Chapter 6

When I finished my tour on the JFK I received order back to RVAH-11. While I was away from the Vigilantes the Wing had moved again to Key West, Florida. MaryAnn had to make the move from Virginia by herself once again; although my oldest, Brad, was a teen-ager and was more help than the last move.

The atmosphere at Key West was much like that at Albany. Infidelity was the norm and the sexual revolution had been won. MaryAnn and I never discussed it but we sort of drifted into a sex no-fault understanding. As long as the kids weren’t affected we pretty much did as we pleased. I should say MaryAnn did what she pleased, I was still faithful, and I guess I still believed in being faithful to marriage vows. A real cuckhold.

I did get pissed one night when we were at the O’Club with the Maddens, a couple that lived down the street, in the Sigsbee Island housing area. They had a total open marriage and practiced it frequently. One Friday night, Mike Madden and I were at the bar and the wives were circulating from table to table and dancing with whoever they could talk into getting on the floor for a grope set to music. Around midnight Mike and I tried to find our wives to go home and discovered they were not in the club. The O’ Club had an open design with only a few separate rooms off the main bar and dance floor. With most of the patrons gone it was easy to see MaryAnn and Diana were not in the club. We went out to the parking lot and saw that Mike’s car was gone but mine was still there. Mike said the girls probably got pissed because we weren’t paying enough attention to them and went someplace else. They were either in a downtown bar or went home. No personal cellphones in 1974, so we decided to go home in my car first and then go looking for Mike’s car downtown if they weren’t home.

When we pulled in Mike’s driveway his car was not there. He said, “Neil, I’m beat. I suggest you go to bed and the girls will be home eventually.” Mike was blasé about the whole thing. I wasn’t. If the bitch wanted to go pub crawling, she could have at least told me before she left the club.

I drove back to town to look for Mike’s 1973 Mercury convertible. It was the only yellow Merc convertible on the island so it was reasonable I could find it at one of the late night music and dance bars. I had the idea they probably went to Sloppy Joe’s, Hemmingway’s old hangout, or maybe Hog’s Breath Saloon, another place that rocked until 4 or 5 AM. As I was heading there, I passed Garrison’s Bight where the big charter fishing boats were moored. On a hunch I swung into the parking lot along the quay where the biggest boats were tied. Damn! The big yellow Merc was parked in front of a forty-five foot Sea Ray with the cabin lights on.

I got out the car and walked down the finger pier where I could see into the only boat that was lit up. I could feel the bile rising in my throat when I saw MaryAnn and Diane down in the main cabin with a drink in their hands. Diana was in her panties, and she was sitting with a guy either side of her fondling her exposed tits. They weren’t very big, but the men were pulling and licking on her nipples and enjoying them anyway. Margaret had not gotten around to removing her bra and panties but the guy with her was sucking on her face with his tongue stuck in her throat.