I was beyond pissed when she breezed through the door three hours late. “Where the hell have you been? I had to get Chad ready and take him to school. Bobby is pissed and I need to get to work.”

She just shrugged. “Bill wanted us to work over, a couple of hours. Even paid us in cash so Uncle Sam doesn’t get his greedy paws on it. It’ll make up for any time you missed, and Bob already said you were the best one he had. He’ll get over it.”

“Did the phones stop working? You could at least have given me a heads-up.”

“Sorry. Didn’t think. I need to go to bed now and you need to go to work. I’ll make us a good supper to make up for it.”

She didn’t give me a chance to respond before she was headed towards the bedroom. I debated following her but I knew it would lead to a hell of a fight and I really did need to get to work.

I was halfway to the jobsite when it hit me. The little smirk she had when she said she worked over. Something was wrong and had been going wrong for a while.

I put it out of my mind. You need to concentrate to run saws and nail guns.

It was 1983 and we were in the midst of a “mild recession.” I was laid off and my unemployment check was not very big. Then Gail got laid off and that really hurt us. Things were tight, really tight.

We were looking, but everyone else was in the same boat and jobs just weren’t out there, especially for her. She’d dropped out of school in the tenth grade and there wasn’t a lot offered. Her last job had been minimum wage, but it was all she could get and we needed the money to survive.

Then I got lucky. A friend I hadn’t seen in years gave me a call. Bobby and I had worked construction together in the late seventies. He always said we made a good team and was sorry to see me go, but I had a good opportunity and couldn’t pass it up. He stayed in construction and eventually started his own small business, mostly remodels and property maintenance, though he did build a house on occasion. While everyone else was struggling he was doing all right, thanks to his maintenance contracts. His biggest client owned most of the rental property in one county, and a good bit in another, and she kept him hopping.

“Mack, dude, Jack said you were laid off. I just lost a couple of guys and I thought of you. Wanna help me out part-time?”

Damn right I did. He gave me directions to his next project and told me to be there at seven.

After we hugged and caught up, he asked me if I remembered how to hang siding. “Oh, I could probably fake it.”

He grinned, gave me two helpers, and turned me loose. The other guys weren’t really motivated, which I found odd in the tight times we were in, but I stayed on their ass and we were done in two days. He had me replace windows in a couple of rental units. By the end of the week I had 35 hours in.

He handed out the checks and I was shocked when I looked. It was half what I was owed. He just grinned and told me to meet him at The Bar, a little place that got most of its trade from construction workers. I walked in, he bought me a beer and handed me a pool cue. “We’re going to play a game of pool. I will lose. When I do, I’ll pay you the wager we made. Oddly enough, it’s exactly what it would be if I’d paid you for all the hours you worked.”

He grinned at the look on my face. “Look, you told me you could make 60 bucks and still draw a full unemployment check, right?”

I nodded and he continued. “Well, the amount I paid you is just slightly less than what you could have made. That way you still draw a full check and get a little cash they don’t know about. We won’t always use that amount. Every once in a while it’ll be over, and most will be under. I figure I’ll pay you a full check about every six weeks. You’ll lose your check that week but it will keep the state happy. Of course, you can go all good citizen on me and report it all. Your choice.”

I thought about that while I drank my beer. I’d been to the Unemployment Office twice. Both times I had been treated like a number and felt minimalized, and while I know they were overwhelmed, the employees were downright rude, not just to me, but everybody. “Fuck them.”

“You need to practice. Your pool game sucks.”

He just grinned.

I was going to share the happy news with Gail but she had a full head of steam when I got home. Where the hell have you been? Do I smell beer? We don’t have the money for you to be drinking!”

It took several deep breaths before I could answer. “I went by the bar where Bobby hangs out to pick up my money. I had one beer and he paid for it. We got a little breathing room on our bills now. I got a little extra...”

I was going to say cash but she talked over me, telling me a few hours here and there wasn’t going to help any and I needed to get a real job. “What did you have for lunch today? I hope it was something solid because I need you to shit me a good job, because I ain’t gettin’ one any other way. How about you? You find anything yet?”

“you know nobody wants to hire a high school dropout!”

“Well then, you need to take advantage of the program they offered you and get your GED. That will help, if not now, then in the long run. You keep complainin’ about being stuck in the house. You could go in the evening’s and I could watch Chad. Think about it.”

She had been fighting that for some reason, so she turned around and stomped off. I went out back and started playing with our son. He was in first grade, and the world was a wonder to him. He told me about what he’d learned that day and I couldn’t help but smile. He was a good kid and even if I had to sacrifice, I made sure he had good clothes and shoes to wear to school, and money available when he needed it for special things like the field trip to the aviary. By the time we were done playing, Gail had a meal put together. We ate a lot of mac and cheese and hot dogs, but we didn’t go hungry.

I never got around to telling Gail about the cash under the table. I just took it and caught up our power bill.

I came home one day a few weeks later and she gave me a big kiss. It surprised me because she had been a little stingy with them lately. “Guess what? I got a job!”

She had fixed an extra nice dinner and was wearing a pair of short shorts and a loosely tied halter top. One of her “frisky” outfits. I smiled, thinking life would get better. “That’s great, honey. What is it?”

“Let’s eat first, get Chad situated for the night and I’ll tell you all about it.”

That had me frowning a little. What was so mysterious about a job?

We had pork chops, something we’d had rarely this year. It was good, the cake was better, and after Chad had his bath and story, she pulled out a couple of my favorite beers. I’d stopped buying them months ago because they were a little pricy. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

She poured the mugs and settled down across from my recliner. “Honey, do you remember Honey?”

Yeah, I remembered Honey. She was one of her friends while we were dating, and to be honest, a bit of a slut. I’m not a prude; what a woman does with her life is normally not my business. Honey, however, seemed to have no boundaries. She was direct as could be and not above propositioning husbands in front of their wives if she’d had a few. She made two runs at me and Gail would think it funny. She tried again while Gail wasn’t around. I acted like I was interested, let her steer us into a quiet place. She bent up to kiss me only to find my hand locked around her neck and slammed against the wall. “Listen close, bitch. You come on to me one more time and I’ll fuck your world up! You might not look so hot with a broken nose and that could definitely happen. I’d act all remorseful and swear it was an accident, but every time after that if you thought about hitting on a man in a relationship, you’ll remember your crooked nose and think twice. We clear here?”

She was sobbing hard and shaking her head yes. That was the last time I saw her or heard anything about her until now. My feeling of unease was growing in great leaps.

As far as I could remember she was directly involved in seven divorce proceedings, mostly as the other woman.

I just nodded. “Well, I ran into her at the store the other day and when we caught up and she found out I wasn’t working she offered me a job!”

“What kind of job? Does it involve getting horizontal?”

Gail flamed red. “NO, you dick, it doesn’t. For your information she’s married now and works for her cousin. He owns a motel in Charlotte and she runs the night shift, nine until six. He always has his clerks on the night shift work in pairs, and the woman she works with has quit.”

“Why did she quit?”

“How would I know? The fact is she quit and it pays pretty well. Ten bucks an hour.”

Well, that seemed like real money to someone used to making $6.65 an hour.

I tried to be diplomatic. “That’s a pretty good wage, Gail. But to be honest it doesn’t make me comfortable. Is the motel in a good part of town? Is it a good place to spend the night or is it a dump? You’ll be working in the middle of the night, when all the crazies and druggies are out. I’d hate for you to get hurt or killed for ten bucks an hour. And to be honest, I’m not too crazy about you working with Honey.”

“She’s changed. A lot. She’s got a husband and a two-year-old girl. Honey is not the same woman we both remembered. Plus, the cops patrol through there pretty often and we’re pretty safe. I promise you, the first time I get a bad vibe and I’ll quit.”

We talked some more, about Chad and how it would affect him.

“I get off at six. I can be home by 6:45, have your breakfast made, take him to school, then come home and sleep. That way I can spend the evening with my two favorite men before they go to bed and I have to go to work.” We talked ourselves out and agreed to take it up later.

Gail talked me into having Honey and her family over for dinner. I have to admit she didn’t look anything like I remembered. Her hair was up, she had on a conservative top and slacks, and she was pleasant. Her husband seemed to be a good guy. I wondered if he knew about her past. Her little girl was adorable and Chad was enamored of her right off the bat. He ended up in the backyard while I grilled, letting her wander around while he was one step behind her. Gail and Honey laughed. “If he’s that infatuated when they grow up, we could be in-laws.”

It was a nice evening. The little girl went down for a nap after her meal, and Chad fell asleep on the floor. Her husband Jeff went to the bathroom and Gail went into the kitchen for more beer. I seized the opportunity.

“Honey, do you remember the little discussion we had right before Gail and I got married?”

Her eye went wide and she self-consciously rubbed her neck. “That was a long time ago. I’ve changed.”

“I have to admit I like the new Honey a lot better than the old one, but I want you to remember something. If anything happens to Gail, anything bad, and I think you were involved somehow, I’ll make good on my promise. You remember that.”

Jeff came back and Gail came out with the beers. They stayed about another hour before they left. Their taillights weren’t out of sight before she started asking questions.

“Did you see how much she’s changed?”

“Hard to believe. I’d never though she would be married with a child. I always thought if she rolled up pregnant back then that half the men in the county would be sweating.”

She punched my ribs. “That was a mean thing to say.”

“Maybe, but it would still have been pretty accurate. Come on, let’s clean up and get to bed.”

I thought about everything the next morning while I mowed grass. Honey, for all her past faults, was an attractive woman. A five three blond-haired blue-eyed pixie with a great body. I used to smile when I saw her and Gail together. Gail was five nine, pretty tall for a woman, with jet black hair. She was willowy shaped, except when it came to her chest. Full breasted, with no sag and perky nipples. Men had swarmed to them like flies to honey, but Gail shot most of them down. She told me she was no virgin early on, but neither was I, and none of it mattered to me once we said our vows.

In the end, I didn’t fight her when she got the job. Still made her make a bunch of promises, and still worried about her. I was up when she came home from her first day.

“How was it?”

“Boring as hell. Not much goes on late at night at a motel. Everybody is asleep except for a few partiers who stagger in after the bars close, but they usually don’t make a lot of noise. It’s easy money, honey.”

She came home with her first check happy as could be. We decided we’d spend her first months’ income getting ahead on our bills, then start saving most of it for when we went house hunting. I was getting more and more work with Bobby, and I found I enjoyed it more than I remembered. Bobby was begging for me to go full time if I hadn’t found anything by the time my unemployment benefits ran out. We were still gaming the system, part of the pay being reported, the rest under the table. I’d started putting half of the under the table money in a savings account, planning to use it to take Gail and Chad on a vacation. It would be our first in four years and Chad had never seen the ocean, so I wanted to take him to the beach.

Things went along pretty good for about four months. Gail came in bubbling one day and told me the third shift maid had quit and she and Honey were going to make some extra money cleaning the empty rooms. One would work the desk while the other cleaned and they would alternate days.

“Does that mean you’d be at the desk alone?”

“Honey, nobody, and I mean nobody, comes to the desk after midnight. Plus, we got these walkie-talkie thingys that we carry, so if somebody comes to the front desk we don’t like, we call each other. We’ll be fine.”

The extra money did come in handy. Then one day Gail came in looking beat up. I asked and she shrugged. “Hard night. Had a bunch of convention guys in and they left the rooms a mess. I cleaned toilets and carpets all night. Would you mind fixing Chad’s breakfast today?”

I knew what a bad day was like, so I helped Chad get ready for school while she took a shower and went to bed. She was subdued for a few days before she seemed to perk up. As the weeks went by, she seemed to change. It was little things at first. She stopped talking about her job except to say it was the “same old, same old.”

She was also dressing better. I complimented her and it seemed to make her happy. “I felt kind of guilty spending the money, but I needed the clothes. I took part of the extra money I’m making and updated.”

There it was again, the little smirk I’d been seeing lately, like she knew a joke that I didn’t. It was starting to bother me. Then the changes started in the bedroom.

Normally we made love three times a week if our schedules permitted. Mostly it was on the weekends but she had developed a pattern of jumping me just after Chad went to bed two or three times a week, especially Thursdays. She was a bit more aggressive than in the past, especially orally, both giving and receiving. I finally asked her about the change.

She seemed startled and took a minute to reply. “I’ve never talked about this with you, but you see a lot of things working in a motel. There are a few couples who come in every two weeks or so, who kind of like to leave doors open or get risky in the pool. Plus, they tend not to be with the same man every week. I think they’re swingers. Some of the things me and Honey see are pretty wild. It’s like watching live porn and I can’t help getting fired up. That’s why I’m extra horned up sometimes. I know we’ve never talked about it, but have you ever thought about us having anal sex? Two of the couples do it regularly and both seem to really enjoy it.”

I had to process a minute. “Isn’t that dangerous to the motel? What about cops, irate spouses, that sort of thing? And I’ve never really thought about anal. Is it something you want to try?”

“It’s the middle of the night and no one is about. If we see a regular guest, Honey alerts them and they take it inside and close doors. They tip really well, honey, usually a twenty in every room. They’re responsible for most of my new wardrobe. And yes, I think I’d like to try it, just once, to see what it’s about.”

I was starting to dislike the idea of her continuing to work at the motel. We did try anal that weekend while Chad was spending the night at his grandparents. It was good. Gail seemed really into it, almost howling by the finish. She seemed not to have any pain, but we had prepared her with lube and a couple of vibrators.

Then the insolence started, the minimizing of our family time. I asked her what was wrong. “I’m just tired of struggling. It seems every dime we get ahead, something comes along to take it. Wouldn’t it be nice to do what we like, when we want, like before we had bills and a kid?”

“Everybody has fantasies. Yeah, I’d love it. But the reality is we do have bills and a child. Wanna chunk everything, drop Chad off somewhere and run away? I didn’t think so. It’s getting better honey. Our bills are caught up and we’re even saving a little. I’m thinking about going full time with Bobby. He’ll give me a raise and more hours if I do.”

It hurt me when she scoffed at the idea. “Think that’ll make a difference? You need a job that has insurance. We’re all healthy right now but one accident will bankrupt us for years.”

I sighed. “It is what it is, Gail. Unless we can find new careers that pay a lot better, we have to work with what we have.”

There it was again, that little smirk.

It all came apart one day when I needed a pen. Chad was pretty bad to carry everything that you could write with into his room. He was a budding artist and his work covered every inch of our refrigerator. He was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake him so I decided to grab one out of Gail’s purse. I didn’t go into her purse because she kept it filled with so much junk that it irritated me. I picked it and grinned at the weight. Well, the pens were usually right on top.

I opened and just sat there for a minute. It was full of money. A lot of money. I pulled it out and counted it. Twenty-three hundred dollars, a chunk of change for the time. I heard Gail waking up so I shoved the money back in and put her purse back on the floor beside the couch.

I sat and thought as she chattered. There was no way that money was legitimate. My first thought was she was into drugs. I decided not to say anything. I’d be following her to work Friday night.

“Hon, Chad is going to be with your folks Friday. Bobby and I are going fishing. He’s found a spot on the lake and swears every catfish he’s pulled out of there is over ten pounds.”

She smiled. “Go ahead. Have a good time and I’m looking forward to some salt and pepper catfish for dinner Sunday. Catch a big one for me.”

She wanted to play and seemed disappointed when I begged off. “I pulled something today at work. I think I need an ice pack or a heating pad for my back.”

Gail was instantly concerned, getting me some pain pills, an ice pack, and had the heating pad plugged in beside my recliner. She kissed me when he left. “Rest, honey. Don’t go to work tomorrow. We can afford for you to take a day off. I’ll check on you when I get home.”

She called me later, something she rarely did, to check on me. I told her I felt much better and wasn’t doing anything tomorrow but painting so I should be fine at work. She fussed a little, telling me to take the day off, told me she loved me, and hung up.

I was seriously ineffective at work the next day. Bobby finally told us to knock off for lunch. “Come on, Mack. I’m buyin’.”

We sat down at the little greasy spoon he favored, and after we ordered he told me to spill whatever was bothering me or he was going to send me home. I really needed to talk to somebody, so I told him about the money and her general attitude.

“What are you gonna do about it?”

“I’m going to the motel tomorrow night and see what’s happening.”

“And if you see something you don’t like?”

“Then I figure I’ll go to somebody’s ass.”

Bobby sighed. “Remember Jefferson George?”

Of course I did. He was THE rich kid in school; his father had more money than half the town combined. I’d caught him with a fourteen-year-old he’d given some liquor to and he was trying to get her in his car. She was pretty drunk, but she was fighting him as best she could. He finally got tired of it and slapped the hell out of her. “Get in the car, bitch, and shut the fuck up.”

He didn’t know anyone else was around so I tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around, told me to fuck off and started to get in his car. The girl was my cousin. I beat the hell out of him. Broke teeth, two black eyes, and a sprained left arm. I was fixin’ to stomp him in the balls when they pulled me off him.

His dad pretty much owned the police department, and someone had called 911. I’ve often thought I was luckier than I was smart and this was never truer, because a state trooper had a car pulled over within sight and had just finished the ticket when the call came in. He took one look at the girl and Jefferson and called for an ambulance. Then he got statements from all the witnesses and they were afraid to lie to him because he wasn’t local.

The local cops showed up and wanted to take over but the Trooper stopped them. “Sorry boys. I’ve already started the paperwork, so it’s mine. I’ll drop him off at the station for questioning when I finish up so you can do your own investigation.”

They didn’t like it much, but they had no choice. He asked around, found out who my friends were, and told Bobby to find a phone and call my folks. “Tell them to get down to the station as quick as possible. They might want to call a lawyer.”

He took his time, but finally had to put me in his car. There was no love lost between the State and the locals. I found out later they were investigating the Police Department for corruption and abuse of power. He talked to me as he drove. “Listen kid, there are things going on here you don’t know about. I’m going to drop you at the station. Do not say anything to anybody! We clear here? Good. Your parents will hopefully be there before we are, but just in case, refuse to be interviewed until they get there.”

We got there before my parents, so the Trooper took his own sweet time releasing me to the locals. He pulled an instamatic camera out and took some pictures. The cop waiting to book me asked him why. “Because there are no bruises or contusions on the boy. If any show up later I’ll be forced to investigate. You undertand what I’m saying?”

The cop didn’t like it, but there was nothing he could say. My parents and Uncle Pete came through the door. The Trooper asked for ID and released me to them. “I’m not filing charges pending the investigation. My advice is keep the kid close to home for a few days.”

We were about to go out the door when two cops stopped us. “Not so fast. We’re taking him into custody. You can bail him out Monday.”

“What’s he charged with? The state has started an investigation and released him to his parents. I believe State supersedes City, if I remember my law right. Since I’m a lawyer I’m pretty confident that that’s the case.”

They changed tactic. “He’s not under arrest. We just want to question him.”

“For two days? Not gonna happen. I’ll have him down for an interview Monday morning. I will be present when you question him. All questions will go through me. Clear?”

“I have orders to...”

“Then get me the man who issued the orders. If you can’t in a reasonable time, we’re going home.”

There was a lot of whispers and phone calls, but an hour later we were home. Dad wrote a check and handed it to his brother-in-law. “Here. A retainer.”

He laughed and tore it up. “Write me one for five bucks. I’m tired of losing cases because of crooked cops. Maybe this case will change things.”

When the smoke cleared, no one was charged. Mr. Moneybags gave up when he read the report of the alcohol level in his son, the girl, and what the witnesses said. Jefferson wasn’t really well liked, and a lot of witnesses said he threw the first punch. He got his revenge. They had to expel both of us, and he sent his son to a boarding school to finish his senior year. I didn’t get to walk across the stage and had to go to summer school to get my diploma.

Bobby brought me back to the present and I nodded. “Then you remember what it cost you to fuck him up. I know you. There isn’t a lot of planning where you’re concerned. You just charge in, damn the torpedoes. You need to stop and think when you find out what’s going on. Don’t do anything stupid. Remember Chad? You have to make sure nothing happens to him.”

He was right, damn it! “You’re right, but I have to do something.”

“WE are going to go to this motel tomorrow and check it out. If we see anything hinky, we will think it through before we react. Tell me you understand.”

It seemed the best plan possible so I agreed.

Friday night at eleven found us parked in an empty lot across from the motel. It was the first time I’d seen it. It wasn’t a dump, but it wasn’t top tier, either. I was surprised at how full the lot was. We had binoculars, and I could see Honey behind the counter, but there was no sign of Gail.

At eleven-thirty, a woman who looked a lot like Gail walked out of the motel and across the parking lot to a strip club. I was halfway out of the car when Bobby pulled me back in. “You sit still. She hasn’t seen me more than a few times, so I’m gonna put this ball-cap on and go see what’s going on. Do not get out of the car.”

Ninety minutes later he was back, looking a little pale and damned uncomfortable. He just sat there for a minute before he spoke. “She’s stripping, Mack. Her stage name is Desire, and she’s pretty good at it. I saw her do a routine, then she circulated and took three guys into the back for lap dances. The bouncer told me that’s all they’d allow inside, but the women had an agreement with the motel and as long as they took their trade off company property, they didn’t say anything. I asked for Desire and he laughed. “She’s booked full tonight and doesn’t work weekends. I think she has a kid she sees then. She works Tuesday and Thursdays next week, and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the next. She and a girl named Honey rotate. I think she works at the motel the nights she doesn’t work here. Want me to set you up?”

I gave him a fifty. “I would like a Wednesday, but I don’t know if I can make it. If I’m not here by midnight I won’t be coming.”

“She’s pretty expensive, man. A quarter for an interview, half a buck for full service, and a dollar for any ‘extra’ services you may want. I think he talked like that because he thought I might be a cop. I gave him another fifty. “Here. if I’m not here on time it’s free money for her.”

While we were talking, Gail came out of the club with a man on her arm and went straight to the motel, waving at Honey when she went by. By three, she’d made two more trips. I was numb when Bobby put his truck in drive. “We’ve seen enough. You need to calm down and think about what you want to do. Let’s go fishin’.

“What?”

“We’re supposed to be fishin’, remember. Besides, what better place to make plans than at a deserted lake in the middle of the night.”

So we fished. Even caught a few. Mostly, though, we talked.

“What you gonna do?”

“Divorce her. I don’t see any other way out. I need to keep Chad. I DO NOT want him exposed to what she’s doing.”

“All right, we need to gather evidence and catch her in the act, so to speak. Any ideas? I need to tell you I think the local cops are in on it. We saw then cruise through the parking lot three times, remember? They have to know what’s going on.”

That’s when I thought about the Trooper. He was instrumental in taking down the local cops and it got him a promotion to the S.B.I. He mostly worked corruption cases now. I’d see him in the papers every now and then. “I think I know someone who might help.”

I managed to make it through the weekend. Even had sex with her once, acting like I was in pain the whole time. She settled on snuggling and paid a little more attention to Chad than usual. He ate it up. He’d really been missing his mother lately. That made what I was going to do even harder.

I called first thing Monday, explaining who I was and telling them I had information I thought he needed to have. They put me through after about twenty minutes. He remembered me and we talked about the past for a few minutes before he asked what he could do for me. I told him the whole story, including the fact that one of the stripper/hookers was my wife, and that we thought the local cops were involved.

He listened and I could tell he was making notes. “Can you meet me and my partner there tonight?”

I had to drop Chad off with my folks, telling them it was an emergency. We met at a waffle house and talked. He introduced his partner, an attractive redhead, and suggested we ride together in their undercover car. I figured it would be a boxy four door that screamed ‘Undercover Cop’, but it was really nice three-year-old T-bird. They grinned when they saw my face. “We confiscated it in a drug bust a couple of years back. That’s how we get most of our undercover cars. We switch every month. We get the Firebird next!”