol and Steven as they practiced on different fields. A whole slew of parents and family were doing likewise for their kids.
A woman sat next to me and I recognized her, Donna Richards, our preacher’s wife. She smiled and we got to talking about our kids. It was a pleasant conversation with just the right touch of guilt for not having perfect church attendance. I’m sure that Donna and her husband both had to deal with interacting with people with a similar guilty conscious.
She remarked how beautiful a morning it was and what were my plans? I told her after practice, me and the kids were going to grab a hamburger and then I would have to mow the lawn. Donna frowned and told me that she had heard on the radio that a bad weather front was moving in and the prediction was for rain the rest of the weekend. I wasn’t happy to hear that. I had already procrastinated for a week on mowing and the yard was looking shabby.
“Man, I wish you hadn’t told me that” I groaned, “Stella will have my hide if I don’t get the yard cut.”
Donna laughed and offered a solution. She would look after the kids and take them with her kids to get a bite after practice and then drop them off at the house. I insisted on her taking the two $20 dollar bills I offered to pay for everyone’s meal. As I left I took one last glance at the practice fields trying to spot Steven and Carol swirling in the midst of the kids.
I hurried home and noticed the late model Cadillac parked in our driveway. I assumed that it was one of Stella’s friends vehicle and so I parked on the street. I went into our carport and unlocked the utility door and hauled out the lawnmower.
It fired up on the first crank and I proceeded to march back and forth across the lawn. I had gotten to the fifth pass when the front door opened and a stranger stepped out of the house and proceeded to the car. He studiously ignored me and fumbled to get his key in the doorlock. I observed his general appearance and didn’t understand why his shirttail was tucked out on one side of his pants. He jumped in the car and fired it up and quickly backed out of our drive and then rapidly accelerated down the street ignoring my yells of “Hey!” to get his attention and stop.
I left the mower running and went inside, Stella wasn’t anywhere downstairs and I hurried upstairs. I was calling for Stella and she wasn’t answering. Just as I got to our bedroom door, the bathroom door opened and we converged, but, both our attention were fixed on a small item of clothing lying on the bedroom floor. A pair of Stella’s panties… a rumpled bed… Stella with marred makeup and hair.
I slumped against the wall and slowly slid down it hyperventilating from my discovery. I didn’t even notice when Stella carefully edged around me and crept out of the room. When I finally broke out of my fugue state it was around noon. Stella was gone, who knows where. The lawnmower had idled until it finally ran out of gas, Donna had not arrived with Carol and Steven.
I was at a loss of what to do. Should I go track down Stella or do I need to wait for the kids to arrive and regroup? I decided I needed to take care of my kids first. Eventually, the kids arrived and asked where Mom was. I didn’t know what to tell them. All my efforts to reach her cellphone were going to voicemail. Gloom remained in the house for the rest of the weekend. The kids finally accepted that I didn’t know anymore about their mom than they did. It didn’t stop those worried looks on their faces.
I somehow managed to get the kids dressed and off to school Monday. If I had known what as going to transpire I would have done something different to change the near future that was about to slam me. I arrived at work and it was torture trying to concentrate and thinking of Stella at the same time. Then came the lunch break and I sat with my fellow coworkers while they ate and joked around. I just stared at the paper bag that held my sandwich that I wound up throwing away. The afternoon toil was no better and as I left the construction site a man approached me and asked if I was John Perry. As soon as I said yes, he handed me a thick manila envelope and told me that I was being served. I asked him served with what? He told me to read the paperwork.
I tore open the package and tried to make sense of the legal gobblygook. What a racket lawyers have to come up with a system that requires you to rely on them. There were certain phrases that caught my attention: divorce, alimony, restraining order, sole custody. This was above my capacity to understand so I called my buddy that had gone through this a couple of years ago. After I told him why I called he gave me the number of his cousin who was an attorney. As a favor to him, his cousin would wait after hours to meet me at his office.