Chapter 3

Mary and I both had to work on the twenty-sixth and she had to work the rest of the week, while I was off until Saturday. Lucky me, I had a chance to swap shifts and go in at three in the afternoon on Sunday. Wednesday evening, Mary was really distracted about something and Thursday she was even worse. Friday morning Mary was out of the house before I got up. Edith said, "Mommy was crying when she left. Did you hurt her?"

"No, sweetheart, I didn't. Did she say anything about what her problem was?"

"No, but she was crying awful hard. She just couldn't stop. I don't see how she can work."

"Well she probably feels she has to. We ran up some bills for Christmas and she feels bad about that." I knew this wasn't it, but I was clueless to what it could be.

Friday night she came home and asked me to watch the kids as she was really sick and couldn't deal with them. When I went to bed Mary said, "Dirk, would you sleep on the couch tonight or with Josh? I can't have you in bed with me tonight." Didn't matter, for I felt we weren't like husband and wife anymore.

I took the kids over to my brother's house, midmorning. Paul wasn't home and I didn't get a chance to talk long with Paula. She asked me to leave the kids, as she wanted to hear all about what they got for Christmas and how they liked their presents. I headed back to the house to see Mary and find out what she was upset about this time. I thought to myself, "One more day and this mockery of our marriage will be ending. It might as well, for there is nothing left that would make me want to continue our union."

Paula called at noon and asked if the kids could stay the weekend. I said they could, unless Mary had different plans. "She isn't here and I don't know when she will be back, but you better check later. I'll tell her to call you when she comes home."

Mary hadn't come in at three, so I went to bed to get some sleep. At eight the phone woke me. It was Paula and she hadn't heard from Mary about the kids staying over. I just said I didn't know where she was so just keep the kids. That is what I said, but I suspected she was probably out screwing one of the neighbors. She certainly had found someplace or someone to hang out with.

I left the house at ten-thirty and went to work. This was going to be a boring evening as the plant was shut down for the holiday, so I was alone. I turned the live feed to my house on a little after eleven. Mary was home. I could see that she looked beat and dejected. However, it was more a look of mental tiredness than if she had had a marathon physical workout with some guy.

At a quarter to midnight the front entrance bell sounded. I asked myself, "Now who in hell would be ringing the bell? They must know the plant is closed." I went down the hall and peered out before opening the door. Max Stinger was standing there. I opened the door just a crack and questioned, "Hi Max, this is a surprise. What's up?"

"Dirk, I know you are working, but could I talk with you for a few minutes? It concerns your wife, Mary."

I looked to see if he was serious and deciding that he was, I said, "Come in and we can talk while I make my rounds. Before you say anything, let me ask you? What is your interest in this?"

"None for myself. Actually I am here on her behalf. Your wife is in one of the worst messes anyone could be in. I'll tell you how I came to be involved. Believe it or not, I love our local dollar store and I go in a couple times a week to see what is new in stock. It has been quite a time since I have seen Mary happy and since the Christmas party at the house, she has been especially down.

"Friday, when none of the other clerks were around, I asked her what the problem was. She answered, 'I can't tell you because you will think I am blaming you and I know you meant well, but I wish I had never gone to your Christmas party. It all started at the Labor Day picnic.' She was crying hard and then the cashier who had come up behind her told her to go take a break and get herself back together.

"Mary and I went out and sat in my vehicle and she told me what her problem was. I find I am somewhat at fault for something I did, without knowing it. At the time when she needed a ride, I thought I was doing her a favor. I did find her a ride home from the Christmas party with your neighbor, Bob. I guess he had plans for her that no one would figure him for."

I broke in with, "Wait until we get back to my office and I will show you what happened and why I'm having her served with divorce papers on Tuesday."

Max started shaking his head. "Don't do that to your wife. It will kill her."

"I just can't live with her anymore. She is a slut and I will show you how much of a one if you'll just wait a few minutes." I sped up my rounds and we reached the office. As we walked in Max glanced at the computer that I had left with the live feed on to my house. He could plainly see Mary sitting slumped in the corner of the living room sofa.

Max turned white and seemed very uneasy. "Oh my God, you must have seen it all. Does Mary know this?"

"No not yet, but when the divorce comes up she will. So will four of my neighbors. She not only screwed up her own family, but four others as well. I counted the kids that are going to be affected and counting my two there are thirteen youngsters."

"You better make that fourteen kids. Mary is pregnant and apparently she conceived that night."

Was there no end to this morass I was in? I felt like I was sinking into a swamp where there was no exit. But why did my wife tell Max before she told me? She couldn't be that afraid of me.

Now I knew what Mary's problem was this week. She had just found out she was pregnant and she couldn't possibly know which of the four was the father. This only made the situation worse! For the first time pangs of compassion hit me. I had been feeling so sorry for myself. Why hadn't I felt the same for her?

I went to my briefcase and pulled out the disk that I had made showing the actions of my wife on both occasions that Bob and his friends were at my house. I installed it in my computer and motioned for Max to sit.

He watched as the action unfolded. When it reached the point where Mary had capitulated he told me to stop. "I don't want to see your wife doing anything but fighting off these guys. It wouldn't serve any purpose for me to see that. You know up until this point what I've seen is rape, plain and simple. You must hate these men."

I looked at Max as I was having a revelation. I had been so hurt about Mary's action that I hadn't realized that she was the victim here. She had been betrayed by both her neighbors and her body. "Max, thank you. You have just shown me that I've let my wife down as well as everyone else. I can even reinforce that if you will let me show you some different scenes that occurred later."